Abstract
The current paper is keen to elucidating the nexus of social structure, economic exclusion, and wealth inequality as the instigating causes of political instability in the milieu of Africa. The paper uses eclectic notions including economic, sociological, and governance ideas. The panel dataset for the years 1990–2018 is amassed for 34 African countries, principally from the World Development Indicators, African Development Bank, and Fund for Peace databases. The country-specific fixed effects regression has been run using STATA software. The statistical finding suggests that hierarchical social structures cause economic exclusion and trigger conflict. Conversely, adapting an inclusive development approach is bearable remedy for the national social, economic, and political fragility of the countries. The foremost merit of the paper is that it encompasses the notion of structural and economic exclusion in the theories of peace and development.
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Notes
- 1.
John Locke claims that the earth (land) is the property of people in common. However, each people own their body, and when they apply it as labour to nature, then they are entitled property and wealth. He takes a simple example: “when I pick an apple, I own the apple, but when everybody wants to pick the apple, there is a need of rule of the game.”, i.e. institution. Rules of the game do not only cause wealth, but also distribution (Locke 1988; Woldegiorgis 2020a, p. 110; Brubaker 2012).
- 2.
Social economics uses normative human values or value judgments as an applied economic policy instrument. It is intended to change the prevailing “undesirable reality and achieve a desirable end”. “Social justice is a set of normative values which define and specify morally right social structures, relationships, and institutions to improve the wellbeing of people at the bottom of the social pyramid” (Rider 2005).
- 3.
Further information about the composite index is available at: https://fragilestatesindex.org/indicators/ (Accessed 29 December 2021).
- 4.
For further details, see https://fragilestatesindex.org/indicators/e2/ (Retrieved 23 December 2021).
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Mulugeta Woldegiorgis, M. (2022). Social Structure, Economic Exclusion, and Fragility? Pertinent Theories and Empirics from Africa. In: AlDajani, I.M., Leiner, M. (eds) Reconciliation, Heritage and Social Inclusion in the Middle East and North Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08713-4_23
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