Publications by Fellows: Elena-Perez Laguela: The Role of the State in Contemporary Processes of Late-late Development
In a paper in Iberoamerican Journal of Development Studies, our Fellow Elena Perez-Laguela explores the role of the state in development processes in Ethiopia.
According to the abstract, recent economic performance in Ethiopia has revived research on the role of the state in development processes. Assessing the relevance of the Ethiopian experience provides valuable insights to the discussion on the scope and limits of state action in other contemporary development experiences. This paper presents a case study based on elite interviews conducted during fieldwork in Ethiopia. The results of our research suggest that, while it is possible to argue that the Ethiopian state acquired developmentalist traits during the period 1994-2015, the characterisation of the state as «developmentalist»was used to sustain Meles Zenawi’s personalist political project. In Ethiopia, state-led development was not just an economic strategy aimed at structural transformation, but rather a means to maintain power.
Read the paper here.
