David J Francis

Governing a Poor Country: Perspectives from a Former Chief Minister of Sierra Leone examines how and why the office of the Chief Minister of the Republic of Sierra Leone contributes to the political and economic management of the country. It raises and attempts to answer some fundamental questions about the wisdom, constitutionality, and the necessity of using that office to pursue innovative governance by the New Direction administration in Sierra Leone. Drawing from the governance experience of having served as the first Chief Minister of the country, Professor Francis provides a first-hand, candid, in-depth and critically reflective account of the role and mandate of that office. The book will be of interest to political leaders, academics, policy practitioners, diplomats, educators, journalists, and others interested in Sierra Leone, African politics, and national governance issues. ____________________________________ Professor Dr. David J. Francis is a distinguished statesman, an internationally accomplished academic, and a policy practitioner who variously served as Chief Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone between 2018 and 2023. Professor Francis was the Head of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in the UK and held a concurrent Research Professorial Chair in African Peace & Conflict Studies at the same university? His publications include 12 books on Sierra Leone and African politics, peace, security, governance and development issues.

Plagued by bloody wars and armed conflicts, political instability, communal violence and displaced persons, and at the mercy of natural catastrophes such as drought and famine, it is not surprising that the Western press has long dismissed Africa as the 'hopeless continent'. In the face of these challenges, Africa today is faced with a stark choice: either unite or perish. The debate on why and how the continent should unite in terms of co-operative peace, security and development is more urgent than at any other time in Africa's post-colonial history. Moving forward from the failure of the earlier, typically idealistic Africa unity project, David Francis demonstrates how peace and security challenges have created the imperative for change. He argues that a series of regional peace and security systems are emerging, and that states that have participated in practical experiments in regional peacekeeping, peace support operations, conflict stabilization/management and preventive diplomacy are building de facto systems of peace and security that could be institutionalized and extended.

This book offers a new and rigorous approach to observational sociology that is grounded in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Throughout the authors encourage the reader to explore the social world at first hand, beginning with the immediate family context and then moving out into the public realm and organizational life. Examples of observational analysis are given with reference to topic areas such as family life, education, medicine, crime and deviance, and the reader is shown how to conduct their own inquiries, using methods and materials that are readily and ordinarily available. Drawing on both original material and published studies, Francis and Hester demonstrate how observational sociology can be carried out with an attention to detail typically overlooked by more traditional ethonographic approaches.