East Africa after Liberation: Conflict, Security and the State since the 1980s

Description

Between 1986 and 1994, East Africa's postcolonial, political settlement was profoundly challenged as four revolutionary 'liberation' movements seized power in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda. After years of armed struggle against vicious dictatorships, these movements transformed from rebels to rulers, promising to deliver 'fundamental change'. This study exposes, examines and underlines the acute challenges each has faced in doing so. Drawing on over 130 interviews with the region's post-liberation elite, undertaken over the course of a decade, Jonathan Fisher takes a fresh and empirically-grounded approach to explaining the fast-moving politics of the region over the last three decades, focusing on the role and influence of its guerrilla governments. East Africa after Liberation sheds critical light on the competing pressures post-liberation governments contend with as they balance reformist aspirations with accommodation of counter-vailing interests, historical trajectories and their own violent organisational cultures.

Jonathan Fisher is Reader in African Politics in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham and Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State, South Africa. His research focuses on the intersection between authoritarian rule, political transformation and in/security in East Africa. His work has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), British Academy, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Facebook and the Newton Fund and has been published in journals such as African Affairs, International Affairs and World Development.

'Jonathan Fisher's superb study of post-liberation regimes in Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Rwanda has much to tell us, not only about the states concerned, but about the legacies of liberation war more widely.' Christopher Clapham, University of Cambridge 'this book explains how a new set of revolutionary regimes are reshaping politics in east Africa. Fisher draws on a deep knowledge of the region to tell the fascinating stories of leaders, insurgencies and liberation regimes, and the fraught and often surprising relationships between them, to give us a profound insight into Africa's second-generation post-colonial politics.' Julia Gallagher, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 'A path-breaking piece on African liberation movements exposing the untold story of how these regimes have undermined democracy, promoted patronage politics, and entrenched themselves in power ... I recommend this book to all readers of African politics.' Sabiti Makara, Makerere University, Uganda 'An authoritative and revealing tour of how liberation struggles shaped the politics of contemporary East Africa. Offering a set of challenging propositions as well as an unrivalled feel for East African political behaviour, this book is required reading for anyone interested in learning how politics in this part of the world really works.' William Reno, Northwestern University 'An excellent exploration of the four East African liberation armies that seized state power at the end of the Cold War and sought to remake regional political order in their own image. Fisher teaches us that those who led these movements were neither inflexible ideologues nor calculating political operatives. Rather, like most political actors, they were something in-between. This is a foundational text for understanding the regional politics of East Africa today.' Michael Woldemariam, Boston University 'This book represents a model for qualitative social science research. The depth of Fisher's understanding of his cases as armed organisations, political movements, and statesmen as well as his appreciation for the humanity of those lionised as heroes of the liberation movement make this an engaging contribution to our understanding of African politics.' Hilary Matfess, The Journal of Development Studies 'Focusing on the maturation of liberation movements that came to power between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, and Rwanda, this engaging, highly detailed book provides a rare view into the development of regional politics.' M. M. Heaton, Choice 'Fisher's excellent political history focuses on the countries in East Africa where the current regimes came to power through successful insurgencies decades ago. His book links the fates of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Uganda and describes the impact of the many links that leaders in the four countries forged before their rises to power.' Foreign Affairs 'East Africa after Liberation is not simply a historical chronology of four liberation movements and their changing faces when they came to power. It is a convincing analysis of the regional security arena through a rare glimpse behind the curtain of elite mindsets and cross-state affinities ... it is a must read for scholars and practitioners ...' Tim Glawion, Perspectives on Politics