Stein Sundstøl Eriksen
Biographic Data
| ID | 318990 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stein Sundstøl Eriksen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stein Sundstøl |
| FAMILY NAME | Eriksen |
| SIGNATURE | ERIKSEN S S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Norwegian Institute of International Affairs |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 38 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
A Cause, but no Rebels: Coping with Oppression in a New Delhi Slum
This article analyzes the political activities of residents in a 50-year-old slum in New Delhi. Based on long-term fieldwork undertaken periodically between 2004 and 2019, we describe the forms of oppression experienced by slum residents, how they cope in their everyday lives and how they have responded to their oppression. In order to understand the nature of slum residents' political activity, we also analyze forms of group consciousness and so…
The Uses of Comparisons: A Critical Review of Approaches to Comparisons in Development Studies
This article discusses different forms of comparisons in development studies and some of the justifications that are used for making them. The main questions I discuss are the following: First, how are comparisons used in development studies? Second, how should comparisons be carried out? I distinguish between two main forms of comparisons. First; there are what I call asymmetrical comparisons, where one compares a case to an exemplar or model. I…
State effects and the effects of state building: Institution building and the formation of state-centred societies
This article discusses the assumptions underlying state-building efforts and the effects of these efforts. It addresses two main questions: why has state building not led to the establishment of effective states? And what are the effects of statebuilding? It is argued that these efforts have been based on an institutionalist model of the state derived from a Weberian framework, and that the basic reason why state building has failed is that the c…
Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital
There is no global public: The idea of the public and the legitimation of governance
Scholars of global governance have made much use of the public–private distinction in their exploration of the power of non-state actors and the constitution of authority beyond the state. But is this distinction analytically adequate? We subject the public–private distinction to analytical scrutiny and argue that it does not hold when analysing phenomena beyond the domestic setting. State actors are universal at the domestic level, but they are …
Regimes, constituencies and the politics of state formation: Zimbabwe and Botswana compared
This article analyses state formation in Botswana and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in the light of general theories of state formation. It seeks to explain why Botswana became a strong state, while state power in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe has eroded. Three main arguments are made. First, Zimbabwe’s experience shows that security threats and compulsion to collect revenue are not sufficient conditions for establishing a strong state. Second, the Botswana case indicat…
State failure’ in theory and practice: The idea of the state and the contradictions of state formation
This article provides a critique of the discourse of ‘failed states’, and outlines an alternative approach. It is argued that by taking the model of the modern state for granted, and by analysing all states in terms of their degree of correspondence with or deviation from this ideal, this discourse does not help us understand the nature of the states in question, or the processes that lead to strong or weak states. Instead, the idea of the state …
The Possibility of State Formation: The Experience of Botswana in a Theoretical Perspective
State Formation and the Politics of Regime Survival: Zimbabwe in Theoretical Perspective
This article analyses state formation in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. The main question posed is this: Why has state power eroded so dramatically? To answer this question, the development of the state is analysed in the light of general theories of state formation. In spite of a situation which according to prevailing theories was conducive for the formation of a strong state, Zimbabwe entered a downward spiral, where state power gradually eroded. To expla…
Nasjonale interesser i utviklingspolitikken
State-Building and Late Industrialisation in India
(2006). State-Building and Late Industrialisation in India. Forum for Development Studies: Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 175-177
The Politics of Survival in the Making of Weak and Strong States
This article outlines an approach to state building that focuses on the relationship between states and regimes. Our basic argument is that patterns of state formation and the emergence of strong or weak states are determined by three kinds of structural constraints: (1) the nature of the security threats faced by regimes; (2) the state's sources of revenue; and (3) the social basis of the ruling regime. The key mechanism that mediates between su…
The Politics of State Formation: Contradictions and Conditions of Possibility
State Failure in Theory and Practice
