Strong Bar, Weak State? Lawyers, Liberalism and State Formation in Zambia

Author: Gould, Jeremy

Source: Development and Change, Volume 37, Number 4, July 2006 , pp. 921-941(21)

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Abstract:

Members of the legal profession exercise potent, though largely hidden, influence on political processes in modern societies. This is taken for granted with respect to established democracies but the political agency of lawyers remains a largely unstudied phenomenon in post-colonial Africa. This contribution interrogates the role of Zambian lawyers and their Law Association in recent political developments in that country. The central focus of the article is on the Oasis Forum, a unique coalition of lawyers, clergy and feminists that blocked the incumbent president's unconstitutional bid for a third term in office in 2001. The article examines the rising importance of legal process and discourse in the political realm and reflects on the significance of an increasingly aggressive ideology of legalism for state formation in Zambia.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2006.00507.x

Affiliations: 1: Fellow of the Academy of Finland based at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Helsinki; , Email: gould@valt.helsinki.fi.

Publication date: 2006-07-01