Repertoires of Domination: Decentralization as Process in Botswana and Senegal

• Published in: World development Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 439 - 449
• Main Authors: Poteete, Amy R., Ribot, Jesse C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2011; Elsevier; Pergamon Press Inc
• Series: World Development
• Subjects: Africa; Botswana; Decentralization; Decentralization in government; Democracy; Democratization; Domination; domination decentralization natural resource management democratization Africa Botswana Senegal; Empowerment; Local communities; Local government; Management; Measurement; natural resource management; Natural resources; Political power; Power relations; Resource management; Senegal; Studies; Senegal; Botswana; democratization; domination; decentralization; Senegal; Botswana; Africa; natural resource management
• ISSN: 0305-750X; 1873-5991
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.09.013

Decentralization promises to empower local actors, but threatens others with a loss of power. We describe “repertoires of domination” as the set of acts actors perform to defend—or entrench and expand—their positions. We illustrate, through case studies of decentralization in natural resource sectors in Botswana and Senegal, how repertoires of domination prevent local-level democratization. The concept of repertoire brings attention to the availability of multiple, substitutable acts of domination that draw upon varied sources of power. Neither decentralization nor democratization can be achieved once and for all. These processes are both advanced and halted through acts of contestation.