The two volumes edited by Robert Rotberg, State Failure and State Weakness in a Time of Terror and When States Fail: Causes and Consequences are the outcome of a large research project at Harvard University about failed states. The volumes bring together contributions from a number of leading experts, and most of the individual chapters are both insightful and well written. The review argues that the conception of state failure outlined by Rotber…
Den afrikanske staten: Idé og virkelighet
Krig og statssammenbrudd i Kongo
Bokspalte
State Crisis and the Problem of Statehood
In this review essay on the book Beyond State Crisis, edited by Crawford Young and Mark Beissinger, a collection of articles on state crisis in Africa and post-Soviet Eurasia, Eriksen first discusses their views on the impact of the colonial legacy. He then takes up their reflections on the relationship between state crisis and the international context within which it takes place. He argues that the book is an important contribution, which deser…
Book Notes
Globalisation and Development
John Degnbol-Martinussen's new book seeks to bring together these two debates, and shows how intimately related they are. Degnbol-Martinussen's aim is to discuss how recent changes in the international system associated with the term ‘globalisation’ affect the prospect for development in poor countries. The main focus is on the implications of globalisation for economic development. The book is well-written, and presents different theories and pe…
Bokspalte
Why Does Democracy Have to Do with It? van de Walle on Democracy and Economic Growth in Africa
This article reviews Nicholas van de Walle's discussion of the relationship between democracy and economic development in Africa. It puts forward three main arguments. First, it discusses how the relationship between democracy and economic development is affected by patrimonialism. Against van de Walle, Eriksen argues that patrimonialism is a system fundamentally based on redistribution, and that there is no prima facie reason to assume that the …
The State We're In: Recent Contributions to the Debate on State-Society Relations in Africa
The article reviews three main approaches to the study of political development in Africa in the 1990s, termed the civil society perspective, the culturalist perspective and political economy, respectively. It is argued that, of the three perspectives, political economy represents the best approach to understanding political development. At the same time, the culturalist school makes important points, which should be incorporated into an overall …
The Limits of Local Democracy: Decision-Making and Popular Influence in a Tanzanian and a Zimbabwean Council
Stein Sundstøl Eriksen, ‘The Limits of Local Democracy: Decision-Making and Popular Influence in a Tanzanian and a Zimbabwean Council’, Forum for Development Studies, 1999: 2, pp. 203–234. The article analyses processes of decision-making in two councils with formally democratic systems of local government—one in Tanzania and one in Zimbabwe. The concrete systems of decision-making in the two councils are examined and assessed in terms of the ext…
Political Regimes and Economic Development
There is no global public: The idea of the public and the legitimation of governance
Scholars of global governance have made much use of the public–private distinction in their exploration of the power of non-state actors and the constitution of authority beyond the state. But is this distinction analytically adequate? We subject the public–private distinction to analytical scrutiny and argue that it does not hold when analysing phenomena beyond the domestic setting. State actors are universal at the domestic level, but they are …
State failure’ in theory and practice: The idea of the state and the contradictions of state formation
This article provides a critique of the discourse of ‘failed states’, and outlines an alternative approach. It is argued that by taking the model of the modern state for granted, and by analysing all states in terms of their degree of correspondence with or deviation from this ideal, this discourse does not help us understand the nature of the states in question, or the processes that lead to strong or weak states. Instead, the idea of the state …
Regimes, constituencies and the politics of state formation: Zimbabwe and Botswana compared
This article analyses state formation in Botswana and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in the light of general theories of state formation. It seeks to explain why Botswana became a strong state, while state power in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe has eroded. Three main arguments are made. First, Zimbabwe’s experience shows that security threats and compulsion to collect revenue are not sufficient conditions for establishing a strong state. Second, the Botswana case indicat…
The State We're In: Recent Contributions to the Debate on State-Society Relations in Africa
The article reviews three main approaches to the study of political development in Africa in the 1990s, termed the civil society perspective, the culturalist perspective and political economy, respectively. It is argued that, of the three perspectives, political economy represents the best approach to understanding political development. At the same time, the culturalist school makes important points, which should be incorporated into an overall …
