Making Sense of the Central African Republic

by Tatiana Carayannis (Editor)

Lying at the centre of a tumultuous region, the Central African Republic and its turbulent history have often been overlooked. Democracy, in any kind of a meaningful sense, has eluded the country. Since the mid-1990s, army mutinies and serial rebellion in CAR have resulted in two major successful coups. Over the course of these upheavals, the country has become a laboratory for peacebuilding initiatives, hosting a two-decade-long succession of UN and regional peacekeeping, peacebuilding and special political missions.

Drawing together the foremost experts on the Central African Republic, this much-needed volume provides the first in-depth analysis of the country’s recent history of rebellion, instability, and international and regional intervention.

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction, Central African Republic, History, Politics, War, Central Africa

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 15, 2015

Reviews

[Tinea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reader does what it sets out to do: offer a comprehensive, serious introduction to the contemporary Central African Republic and the history, culture, politics, and economics that shape(d) it. The authors offer cogent, ample arguments that disassemble simple/racist media narratives of crisis, Big Men, and religious violence, inviting the reader to engage critically with incentives driving diverse actors. The book covers ground: cascading impacts of a particularly brutal and fairly recent colonial history, the concessionary-economics that structure access to resources and power (e.g. vast holdings of natural and public resources transferred to private multinational corporations with no public access, oversight, governance, regulation, and in most cases tax benefit-- essentially, banana republicanism), regional and French deep states, actively stupid humanitarian interventions (CAR's DDR process is a case study for the ages) and serious treatment of epistemologies of "spiritual insecurity" and nonbelonging that come from and reinforce material insecurities and communal violence. My copy is battered with underlines and highlights.

Before you begin, you should read this Crisis Group report, Anatomy of a Phantom State, written by one of the contributors back in 2007 and oft-cited throughout the book. Just start here.

My only disappointment is that they didn't include some version of this other Crisis Group report, The Security Challenges of Pastoralism in Central Africa, which digs into the nuances of pastoralism and its interaction with borders, settled farmers, and wealth. Just add this one too-- it's invaluable for understanding the localized violence and peace of NW CAR.

[thalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather UN, EU, and French apologist. More critical of those living within CAR boundaries than the French warlords in Paris, and next to no analysis of the corporations still looting the region. Nonetheless a decent enough primer of the regions historical timelines, especially with regards to international actors and neighboring countries.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first of a few books I intend to read on the subject before shipping out. A great multi-faceted first look at a very complex issue.

Some take aways:
The leadership timeline in CAR ->local tribalism and sultanates ->slave trading creates anarchy -> French neglect -> independence -> Bokassa bankrupts country by crowning himself empire in a lavish ceremony -> Kolinba -> Patasse (only elected official with something like a mandate -> Bozize takes over with Chad's help -> Selaka terrorism group takes over, again from Chad -> Djotodia retakes the country with help from anti-balaka groups

While it's easy to reduce this conflict into one of Christians vs Muslims the authors point out several over dynamics:

1) "foreign" Muslim groups run the economic sector, especially in the capital. These groups are pitted against "native" Sango speaking civil servants who consider economic gains "ill gotten" and seek to secure as much wealth as they can via bribes and graft from the later.
2) Sedentary farmers are pitted against nomadic herders, poachers, armed anti poachers and bandits
3) Chadian forces, Ugandian military units, refugees from the Sudan and armed terrorist groups like Joseph Kony's all move into the country and set up their own territories

We, as peacekeepers are told by the author to keep several things in mind
1) There is no "norm" in C.A.R to return to. the state has never had a monopoly on use of force so it doesn't make sense to try to restore that monopoly.
2) The country side isn't really in Anarchy. People without a central authority will turn to their own local organizations for services. These organizations are now all well armed and have their own interests. Attempts to disarm and reintegrate them will meet with no success if the people aren't empowered with security and services
3) Be careful of easy milestones. Does an election really equal success in a country whose entire existence is one of "semi-permanent crisis"? Be careful of handing funding to countries like Uganda who limit their skin in the game and will leave as soon as the dollars dry up

[Rhoda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was my read the world selection for Central African Republic.

CAR was another country I had difficulty getting a book for. About the only translated book I could find was going to cost about $100 to get to me, so I had to skip that book and opt for plan B....a book set in CAR. That also proved a bit of an ordeal, so I settled on this book, which is a series of essays/chapters on different topics relating to CAR, by a number of authors....including one who is actually from CAR.

This book covers predominantly the history and politics of Central African Republic including colonization and the ongoing instability of the political and economic landscape to this day.

