2 - Interrogating Public Sphere and Popular Culture as Theoretical Concepts on their Value in African Studies
Corresponding Author(s) : Wendy Willems
Africa Development,
Vol. 37 No. 1 (2012): Africa Development: Special Issue onThe African Public Sphere:Concepts, Histories, Voices and Processes
Abstract
Concepts such as civil society and public sphere have been frequently used both as analytical tools and as normative concepts deemed essential to a wellfunctioning liberal democracy. Because of its theoretical roots in Western liberal thinking, scholars in African studies such as Comaroffs, Mamdani and Ekeh have vigorously debated the extent to which the concept of civil society is useful in explaining and interrogating developments in Africa. However, the concept of the public sphere has been subjected to less rigorous debate in the field of African studies. In media studies and political science, however, a number of scholars have problematised the normative connotations and idealistic assumptions of the Habermasian public sphere. This article argues that both the debate on civil society in African studies and the debate on public sphere in media studies and political science could inform a more critical discussion on the relevance of the concept of public sphere in African contexts. Secondly, the article contends that the concept of popular culture addresses some of the concerns brought up by critics of the concept of public sphere. It argues that popular culture is the public sphere of ordinary Africans, but we must be careful about how we define popular culture itself.
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- Abrahamsen, R., 2000, Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good Governance in Africa. London: Zed Books.
- Abu-Lughod, L., 1990,’ The Romance of Resistance’, in American Ethnologist 17(1): 41-55.
- Appadurai, A. and C. A. Breckenridge, 1995, ‘Public Modernity in India’, in A. Appadurai and C. A. Breckenridge, eds., Consuming Modernity: Public Culture in a South Asian World, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 1–20
- Barber, K., 1987, ‘Popular Arts in Africa’, in African Studies Review 30(3): 3-30. Barber, K., 1997, Readings in African Popular culture. Oxford: James Currey. Bignell, J., 2000, Postmodern media culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Calhoun, C., 1993, ‘Civil Society and the Public Sphere’, in Public Culture 5(2): 267-280.
- Comaroff, J. L. & J. Comaroff, 1999, Civil Society and the Political Imagination in Africa: Critical Perspectives, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Dahlberg, L. & E. Siapera, 2007, Radical Democracy and the Internet: Interrogating Theory and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Ekeh, P. P., 1975, ‘Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement’, in Comparative Studies in Society and History 17(1): 91-112.
- Ellis, S., 1989, ‘Tuning into Pavement Radio’ African Affairs, 88 (352), 321-330. Fabian, J., 1998, Moments of Freedom: Anthropology and Popular Culture. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
- Foucault, M., 1980, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. Brighton: Harvester Press.
- Fraser, N., 1992, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’, in C. Calhoun, ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 109-142.
- Gitlin, T., 1998, ‘Public Spheres or Public Sphericules?’, in T. Liebes and J. Curran, eds., Media, ritual and identity, London: Routledge, pp. 168-74.
- Habermas, J., 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. London: Polity Press.
- Hall, S., 1981, ‘Notes on Deconstructing the ""popular"", in: R. Samuel, ed., People’s History and Socialist Theory, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 227-39.
- Harbeson, J. W., D. S. Rothchild & N. Chazan, 1994, Civil Society and the State in Africa, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner."
- James, D., & Kaarsholm, P., 2000, ‘Popular Culture and Democracy in Some Southern Contexts: An Introduction’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 26(2), pp. 189-208.
- Laclau, E. & C. Mouffe, 1985, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, London: Verso.
- Lewis, D., 2001, Civil Society in Non-Western Contexts: Reflections on the ‘Usefulness’of a Concept. London School of Economics Civil Society Working Paper 13, London: London School of Economics, Centre for Civil Society.
- Maina, W., 1998, ‘Kenya: The State, Donors and the Politics of Democratisation’, in A. Van Rooy, ed., Civil Society and the Aid Industry: The Politics and Promise, London: Earthscan, pp. 134-67.
- Mamdani, M., 1996, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Oxford: James Currey.
- Mbembe, A., 2001, On the Postcolony, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Mouffe, C., 2000, The Democratic Paradox, New York: Verso.
- Negt, O. & A. Kluge, 1993 [1972], Public Sphere and Experience: Toward an Analysis of the Bourgeois and Proletarian Public Sphere, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Osaghae, E. E., 2006, ‘Colonialism and Civil Society in Africa: The Perspective of Ekeh's Two Publics’, in: Voluntas 17(3): 233-245.