State effects and the effects of state building: Institution building and the formation of state-centred societies
This article discusses the assumptions underlying state-building efforts and the effects of these efforts. It addresses two main questions: why has state building not led to the establishment of effective states? And what are the effects of statebuilding? It is argued that these efforts have been based on an institutionalist model of the state derived from a Weberian framework, and that the basic reason why state building has failed is that the c…
Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital
The Possibility of State Formation: The Experience of Botswana in a Theoretical Perspective
State Formation and the Politics of Regime Survival: Zimbabwe in Theoretical Perspective
This article analyses state formation in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. The main question posed is this: Why has state power eroded so dramatically? To answer this question, the development of the state is analysed in the light of general theories of state formation. In spite of a situation which according to prevailing theories was conducive for the formation of a strong state, Zimbabwe entered a downward spiral, where state power gradually eroded. To expla…
The Politics of Survival in the Making of Weak and Strong States
This article outlines an approach to state building that focuses on the relationship between states and regimes. Our basic argument is that patterns of state formation and the emergence of strong or weak states are determined by three kinds of structural constraints: (1) the nature of the security threats faced by regimes; (2) the state's sources of revenue; and (3) the social basis of the ruling regime. The key mechanism that mediates between su…
State Crisis and the Problem of Statehood
In this review essay on the book Beyond State Crisis, edited by Crawford Young and Mark Beissinger, a collection of articles on state crisis in Africa and post-Soviet Eurasia, Eriksen first discusses their views on the impact of the colonial legacy. He then takes up their reflections on the relationship between state crisis and the international context within which it takes place. He argues that the book is an important contribution, which deser…
Political Regimes and Economic Development
The Limits of Local Democracy: Decision-Making and Popular Influence in a Tanzanian and a Zimbabwean Council
Stein Sundstøl Eriksen, ‘The Limits of Local Democracy: Decision-Making and Popular Influence in a Tanzanian and a Zimbabwean Council’, Forum for Development Studies, 1999: 2, pp. 203–234. The article analyses processes of decision-making in two councils with formally democratic systems of local government—one in Tanzania and one in Zimbabwe. The concrete systems of decision-making in the two councils are examined and assessed in terms of the ext…
Bokspalte
Why Does Democracy Have to Do with It? van de Walle on Democracy and Economic Growth in Africa
This article reviews Nicholas van de Walle's discussion of the relationship between democracy and economic development in Africa. It puts forward three main arguments. First, it discusses how the relationship between democracy and economic development is affected by patrimonialism. Against van de Walle, Eriksen argues that patrimonialism is a system fundamentally based on redistribution, and that there is no prima facie reason to assume that the …
The State We're In: Recent Contributions to the Debate on State-Society Relations in Africa
The article reviews three main approaches to the study of political development in Africa in the 1990s, termed the civil society perspective, the culturalist perspective and political economy, respectively. It is argued that, of the three perspectives, political economy represents the best approach to understanding political development. At the same time, the culturalist school makes important points, which should be incorporated into an overall …
Globalisation and Development
John Degnbol-Martinussen's new book seeks to bring together these two debates, and shows how intimately related they are. Degnbol-Martinussen's aim is to discuss how recent changes in the international system associated with the term ‘globalisation’ affect the prospect for development in poor countries. The main focus is on the implications of globalisation for economic development. The book is well-written, and presents different theories and pe…
Book Notes
Den afrikanske staten: Idé og virkelighet
Krig og statssammenbrudd i Kongo
Bokspalte
State Crisis and the Problem of Statehood
In this review essay on the book Beyond State Crisis, edited by Crawford Young and Mark Beissinger, a collection of articles on state crisis in Africa and post-Soviet Eurasia, Eriksen first discusses their views on the impact of the colonial legacy. He then takes up their reflections on the relationship between state crisis and the international context within which it takes place. He argues that the book is an important contribution, which deser…
The Politics of State Formation: Contradictions and Conditions of Possibility
State Failure in Theory and Practice
