Beyond the gatekeeper state : African infrastructure hubs as sites of experimentation

DOI zum Zitieren der Version auf EPub Bayreuth: https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00007924
URN to cite this document: urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-7924-5

Title data

Hönke, Jana:
Beyond the gatekeeper state : African infrastructure hubs as sites of experimentation.
In: Third World Thematics. Vol. 3 (2018) Issue 3 . - pp. 347-363.
ISSN 2379-9978
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1080/23802014.2018.1456954

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Abstract

While Africa has often been portrayed as peripheral to major global economic flows, the copper mines in the South of the DRC as the port of Dar es Salaam are hubs of extraction and trade at the heart of the global economy. This article departs from the notion of the gatekeeper state, which describes the creation of islands of effective state territoriality around such gates in the colonial encounter, producing postcolonial states that essentially only control enclaves and corridors in their territory. These form the basis for an outward, extraction-oriented political economy. The article proposes a reconceptualisation of gatekeeping as a set of practices performed by a range of actors, including (but not limited to) governments. I argue that this brings into view how the political geography of gates is being transformed by a multitude of actors including from the Global South. It is also shaped by powerful transnational technical systems and logistics. Empirically, this will be explored through a study of Dar and Bagamoyo ports in Tanzania. Studying gatekeeping and gate-making practices around these ports diversifies our understanding of political transformations around gates and helps to go beyond the theories based on the more frequently studied extractive industries.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Keywords:	Gatekeeper state; political geography; infrastructure; ports; state reconfiguration; Dubai model; China; Africa; International relations
DDC Subjects:	300 Social sciences 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology 300 Social sciences > 320 Political science
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Sociology of Africa Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Sociology of Africa > Chair Sociology of Africa - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jana Hönke Faculties
Language:	English
Originates at UBT:	No
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-7924-5
Date Deposited:	02 Oct 2024 12:37
Last Modified:	02 Oct 2024 12:38
URI:	https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/7924

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