 Oil as the ‘curse’ of conflict in Africa: peering through the smoke and mirrorsCyril Obi Review of African Political Economy, 2010, vol. 37, issue 126, 483-495 Abstract: This article interrogates the framing of the resource curse as a central causal mechanism in the resource abundance--conflict nexus in Africa. It is argued that explaining such conflicts on the basis of the ways natural resources either act as an incentive/motive for rebel groups, or erode and weaken states, does not adequately capture the complex histories, dimensions and transnational linkages to civil conflict in Africa. The article lays bare the attempts by a hegemonic discourse to obfuscate the reality of the fundamental and transnational underpinnings of the resource--conflict nexus. It is argued that the resource curse perspective cannot fully explain conflict in African oil states, and rather, a case is made for an alternative model based on radical political economy which lays bare the class relations, contradictions and conflicts rooted in the subordination of the continent and its resources to transnational processes and elites embedded in globalised capitalist relations. Date: 2010 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:revape:v:37:y:2010:i:126:p:483-495 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2010.530947 Access Statistics for this article Review of African Political Economy is currently edited by Graham Harrison, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Claire Mercer, Nicolas Pons-Vignon, Aurelia Segatti and Ray Bush More articles in Review of African Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.