Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:31:52.395Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ASR FORUM: ENGAGING WITH AFRICAN INFORMAL ECONOMIES

Informality, Religious Conflict, and Governance in Northern Nigeria: Economic Inclusion in Divided Societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2013

Kate Meagher
Kate Meagher*
Affiliation:
Kate Meagher is an associate professor in the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics. She has published widely on African informal economies, including Identity Economics: Social Networks and the Informal Economy in Nigeria (James Currey, 2010) and “The Strength of Weak States? Non-State Security Forces and Hybrid Governance in Africa” (Development and Change 43 [5], 2012). E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This article examines processes of economic inclusion in divided societies, with a focus on both religious and formal–informal divides. Drawing on recent fieldwork in the northern Nigerian cities of Kano and Kaduna, the article challenges the assumption that identity-based informal organization intensifies violent social divisions, and that taxation and linkages with the state foster more stable and inclusive governance. A range of informal sector activities provides insights into escalating religious conflict and uneven patterns of formal inclusion in interreligious relations. Attention is focused on the relative role of informal institutions and formal interventions such as taxation in diffusing or exacerbating conflict at the grassroots level.

Résumé:

Cet essai examine le domaine de l’écomomie informelle au nord du Nigéria en vue de déterminer si ce phéomène mitige ou aggrave le conflit religieux présent dans cette région. En se basant sur une étude de terrain réccmment menée dans les villes de kano et Kaduna, cet essai met au défi l’hypothèse que la diversité religieuse est un facteur dans l’apparition de conflits, et que les réseaux d’appartenance religieuse au sein de l’économie informelle intensifient les divisions de nature violente dans la société. Le regard porté sur un évental d’activités informelles, telles que les moto-taxis, les marchands de pneus, les tailleurs, les marchands de soupe au poivre, offre des informations sur différents modèles de relations identifiables à travers les divisions religieuses comme la complémentarité, la compétition, et les conflits de valeurs. Notre attention se concentre sur le rôle relatif des institutions informelles et des interventions formelles, telles que la taxation, dans l’intensification des conflits ressortant du domaine populaire.

