While the ‘soft’ state may be metaphorically descriptive of the malleability, hegemonic impotence and functional incapacitation of the post‐colonial state in Africa, the class functionality of state softness remains ambivalent and problematic. Although a soft, institutionally fragile state with multiple informal points of entry is generally conducive to processes of class formation at the top, it is doubtful whether such an impaired apparatus of political domination can be reproductive of long term ruling class interests. And because the class whose formation is made possible by institutional fragility lacks a hegemonic ideology and is largely parasitic and unproductive in its modes of consumption and accumulation, it is inherently incapable of leading a genuine capitalist, populist or socialist transformation of African society. This incongruent, stultifying duality in the class functionality of the soft state is at the centre of the problem posed by the contemporary political and economic retardation of African societies.
Young M. Crawford and Turner T.. 1985. . The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State . , Madison : : University of Wisconsin Press. .
Skocpol T.. 1979. . States and Social Revolutions . , London : : Cambridge University Press. .
Joseph R.. 1984. . “‘Class, State and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria’. ”. In State and Class in Africa . , Edited by: Kasfir N.. London : : Cass. .
Bayart J. F. . 1986. . “‘Civil Society in Africa’. ”. In Political Domination in Africa . , Edited by: Chabal P.. Cambridge University Press. .
Hamilton N.. 1982. . The Limits of State Autonomy . , Princeton University Press. .
Fiori G.. 1970. . Antonio Gramsci: Life of a Revolutionary . , London : : New Left Books. .
Carnoy M.. 1984. . The State and Political Theory . , Princeton University Press. .
Hyden G.. 1983. . No Shortcuts to Progress . , Berkeley : : University of California Press. .
Fatton R.. 1988. . ‘Bringing the Ruling Class Back In: Class, State and Hegemony in Africa’. . Comparative Politics . , Vol. 20((3))
Stinchcombe A.. 1968. . Constructing Social Theories . Harcourt, Brace, New York :
Cohen G.. 1978. . Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defense . , Princeton University Press. .
Minikin V.. 1979. . Indirect Political Participation in Two Sierra Leone Chiefdoms’. . Journal of Modern African Studies . , Vol. 11((1))
Lonsdale J.. 1981. . ‘States and Social Processes in Africa: A Historiographical Survey’. . African Studies Review . , Vol. 24:
Edelman M.. 1967. . The Symbolic Uses of Politics . , Urbana : : University of Illinois Press. .
Hayward F. and Dumbuya A.. 1983. . ‘Political Legitimacy, Political Symbols and National Leadership’. . Journal of Modem African Studies . , Vol. 21((4))