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Introduction

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The Politics of Everyday Crime in Africa

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Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the main research questions raised throughout the book. The book assesses how individuals’ everyday crime and security experiences affect their political participation and their attitudes toward the state. This chapter also introduces the reader to the theoretical framework used to explain the puzzle of high state legitimacy perceptions in states that have weak state security capacity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “ANC to Focus on Crime and Education” says Zuma, Mail & Guardian Online, September 18, 2008. Street committees were largely developed by blacks under apartheid to provide a measure of protection and order at the local level. Because the South African state rarely provided security for blacks, street committees were seen as a legitimate local authority for dealing with both everyday crime and political violence that was unleashed on black communities by the apartheid regime and elements within the liberation movement.

  2. 2.

    This figure comes from a survey I administered during fieldwork in South Africa from October 2011–July 2012. The survey was conducted in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg with a total of 432 South African citizens.

  3. 3.

    Based on 2008 Afrobarometer survey data, Kushner and MacLean (2015) show that a substantial percentage of Africans report that non-state actors such as traditional leaders and community members assume primary responsibility for the provision of public goods. For example, close to one-third of Malawians and one-quarter of Tanzanians report that non-state actors primarily provide education.

  4. 4.

    Moran and Batley (2004) define non-state providers as all providers existing outside the public sector, whether they operate for profit or for philanthropic purposes.

  5. 5.

    When respondents from my 2010–2012 survey in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban were asked whose responsibility it is to keep people safe, 86% of respondents chose “central government” or “local government” as their response.

  6. 6.

    Africa News. “NGC 2010-Political Report of the President of the ANC Jacob Zuma”. September 22, 2010.

  7. 7.

    Sunday Times. “It’s time for a New Approach”. September 12, 2010. Agence France Presse. “South Africa May Re-Open Specialized Crime Units: Police Minister”. July, 1 2009; Daily News. “All Help is Welcome to Fight Crime: SAP”. November 12, 2009.

  8. 8.

    Cape Argus. “Mitchells Plain ‘Not Saturated With Drugs’ Despite Having Highest Number of Arrests”. September 25, 2009.

  9. 9.

    Los Angeles Times. “The horror of vigilante justice”. September 24, 2012.

  10. 10.

    CPF chairperson. Personal interview. December 30, 2010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Political Science, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Maryland, MD, USA

    Danielle C. Kushner

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  1. Danielle C. Kushner
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Kushner, D.C. (2019). Introduction. In: The Politics of Everyday Crime in Africa. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98095-9_1

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