The two volumes edited by Robert Rotberg, State Failure and State Weakness in a Time of Terror and When States Fail: Causes and Consequences are the outcome of a large research project at Harvard University about failed states. The volumes bring together contributions from a number of leading experts, and most of the individual chapters are both insightful and well written. The review argues that the conception of state failure outlined by Rotber…
State-Building and Late Industrialisation in India
(2006). State-Building and Late Industrialisation in India. Forum for Development Studies: Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 175-177
The Politics of Survival in the Making of Weak and Strong States
This article outlines an approach to state building that focuses on the relationship between states and regimes. Our basic argument is that patterns of state formation and the emergence of strong or weak states are determined by three kinds of structural constraints: (1) the nature of the security threats faced by regimes; (2) the state's sources of revenue; and (3) the social basis of the ruling regime. The key mechanism that mediates between su…
Nasjonale interesser i utviklingspolitikken
The Possibility of State Formation: The Experience of Botswana in a Theoretical Perspective
State Formation and the Politics of Regime Survival: Zimbabwe in Theoretical Perspective
This article analyses state formation in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. The main question posed is this: Why has state power eroded so dramatically? To answer this question, the development of the state is analysed in the light of general theories of state formation. In spite of a situation which according to prevailing theories was conducive for the formation of a strong state, Zimbabwe entered a downward spiral, where state power gradually eroded. To expla…
State failure’ in theory and practice: The idea of the state and the contradictions of state formation
This article provides a critique of the discourse of ‘failed states’, and outlines an alternative approach. It is argued that by taking the model of the modern state for granted, and by analysing all states in terms of their degree of correspondence with or deviation from this ideal, this discourse does not help us understand the nature of the states in question, or the processes that lead to strong or weak states. Instead, the idea of the state …
Regimes, constituencies and the politics of state formation: Zimbabwe and Botswana compared
This article analyses state formation in Botswana and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe in the light of general theories of state formation. It seeks to explain why Botswana became a strong state, while state power in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe has eroded. Three main arguments are made. First, Zimbabwe’s experience shows that security threats and compulsion to collect revenue are not sufficient conditions for establishing a strong state. Second, the Botswana case indicat…
There is no global public: The idea of the public and the legitimation of governance
Scholars of global governance have made much use of the public–private distinction in their exploration of the power of non-state actors and the constitution of authority beyond the state. But is this distinction analytically adequate? We subject the public–private distinction to analytical scrutiny and argue that it does not hold when analysing phenomena beyond the domestic setting. State actors are universal at the domestic level, but they are …
Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital
State effects and the effects of state building: Institution building and the formation of state-centred societies
This article discusses the assumptions underlying state-building efforts and the effects of these efforts. It addresses two main questions: why has state building not led to the establishment of effective states? And what are the effects of statebuilding? It is argued that these efforts have been based on an institutionalist model of the state derived from a Weberian framework, and that the basic reason why state building has failed is that the c…
The Uses of Comparisons: A Critical Review of Approaches to Comparisons in Development Studies
This article discusses different forms of comparisons in development studies and some of the justifications that are used for making them. The main questions I discuss are the following: First, how are comparisons used in development studies? Second, how should comparisons be carried out? I distinguish between two main forms of comparisons. First; there are what I call asymmetrical comparisons, where one compares a case to an exemplar or model. I…
A Cause, but no Rebels: Coping with Oppression in a New Delhi Slum
This article analyzes the political activities of residents in a 50-year-old slum in New Delhi. Based on long-term fieldwork undertaken periodically between 2004 and 2019, we describe the forms of oppression experienced by slum residents, how they cope in their everyday lives and how they have responded to their oppression. In order to understand the nature of slum residents' political activity, we also analyze forms of group consciousness and so…
Political science (22 works) · Law (15 works) · Law (15 works) · Politics (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Economics (12 works) · State (computer science (11 works) · International Development and Aid (10 works) · Political economy (9 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (8 works)