- Schulz, D. E., 1999, ‘In Pursuit of Publicity’: Talk Radio and the Imagination of a Moral Public in Urban Mali, in Afrika Spectrum 34(2): 161-185.
- Schulz, D. E., 2002, ‘The World Is Made By Talk: Female Fans, Popular Music, And New Forms of Public Sociality in Urban Mali’, in Cahiers d'études africaines 42(168): 797-829.
- Spitulnik, D., 2002, ‘Alternative Small Media and Communicative Spaces’, in G. Hyden, M. Leslie & F. F. Ogundimu, eds, Media and Democracy in Africa, Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, pp. 177-205."
References
Abrahamsen, R., 2000, Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good Governance in Africa. London: Zed Books.
Abu-Lughod, L., 1990,’ The Romance of Resistance’, in American Ethnologist 17(1): 41-55.
Appadurai, A. and C. A. Breckenridge, 1995, ‘Public Modernity in India’, in A. Appadurai and C. A. Breckenridge, eds., Consuming Modernity: Public Culture in a South Asian World, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 1–20
Barber, K., 1987, ‘Popular Arts in Africa’, in African Studies Review 30(3): 3-30. Barber, K., 1997, Readings in African Popular culture. Oxford: James Currey. Bignell, J., 2000, Postmodern media culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Calhoun, C., 1993, ‘Civil Society and the Public Sphere’, in Public Culture 5(2): 267-280.
Comaroff, J. L. & J. Comaroff, 1999, Civil Society and the Political Imagination in Africa: Critical Perspectives, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dahlberg, L. & E. Siapera, 2007, Radical Democracy and the Internet: Interrogating Theory and Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ekeh, P. P., 1975, ‘Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement’, in Comparative Studies in Society and History 17(1): 91-112.
Ellis, S., 1989, ‘Tuning into Pavement Radio’ African Affairs, 88 (352), 321-330. Fabian, J., 1998, Moments of Freedom: Anthropology and Popular Culture. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Foucault, M., 1980, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. Brighton: Harvester Press.
Fraser, N., 1992, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’, in C. Calhoun, ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 109-142.
Gitlin, T., 1998, ‘Public Spheres or Public Sphericules?’, in T. Liebes and J. Curran, eds., Media, ritual and identity, London: Routledge, pp. 168-74.
Habermas, J., 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. London: Polity Press.
Hall, S., 1981, ‘Notes on Deconstructing the ""popular"", in: R. Samuel, ed., People’s History and Socialist Theory, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 227-39.
Harbeson, J. W., D. S. Rothchild & N. Chazan, 1994, Civil Society and the State in Africa, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner."
James, D., & Kaarsholm, P., 2000, ‘Popular Culture and Democracy in Some Southern Contexts: An Introduction’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 26(2), pp. 189-208.
Laclau, E. & C. Mouffe, 1985, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, London: Verso.
Lewis, D., 2001, Civil Society in Non-Western Contexts: Reflections on the ‘Usefulness’of a Concept. London School of Economics Civil Society Working Paper 13, London: London School of Economics, Centre for Civil Society.
Maina, W., 1998, ‘Kenya: The State, Donors and the Politics of Democratisation’, in A. Van Rooy, ed., Civil Society and the Aid Industry: The Politics and Promise, London: Earthscan, pp. 134-67.
Mamdani, M., 1996, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Oxford: James Currey.
Mbembe, A., 2001, On the Postcolony, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Mouffe, C., 2000, The Democratic Paradox, New York: Verso.
Negt, O. & A. Kluge, 1993 [1972], Public Sphere and Experience: Toward an Analysis of the Bourgeois and Proletarian Public Sphere, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Osaghae, E. E., 2006, ‘Colonialism and Civil Society in Africa: The Perspective of Ekeh's Two Publics’, in: Voluntas 17(3): 233-245.
Schulz, D. E., 1999, ‘In Pursuit of Publicity’: Talk Radio and the Imagination of a Moral Public in Urban Mali, in Afrika Spectrum 34(2): 161-185.
Schulz, D. E., 2002, ‘The World Is Made By Talk: Female Fans, Popular Music, And New Forms of Public Sociality in Urban Mali’, in Cahiers d'études africaines 42(168): 797-829.
Spitulnik, D., 2002, ‘Alternative Small Media and Communicative Spaces’, in G. Hyden, M. Leslie & F. F. Ogundimu, eds, Media and Democracy in Africa, Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, pp. 177-205."