Keywords

Informal economynorthern Nigeriareligious conflictIgboHausaKanoKadunaBoko Haram
Type
ASR FORUM: ENGAGING WITH AFRICAN INFORMAL ECONOMIES: SOCIAL INCLUSION OR ADVERSE INCORPORATION?
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , December 2013 , pp. 209 - 234
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armakolas, I. 2011. “The ‘Paradox’ of Tuzla City: Explaining Non-nationalist Local Politics during the Bosnian War.” Europe-Asia Studies 63 (3): 229–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austen, R. A. 1987. African Economic History: Internal Development and External Dependency. London: James Currey.Google Scholar
BBC News. 2012. “Nigeria: Jos Motobike Taxi Ban Prompts Clashes.” June 13. http://www.bbc.co.uk.Google Scholar
Collier, P., and Hoeffler, A.. 2004. “Greed and Grievance in Civil Wars.” Oxford Economic Papers 56 (4): 563–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruise O’Brien, D. 1975. Saints and Politicians: Essays in the Organisation of a Senegalese Peasant Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtin, P. D. 1975. Economic Change in Precolonial Africa: Senegambia in the Era of the Slave Trade. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Duffield, M. 2000. ”Globalization, Transborder Trade, and War Economies.” In Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, edited by Berdal, M. and Malone, D., 69–89. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duffield, M. 2001. Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and Security. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Hashim, Y., and Meagher, K.. 1999. Cross-border Trade and the Parallel Currency Market– Trade and Finance in the Context of Structural Adjustment: A Case Study from Kano, Nigeria. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.Google Scholar
Haynes, J. 2009. “Conflict, Conflict Resolution and Peace-Building: The Role of Religion in Mozambique, Nigeria and Cambodia.” Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 47 (1): 52–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, A. G. 1973. An Economic History of West Africa. London: Longman.Google Scholar
International Alert. 2006. “Local Business, Local Peace: The Peacebuilding Potential of the Domestic Private Sector.”www.international-alert.org.Google Scholar
Jha, S. 2007. Maintaining Peace across Ethnic Lines: New Lessons from the Past. Economics of Peace and Security Journal 2 (2): 81–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joshi, A., and Ayee, J.. 2008. Associational Taxation: A Pathway into the Informal Sector.” In Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries, edited by Brautigam, D., Fjeldstad, O.-H., and Moore, M., 183–211. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killick, N., Srikantha, V. S., and Gunduz, C.. 2005. “The Role of Local Business in Peacebuilding.” Berghof Centre for Constructive Conflict Management. http://www.berghof-handbook.net.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, P. E. 1980. Caravans of Kola: The Hausa Kola Trade, 1700–1900. Zaria, Nigeria: Ahmadu Bello University Press.Google Scholar
Meagher, K. 2009. “The Informalization of Belonging: Igbo Informal Enterprise and National Cohesion from Below.” Africa Development 34 (1): 31–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meagher, K. 2010. Identity Economics: Social Networks and the Informal Economy in Africa. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Menkhaus, K. 2006–7. “Governance without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of Coping.” International Security 31 (3): 74–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mgboh, D. 2012. “Sabon Gari.” Sun News Online, November 17. http://sunnewsonline.com.Google Scholar
Mkandawire, T. 2010. “On Tax Effort and Colonial Heritage in Africa.” Journal of Development Studies 46 (10): 1647–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montalvo, J. G., and Reynal-Querol, M.. 2003. “Religious Polarization and Economic Development. Economics Letters 80: 201–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Platteau, J.-P. 2009. “Institutional Obstacles to African Economic Development: State, Ethnicity and Custom.” Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization 71: 669–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prichard, W., Joshi, A., and Heady, C.. 2012. “Taxing the Informal Economy: Challenges, Possibilities and Remaining Questions.” ICTD Working Paper No. 4. Brighton, U.K.: Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
Punch. 2006. “45 Convicted for Carrying Female Passengers.” January 6. http://www.punchng.com.Google Scholar
Raeymaekers, T. 2010. “Protection for Sale: War and the Transformation of Regulation on the Congo-Ugandan Border.” Development and Change 41 (4): 563–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raeymaekers, T., Menkhaus, K., and Vlassenroot, K.. 2008. “State and Non-state Regulation in African Protracted Crises: Governance without Government?” Afrika Focus 21 (2): 7–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reno, W. 2000. “Clandestine Economies, Violence and States in Africa.” Journal of International Affairs 53 (2): 433–59.Google Scholar
Reno, W. 2006. “Insurgencies in the Shadow of Collapsed States.” In Violence, Political Culture and Development in Africa, edited by Kaarsholm, P., 25–48. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Roitman, Janet. 1993. “The Garrison-Entrepot.” Cahiers d’etudes africaines 38 (2–4): 297–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roitman, Janet. 2004. Fiscal Disobedience: An Anthropology of Economic Regulation in Central Africa. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Stewart, F., ed. 2008. Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict. Basingstoke, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunday Trust. 2010. “Blood Trails Okada Ban in Jos over Violence.” June 20. http://sundaytrust.com.Google Scholar
This Day. 2011. “Presidency: ‘Okada Riders Didn’t Endorse Jonathan.’” March 24. http://www.thisdaylive.com.Google Scholar
Time Magazine. 2011. “No Bikes for You: Nigeria Bans Motorcycles in Terror-Struck City.” July 8. http://world.time.com.Google Scholar
Vanguard. 2011. “Three Insurance Companies Indemnify 8m Okada Riders, Passengers.” August 8. www.vanguardngr.com.Google Scholar
Varshney, A., 2001. “Ethnic Conflict and Civil Society: India and Beyond.” World Politics 53: 362–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar