What do you think?
Rate this book
Fiscal Disobedience: An Anthropology of Economic Regulation in Central Africa
Fiscal Disobedience represents a novel approach to the question of citizenship amid the changing global economy and the fiscal crisis of the nation-state. Focusing on economic practices in the Chad Basin of Africa, Janet Roitman combines thorough ethnographic fieldwork with sophisticated analysis of key ideas of political economy to examine the contentious nature of fiscal relationships between the state and its citizens. She argues that citizenship is being redefined through a renegotiation of the rights and obligations inherent in such economic relationships.
The book centers on a civil disobedience movement that arose in Cameroon beginning in 1990 ostensibly to counter state fiscal authority--a movement dubbed Opération Villes Mortes by the opposition and incivisme fiscal by the government (which for its part was eager to suggest that participants were less than legitimate citizens, failing in their civic duties). Contrary to standard approaches, Roitman examines this conflict as a "productive moment" that, rather than involving the outright rejection of regulatory authority, questioned the intelligibility of its exercise. Although both militarized commercial networks (associated with such activities trading in contraband goods including drugs, ivory, and guns) and highly organized gang-based banditry do challenge state authority, they do not necessarily undermine state power.
Contrary to depictions of the African state as "weak" or "failed," this book demonstrates how the state in Africa manages to reconstitute its authority through networks that have emerged in the interstices of the state system. It also shows how those networks partake of the same epistemological grounding as does the state. Indeed, both state and nonstate practices of governing refer to a common "ethic of illegality," which explains how illegal activities are understood as licit or reasonable conduct.
The book centers on a civil disobedience movement that arose in Cameroon beginning in 1990 ostensibly to counter state fiscal authority--a movement dubbed Opération Villes Mortes by the opposition and incivisme fiscal by the government (which for its part was eager to suggest that participants were less than legitimate citizens, failing in their civic duties). Contrary to standard approaches, Roitman examines this conflict as a "productive moment" that, rather than involving the outright rejection of regulatory authority, questioned the intelligibility of its exercise. Although both militarized commercial networks (associated with such activities trading in contraband goods including drugs, ivory, and guns) and highly organized gang-based banditry do challenge state authority, they do not necessarily undermine state power.
Contrary to depictions of the African state as "weak" or "failed," this book demonstrates how the state in Africa manages to reconstitute its authority through networks that have emerged in the interstices of the state system. It also shows how those networks partake of the same epistemological grounding as does the state. Indeed, both state and nonstate practices of governing refer to a common "ethic of illegality," which explains how illegal activities are understood as licit or reasonable conduct.
- GenresAnthropology
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 27, 2004
1 person is currently reading
54 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 15, 2020
I went looking for this title at a local shop specialising in Africana (not expecting to find it, and I didn't) - I told the shop owner that Fiscal Disobedience is about parallel tax systems in Africa that work alongside official channels. He asked me if I was looking for the 20 volume box set. My interest in Janet Roitman's work was sparked buy the numerous mentions she gets in Marielle Debos' excellent book Le Métier des Armes au Tchad. As is the case with Debos, Roitman's research is deep and revealing. Unlike debos however she has difficulty making her work accessible. It's a tough read for somebody who isn't trying to evaluate what appears more like a doctoral thesis than a book designed for public consumption. Having said that, I'm sure I will be consulting it again in the near future.
February 21, 2008
This is the smartest Foucault-ish ethnography I've ever read. Tricky, tough, ambitious, very worth it if you're into economistic things...
October 24, 2015
Strong foucauldian book. I gave it four stars because I thought one of the chapters was incomprehensible, however I'm sure a second read will resolve that. Definitely a grad student level book.
March 15, 2019
A brilliant account of the contested nature of the state
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews