Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth ... more Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth century did not result from centuries-old internal social processes, but was directly determined by the formation and short-lived (by historical standards) existence and disintegration of the European colonial empires. The colonial borders reflected primarily the balance of forces between the metropolitan powers in this or that region, but not the preceding course of the region's own political, social, economic, and cultural history. With rare exceptions, many different peoples were forcibly united within a colony. Not only kinship but also cultural affinity among those peoples was often absent. At the same time, the colonial borders would divide one people or break the historically established regional systems of economic and cultural ties not less infrequently. Likewise, the colonialists would forcibly unite peoples that had never formed regional political and economic systems; moreover, had different levels of sociocultural complexity, and sometimes did not even know about each other or were historical enemies. At the same time, the colonial borders would often separate historically and economically connected peoples and societies. These features were supplemented by stadial and civilizational heterogeneity of the colonial societies. The elements of capitalism, implanted by the Europeans in different spheres, did not synthesize with a set of pre-capitalist features of the local societies. There was also a little intersection between the autochthonous and new sec
Among the lasting consequences of colonialism is the creation of a hybrid state structure that re... more Among the lasting consequences of colonialism is the creation of a hybrid state structure that replaces the legacies of the precolonial indigenous social authority patterns with new western paradigms. Notwithstanding the very few exceptions in Africa, postcolonial states are besieged with conflicts some of which are ethnic-related or struggles to control power and natural resources. My paper examines the Nigerian conflicts as explored in Chinua Achebe's ‘There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra’ (2012). The analytical work examines the uncomfortable relationship that exists between the state and the sub-nationalities and how these undermine the politics of state building and the socioeconomic development in Nigeria. It further examines the intersection between political and economic conflicts and how these impact on the construction of law and power paradigm. Although Achebe’s narrative is very in-depth in the analysis of Nigerian colonial and postcolonial problems, it ...
Although early exploits of the international criminal tribunals seem promising, a unique empirica... more Although early exploits of the international criminal tribunals seem promising, a unique empirical evaluation of its impact in global applications of criminal justice proves defective. A well-intentioned pursuit of criminal justice will ensure consistency and stability in the enforcement of the international humanitarian laws and principles to prevent impunity in situations of war or armed conflict. This study makes a trans-national evaluation of effectiveness of the criminal justice system with particular reference to issues that derive from the Nigeria–Biafra (Biafra) war. The framework of analyses is based on genocidal issues and incidences of war crimes highlighted in Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra and related literature on the Biafra war.
Although existing research on trust networks shows that ethnic networks, for example, have sustai... more Although existing research on trust networks shows that ethnic networks, for example, have sustained long-distance trade from the origins of cities and states onward, this article reveals that, even in the absence of connections to cities and states, by their nature and because of their commitment component, trust networks can also be uniquely customized and made to lend themselves to the peculiar enterprise that was slave-dealing in Igboland, even in contexts that are devoid of cities and states and their governmental trappings. This assertion about trust networks is substantiated in the article with an account of the effectiveness of the Aru Igbo trust network, which enabled the extensive participation of the Aru1 Igbo in the slave trade in the lower southeast Niger basin. Also, the article taps into Charles Tilly’s theoretical formulation on error correction to demonstrate that, in spite of the error, correction measures adopted by the abolitionist campaigners to bolster the purp...
Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth ... more Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth century did not result from centuries-old internal social processes, but was directly determined by the formation and short-lived (by historical standards) existence and disintegration of the European colonial empires. The colonial borders reflected primarily the balance of forces between the metropolitan powers in this or that region, but not the preceding course of the region's own political, social, economic, and cultural history. With rare exceptions, many different peoples were forcibly united within a colony. Not only kinship but also cultural affinity among those peoples was often absent. At the same time, the colonial borders would divide one people or break the historically established regional systems of economic and cultural ties not less infrequently. Likewise, the colonialists would forcibly unite peoples that had never formed regional political and economic systems; moreover, had different levels of sociocultural complexity, and sometimes did not even know about each other or were historical enemies. At the same time, the colonial borders would often separate historically and economically connected peoples and societies. These features were supplemented by stadial and civilizational heterogeneity of the colonial societies. The elements of capitalism, implanted by the Europeans in different spheres, did not synthesize with a set of pre-capitalist features of the local societies. There was also a little intersection between the autochthonous and new sec
Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth ... more Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth century did not result from centuries-old internal social processes, but was directly determined by the formation and short-lived (by historical standards) existence and disintegration of the European colonial empires. The colonial borders reflected primarily the balance of forces between the metropolitan powers in this or that region, but not the preceding course of the region's own political, social, economic, and cultural history. With rare exceptions, many different peoples were forcibly united within a colony. Not only kinship but also cultural affinity among those peoples was often absent. At the same time, the colonial borders would divide one people or break the historically established regional systems of economic and cultural ties not less infrequently. Likewise, the colonialists would forcibly unite peoples that had never formed regional political and economic systems; moreover, had different levels of sociocultural complexity, and sometimes did not even know about each other or were historical enemies. At the same time, the colonial borders would often separate historically and economically connected peoples and societies. These features were supplemented by stadial and civilizational heterogeneity of the colonial societies. The elements of capitalism, implanted by the Europeans in different spheres, did not synthesize with a set of pre-capitalist features of the local societies. There was also a little intersection between the autochthonous and new sec
Among the lasting consequences of colonialism is the creation of a hybrid state structure that re... more Among the lasting consequences of colonialism is the creation of a hybrid state structure that replaces the legacies of the precolonial indigenous social authority patterns with new western paradigms. Notwithstanding the very few exceptions in Africa, postcolonial states are besieged with conflicts some of which are ethnic-related or struggles to control power and natural resources. My paper examines the Nigerian conflicts as explored in Chinua Achebe's ‘There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra’ (2012). The analytical work examines the uncomfortable relationship that exists between the state and the sub-nationalities and how these undermine the politics of state building and the socioeconomic development in Nigeria. It further examines the intersection between political and economic conflicts and how these impact on the construction of law and power paradigm. Although Achebe’s narrative is very in-depth in the analysis of Nigerian colonial and postcolonial problems, it ...
Although early exploits of the international criminal tribunals seem promising, a unique empirica... more Although early exploits of the international criminal tribunals seem promising, a unique empirical evaluation of its impact in global applications of criminal justice proves defective. A well-intentioned pursuit of criminal justice will ensure consistency and stability in the enforcement of the international humanitarian laws and principles to prevent impunity in situations of war or armed conflict. This study makes a trans-national evaluation of effectiveness of the criminal justice system with particular reference to issues that derive from the Nigeria–Biafra (Biafra) war. The framework of analyses is based on genocidal issues and incidences of war crimes highlighted in Chinua Achebe’s There was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra and related literature on the Biafra war.
Although existing research on trust networks shows that ethnic networks, for example, have sustai... more Although existing research on trust networks shows that ethnic networks, for example, have sustained long-distance trade from the origins of cities and states onward, this article reveals that, even in the absence of connections to cities and states, by their nature and because of their commitment component, trust networks can also be uniquely customized and made to lend themselves to the peculiar enterprise that was slave-dealing in Igboland, even in contexts that are devoid of cities and states and their governmental trappings. This assertion about trust networks is substantiated in the article with an account of the effectiveness of the Aru Igbo trust network, which enabled the extensive participation of the Aru1 Igbo in the slave trade in the lower southeast Niger basin. Also, the article taps into Charles Tilly’s theoretical formulation on error correction to demonstrate that, in spite of the error, correction measures adopted by the abolitionist campaigners to bolster the purp...
Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth ... more Postcolonial societies are a unique event in world history. Their emergence in the mid-twentieth century did not result from centuries-old internal social processes, but was directly determined by the formation and short-lived (by historical standards) existence and disintegration of the European colonial empires. The colonial borders reflected primarily the balance of forces between the metropolitan powers in this or that region, but not the preceding course of the region's own political, social, economic, and cultural history. With rare exceptions, many different peoples were forcibly united within a colony. Not only kinship but also cultural affinity among those peoples was often absent. At the same time, the colonial borders would divide one people or break the historically established regional systems of economic and cultural ties not less infrequently. Likewise, the colonialists would forcibly unite peoples that had never formed regional political and economic systems; moreover, had different levels of sociocultural complexity, and sometimes did not even know about each other or were historical enemies. At the same time, the colonial borders would often separate historically and economically connected peoples and societies. These features were supplemented by stadial and civilizational heterogeneity of the colonial societies. The elements of capitalism, implanted by the Europeans in different spheres, did not synthesize with a set of pre-capitalist features of the local societies. There was also a little intersection between the autochthonous and new sec
Uploads
Papers by carol njoku