State and Class in Africa: A Case for Extending Analyses of the Form and Functions of the National State to the Urban Local State

Abstract

Four alternative theoretical approaches to analysing the form of the national state are outlined, their use in studies of African countries noted, and their appropriateness assessed, to provide background for a consideration of the possible utility of the concept of a local state in analysing African urban situations. Instrumentalist views of the national state In Africa are now less widely used than structuralist approaches, and so structuralist approaches have been considered in more detail, A review is presented of the findings of recent studies with respect to the form of the state and the class structure and processes of class formation in developmentalist African states, with particular reference to urban areas. The functions of the state in general terms at national and local levels are discussed, by use of Sandbrook's categorisation of development strategies in Africa. In the absence of studies of urban local government in Africa within the theoretical framework provided by debates on the form and functions of the state, some work on the functions of the local state in the United Kingdom is reviewed, and an initial assessment made of the extent to which the local state in Africa fulfils the same functions and has a similar, albeit limited, degree of autonomy from the national state. It is concluded that there is a case for focusing enquiry on subnational levels of the state in Africa, including the urban local state, and that structuralist views of the form and functions of the national state may be extended to providing a theoretical analysis at the local level, providing that the continuously changing nature and functions of the state, the dynamism and ambiguity of evolving class structures, and the importance of nonclass interests and identities are recognised.