This article interrogates how various actors in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) space have made sense of the 2010 Constitution’s expansive provisions on socio-political and economic rights to advance hawkers’ claims to the right to the city. Using Lefebvre’s and human rights notions of the ‘right to the city’, the study finds that the Constitution has immense potential to secure the hawkers’ right to the city. However, various challenges impede efforts towards its realisation. Firstly, the 2007 no-hawking-in-the-CBD bylaw exerts inordinate influence, in practice suppressing the Constitution’s aspirations. Secondly, the City authorities’ efforts to facilitate the hawkers’ right to the city remain ambivalent or dependent on the whims of the serving governor. Thirdly, initiatives by other actors remain elitist, top- down and opaque with only the superficial involvement of hawkers. On their part, hawkers’ initiatives to claim their right to the city have suffered from fragmented leadership and individualistic self-help micro-strategies. Furthermore, hawkers have underutilised judicial activism as an avenue for challenging the constitutionality of the city bylaws banning hawking in the CBD. This strategy would potentially have provided a discursive platform to make their claim to the city the moral-legal claim envisaged by the Constitution. Esther Wangui Kimani, Nairobi City County Government. Email: kimaniesther.w@gmail.com Sammy Gakero Gachigua, Egerton University. Email: gachiguas@gmail.com George Mbugua Kariuki, Kenyatta University. Email: george.mbugua2@gmail.com
{"title":"6 - Restructured Citizen–Government Relationship in Kenya's 2010 Constitution and the Right of Hawkers to the City in Nairobi","authors":"Esther Wangui Kimani, S. Gachigua, G. Kariuki","doi":"10.57054/ad.v46i1.749","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v46i1.749","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000This article interrogates how various actors in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) space have made sense of the 2010 Constitution’s expansive provisions on socio-political and economic rights to advance hawkers’ claims to the right to the city. Using Lefebvre’s and human rights notions of the ‘right to the city’, the study finds that the Constitution has immense potential to secure the hawkers’ right to the city. However, various challenges impede efforts towards its realisation. Firstly, the 2007 no-hawking-in-the-CBD bylaw exerts inordinate influence, in practice suppressing the Constitution’s aspirations. Secondly, the City authorities’ efforts to facilitate the hawkers’ right to the city remain ambivalent or dependent on the whims of the serving governor. Thirdly, initiatives by other actors remain elitist, top- down and opaque with only the superficial involvement of hawkers. On their part, hawkers’ initiatives to claim their right to the city have suffered from fragmented leadership and individualistic self-help micro-strategies. Furthermore, hawkers have underutilised judicial activism as an avenue for challenging the constitutionality of the city bylaws banning hawking in the CBD. This strategy would potentially have provided a discursive platform to make their claim to the city the moral-legal claim envisaged by the Constitution. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Esther Wangui Kimani, Nairobi City County Government. Email: kimaniesther.w@gmail.com \u0000Sammy Gakero Gachigua, Egerton University. Email: gachiguas@gmail.com \u0000George Mbugua Kariuki, Kenyatta University. Email: george.mbugua2@gmail.com \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46748458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article is concerned with the transformation of the African continent beyond the supply of raw materials towards the expansion of productive capabilities in ways that meet the needs of the African people. The article assesses the platinum value chain in South Africa to examine how the sector has impacted on economic transformation in the country. The analysis shows that South Africa is the biggest supplier of platinum globally but continues to miss economic opportunities presented by its platinum endowment. This is due to very weak forward or upstream linkages between the platinum sector and the related manufacturing sectors. Additionally, even though the platinum sector captures a notable share of both production and employment in the mining industry, when it comes to wealth redistribution, gender and race relations, the sector is lagging. Arguably, a country’s mineral resources ought to bring about economic transformation required to meet the needs of its people, by leveraging sector specific legislations. This requires deliberate determination to ensure that such a form of resource mobilisation transitions into economic self-sufficiency for the African continent, by also leveraging regional value chains and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Asanda Fotoyi, PhD candidate and lecturer, Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. Email: afotoyi@gmail.com
{"title":"8 - Africa’s Economic Transformation and Global Value Chains: An Analysis of the Platinum Value Chain in South Africa","authors":"Asanda Fotoyi","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i1.657","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i1.657","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000This article is concerned with the transformation of the African continent beyond the supply of raw materials towards the expansion of productive capabilities in ways that meet the needs of the African people. The article assesses the platinum value chain in South Africa to examine how the sector has impacted on economic transformation in the country. The analysis shows that South Africa is the biggest supplier of platinum globally but continues to miss economic opportunities presented by its platinum endowment. This is due to very weak forward or upstream linkages between the platinum sector and the related manufacturing sectors. Additionally, even though the platinum sector captures a notable share of both production and employment in the mining industry, when it comes to wealth redistribution, gender and race relations, the