Patrimonialism (neo) and the Kingdom of Swaziland: employing a case study to rescale a concept

Abstract

There is a growing recognition that the concept neopatrimonialism is deeply flawed. An emergent critical literature is highlighting its conceptual expansiveness and drift. Many authors within this literature are calling for the concept to be jettisoned altogether. This article, illustrating its central contentions with a case study of patrimonialism in the Kingdom of Swaziland, joins the chorus of critiques against the concept. Instead of entirely dismissing the concept however, argues that it should be rescaled back to Weber's core idea of legitimate domination and that the appended ‘neo’ should be dropped. Moreover, since it is a thin concept, it has little analytical leverage on its own and needs to be grounded in robust theoretical frameworks.