Overview

Daily life in Africa is governed by the 'petty' corruption of public officials in services such as health, transport, or the judicial system. This remarkable study of everyday corruption in three African countries investigates the reasons for its extraordinary prevalence. The authors construct an illuminating analytical framework around the various forms of corruption, the corruptive strategies public officials resort to, and how these forms and strategies have become embedded in daily administrative practices. They investigate the roots of the system in the growing inability of weakened states in Africa to either reward their employees adequately or to deliver expected services. They conclude that corruption in Africa today is qualitatively different from other parts of the world in its pervasiveness, its legitimations, and its huge impact on the nature of the state.

Full Product Details

Author:   Giorgio Blundo ,  Jean-Pierre Olivier de-Sardan ,  N. B. Arifari ,  M. T. Alou
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Zed Books Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 13.50cm , Height: 13.50cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.363kg
ISBN:  

9781842775639

ISBN 10:   1842775634
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   15 August 2006
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Part I: Approach, Method, Summary 1. Introduction: why should we study everyday corruption and how should we go about it? 2. Corruption in Africa and the social sciences: a review of the literature 3. Everyday corruption in West Africa 4. The popular semiology of corruption Part II: Sectoral Studies 5. Corruption in the legal system 6. We don't eat the documents: Corruption in transport, customs and the civil forces 7. Corruption and public procurements 8. Corruption in the health sector Part III: Cross-Disciplinary Topics 9. An independent republic: Everyday corruption in a Senegalese development co-operation programme 10. The war against corruption in Benin, Niger and Senegal: an historical approach

Reviews

DR GIORGIO BLUNDO is at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales at Marseille. JEAN-PIERRE OLIVIER DE SARDAN is professor of anthropology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and directs research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. He is the author of Anthropology and Development (Zed Books, 2005). Everyday Corruption is translated by SUSAN COX.

Author Information

Dr Giorgio Blundo currently holds a senior position at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales at Marseille. Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan is Professor of Anthropology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Marseilles and Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris.

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