Salafism and Political Order in Africa African Studies Series

Violent Islamic extremism is affecting a growing number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In some, jihadi Salafi organizations have established home bases and turned into permanent security challengers. However, other countries have managed to prevent the formation or curb the spread of homegrown jihadi Salafi organizations. In this book, Sebastian Elischer provides a comparative analysis of how different West and East African states have engaged with fundamentalist Muslim groups between the 1950s and today. In doing so, he establishes a causal link between state-imposed organizational gatekeepers in the Islamic sphere and the absence of homegrown jihadi Salafism. Illustrating that the contemporary manifestation of violent Islamic extremism in sub-Saharan Africa is an outcome of strategic political decisions that are deeply embedded in countries' autocratic pasts, he challenges conventional notions of statehood on the African continent, and provides new insight into the evolving relationships between secular and religious authority.

Introduction: Africa's changing security landscape; 1. Cases, concepts and variation; 2. Critical junctures and the formation of state-led national Islamic associations; 3. Missed opportunities and the formation of Islamic federations; 4. The state as demobilizer of activist Salafism; 5. The state as enabler and radicalizer of activist Salafism; 6. From theory generation to theory testing; 7. Autocratic legacies, the state and Salafism in Africa; 8. Conclusion: reviewing state-Islamic relations in Africa; Appendix.

Sebastian Elischer is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida, Gainesville where his research examines the effects of institutions and identities on state-building and democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has published on these topics in journals including Comparative Politics, Democratization and African Affairs and has advised governments on the unfolding security and political situation in several African countries. He is also the author of Political Parties in Africa: Ethnicity and Party Formation (2015).