sector is lagging. Arguably, a country’s mineral resources ought to bring about economic transformation required to meet the needs of its people, by leveraging sector specific legislations. This requires deliberate determination to ensure that such a form of resource mobilisation transitions into economic self-sufficiency for the African continent, by also leveraging regional value chains and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Asanda Fotoyi, PhD candidate and lecturer, Department of Economics, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. Email: afotoyi@gmail.com \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47596679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The 2010s was an exceptionally turbulent decade characterised by complex and contradictory changes at local, regional and global levels. The changes encompassed all spheres from the political to the economic, as well as the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of global society. This article identifies and analyses six key trends in the historical trajectory of the period. First, the decade was marked by intense political polarization in many countries; second, was the democratic recessions and resistance in some climes; third, was the rising economic inequalities and disequilibrium; fourth was the shift in global hierarchies and hegemonies; fifth, was the emergence of surveillance capitalism; and the final one was the rebellion of nature as evident in extreme weather conditions and global struggles over climate change. In analysing these key trends the article seeks to make sense of the messy complexities, mind boggling contradictions and massive changes of the various historical conjunctures of modernity. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor, United States International University – Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. Email: pzeleza@gmail.com
{"title":"3 - The Turbulent 2010s: A Historical Draft","authors":"P. Zeleza","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i1.652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i1.652","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000The 2010s was an exceptionally turbulent decade characterised by complex and contradictory changes at local, regional and global levels. The changes encompassed all spheres from the political to the economic, as well as the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of global society. This article identifies and analyses six key trends in the historical trajectory of the period. First, the decade was marked by intense political polarization in many countries; second, was the democratic recessions and resistance in some climes; third, was the rising economic inequalities and disequilibrium; fourth was the shift in global hierarchies and hegemonies; fifth, was the emergence of surveillance capitalism; and the final one was the rebellion of nature as evident in extreme weather conditions and global struggles over climate change. In analysing these key trends the article seeks to make sense of the messy complexities, mind boggling contradictions and massive changes of the various historical conjunctures of modernity. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor, United States International University – Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. Email: pzeleza@gmail.com \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44294600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Translated from the French version, was first published posthumously as a foreword to Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe's book White Ferocity: The Genocides of Non-Whites and Non-Aryans from 1492 to Date (CODESRIA 2020). Samir Amin, (1931–2018), Professor of Economics and Former Director of Third World Forum, Dakar, Senegal.
{"title":"1 - Ferocity of Whites, Ferocity of Capitalism","authors":"Samir Amin","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i2.640","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i2.640","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Translated from the French version, was first published posthumously as a foreword to Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe's book White Ferocity: The Genocides of Non-Whites and Non-Aryans from 1492 to Date (CODESRIA 2020). \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Samir Amin, (1931–2018), Professor of Economics and Former Director of Third World Forum, Dakar, Senegal. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44063599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite the success story of Botswana’s economy, the country is among other southern African countries that are highly prone to money laundering and illicit financial flows. Botswana has been regarded as one of the global conduits for illicit economic activities. Approximately US$ 1.1 billion and US$ 1.2 billion illicit financial flows were recorded in 2004 and 2013 respectively. However, there is a dearth of literature on the illicit financial flows in Botswana that takes into account the peculiar institutions, transactions and markets in Botswana. This study therefore aims to contribute to the body of literature by using document analysis and an institutional approach to analyse illicit financial flows in Botswana. The results show that over the years, tremendous efforts have been made to respond to money laundering and related offences. However, some deficiencies still remain. It is essential for financial institutions to carry out remedial exercises in their customer due diligence data in order for them to have useful profiles for risk management purposes. Furthermore, inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination should be enhanced and promoted in order to combat illicit capital flows and money laundering. Patricia K. Mogomotsi, Associate Professor (Natural Resources Economics), Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana. Email: finkymadigele@gmail.com; pmadigele@ub.ac.bw Goemeone E.J. Mogomotsi, Senior Research Fellow (Environmental Law & Policy), Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana. Wame L. Hambira, Senior Research Fellow (Climate Change Adaptation Economics), Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana.
