Paper short abstract:

Looking at the capital cities of Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau, this paper asks in how far the geopolitical marginality contributed to a level of social stability among citizens and their management of expectation in relations with the state despite chronic political turmoil.

Paper long abstract:

In the face of seemingly chronic —and spreading— political turmoil, much of the international and academic focus goes into the relations of turbulent states with their old and new partners in security and aid relations. Others zooms in on the decidedly local or transnational dimensions and effects of insecurity. The national arena of state-society relations remain somewhat overlooked. In this paper, I propose to shift perspective to the everyday dynamics between citizens and their public authorities in the political centres of states in chronic political turmoil. The Central African Republic and Guinea Bissau have historically have found themselves on the margin of former colonial empires and current geopolitics. I ask in how far the national political turbulence persisted because of the historic shelter from bigger international interest, and secondly, consider in how far this wider context contributed to a level of social stability among people and the management of expectations in their relation with the state. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the two capital cities – one in which the situation changed dramatically in the past decade, I propose to unpack what we can learn about state turbulence in West and Central Africa from how citizens navigate their relations amongst themselves and with their public authorities in the centre of power.