Rise of the (Other) Rest? Exploring Small State Agency and Collective Power in International Relations

This article discusses the changing attitudes of African states towards the governance of their mining sectors, with states seeking to assert their sovereignty through a greater agency in their mineral resources. These attitudes are strongly echoed by regional governance norms such as the Africa Min...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Studies Review 2018-06, Vol.20 (2), p.264-271
Main Author: Compaoré, W. R. Nadège
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ANALYTICAL ESSAY
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article discusses the changing attitudes of African states towards the governance of their mining sectors, with states seeking to assert their sovereignty through a greater agency in their mineral resources. These attitudes are strongly echoed by regional governance norms such as the Africa Mining Vision an initiative led by the African Union since 2009. I suggest that the main drivers of these changes are collective agents that transcend the realm of the state. Building on Tom Long’s tripartite categorization of small state power (“derivative power”, “particular-intrinsic power”, and “collective power”) to the analysis, I highlight Africa’s current mining reforms as the outcome of a collective power to shape its mining sector vis-à-vis global structures. The article discusses these changes primarily through IR scholarship on the ‘Rise of the Rest’ and on small states agency.
ISSN:1521-9488
1468-2486
DOI:10.1093/isr/viy036