As the idea of globalization emerges as a key concept in social sciences in the twenty-first century, understanding how external forces and phenomena shape the politics of nation-states and communities is imperative. This 2001 volume calls attention to 'transboundary formations' - intersections of cross-border, national and local forces that produce, destroy or transform local order and political authority, significantly impacting on ordinary people's lives. It analyzes the intervention of external forces in political life, both deepening and broadening the concept of international 'intervention' and the complex contexts within which it unfolds. While transboundary formations can emerge anywhere, they have a particular salience in sub-Saharan Africa where the limits to state power make them especially pervasive and consequential. Including conceptual contributions and theoretically-informed case studies, the volume considers global-local connections, taking a fresh perspective on contemporary Africa's political constraints and possibilities, with important implications for other parts of the world.

1. Introduction Robert Latham, Ronald Kassimir and Thomas Callaghy; Part I. Historical Dimensions and Conceptual Frameworks: 2. Networks, moral discourse and history Frederick Cooper; 3. Defining transboundary connections: international arenas, translocal networks and transterritorial deployments Robert Latham; 4. Producing local politics: governance, representation and non-state organization in Africa Ronald Kassimir; Part II. Transboundary Networks, States and Civil Societies: 5. Networks and governance in Africa: innovation in debt regime Thomas Callaghy; 6. When networks blind: human rights and politics in Kenya Hans Peter Schmitz; 7. Global, state and local intersections: a study of power, authority and conflict in the Niger Delta oil communities CyrilI Obi; Part III. Political Economies of Violence and Authority: 8. How sovereignty matters: global markets and political economy of local politics in weak studies William Reno; 9. Post-modern warfare in Sierra Leone? Recovering the local and social in global-local constructions of violence Paul Richards and Caspar Fithen; 10. New sovereigns? The frontiers of wealth creation and regulatory authority in the Chad Basin Janet Roitman; 11. Out of the shadows Carolyn Nordstrom; Part IV. Reflections: 12. Authority and interventions in world politics Michael Barnett; 13. Toward a new research agenda Ronald Kassimir and Robert Latham.