Overview
- Presents a concise characterization of the Afro-Asiatic model of tributary state formation
- Focuses on case studies that represent the three variants of the Ethiopian state since the 1600s
- Offers theoretical implications for modern state-building and nation-building in Africa that go beyond what is typically offered by the neo-patrimonial paradigm
Part of the book series: Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development (AAESPD)
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About this book
A Tributary Model of State Formation: Ethiopia, 1600-2015 addresses the perplexing question of why a pedigreed Ethiopian state failed to transform itself into a nation-state. Using a comparative-institutionalist framework, this book explores why Ethiopia, an Afroasian civilizational state, has yet to build a modern political order comprising a sturdy state, the rule of law, and accountability to the ruled. The book provides a theoretical framework that contrasts the European and the Afroasian modes of state formation and explores the three major variants of the Ethiopian state since 1600 (Gondar, Shewa, and Revolutionary). It does this by employing the conceptual entry point of tributarism and teases out the implications of this perspective for refashioning the embattled postcolonial African political institutions. The primary contribution of the book is the novel framing of state formation through the lens of a landed Afroasiatic peasantry in giving rise to afragile state whose redistributive preoccupation preempted the emergence of a productive economy to serve as a buoyant revenue base. Unlike feudal Europe, the dependence of the Afroasian state on arm’s-length overlordship rather than on tightly-managed landlordship incentivized endemic extractive contests among elites with the capacity for violence for the non-fixed tribute from independent wealth producers. Tributarism, I argue here, stymied the transition from a resilient statehood to a robust nation-statehood that befits an open-order society.
This book will be of interest to scholars in economics, political science, political economics, and African Studies.
Berhanu Abegaz is Professor of Economics, College of William & Mary (USA).
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Keywords
Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Theoretical Framework
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Front Matter
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Three Ethiopian Tributary States
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Front Matter
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A Modern African Political Order
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Berhanu Abegaz holds a B.A. (Economics) from Princeton University and a Ph.D. (Economics) from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently Professor and Chair of Economics at William & Mary with teaching and research interests in development economics, institutional economics, and comparative economic systems.Dr. Abegaz's research interests and publications are wide-ranging and include structural convergence in manufacturing industries, the role of diversified business groups in emerging economies, Party-owned and Military-owned business empires, African industrialization, effectiveness of development assistance, and the history of state formation and agrarian systems in Ethiopia. He has published two books, edited two books, and several refereed journal articles.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: A Tributary Model of State Formation
Book Subtitle: Ethiopia, 1600-2015
Authors: Berhanu Abegaz
Series Title: Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75780-3
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-75779-7Published: 22 June 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09326-6Published: 26 December 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-75780-3Published: 09 June 2018
Series ISSN: 2198-7262
Series E-ISSN: 2198-7270
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXII, 190
Number of Illustrations: 16 b/w illustrations
Topics: African Politics, International Political Economy, Development Theory, Economic Policy