Engaging the state: associational life in sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this chapter is to outline an approach to the analysis of the processes of the formation and fluctuation of civil society in Africa and to explore its implications for an understanding of the structure of states, societies, and the contours of politics on the continent. State-society relations are explored through an examination of intermediate social organizations and their relationship to associational life and state agencies on the continent. It is demonstrated that civil society encompasses only one portion of what has become a complex and diverse associational scene. -from Author