Introduction: Permanent Emergency Welfare Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This book is about a journey — a journey into Africa and into its possibilities for modernization and democratization. It is also about individuals, their possibilities of survival and of getting ahead in the society. Hence, it is about defeats and hopes for a better life. More specifically, it investigates the relationship between development economics, social protection and democratization in the specific context of Sub-Saharan Africa.1 It includes an analysis of systemic problems and structural challenges, as well as a more in-depth examination of modernization, democratization and consolidation of democratic institution-related issues. In doing so, it sheds light on the exclusive origins of dictatorship and democracy.