Decentralisation Hybridized
A Western Concept on its Way through South Sudan
South Sudan is undergoing a process of internationally-supported state building of which decentralisation forms part. For the people, decentralisation is understood as a right to self-rule based on native–stranger dichotomies and as a means of appropriating and incorporating an abstract and distant state into the local context. The South Sudanese government, in contrast, sees decentralisation primarily as a tool for service delivery and development. Conversely, the international community,...
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Editor's note
Cover photo Information board in front of the seat of the Local Government of Magwi, Eastern Equatoria State. © Annina Aeberli.
- Publisher : Graduate Institute Publications
- Series : eCahiers de l’Institut | 14
- Place of publication : Genève
- Year of publication : 2012
- Published on OpenEdition Books : 31 juillet 2012
- EAN (Print version) : 9782940503025
- Electronic EAN : 9782940503032
- DOI : 10.4000/books.iheid.490
- Contents
- Presentation
- About the author
South Sudan is undergoing a process of internationally-supported state building of which decentralisation forms part. For the people, decentralisation is understood as a right to self-rule based on native–stranger dichotomies and as a means of appropriating and incorporating an abstract and distant state into the local context. The South Sudanese government, in contrast, sees decentralisation primarily as a tool for service delivery and development. Conversely, the international community, in its desire to guarantee international stability through the creation of Western-style states all over the world, sees decentralisation as one tool in the state-building toolbox. These different interpretations of decentralization may not only lead to misunderstandings, but different groups and different ways of understanding decentralisation have interacted throughout history, and attempts to impose a particular understanding on other actors continue. Annina Aeberli examines this hybridisation of state ‘decentralisation’ and argues that the international community and the government cannot and should not try to ignore people’s understandings and expectations: a state – in whatever form – always depends on the acceptance of the people.
Annina Aeberli holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies with a specialisation in Conflict from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography from the University of Zürich. Since 2011, she has been working as a campaigner at the Bruno Manser Fund, a Swiss NGO.
© Graduate Institute Publications, 2012
Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported - CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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A Western Concept on its Way through South Sudan
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