Neopatrimonialism and Corruption: Towards a New common Sense

Neopatrimonialism, according to the distinguished development|scholar, Thandika Mkandawire [2015. "Neopatrimonialism and the|Political Economy of Economic Performance in Africa: Critical|Reflections." World Politics 67 (3): 563-612], provides the 'common|denominator' for a host of practices of politics in Africa; viz.|patronage, corruption, cronyism, and predation. So deeply|embedded is this view among mainstream thinkers, that|'underneath every policy lurks neopatrimonialism', that the idea|has come to be imbued with the 'air of irrefutable common|sense'. This paper deconstructs common sense refracted through|the lens of present-day statecraft and the deceptive and|subversive nature of contemporary neoliberal governance. It|cautiously outlines the contours of a new common sense, placing|emphasis on theorisation, a situated politics, institutional|recalibration, fundamental changes in social relations, and the|adoption of 'bad' and unorthodox development policies.