Power elites war and postwar reconstruction in Africa: Continuities, discontinuities and paradoxes

Abstract

This article interrogates the manner in which the composition, character, regeneration, and accumulation strategies of power elites and the organization of their hegemony is being affected or unaffected by recent developments, most especially, civil wars and their corollary, postwar reconstruction, in Africa. By seeking to understand how conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction alter or transform the character, recruitment and role of power elites, and the operational context (the nature of the state) in Africa, this article draws attention to the prospects of transforming the nature of leadership in Africa. I contend that the capacity for violence and terror by individuals (especially young combatants who were previously marginalised) and armed groups has become a new marker of elitism and a leverage on peace agreements. Moreover, post-Cold War conflicts in Africa have accentuated the emergence of war-making power elites as 'executors' and 'trustees' of peace treaties, or 'peace...