The social origins of Ivoirian exceptionalism: rural society and state formation

Ivory Coast is anomalous. In contrast to the bureaucratic regulation of rural society in much of Africa, it has adopted relatively "hands-off" strategies of exploitation and governance. The explanation of this anomaly lies in the socioeconomic structure of peasant society. The article offers a structuralist critique of statist and neopluralist models of state-society relations. By arguing for the social determinants of state structures, it contradicts the view that African states are simply artifacts of colonialism with no organic links to society.