The economics of dispossession: The Palestinians

Reviewing the study of US policy towards Africa: from intellectual ‘backwater’ to theory construction

White Men Don't Have Juju: An American Couple's Adventure Through Africa. Pam Ascanio, Chicago, IL: The Noble Press, 1992. 345 pp.

Beyond Safaris: A Guide to Building People‐to‐People Ties With Africa. Kevin Danaher, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1991. 193 pp.

Free at Last? US Policy Toward Africa and the End of the Cold War. Michael Clough, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1992. 145 pp.

US Economic Policy Toward Africa. Jeffrey Herbst, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1992. 82 pp.

High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood. Chester A Crocker, New York: W W Norton, 1992. 533p

African Americans and US Policy Toward Africa 1850–1925: In Defense of Black Nationality. Elliott P Skinner, Washington, DC: Howard University Press, 1992. 555 pp.

An African American in South Africa: The Travel Notes of Ralph J Bunche. 28 September 1937–1 January 1938. Robert R Edgar, (ed), Athens, OH: Ohio University Press; Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1992. 398 pp.

Mobutu or Chaos? The United States and Zaire, 1960–1990. Michael G Schatzberg, Lanham, MD: University Press of America; Philadelphia, PA: Foreign Policy Research Institute, 1991. 115 pp.

The United States, Great Britain, and Egypt, 1945–1956: Strategy and Diplomacy in the Early Cold War. Peter L Hahn, Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1992. 359 pp.

Nigeria, Africa, and the United States From Kennedy to Reagan. Robert B Shepard, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991. 193 pp.

American Intellectuals and African Nationalists, 1955–1970. Martin Staniland, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991. 310 pp.

The Political Economy of Third World Intervention: Mines, Money, and US Policy in the Congo Crisis. David N Gibbs, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1991. 322 pp.

Arms for the Horn: US Security Policy in Ethiopia and Somalia 1953–1991. Jeffrey A Lefebvre, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. 351 pp.

Latin American church and politics

Politics and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. John M Kirk, Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1992. 246 pp.

Popular Voices in Latin American Catholicism. Daniel H Levine, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992. 403 pp.

Kingdoms Come: Religion and Politics in Brazil. Rowan Ireland, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. 262 pp.

Commentaries on Muslim Women

Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting boundaries in sex and gender. Nikki R Keddie and Beth Baron (eds), New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991. 333 pp. £19.95 hb

Women and Gender in Islam. Leila Ahmed, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992. 248 pp.

Women, Islam and the State,. Deniz Kadiyoti (ed), London: Macmillan Press, 1991. 271 pp.

Negritude and Africa: Armah's account     

The Mexican State and democracy: The ambiguities of corporatism

The Author thanks Arnaldo Córdova, Guillermo O'Donnell, Ray Morrow, Arturo Sáenz Ferral, Daniel Schugurensky and Arthur Vidich for their valuable comments to previous versions of this article.     

The state of politics in Africa: The corporatist factor

In the past decade, studies of thestate in Africa have either suggested its pervasiveness in both political and economic life or have concentrated on its nonrepresentative (i.e., undemocratic) nature and its dependence on foreign capital for its survival. This study adopts a different reasoning. It suggests that thestate in African countries should be viewed as grappling with problems of managing society within the context of underdevelopment, a task that is increasingly becoming more difficult given the recurring economic crises on the continent. Politics ofcorporatist organization thus become an attractive option for the state to express its authority and attempt to legitimize its existence.