Institutional Clash: Empirical Evidence from Case Studies

Abstract

This chapter is based on ongoing projects in the region. It considers the “clashing of institutions” paradigm in more detail. We assess four case studies. We look at how the expansion of commercial agrarian activity impacts the enclave rural community and study the impact of a large-scale agrarian direct foreign investment project in biofuels in rural Sierra Leone. A second case assesses the clash between hierarchical ordering and the enclave and highlights how communities coped with the international top-down response to the recent outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease. We then look at a new form of institutional hybridity brought about by the expansion of markets that helped to pacify rebellious rural youth in Liberia and Sierra Leone. As an aside, we discuss how the advance of markets impacted on community norms and witchcraft accusations. A fourth case shows how attempts to commercialize agriculture may fail, and highlights the need for a better grasp of institutional hybridity.