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State Absence and State Formation in Solomon Islands: Reflections on Agency, Scale and Hybridity

Author

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  • Sinclair Dinnen
  • Matthew Allen

Abstract

type="main"> This article engages ethnographic research on perceptions of disputation, justice and security in rural Solomon Islands to reflect on issues of agency, power and scale in areas of limited statehood. Set against widespread popular perceptions of state retreat in Solomon Islands, the authors situate their study within the literature which addresses engagements with conflict-affected and fragile countries and, in particular, literature with an interest in the spaces created by prolonged state absence as potential sites of innovation and transformation. The article examines the role of agency and power at different scales in the highly contested processes of state formation underway in post-conflict Solomon Islands. Taking issue with the presumed privileging by local actors of non-state over state forms that runs through much of the hybridity literature, the authors suggest that international ‘state-building’ interventions, such as that recently experienced in Solomon Islands, require a more nuanced and historically informed understanding of local agency vis-à-vis the state in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Sinclair Dinnen & Matthew Allen, 2016. "State Absence and State Formation in Solomon Islands: Reflections on Agency, Scale and Hybridity," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(1), pages 76-97, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:47:y:2016:i:1:p:76-97
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/dech.12212
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shahar Hameiri, 2009. "State Building or Crisis Management? A critical analysis of the social and political implications of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 35-52.
    2. Roger Mac Ginty & Oliver Richmond, 2013. "The Local Turn in Peace Building: a critical agenda for peace," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 763-783.
    3. Julien Barbara, 2014. "From Intervention to Partnership—Prospects for Development Partnership in Solomon Islands after the RAMSI," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(2), pages 395-408, May.
    4. repec:wbk:wbpubs:4389 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Kate Meagher, 2012. "The Strength of Weak States? Non-State Security Forces and Hybrid Governance in Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(5), pages 1073-1101, September.
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    1. Mark Opoku Amankwa & Kwadwo Adusei-Asante & Alina Novak, 2025. "Handling Socio-institutional Traps–Inertia Towards Australia’s Resilient International Development Aid Programs in the Solomon Islands," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 41(2), pages 216-241, June.
    2. Adams, Carl & Neef, Andreas, 2019. "Patrons of disaster: The role of political patronage in flood response in the Solomon Islands," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-1.

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