While some chapters were infinitely more interesting than others, what stands out is the long-standing suffering of the Central Africans, who have never really enjoyed stability or prosperity as a country. It’s really quite sad.

The book is clearly well researched and informative, however the writing is quite dry and hard to get immersed in. I would have liked to have understood a little more about the average Central African, however understand that there is only so much a book can cover and the editor has gone with a focus on the history of the politics and economy. I will add that the use of acronyms for everything did my head in! Probably only of interest to those with a burning desire to learn more about CAR. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read of a comple and long-suffered land. Topics vary widely by chapter, but all echo elements of poor governance, wanton rent-seeking, government abandonment of institutions and regional interference and dominance by stronger neighbors. Below is just a snippet from one of the earlier chapters, to give a sense of the multi-storied research and writing to be found in the book.

"According to Ashforth, spiritual insecurity is a 'sense of unease arising from the conditions of knowing that invisible forces are acting upon one's life but not knowing what they are and how to relate to them.' Witchcraft is... widespread in the region and at epidemic proportions in Central African Rep., where it can result in death and years long prison terms. Every single day someone is killed... for having perpetrated witchcraft. These dynamics point to the problematic... border between the visible and invisible worlds among the population and provide some explanation of the predatory behavior of those that represent the state and the elites of the country. It would be wrong to assume that the problematic management of the borders between the visible and the invisible realms is simply connected with underdevelopment or backwardness. Central Africans have been highly adept at adopting many new practices from the outside world in terms of family organization, farming, settlement patterns and political organizing..."

And a snippet from the closing chapter...

Humanitarian initiatives are supposed to be temporary measures... (hence) the "humanitarian accordion", where international actors rush in to replace a weak social service sector rather than build capacity, and then slowly retreat until the next crisis. This leave the country weaker than it had been prior to the intervention and requires an even larger humanitarian presence the next time around.

[Jennifer Pletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of many people bringing together the nations history of rebellion and instability. The author's collected information from just about everyone who has written about this country in the last 20 years and told the story of the country's successes and failures.



This book was dry. It read like a manual, and I really had a hard time wanting to pick it up and keep going. There is not much out there from this country, so I did read the entire thing. And it was very factual and I learned quite a bit. The way it is written though just didn't draw you in to wanting to keep learning more. It is definitely a broad introduction to the Central African Republic. I just wish it held my interest a little more.

[Arturo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read on a wide variety of CAR topics. The editors managed to cover several aspects that help understand the situation in which CAR is nowadays. The book is a compilation of writings of several authors (including some Central Africans) and as such can be repetitive in some accounts but overall it is quite an interesting look into the last fifty years in the CAR.

It poses a dynamic view of the country instead of a simplistic overview of the country's shaping forces. Internal and external forces are both described in depth so that the reader gets the whole picture and not just some factors that have affected CAR.

[Chuliomartinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book that both captures the history and explains the undercurrents, actors and motivation forming it. Also a very sad book, since it proves that the long suffering of people is just a pretext for everyones agendas.

[Nico · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written history of CAR

[Madeline "Fisch" Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy to report it makes sense! Clear concise writing with wonderful explanations.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful primer on a wide variety of issues facing CAR - provides a great orientation to other more academic studies.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely a much needed book, being one of the only available on the Central African Republic. However, the chapter selection seems a bit off. It is probably the case that all authors available to write on the subject were used, and since there are so few experts on CAR, anyone one able to contribute was used.

[Woman Who Weaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of acronyms. And very sad. But an excellent look at a neglected region.

[Kevin Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I am not sure this book completely made sense of the Central African Republic for me, the non-professional reader. But since it's a collection of essays written, it seems, directly for people involved in things like UN rescue missions in the country, maybe that's okay.

This is definitely a homework-style book, and occasionally getting through it felt like a chore. Some chapters get utterly lost in an alphabet soup of organizations shorthand acronyms. But there are a few standout histories and zoomed-in looks at local regions, with a few essays focused enough that they felt like they could cover a topic without getting sucked into the Large Issues With The World And Humanity.

I guess I'd say I got this from the reading: the thesis the book lands on is that the CAR is complicated and under-thought-about because other countries always get the sexy newspaper headlines. And as a result, that has made sometimes-noble-spirited interventions there all messed up. Humanitarian organizations occasionally toss scads of cash at the country, then lose interest before the underlying causes are addressed, leaving things primed to go right back to the way they were before. This has resulted in a lot of corruption and a state that largely ignores its citizens without real consequence -- and that's exacerbated by regional challenges and conflicts, and sometimes leads to revolutions.

Also there's a chapter about Kony, who I know about because of that weird hashtag campaign from 2012.

Something like that. Did that make sense of the Central African Republic?