Police in Africa

'[A] collection of insightful ethnographic studies of policing in sub-Saharan Africa.' -- Foreign Affairs
This excellent collection resituates ethnography at the heart of policing studies through detailed and rigorous case studies into the everyday practice and contradictions of policing. In doing so it offers fresh and important insights into how we understand social conflicts and the state in Africa. -- Alexander Beresford, Associate Professor in African Politics, University of Leeds, author of South Africa's Political Crisis: Unfinished liberation and fractured class struggles
Combining historical, anthropological and political approaches to the police, this remarkable collection of case studies offers a crucial addition to the analysis of an institution regrettably understudied in Africa. A thorough and scrupulous inquiry into the ordinary work of law enforcement, it is a unique contribution to the comprehension of the repressive arm of the African state -- Didier Fassin, Visiting Professor, Princeton University, author of Enforcing Order: An Ethnography of Urban Policing
A remarkable ethnography, countering the dominant narrative on the corruption of law enforcement in particular and of the state in general. Not only does the book shed light on state formation in Africa, but it can also help us to reflect on the crisis of the police institution in Western countries. -- Jean-François Bayart, Honorary Research Fellow, Sciences Po CERI, author of The State in Africa
The book offers deep theoretical and historical engagements as well as innovative methodological approaches in order to advance our understanding of the literature on policing. It is a major contribution not only to policing studies in Africa, but also to the ways in which policing is thought about in the rest of the world. -- Luke Sinwell, senior researcher with the South African Research Chair, University of Johannesburg, co-author of Marikana: A View from the Mountain and a Case to Answer
These excellent studies of different police forces across Africa are greatly advantageous to the overall study of policing. Police in Africa provides detailed, nuanced analysis. The relevance of their findings extend far beyond their given context, and expands our understanding concepts such as the role of the state and bureaucracy, in Africa. -- Julia Eckert, Professor of Political Anthropology at the University of Bern, co-editor of Anthropological Theory