Introduction: Abdul Raufu Mustapha and the study of difference and power in African states

Abstract

This special issue is dedicated to celebrating the intellectual life and legacy of Abdul Raufu Mustapha (1954-2017). In this introduction, we highlight three themes that permeate his work on social divisions within the African state: the everyday experiences of identity and difference; the dynamics of conflict and violence; and ‘whole-of-society’ governance and statecraft. Notable within Mustapha’s work on these themes, and within the papers that comprise this Special Issue, are interdisciplinary connections and deep, historically-informed empirical work. Using this empirical work, Mustapha frequently challenged theoretical framings of African states that pathologized them; instead, he forced us to understand African states on African terms, and argued that we could learn much from them. In this way, his legacy contains invaluable lessons about governance in complex and divided societies, on the African continent and elsewhere; and it demonstrates a practical method for the decolonisation of scholarship on Africa.