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EXTRACTION OFFSHORE, POLITICS INSHORE, AND THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2013

Alicia Campos-Serrano
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Abstract

Recent economic and socio-political dynamics in the territories that form Equatorial Guinea are related, in different ways, to the extraction of hydrocarbons from its Exclusive Economic Zone since the mid-1990s. These transformations are strongly mediated by specific social groups, especially the family that has held power since 1968 and transnational oil companies, whose relationships are central to the exclusive political configuration in the country. The article analyses this particular form of extraversion of power as part of a broader history of the region, in which the role of the state's sovereignty as articulated during decolonization is shown to be instrumental in the allocation of rights and the political economy of oil today. The article also discusses the spaces that the new political economy of oil has opened for alternative transnational connections around the country.

Résumé

Les dynamiques économique et sociopolitique récentes dans les territoires qui forment la Guinée équatoriale sont liées, de manières diverses, à l'extraction des hydrocarbures dans sa zone économique exclusive depuis le milieu des années 1990. Ces transformations passent surtout par des groupes sociaux spécifiques, notamment la famille qui est au pouvoir depuis 1968 et les compagnies pétrolières transnationales, dont les rapports jouent un rôle central dans la configuration politique exclusive du pays. L'article analyse cette forme particulière d'extraversion du pouvoir dans un cadre historique plus large de la région, dans lequel le rôle de la souveraineté de l’État telle qu'elle s'est exprimée lors de la décolonisation apparaît instrumental dans l'affectation de droits et l’économie politique du pétrole aujourd'hui. Il traite également des espaces qu'a ouverts la nouvelle économie politique du pétrole en faveur d'autres connexions transnationales dans le pays.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 83 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 314 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2013 

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