When Weak State Capacity Leads to Disengagement: Anti-Colonial Resistance and Colonial State Responses in Former French West Africa

• In Event: The Politics of Colonialism and Enduring Legacies

Brief Overview

How did the colonial state respond to resistance by the colonized? Contrary to the standard “repression vs. concession” logic, which presumes strong states, we argue instead that the French colonial state disengaged (retrenched) because it was weak.

Authors

• Richard McAlexander, Columbia University

• Joan Ricart-Huguet, Loyola University Maryland