2 - ‘Saving Africa From Dangerous Ideas’
Africa Review of Books,
Vol. 7 No. 2 (2011): Africa Review of Books, Volume 7, n° 2, 2011
Abstract
In the last two decades, no other ideas have gained the totemic status that ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’ have attained in global and African public policy and political discourses. From Cameroon to Kenya, democracy and human rights were the rallying cries of the 1990s reform movements that have radically reshaped the politics of most African states. While ridiculed and rejected as Western impositions by many African leaders (many of them relics of the Cold War), the indigeneity of the voices for democracy and human rights were never in doubt, particularly among the victims of injustice and misrule in Africa...
Keywords
- Adebajo, A., 2002, Building Peace in West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau, Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
- Brauman, R., and P. Salignon, 2004, ‘Iraq; In Search of a Humanitarian Crisis, in F. Weissman, ed., In the Shadow of ‘Just Wars’, London: Hurst.
- Collier, P., 2009a. Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, London: Bodley Head.
- Collier, P., 2009b,‘If Richer States Provide Security, the Poorest can Finally Grow’, Boston Review, July/August available at: http://bostonreview.net/BR34.4/collier.php
- Douzinas, C., 2009, Human Rights and Empire: The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism, Milton Park, Albingdon: Routledge-Cavendish.
- Easterly, W., 2009, ‘The Burden of Proof Should be on Interventionists – Doubt is a Superb Reason for Inaction’, Boston Review, July/August at: http://bostonreview.net/ BR34.4/easterly.php
- Easterly, W., 2006, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Forsythe, D.P., 2005, The Humanitarians: The International Committee of the Red Cross, New York: Cambridge University Press. Ignatieff, M.,2003, Empire Lite, London: Vintage.
- International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, 2001, The Responsibility to Protect, Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.
- Lazarus, L., and B. J. Goold, ed., 2007, Security and Human Rights, Oxford: Hart.
- Miguel, E., 2009, ‘The Premise that the Poorest Countries Cannot Grow Ignores a Decade of Modest Successes’, Boston Review, July/August at: http://bostonreview.net/BR34.4/miguel.php
- Mutua, M., 2001, ‘Savages, Victims and Saviors: The Metaphor of Human Rights’, Harvard International Law Journal, 42, 1, pp. 201-245.
- Romeo, D., 2003, Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.
- Shivji, I. G., 1989, The Concept of Human Rights in Africa, London: CODESRIA Book Series.
References
Adebajo, A., 2002, Building Peace in West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea-Bissau, Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Brauman, R., and P. Salignon, 2004, ‘Iraq; In Search of a Humanitarian Crisis, in F. Weissman, ed., In the Shadow of ‘Just Wars’, London: Hurst.
Collier, P., 2009a. Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places, London: Bodley Head.
Collier, P., 2009b,‘If Richer States Provide Security, the Poorest can Finally Grow’, Boston Review, July/August available at: http://bostonreview.net/BR34.4/collier.php
Douzinas, C., 2009, Human Rights and Empire: The Political Philosophy of Cosmopolitanism, Milton Park, Albingdon: Routledge-Cavendish.
Easterly, W., 2009, ‘The Burden of Proof Should be on Interventionists – Doubt is a Superb Reason for Inaction’, Boston Review, July/August at: http://bostonreview.net/ BR34.4/easterly.php
Easterly, W., 2006, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Forsythe, D.P., 2005, The Humanitarians: The International Committee of the Red Cross, New York: Cambridge University Press. Ignatieff, M.,2003, Empire Lite, London: Vintage.
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, 2001, The Responsibility to Protect, Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, Ottawa: International Development Research Centre.
Lazarus, L., and B. J. Goold, ed., 2007, Security and Human Rights, Oxford: Hart.
Miguel, E., 2009, ‘The Premise that the Poorest Countries Cannot Grow Ignores a Decade of Modest Successes’, Boston Review, July/August at: http://bostonreview.net/BR34.4/miguel.php
Mutua, M., 2001, ‘Savages, Victims and Saviors: The Metaphor of Human Rights’, Harvard International Law Journal, 42, 1, pp. 201-245.
Romeo, D., 2003, Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.
Shivji, I. G., 1989, The Concept of Human Rights in Africa, London: CODESRIA Book Series.