尽管博茨瓦纳经济取得了成功，但该国与其他南部非洲国家一样，非常容易受到洗钱和非法资金流动的影响。博茨瓦纳一直被视为非法经济活动的全球渠道之一。2004年和2013年分别记录了约11亿美元和12亿美元的非法资金流动。然而，关于博茨瓦纳非法资金流动的文献很少考虑到博茨瓦纳特有的机构、交易和市场。因此，本研究的目的是通过使用文件分析和体制方法分析博茨瓦纳的非法资金流动，为文献作出贡献。调查结果显示，多年来，海关在打击洗黑钱及有关罪行方面作出了巨大努力。然而，仍存在一些不足。金融机构必须对其客户尽职调查数据进行补救，以便为风险管理目的提供有用的资料。此外，应加强和促进机构间的合作与协调，以打击非法资本流动和洗钱。Patricia K. Mogomotsi，博茨瓦纳大学奥卡万戈研究所副教授(自然资源经济学)。电子邮件:finkymadigele@gmail.com;pmadigele@ub.ac.bw Goemeone E.J. Mogomotsi，博茨瓦纳大学奥卡万戈研究所高级研究员(环境法与政策)。Wame L. Hambira，博茨瓦纳大学奥卡万戈研究所气候变化适应经济学高级研究员。
{"title":"5 - Illicit Capital Flows and Money Laundering in Botswana: An Institutional Economic Analysis","authors":"P. K. Mogomotsi, G. Mogomotsi, W. Hambira","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i1.654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i1.654","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the success story of Botswana’s economy, the country is among other southern African countries that are highly prone to money laundering and illicit financial flows. Botswana has been regarded as one of the global conduits for illicit economic activities. Approximately US$ 1.1 billion and US$ 1.2 billion illicit financial flows were recorded in 2004 and 2013 respectively. However, there is a dearth of literature on the illicit financial flows in Botswana that takes into account the peculiar institutions, transactions and markets in Botswana. This study therefore aims to contribute to the body of literature by using document analysis and an institutional approach to analyse illicit financial flows in Botswana. The results show that over the years, tremendous efforts have been made to respond to money laundering and related offences. However, some deficiencies still remain. It is essential for financial institutions to carry out remedial exercises in their customer due diligence data in order for them to have useful profiles for risk management purposes. Furthermore, inter-agency co-operation and co-ordination should be enhanced and promoted in order to combat illicit capital flows and money laundering. \u0000Patricia K. Mogomotsi, Associate Professor (Natural Resources Economics), Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana. Email: finkymadigele@gmail.com; pmadigele@ub.ac.bw \u0000Goemeone E.J. Mogomotsi, Senior Research Fellow (Environmental Law & Policy), Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana. \u0000Wame L. Hambira, Senior Research Fellow (Climate Change Adaptation Economics), Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana.","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41329340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The CFA franc was established in 1945 as a colonial currency. As such, its rationale was to transfer economic surpluses from the French colonies in West and Central Africa to the metropolis. Despite formal decolonisation, this currency shared by 14 countries still performs the same function and remains under the political control of the French government. Recently, the CFA franc has been increasingly challenged by a growing number of African intellectuals and Pan-Africanist social movements demanding its abolition. The objective of this article is to derive lessons about African monetary integration, building on this special but heuristic case. Following a brief history of the CFA franc currency arrangement and a description of its economic shortcomings, this article discusses the options for moving out of the monetary status quo. The author argues that, in the current circumstances, a system of solidary national currencies is the best way forward for African monetary integration. Ndongo Samba Sylla, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Dakar, Senegal. Email: ndongo.sylla@rosalux.org
{"title":"3 - Moving forward to African Monetary Integration: Lessons from the CFA Franc","authors":"N. Sylla","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i2.642","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i2.642","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000The CFA franc was established in 1945 as a colonial currency. As such, its rationale was to transfer economic surpluses from the French colonies in West and Central Africa to the metropolis. Despite formal decolonisation, this currency shared by 14 countries still performs the same function and remains under the political control of the French government. Recently, the CFA franc has been increasingly challenged by a growing number of African intellectuals and Pan-Africanist social movements demanding its abolition. The objective of this article is to derive lessons about African monetary integration, building on this special but heuristic case. Following a brief history of the CFA franc currency arrangement and a description of its economic shortcomings, this article discusses the options for moving out of the monetary status quo. The author argues that, in the current circumstances, a system of solidary national currencies is the best way forward for African monetary integration. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Ndongo Samba Sylla, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Dakar, Senegal. Email: ndongo.sylla@rosalux.org \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46800768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Africa is frequently framed in a narrative that reduces or minimises its significance and achievements. We review geographical and historical perspectives of Africa and present data that provides Africa greater significance and allows us to consider post-colonial African economic achievements outside of a simplistic narrative. We argue that placing Africa in a fairer historical and geographical perspective allows for more coherent planning for Africa’s future development. Alan Hirsch, Professor and Director, The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town. Email: alanhirsch03@gmail.com Carlos Lopes, Honorary Professor, The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town and Visiting Professor, Sciences-Po, Paris. Email: carlos.lopes@uct.ac.za
