Governance, Resistance and the Post-Colonial State: Management and State Building

Abstract

The manifestation of the colonial nation-state as a legal-bureaucratic-police structure - an exploitation tool - undermined customary modes of governance in colonies. When post-World War II independence of colonies transferred ownership of the state structure to the colonized elite, electoral and civil society politics battled for capture of this post-colonial state. Meanwhile, the state was also forced to build its legitimacy in the face of customary governance practices seeking rehabilitation and decolonization in the midst of civil wars and strife. This "state-building social movement" was further complicated with the global spread of neoliberalism and neocolonialism, and herein lies the significant difference between the post-colonial nation-state and the Western nation-states. © 2017 selection and editorial matter, Jonathan Murphy and Nimruji Jammulamadaka. All rights reserved.