Patrick Chabal

Power in Africa : an essay in political interpretation

Preface - PART 1: THE MEANINGS OF POLITICAL INTERPRETATION - Introduction - Paradigms Lost: Development Theory - Class Theory - Underdevelopment Theory - Revolutionary Theory - Democratic Theory - PART 2: CONCEPTS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF POWER IN AFRICA - Introduction - The Political Community - Political Accountability - The State - Civil Society - Production - PART 3: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE AFRICAN POST-COLONIAL POLITICAL ORDER - Introduction - The Crisis of Nationality and Sovereignty - The Crisis of Legitimacy and Representation - The Crisis of Accumulation and Inequality - The Crisis of Good Government and Political Morality - The Crisis of Violence and Survival - PART 4: POLITICAL CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICA - Introduction - The Dynamics of Political Africanisation - The Dialectics of the Hegemonic Drive - The Politics of Dependence - The Reproduction of Power - Notes - Index

The Quest for Good Government and Development in Africa: Is NEPAD the Answer?

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) states that democracy and good governance are preconditions for development. Given the fact that Black Africa is currently suffering widespread economic crisis and political disorder, how probable is it that electoral politics as it has been instituted over the last decade will lead to good government—which all, inside and outside Africa, now claim is the basis for sustainable economic growth? On the face of it, the argument is simple: democracy should reduce the scope for conflict and make good government more likely. In turn, good government should bring about the political stability, the institutional consolidation and the operation of the rule of law that are universally seen as the necessary framework for investment. Greater investment should facilitate economic growth. Growth provides the foundations for development. This article investigates the extent to which the political changes that have occurred in the last decade have made the possibility of good government and development more likely in Africa. It offers an analysis of why it is that the nature of politics in Africa today makes good government difficult and reconsiders the changes that have taken place in the exercise of power over the recent past.

A Few Considerations on Democracy in Africa

Recent moves towards greater political liberalization in Africa, with the widespread introduction of multi-party elections in many states since 1989, do not necessarily constitute evidence of successful democratization. In particular, the focus on elections to the exclusion of other essential features of a properly functioning democracy has vitiated much recent analysis of the ‘democratic transition’ in Africa. By examining in turn the roots, meaning and limits of democratization in Africa, the author shows that a focus on accountability rather than on democracy per se would be more appropriate.

The Social and Political Thought of Amílcar Cabral: a Reassessment

Amilcar Cabral was primarily a man of action. His political leadership is best understood by looking at what he did rather than at what he said. More importantly, his writings were essentially analyses of the events in which he was involved; they were not theories about, or inquiries into, abstract social or political questions. He did not view himself as a political theorist although his writings obviously have theoretical relevance. He was loath to commit himself to any ideology or theory. The majority of his writings are party documents, and they reflect the very specific purpose and audience for which they were intended.

The Politics of Dependence

Perhaps the most widely discussed feature of post-colonial Africa is its dependence.1 It is certainly the condition that appears most prominently in the analysis of contemporary Africa. Africans, Africanists, observers and inhabitants of Africa all point to the peculiarly debilitating external context within which recently independent nation-states have found themselves right from their inception. Whatever the perspective of the analyst, radical or conservative, particularist or universalist, the inescapable fact that Africa is a continent of dependent countries is invariably the backdrop against which the analysis of its politics proceeds.2

AFRICA IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISATION

If, like winter, globalisation is inevitable, then what does it mean for Africa? The common opinion is that the effects of globalisation on Africa are pernicious because the continent is not prepared economically to compete on the world market. The free flow of goods and finance and the breaking down of barriers to trade work to the detriment of countries that are weak economically, unstable politically and crippled by poverty. It follows from this view that Africa needs to be protected from the full force of globalisation if it is to survive the cold winds blowing from the north. This commentary will show that this interpretation is both a-historical and analytically inaccurate. The reality is far more complex and points to an active, if perhaps less than cheering role for Africa in today’s globalised world.

Review Article: Is there a French way of Explaining African Politics?

