Browsing by Author "Meek, Stephanie Angela"

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    Towards a pluralistic account of gangs: Perspectives from Sub-Saharan Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03 ) Meek, Stephanie Angela; Lamb, Guy; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There is no universally accepted definition of a gang. Conceptual ambiguity underlies the study of gangs, and as such, there is little consensus on what a gang is or what its core features entail. Furthermore, most of the literature on gangs is derived from Western contexts, predominantly North America and Europe. The field of research on gangs in Africa is markedly understudied. Gangs on the continent are responsible for high levels of violence, exhibit connections to transnational organised crime, and play a significant role in political processes and state corruption, highlighting the importance of studying these groups. There is, however, a distinct lack of information on the operations, size, and structure of gangs on the continent. The nature of the relationships between gangs and the state, as well as between gangs and society in the African context, are also not explored in great depth. This brings into question whether the dominant existing literature can adequately account for gangs in Africa, or whether a more nuanced perspective is required to understand these groups. This thesis aims to address this concern, by investigating why gangs in Africa are distinctive from those in the Global North, which involves examining their essential characteristics. Sub-Saharan Africa is selected as the geographical region in which this analysis takes place, and the research is informed by case studies based on the operations of gangs in major cities in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Nigeria. The information gleaned from these case studies is used to construct a typology of gangs in Sub-Saharan Africa, to enhance knowledge of these groups. The gangs are categorised according to four features, namely their objectives, relationship with the state, relationship to society, and degree of institutionalisation. It is acknowledged that the strict categorisation of gangs into different types is often an ineffective pursuit, given the flexibility and dynamism of these groups, and the typology is in this sense perhaps better understood as a heuristic framework to help understand gangs in Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, the analysis of gangs in the African context holds implications for the concept of the ‘gang’ as well as for its utility in accounting for gangs in non-Western settings. It is argued that a pluralistic account of gangs is necessary to make sense of these groups, with the understanding that these groups appear to defy definition and are dynamic rather than static. This entails that their capacity for transformation should be central to how they are conceptualised, which allows for the intersections and overlapping between different non-state armed groups, a feature that is important to incorporate in notions of how gangs operate in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study therefore endeavours to provide a foundation for further research by offering an examination of gangs that are not well-studied, evaluating why they are distinctive from ostensibly similar groups in the Global North, and re-assessing how they can be understood and conceptualised.