Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I draw on empirical examples from Malawian civil servants involved in disaster relief interventions in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, to suggest that a focus on corruption, failure and indifference has obscured their sense of duty, which actually shapes their everyday practices.

Paper long abstract:

In academic literature on African civil servants, they are often portrayed as lacking capacity, deeply entangled in patronage networks, embroiled in all kinds of corruption and largely indifferent to the plight of their fellow countrymen. The general understanding of Malawian civil servants has been no exception to this stereotype, and moreover rests on numerous recent corruption scandals such as ‘Cashgate’ and the misuse of COVID-19 funds. In this paper, however, I draw on empirical examples from Malawian civil servants involved in disaster relief interventions in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, to suggest that this overarching focus on failure has obscured their sense of duty.

Conceptualising the state as instantiated in the everyday practices of civil servants, I spent the whole of 2019 conducting ethnographic fieldwork in a disaster-prone district in southern Malawi, where I followed civil servants working with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs. More so than merely consolidating their positions as ‘patrons of crisis’, I witnessed many instances during which they went beyond their strict professional responsibilities in an effort to balance and live up to additional (moral) obligations they experienced. I refer to this as civil servants’ sense of duty, which lies at the heart of their craft and shapes how they instantiate the state and seek to care for fellow citizens. Following my interlocutors' suggestions that one needs ‘a special heart’ in this line of work, I argue that this sense of duty is always present, but becomes more visible during times of crisis and disaster.