The political economy of emergency: postcolonialism, crisis governance and decolonial alternatives

Johnson, Hope 2026. The political economy of emergency: postcolonialism, crisis governance and decolonial alternatives. Journal of Law and Society 10.1111/jols.70043

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Abstract

The political rhetoric surrounding the Horn of Africa is perpetually framed through narratives of crisis, tragedy and emergency. These labels, rather than simply being used to describe instability, function as tools of governance to normalise dysfunction and entrench cycles of dependency. Drawing on postcolonial frameworks, the discourse interrogates how such crisis narratives obscure and ignore structural issues. Further, this sustains and promotes external authority, often rooted in colonial narratives of the region. The exploration of case studies, Somalia and South Sudan, highlighting how international interventions, often framed as peacebuilding or humanitarian efforts, reinforce the very ‘crisis’ it aims to address. The solution to decolonise this paradigm created by western interventionist economies lies in alternatives grounded in African epistemologies of governance that centre local sovereignty. In doing so, reimagining governance beyond ‘emergency’, towards sustainable political autonomy, rooted in localised political power, emerges as the primary, if not only, viable solution.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0263-323X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 February 2026
Date of Acceptance:	15 January 2026
Last Modified:	26 Feb 2026 11:16
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185323

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