State classes, opposition, democratization: On the outcomes and prospects of cross-class mobilization in (former) bureaucratic development societies

Abstract

This dissertation asks what outcomes cross-class coalitions in Africa in the last and current decade have produced so far. Cross-class coalitions formulate broad and substantive demands for social change. The thesis therefore also asks under what conditions these coalitions can actually realize the broad and substantive demands that they formulate. To formulate an answer to these two key questions, the thesis qualitatively studies such cross-class coalitions in-depth in Uganda, compares the trajectories of cross-class coalitions in Burkina Faso and Taiwan, and looks at economic programs in Tanzania. Building on earlier literature but going beyond those works, I argue that pushing through broad demands and ultimately replacing the remnants of the state class (democratization in the real sense) requires durable cross-class coalitions. The durability of such coalitions rests to a significant degree on the empowerment of the lower classes. Empowerment of the lower classes is a result of successful economic development programs that foster mass incomes and consequently mass demand. I hypothesize that there are basically two ways of how this empowerment can be brought about. First, the remnants of state classes in such former bureaucratic development societies have the option to pursue economic programs that empower the lower classes. The pursuit of such a program disempowers the remnants of the state classes but allows them to potentially survive in the form of a polticial party and participate in the democratic game. Second, cross-class coalitions can try to pursue such a program themselves but are in a far weaker position to do so. Apart from contributing to reestablishing a class-analytical approach in Africanist political science and further developing the state class theory, there are real practical implications of this research for development cooperation. The empowerment of the lower classes and hence supporting cross-class coalitions in their quest to fundamentally change the status quo requires a holistic macro approach focusing on increasing mass incomes. The thesis uses ethnographic data, interviews, and newspaper articles gathered during two field trips to Uganda in 2020 and 2022 as well as other primary and secondary literature on Burkina Faso, Taiwan, and Tanzania to illustrate this argument.