Social boundaries, political elite bargains and (dis)order in Guinea-Bissau, 1974-1998

• Main Author: Stoleroff, Maria Matilde Patrício
• Published: SOAS, University of London 2013
• Subjects: 966.5703
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.605695

This thesis explores the establishment, breakdown and re-establishment of political order in Guinea-Bissau by examining the evolution of the shape and character of its political elite bargains from independence to the outbreak of the civil war in 1998. While there are a variety of scholarly approaches that focus on the structural conditions under which violent conflict is prone to erupt in underdeveloped countries, this thesis adopts an interactional approach to better appreciate how Guinea-Bissau's political elite bargains have evolved and how these developments explain the outbreak of conflict at a given time. It takes off from and develops North et al's (2009) framework on limited access orders and the Crisis State Research Centre's approach to state fragility and resilience and contributes to the study of political elite bargains by proposing that a social boundary analysis is central for assessing degrees of a bargain's inclusivity/exclusivity and for better understanding what lead to changes in the bargains shape and character. It suggests that as relationships are both the 'glue' and the 'scissors' underpinning every elite bargain, the analysis of their evolution is key to problems of order and disorder. Applying this method of analysis, it provides a detailed examination of how elite relationships in Guinea-Bissau have changed over time based upon extensive documental research and interviewing with key actors and informants. It explains which, why and how different political identities have emerged, gained and decreased in political relevance, and how their interactions have shaped subsequent interaction and produced political change.