1.2 Competing Claims and Individuals’ Choices

"The perspective I present here is not simply that non-state arenas of authority and associated social institutions shape individuals’ choices but that multiple communities often vie for control over their actions. The Ghanaian bureaucrat, Yemeni policeman, Jordanian voter, and American citizen presented earlier do not respond only to their kin, tribe, or religious arenas of authority any more than they respond solely to the state. The strengths of arenas vary across space and time, as well as for different individuals, depending on their position within the community (e.g., leader versus follower, elder versus youth). Often, the inelasticity of social demands becomes all too evident; particularly within development settings, institutions outside the state that shape actions lead to outcomes contra state and programming objectives. At other times, the state may wrest control from even powerful non-state authorities, either by acting alone or in conjunction with other arenas."

Full Chapter via Cambridge Core: https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/everyday-choices/41C482AE689FE13A4A4A4EFA480032D3

This audiobook is produced by Mediateknik at the University of Gothenburg.

© Lust, E. (2022). Everyday Choices: The Role of Competing Authorities and Social Institutions in Politics and Development (Elements in the Politics of Development). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009306164

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