Lexington Books Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong (Conflict and Security in the Developing World)

Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong expands the discourse on indigenous knowledge. With several examples and case histories, the work defines, characterizes, and explains indigenous conflict management strategies in West Africa, particularly in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The book critically evaluates indigenous conflict management strategies with a view to determining their effectiveness in the context of the societies' history and culture, and the relevance and adaptability of these strategies in contemporary contexts. This book takes a scholarly approach, avoiding romanticizing or idealizing indigenous conflict management strategies in West Africa. It advocates a set of mechanisms by which the best elements of indigenous knowledge and skills in conflict management may be deployed to settle contemporary disputes, and made portable for adoption and adaptation by other complex societies in the region and beyond. Review Beginning with its title, Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong captures the rich spirit of indigenous conflict management attitudes and strategies in West Africa and beyond. It digs deep into the layers of understanding rolled up in traditional practices and examines their relation--often but not necessarily conflictual--with modern practice. This solid volume is built on conceptual developments and many cases that provide the basis for insight into traditional society and introspection into modern ways.--I. William Zartman, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong offers a wonderfully far-ranging, yet in-depth, discussion of conflict resolution and prevention in West Africa, with a particular focus on Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. With careful attention to the cultural and institutional contexts in which conflict takes place, the chapters demonstrate the need to take indigienous norms seriously in an age when international actors promote 'best practices' without always taking these norms into account. The resulting combination of critical commentary with descriptions of indigenous conflict management strategies will be useful to scholars and practitioners alike. Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong is an extremely important and very welcome addition to the literature on conflict resolution in West Africa.--Niklas Hultin, George Mason University About the Author Akanmu G. Adebayo is professor of history and director of the Center for Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University. Joseph Kingsley Adjei is a PhD candidate in International Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University. Jesse J. Benjamin is associate professor in the Departments of Sociology and Criminal Justice, and Interdisciplinary Studies, at Kennesaw State University. Brandon D. Lundy is associate professor of anthropology and associate director of the PhD program in International Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University.