Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan

Contesting the Nigerian State

Civil Society and the Contradictions of Self-Organization

  • Book
  • © 2013

Overview

Authors:
  1. Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome

    1. Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Contesting the Nigerian State: Civil Society and the Contradictions of Self-Organization—Introduction, Concepts, and Questions

    • Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome
    Pages 1-23

  3. Civil Society and the Challenges of Development and Nation Building in the Postcolonial African State

    • Ademola Araoye
    Pages 25-56

  4. State Failure and the Contradictions of the Public Sphere, 1995–2005

    • Ayo Olukotun
    Pages 57-78

  5. Mobilizing for Change: The Press and the Struggle for Citizenship in Democratic Nigeria

    • Wale Adebanwi
    Pages 79-107

  6. Gendered States: Women’s Civil Society Activism in Nigerian Politics

    • Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome
    Pages 109-155

  7. Feminist Civil Society Organizations and Democratization in Nigeria

    • Funmi Soetan
    Pages 157-172

  8. Women’s Associational Life within Traditional Institutions in YorÙbÁ States

    • Fatai A. Olasupo
    Pages 173-198

  9. Sexual Struggles and Democracy Dividends

    • Ebenezer Obadare
    Pages 199-215

  10. Politics in A Sub-Formal Economic Setting: Workplace Investment Cooperatives in Southwestern Nigeria, c. 1986–2011

    • Olufẹmi A. Akinọla
    Pages 217-244

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 245-259
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

In public choice theory, the received wisdom has long been that self-organization is an impediment to collective action, whether via the tragedy of the commons or a Hobbesian scenario in which self-interest produces social conflict rather than cooperation. Yet as this fascinating collection shows, self-organization and state-society relations have been much more complicated in the context of contemporary Nigerian politics. Given the absence or unwillingness of the Nigerian state to provide essential services, entire communities have had to band together to repair roads, build health centers, and maintain public utilities, all from levies. The successes, failures, and ongoing challenges faced by Nigerian society provide valuable insights into the state's capacity, its relationship with civil society, and the social, economic, and political well-being of its citizens.

Reviews

"An amazing read! Beyond Mojubaolu Okome's signature brio in her editor's introduction, the volume assembles significant reflections by established thinkers from a broad range of disciplines. Society, development, citizenship, democracy, politics, gender, activism are all subjects treated brilliantly within the context of the contradictions of postcolonial statehood in Nigeria. This is a landmark contribution to African thought." - Pius Adesanmi, Winner of the Penguin Prize for African Writing

'This book provides a rich and bottom-up political sociology of the postcolonial Nigerian state. Using relevant empirically-grounded case studies, the book critically examines the emergence, evolution, and transformation of the institution and capacity of the Nigerian state with particular reference to how diverse civil society organizations and global political-economic processes and agents shape the dynamic mutually constitutive state-society relations from the colonial period to the twenty-first century. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the relationship between the state and national development in Nigeria's social history.' - Samuel Zalanga, Professor of Sociology, Bethel University, USA

'Timely yet of enduring value, this book is crafted to provide a lasting bridge between theory and practice in state-civil society relations in contemporary Nigeria. Edited by some of the finest and brightest of Nigeria's intellectuals at home and inthe diaspora, the book as a whole speaks eloquently and soberly to the troubled Nigerian experience with a survey of the past and an eye to the future that gleans hope on the horizon for a vibrant people long held back by despots and their fellow travelers in politics, economy, and society.' - Adigun Agbaje, Professor of Political Science, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Authors and Affiliations

  • Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA

    Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome

About the author

Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome, Brooklyn College, CUNY, USA Wale Adebanwi, University of California-Davis, USA Oluf?mi Akin?la, Obaf?mi Awol?w? University, Nigeria Ademola Araoye, United Nations Mission, Liberia Ebenezer Obadare, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA Mr. F.A. Olasupo, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria Ayo Olukotun, Lead City University, Nigeria Rosemary Olufunmilayo Soetan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

Bibliographic Information

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation