15:30: Seminar: Liberia, Ebola, and the pitfalls of single-minded state-building objectives

Using the Ebola outbreak of 2014/15 as a case study, Robtel Neajai Pailey argues that Liberia’s postwar recovery is more likely to succeed if it factors in multiple layers of authority ‘below’ and ‘outside’ the state—such as domestic citizens and transnational actors. The lack of a robust public health system to withstand the shocks of an infectious disease exposed the erosion of formal systems of governance before Ebola. It also revealed that the locus of authority did not rest with the Liberian state, but rather amongst Liberians ‘below’ and ‘outside’ of it. She will demonstrate that while Liberia’s pursuit of a vertical state-building agenda at the behest of international donors unravelled during Ebola, the tactics employed by Liberians ‘below’ and ‘outside’ the postwar state were constituted by horizontal nation-building objectives and therefore appeared more legitimate. While it is difficult to prove a causal relationship between the interventions of non-state Liberian actors and the gradual decline in Ebola incidence rates, Dr Pailey underscores important correlations between Liberian-led public health measures and Ebola eradication. Her research provides a firm foundation for deeper analysis about the scope and magnitude of Liberian-led efforts during Ebola and highlights the need to document these initiatives further.

This seminar will be followed (18:30-19:30) by a book presentation by the Liberian author Vamba Sherif.