Crude Moves

In 2011, Niger became a new oil producer. Based on an extended case study of the country’s entry into the oil-age, the book offers a nuanced examination of the local, regional, national and international dynamics that have shaped Niger’s contemporary socio-political configuration. The analysis of the political order in the oil era helps to situate recent developments, such as the military coup of 16 July 2023, within the broader historical continuities and political logics that characterise the country. While the coup has fuelled speculation about possible alliances and motivations linked to the country’s anticipated oil boom, it must be situated within a complex web of political, economic and social dynamics that this book carefully dissects. “Crude Moves” provides a much-needed political anthropology of contemporary Nigerien politics and society, avoiding analyses that overemphasise either oil (the ‘resource curse’ literature) or ‘African’ traditional culture (the ‘neo-patrimonialism’ literature) as the determining factors in the political game. Instead, it analyses how a socio-political configuration has historically emerged over time through introverted and extroverted dynamics.