This article seeks to uncover the extent to which our ways of understanding contemporary Africa are influenced by our national (historical, cultural, political, intellectual) traditions through an examination of the influential French journal Politique Africaine, whose twentieth anniversary falls this year. In a wide-ranging review article that discusses in detail the 1999 issues of Politique Africaine but is informed by a consideration of the ‘deep history’ of that journal, the author argues that the French Africanist political scientists whose views appear in the journal are somewhat reluctant to open up to some of the new analysis of Africa available today.

Review article: revolutionaries in Portuguese Africa

Barry Munslow (ed.), Samora Machel: An African Revolutionary: Selected Speeches and Writings translated by Michael Wolfers (London: Zed Press, 1985). Pp. xx+210. £6.50 paperback, £16.95 hardback. Keith Somerville, Angola: Politics, Economics and Society (London: Frances Pinter, 1986). Pp. xxii+207. £8.95 paperback, £22.50 hardback. Rosemary Galli & Jocelyn Jones, Guinea‐Bissau: Politics, Economics and Society (London: Frances Pinter, 1987). Pp. 217. £7.95 paperback, £22.50 hardback.

How can Africa develop? Reflections on theories, concepts and realities

Discussions surrounding the prospects for development in Africa revolve around a number of arguments that make important assumptions about both the situation on the continent and the effects of the policies being adopted. Whilst most of the debate concerns the modalities of more effective development policies or more appropriate foreign aid programmes, this chapter looks at the approaches taken in thinking through these questions. The chapter offers some reflections on a number of key concepts and highlight the importance of conceptualizing how we approach the question of development in Africa. It begins by revisiting the concepts of development, aid and accountability with a view to clarifying what it is being talked about. The chapter then discusses the importance of the analytical standpoint, the relevance of history and the issue of causality before concluding with some remarks on the limits of Western social theory. Keywords:Africa; foreign aid

Sara Dorman, Daniel Hammett and Paul Nugent (eds), Making Nations, Creating Strangers: states and citizenship in Africa. Leiden: Brill (pb £55.00 – 978 9 00415 790 3). 2007, 277 pp.

chapter almost invariably found at the start of a PhD thesis: an overview or survey of the relevant academic literature on the theme of the thesis. Chapter 3 engages with the debate about the extent to which present-day Ghana is related to the historical entity of Ghana. It is often noted that the two do not bear much geographic resemblance to each other, although Amoah argues that the links between them are closer than is generally realized: he contends that most present-day Ghanaians could trace their ancestry to the ancient entity of Ghana. Chapter 4 includes the author’s critique of the claim that present-day Ghana is clearly differentiated from the ancient state of the same name. The fifth chapter makes a conceptual leap to discuss why Ghanaians voted as they did in the 2000 and 2004 elections. In this context, Amoah discusses the notion of ‘the rationalization of ethnonationalism’, which for him is the main, indeed the only, way of explaining how Ghanaians voted in 2000 and 2004. He posits that ‘the political choices of voters would be skewed towards the interests of their ethnonational identity group or a preferred other closely related, for any reason, in what can be described as the rationalization of ethnonationalism’ (p. 6). He proceeds to examine this hypothesis in Chapters 6–9. His claims are based on a 501-person survey of the industrial city of Tema, close to the capital, Accra. He then asserts that what he finds in relation to Tema – that voters are indeed often concerned with the ethnicity of the candidate they vote for – is in fact true for Ghana as a whole, even though no other surveys were conducted in the country as evidence. His discussion of the elections of 2000 and 2004 is focused simply on his hypothesis, and he proceeds to explain the victory of the NPP and President Kufuor in those terms. Crucially, however, no alternative reasons for voters voting in the way they did are presented. Overall, this is an interesting but quirky book that mixes solid academic theory with some rather whimsical analysis of less substance. It will be of interest to those interested in Ghana’s recent political trajectory and democratization, while readers whose interests extend to the political question of nationalism in the country will also find material with which to engage.