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The Improvised State

Sovereignty, Performance and Agency in Dayton Bosnia

Alex Jeffrey author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:28th Sep '12

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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The Improvised State cover

The Improvised State provides a highly developed account of the nature and outcomes of Bosnian state practices since the Dayton Peace Agreement. Jeffrey presents new and significant theories, based on extensive fieldwork in Bosnia, which advance understanding of state building.

  • Provides a major contribution to recent academic debates as to the nature of the state after violent conflict, and offers invaluable insights into state building
  • Introduces the idea of state improvisation, where improvisation refers to a process of both performance and resourcefulness
  • Uses the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu to explore how powerful agencies have attempted to present a coherent vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina following the conflict 1992-5
  • Advances our understanding of the Bosnian state by focusing on the practices of statecraft fostered in the post-Dayton era
  • Research based on four periods of residential fieldwork in Bosnia, which allowed a detailed analysis of political practices in the country
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“I really enjoyed the book. It provides an empirically-rich, methodology-cally-rigorous and conceptually-grounded account of the state ‘in action’. It should prove to be essential reading for all those social scientists interested in the state but will also provide inspiration for all those interested in political geography, understandings of power and notions of performance.”  (Cultural Geographies, 27 December 2013)

ISBN: 9781444336993

Dimensions: 236mm x 160mm x 14mm

Weight: 431g

220 pages