3 - Whither African Development? A Preparatory for an African Alternative Reformulation of the Concept of Development
Corresponding Author(s) : Zubairu Wai
Africa Development,
Vol. 32 No. 4 (2007): Africa Development
Abstract
Intended as a preparatory for an African alternative reformulation of the con- cept of development, this paper problematises Africa’s development experi- ence in order to understand the impasse that has characterised it. Three major concerns are addressed: first, development is historically examined as a politi- cally violent and oppressive, culturally deterministic and economically exploita- tive paradigm operating on a flawed logic. Second, it discusses the reconceptualisation of development as a global project in the current era of neo- liberal globalisation, and considers why problems of African development can- not be solved within the context of this equally flawed and problematic refor- mulation. Finally, the paper proposes ways in which development, rather than abandoned, might be reclaimed so as to allow for reformulations of indigenous African alternatives; that is, reformulated and anchored in indigenous concep- tions of social provisioning and the individual’s position within a community.
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- Amin, Samir, 1999, ‘Regionalisation in Response to Polarising Globalisation’, in Bjorn Hettne, Andreas, Inotai and Osvaldo Sunkel, eds., Globalism and the New Globalisation, New York: St Mary’s Press and UNU/WIDER.
- Bernal, Martin, 1987, Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilisations, London: Vintage Books.
- Bessis, Sophie, 2003, Western Supremacy: The Triumph of an Idea?, Translated by Patrick Camiller, London: Zed Books."
- Bond, Patrick, 2003, Against Global Apartheid: South Africa Meets the World Bank, IMF and International Finance, 2nd Edition, London: Zed Books.
- Caufield, Catherine, 1996, Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations, New York: Henry Holt.
- Chakrabarty, Dipish, 2000, Provincialising Europe, Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- The Commission for Africa Report, March 2005, London and Addis Ababa p.121
- Cooper, Frederick and Randall Packard, eds., 1997, International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
- Crush, Jonathan, 1995, ‘Introduction: Imagining Development’, in Jonathan Crush, ed., Power of Development, New York: Routledge.
- Crush, Jonathan, ed., 1995, Power of Development, London: Routledge. Duffield, Mark, 2001, Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and Security, London and New York: Zed Books.
- Escobar, Arturo, 1995a, ‘Imagining A Post-Development Era’, in Jonathan Crush, ed., Power of Development, London: Routledge.
- Escobar, Arturo, 1995b, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Esteva, Gustavo, 1992, ‘Development’, in Wolfgang Sachs, ed., The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
- Gill, Stephen, 1995, ‘Constitutionalising Inequality and the Clash of Globalisations’, Millennium, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 399-423.
- Gowan, Peter, 1999, The Global Gamble: Washington’s Faustian Bid for World Domination, London: Verso.
- Hall, Stuart, 1992, ‘The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power’, in Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben, Formations of Modernity, London: Polity, pp. 276-320.
- Harvey, David, 2003, ‘The New Imperialism: Accumulation by Dispossession’, in Leo Panitch and Colins Leys, eds., Socialist Register 2004: New Imperial Challenge, London: Merlin Press.
- Hoogvelt, Ankie, 2001, Globalisation and the Postcolonial World, The New Political Economy of Development, Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press.
- McMichael, Philip, 2004, Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, 2nd and 3rd editions, Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
- Menkiti, Ifeanyi A., 1984, ‘Person and Community in African Traditional Thought’, in Richard A. Wright, ed., African Philosophy: An Introduction, Maryland: Lanham.
- Moore, David, and Gerald J. Schmitz, eds., 1995, Debating Development Discourse: Institutional and Popular Perspectives, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
- Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa, Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
- Nederveen Pieterse, Jan, 2001, Development Theory: Deconstructions/ Reconstructions, London: Sage.
- Nederveen Pieterse, Jan, 2000, ‘After Post-Development’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 175-191.
- Nederveen Pieterse, Jan, 1991, ‘Dilemmas of Development Discourse: the Crisis of Developmentalism and the Comparative Method’, Development and Change, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 5-29.
- Nustad, Knut G., 2001, ‘Development: The Devil We Know?’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 479-489.
- Sachs, Wolfgang, 1992, ‘Introduction’, in Wolfgang Sachs, ed., The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
- Sachs, Wolfgang, ed., 1992, The Development Dictionary. A Guide to Knowledge as Power, London: Zed Books.
- Sardar, Ziauddin, 1999, ‘Development and the Location of Eurocentrism’, in Ronaldo Munck and Denis O’Hearn, eds., Critical Development Theory: Contributions to a New Paradigm, London: Zed Books.
- Sutcliffe, Bob, 1995, ‘Development after Ecology’, in V. Bhaskar and A. Glyn, eds., The North, the South and the Environment: Ecological Constraints and the Global Economy, New York: St Martin’s Press.
