Sesay draws from three hinterland protests against multinational corporations in the mining and agricultural sectors to examine how global capital influences central/local politics in postcolonial Sierra Leone. Focusing specifically on the mediating role of traditional rulers—a strong legacy of British colonial indirect rule—Sesay argues that hinterland protests not only enable the relative autonomy of rural citizens to (re)negotiate with the state outside existing political arrangements but also challenge the broker authority of these rulers in center/peripheral relations. While some protests form new alignment of interest with traditional rulers, others allow rural citizens to bypass their chiefs to summon the attention of central authorities. In either of these processes, the local constituents question the position of chiefs in the indirect governance system and shape the governing strategies adopted by the central government to rule over the hinterland.

塞萨伊以三起内陆地区针对采矿和农业领域跨国公司的抗议为背景，研究全球资本如何影响后殖民塞拉利昂的中央/地方政治。塞萨特别关注传统统治者的调解作用——英国殖民间接统治的强大遗产——认为腹地抗议不仅使农村公民的相对自治权能够在现有政治安排之外与国家进行（重新）谈判，而且还挑战了中间人这些统治者在中心/外围关系中的权威。虽然一些抗议活动与传统统治者形成了新的利益联盟，但另一些抗议活动则允许农村公民绕过他们的首领来引起中央当局的注意。在这两个过程中，地方选民都会质疑酋长在间接治理体系中的地位，并影响中央政府统治内地的治理策略。