Globalisation and the African State

Abstract

The World Bank and its critics are approaching consensus on central issues in the African development debate. That Africa must become more integrated into the globalising world economy, and that to do so effectively it will need more capable and socially responsive states is now broadly accepted. However, the manner in which African states are already embedded in their societies and in the global political economy has not been integrated into the analysis. The nature of these linkages tells us much about how African states engage the forces of globalisation, and the effect that engagement is likely to have on economic development and on these states themselves.