{"title":"2 - Post-colonial African Economic Development in Historical Perspective","authors":"Alan Hirsch, Carlos Lopes","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i1.651","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i1.651","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000Africa is frequently framed in a narrative that reduces or minimises its significance and achievements. We review geographical and historical perspectives of Africa and present data that provides Africa greater significance and allows us to consider post-colonial African economic achievements outside of a simplistic narrative. We argue that placing Africa in a fairer historical and geographical perspective allows for more coherent planning for Africa’s future development. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Alan Hirsch, Professor and Director, The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town. Email: alanhirsch03@gmail.com \u0000Carlos Lopes, Honorary Professor, The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town and Visiting Professor, Sciences-Po, Paris. Email: carlos.lopes@uct.ac.za","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46736434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The reluctance of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, to sign two major international trade liberalisation agreements in 2018 shocked many local and international observers. However, these trade policy postures were not unexpected. Undiscerned by many analysts, many subtle changes had happened to Nigeria’s international co-operation architecture and foreign economic policy in a seemingly incoherent manner. In addition, the premise for expecting Nigeria to automatically consent to both agreements was faulty for two main reasons. First, the pretext of connectivity and market access as the underlying rationale for both agreements was allegedly hinged on the fallacy of composition, with the assumption that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. This pretext was increasingly questioned by the influential, organised private sector in Nigeria, which had shifted from the altruistic foreign policy tenets of the 1970s to insulation from negative externalities of trade. Second, Nigeria’s trade posture was erroneously considered separately from its foreign economic policy posture, which was increasingly hinged on beneficial concentricism and regaining internal capabilities. In this new dispensation, with a focus on strategic trade policy underpinned by economic pragmatism, understanding shifts in the domestic balance of power is critical to predicting Nigeria’s trade policy responses. Folarin Alayande, Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Nigeria Email: falayande@yahoo.com
{"title":"7 - Understanding Shifts in Nigeria’s Trade Policy: From Realism to Protectionism","authors":"Folarin Alayande","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i1.656","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i1.656","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000The reluctance of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, to sign two major international trade liberalisation agreements in 2018 shocked many local and international observers. However, these trade policy postures were not unexpected. Undiscerned by many analysts, many subtle changes had happened to Nigeria’s international co-operation architecture and foreign economic policy in a seemingly incoherent manner. In addition, the premise for expecting Nigeria to automatically consent to both agreements was faulty for two main reasons. First, the pretext of connectivity and market access as the underlying rationale for both agreements was allegedly hinged on the fallacy of composition, with the assumption that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. This pretext was increasingly questioned by the influential, organised private sector in Nigeria, which had shifted from the altruistic foreign policy tenets of the 1970s to insulation from negative externalities of trade. Second, Nigeria’s trade posture was erroneously considered separately from its foreign economic policy posture, which was increasingly hinged on beneficial concentricism and regaining internal capabilities. In this new dispensation, with a focus on strategic trade policy underpinned by economic pragmatism, understanding shifts in the domestic balance of power is critical to predicting Nigeria’s trade policy responses. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Folarin Alayande, Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Nigeria Email: falayande@yahoo.com \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44641397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The contemporary social sciences emerged in the West from the eighteenth century as new modes of technology and scientific research developed. There is no doubt that technological advances led to the triumph of empiricism over metaphysics. This was the basis for the transformation of the nomenclatures of natural philosophy and moral philosophy into natural science and moral science respectively. As the empiricist methodologies of the natural sciences became successful, the social sciences chose to emulate their techniques. Thus, the methodological claim was made that that the social sciences and their division of labour compartmentalisation of the social world reflected that world in objectivist terms. But the fact that humans themselves were involved in describing and explaining the behaviours of other humans meant that a subjective element would be always be involved unless serious attempts were made for cognitive correctives and a self-conscious regard for consistent objectivity. While research in archaeology is relatively objective in its scientific findings, this is not the case with the other social sciences – especially anthropology and history. There has been an arbitrary Eurocentric creation and reification of theories and terms founded on whimsical and unsupported claims concerning the evolutionary status of Homo sapiens Africanus. Lansana Keita, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Email: keitalans7@gmail.com
