Righting the Resource Curse: Institutional Politics and State Capabilities in Edo State, Nigeria

The poor record of liberal reforms sponsored by the international community in postcolonial settings underscores the real politik of institutional change. What we call a 'new normal' in development policy and practice foregrounds the role of agency - leadership, networks of connectors and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of development studies 2017-02, Vol.53 (2), p.249-263
Main Authors: Porter, Doug, Watts, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Decolonization
Dependency
Development policy
Economic conditions
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Institutional change
International community
Leadership
Local politics
Natural resource management
Nigeria
Petroleum
Postcolonialism
Reforms
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Summary:The poor record of liberal reforms sponsored by the international community in postcolonial settings underscores the real politik of institutional change. What we call a 'new normal' in development policy and practice foregrounds the role of agency - leadership, networks of connectors and convenors, entrepreneurs and activists - but it has less to say about the political and economic conditions of possibility in which agents operate. The putative powers of agency seem most challenged in contexts of extreme resource dependency and the resource curse. The particular case of Edo, a state in the oil rich Niger delta region of Nigeria, illustrates the intersection of agency and structural conditions to show how 'asymmetric capabilities' can emerge to create, constrain and make possible particular reform options.
ISSN:0022-0388
1743-9140
DOI:10.1080/00220388.2016.1160062