ABSTRACT
Far from being a mere 'infrastructure' between the actors, networks of dependency also frame the meaning of the established relations themselves. With every affirmation or renegotiation of the respective relationship by the involved patrons, brokers, and clients, mutual obligations are acknowledged or reinterpreted, social and political identities performed. Accordingly, this approach requires taking the dimension of the actors' values and beliefs into account, as well as their subjective perception of clientelist networks and of state-society relations. Regarding temporal aspects, the conceptual approach of networks of dependency makes a case for a mid- to long-term perspective. And yet looking at clientelism and patronage from the perspective of networks of dependency is not a plea for limiting the analysis to the local level and to its specific historicity and socio-cultural characteristics. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