{"title":"2 - Eurocentrism and the Contemporary Social Sciences","authors":"L. Keita","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i2.641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i2.641","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000The contemporary social sciences emerged in the West from the eighteenth century as new modes of technology and scientific research developed. There is no doubt that technological advances led to the triumph of empiricism over metaphysics. This was the basis for the transformation of the nomenclatures of natural philosophy and moral philosophy into natural science and moral science respectively. As the empiricist methodologies of the natural sciences became successful, the social sciences chose to emulate their techniques. Thus, the methodological claim was made that that the social sciences and their division of labour compartmentalisation of the social world reflected that world in objectivist terms. But the fact that humans themselves were involved in describing and explaining the behaviours of other humans meant that a subjective element would be always be involved unless serious attempts were made for cognitive correctives and a self-conscious regard for consistent objectivity. While research in archaeology is relatively objective in its scientific findings, this is not the case with the other social sciences – especially anthropology and history. There has been an arbitrary Eurocentric creation and reification of theories and terms founded on whimsical and unsupported claims concerning the evolutionary status of Homo sapiens Africanus. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Lansana Keita, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Email: keitalans7@gmail.com \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46226167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article reviews the contribution of Björn Beckman, the Swedish political economist, in the study of development. It addresses three issues. The first is his engagement in theoretical debates on the political economy of development. These focus on the nature of the African state, capitalist development in poor countries, whether the military can act as a revolutionary vanguard in spearheading democratic and progressive social change, neoliberal theory of macro-economic adjustment, and the dynamics of state-civil society relations in advancing development and democracy. The second is his field research work in Ghana and Nigeria. This examines the role of organised farmers and the state in the production and marketing of cocoa in Ghana in the 1960s; the entrenchment of wheat import dependence and the failed project of wheat import-substitution in Nigeria; and the construction of a union-based labour regime in Nigeria’s textile industry that enhanced the bargaining power of unions even as a worsening macro-economic environment and industrial restructuring impacted adversely on employment and wages. The third deals with his collaborative work on a variety of organised interest groups, including labour movements, scholar activists, the Nigerian student movement, and organised informal sector groups. The last part of the article discusses the costs of Björn’s combative style of scholarship. Yusuf Bangura, Formerly with the UN Research Institute for Social Development and Professor, Fourah Bay College (2013–2014), University of Sierra Leone, Nyon, Switzerland. Email: bangura.ym@gmail.com
{"title":"1 - Epic Battles in Radical Development Theory, Field Research and Praxis: A Celebration of Björn Beckman (1938–2019)","authors":"Y. Bangura","doi":"10.57054/ad.v45i1.650","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.57054/ad.v45i1.650","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000This article reviews the contribution of Björn Beckman, the Swedish political economist, in the study of development. It addresses three issues. The first is his engagement in theoretical debates on the political economy of development. These focus on the nature of the African state, capitalist development in poor countries, whether the military can act as a revolutionary vanguard in spearheading democratic and progressive social change, neoliberal theory of macro-economic adjustment, and the dynamics of state-civil society relations in advancing development and democracy. The second is his field research work in Ghana and Nigeria. This examines the role of organised farmers and the state in the production and marketing of cocoa in Ghana in the 1960s; the entrenchment of wheat import dependence and the failed project of wheat import-substitution in Nigeria; and the construction of a union-based labour regime in Nigeria’s textile industry that enhanced the bargaining power of unions even as a worsening macro-economic environment and industrial restructuring impacted adversely on employment and wages. The third deals with his collaborative work on a variety of organised interest groups, including labour movements, scholar activists, the Nigerian student movement, and organised informal sector groups. The last part of the article discusses the costs of Björn’s combative style of scholarship. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000 \u0000Yusuf Bangura, Formerly with the UN Research Institute for Social Development and Professor, Fourah Bay College (2013–2014), University of Sierra Leone, Nyon, Switzerland. Email: bangura.ym@gmail.com \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":39851,"journal":{"name":"Africa Development/Afrique et Developpement","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43313377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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