Description
The paper based on a new book presents the existing debates on civil society in regionalism, regionalisation and regional governance in Africa by showing that the existing studies, despite their significant contributions to knowledge about regionalism in Africa, have underplayed the importance of regional attributes of civil society as an actor at the regional level. It advances an argument for a deeper analytical understanding of regional civil society, underscoring what constitutes civil society actorship in Africa. Second, it shows and establishes an empirical gap that West Africa as a region has been at the margin of the regionalism debates when it comes to the study of regional civil society organisations. By filling these important gaps, the paper moves the debate further and argues for a clear analytical framework for making sense of the actorship and role of regional civil society actors.