- Tucker, Vincent, 1999, ‘The Myth of Development: A Critique of a Eurocentric Discourse’, in Ronaldo Munck and Denis O’Hearn, eds., Critical Development Theory: Contributions to a New Paradigm, London: Zed Books.
- Wai, Zubairu, 2005, ‘Globalisation and Social Reproduction in West Africa: Hierarchies or Inclusion and Exclusion’, Paper Presented at the GSN/ CODESRIA Second Globalisation Conference, Dakar, Senegal, August 29-31.
References
Amin, Samir, 1999, ‘Regionalisation in Response to Polarising Globalisation’, in Bjorn Hettne, Andreas, Inotai and Osvaldo Sunkel, eds., Globalism and the New Globalisation, New York: St Mary’s Press and UNU/WIDER.
Bernal, Martin, 1987, Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilisations, London: Vintage Books.
Bessis, Sophie, 2003, Western Supremacy: The Triumph of an Idea?, Translated by Patrick Camiller, London: Zed Books."
Bond, Patrick, 2003, Against Global Apartheid: South Africa Meets the World Bank, IMF and International Finance, 2nd Edition, London: Zed Books.
Caufield, Catherine, 1996, Masters of Illusion: The World Bank and the Poverty of Nations, New York: Henry Holt.
Chakrabarty, Dipish, 2000, Provincialising Europe, Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
The Commission for Africa Report, March 2005, London and Addis Ababa p.121
Cooper, Frederick and Randall Packard, eds., 1997, International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge, Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Crush, Jonathan, 1995, ‘Introduction: Imagining Development’, in Jonathan Crush, ed., Power of Development, New York: Routledge.
Crush, Jonathan, ed., 1995, Power of Development, London: Routledge. Duffield, Mark, 2001, Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and Security, London and New York: Zed Books.
Escobar, Arturo, 1995a, ‘Imagining A Post-Development Era’, in Jonathan Crush, ed., Power of Development, London: Routledge.
Escobar, Arturo, 1995b, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Esteva, Gustavo, 1992, ‘Development’, in Wolfgang Sachs, ed., The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Gill, Stephen, 1995, ‘Constitutionalising Inequality and the Clash of Globalisations’, Millennium, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 399-423.
Gowan, Peter, 1999, The Global Gamble: Washington’s Faustian Bid for World Domination, London: Verso.
Hall, Stuart, 1992, ‘The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power’, in Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben, Formations of Modernity, London: Polity, pp. 276-320.
Harvey, David, 2003, ‘The New Imperialism: Accumulation by Dispossession’, in Leo Panitch and Colins Leys, eds., Socialist Register 2004: New Imperial Challenge, London: Merlin Press.
Hoogvelt, Ankie, 2001, Globalisation and the Postcolonial World, The New Political Economy of Development, Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press.
McMichael, Philip, 2004, Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, 2nd and 3rd editions, Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Menkiti, Ifeanyi A., 1984, ‘Person and Community in African Traditional Thought’, in Richard A. Wright, ed., African Philosophy: An Introduction, Maryland: Lanham.
Moore, David, and Gerald J. Schmitz, eds., 1995, Debating Development Discourse: Institutional and Popular Perspectives, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa, Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Nederveen Pieterse, Jan, 2001, Development Theory: Deconstructions/ Reconstructions, London: Sage.
Nederveen Pieterse, Jan, 2000, ‘After Post-Development’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 175-191.
Nederveen Pieterse, Jan, 1991, ‘Dilemmas of Development Discourse: the Crisis of Developmentalism and the Comparative Method’, Development and Change, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 5-29.
Nustad, Knut G., 2001, ‘Development: The Devil We Know?’, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 479-489.
Sachs, Wolfgang, 1992, ‘Introduction’, in Wolfgang Sachs, ed., The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Sachs, Wolfgang, ed., 1992, The Development Dictionary. A Guide to Knowledge as Power, London: Zed Books.
Sardar, Ziauddin, 1999, ‘Development and the Location of Eurocentrism’, in Ronaldo Munck and Denis O’Hearn, eds., Critical Development Theory: Contributions to a New Paradigm, London: Zed Books.
Sutcliffe, Bob, 1995, ‘Development after Ecology’, in V. Bhaskar and A. Glyn, eds., The North, the South and the Environment: Ecological Constraints and the Global Economy, New York: St Martin’s Press.
Tucker, Vincent, 1999, ‘The Myth of Development: A Critique of a Eurocentric Discourse’, in Ronaldo Munck and Denis O’Hearn, eds., Critical Development Theory: Contributions to a New Paradigm, London: Zed Books.
Wai, Zubairu, 2005, ‘Globalisation and Social Reproduction in West Africa: Hierarchies or Inclusion and Exclusion’, Paper Presented at the GSN/ CODESRIA Second Globalisation Conference, Dakar, Senegal, August 29-31.