Beschreibung
During the course of the last decades, the state experienced
a revival on the scene of international development as there
has been a growing acknowledgment amongst the international
development community that the state plays a key role in
enabling development in a specific society. Therefore, the
role of the state and especially the concept of
state-building have occupied a central place in the
development discourse. In that respect, a growing interest
has manifested itself in the discussion and analysis around
so-called “fragile states”. The author discussed the
development discourse around that state-building paradigm in
general and focuses through its field research in Colombia
specifically on the question of the state legitimacy in
so-called fragile contexts.
Marc De Santis is a development worker for
the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation currently
based in Ethiopia.
