$2
Abdelali Doumou
CODESRIA, 1987, 172 p
ISBN 2-86978-001-x
The ‘counter-revolution’ in Development Economics in the 1980s fundamentally altered the way the state ‘thinks’, which is evident in the state’s retrenchment and reconstitution of the state’s relationship to its citizens. The combination of deflationary macroeconomic policies and a residual approach to social policy, broadly, and social provisioning, more specifically, fundamentally altered the post-colonial trajectory of public policy in Africa. Despite the neoliberal ascendance that nurtured the more residual direction of social policy, the contention for an alternative vision of social policy remained and advanced with vigour. Specific contributions range from the deployment of social policy in framing the nation-building project, endogenous mutual support institutions, land and agrarian reform as a social policy instrument, the gender dynamics of social policy, and the mechanism enabling the spread of cash transfer schemes on the continent.
This collection of essays interrogates the repositioning of Africa and its diasporas in the unfolding disruptive transformations of the early twenty-first century. It is divided into five parts focusing on America’s racial dysfunctions, navigating global turbulence, Africa’s political dramas, the continent’s persistent mythologisation and disruptions in higher education. It closes with tributes to two towering African public intellectuals, Ali Mazrui and Thandika Mkandawire, who have since joined the ancestors.
African Literature as Political Philosophy (Printed)
The politics of development in Africa have always been central concerns of the continent’s literature. Yet ideas about the best way to achieve this development, and even what development itself should look like, have been hotly contested.
African Literature as Political Philosophy looks in particular at Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah and Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, but situates these within the broader context of developments in African literature over the past half-century, discussing writers from Ayi Kwei Armah to Wole Soyinka. M.S.C. Okolo provides a thorough analysis of the authors’ differing approaches and how these emerge from the literature. She shows the roots of Achebe’s reformism and Ngugi’s insistence on revolution and how these positions take shape in their work. Okolo argues that these authors have been profoundly affected by the political situation of Africa, but have also helped to create a new African political philosophy.
Higher Education in Africa:Crises, Reforms and Transformation/ Enseignement supérieur en afrique francophone: crises, reformes et transformations (Printed)
This book provides theoretical tools for analysing contemporary African higher education systems and institutions. It also examines policy challenges and the prospects for social progress. It points to critical areas of investigation for the CODESRIA Multinational Working Group (MWG) research network on higher education. Conceived as a background text for this network, the book traces the historical roots and the global factors of the African higher education crises and the search for transformation to address issues of legitimacy and relevance. It analyses the origins, nature, and mission of African higher education, the problems associated with cultural colonization and the dependency trap, the local/global nexus in the crises with a special attention to the structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), and the various waves of reforms and innovations. Furthermore, the book presents a synopsis of studies that were conducted on the crises, highlighting both their findings and recommendations.
History, Democracy, Values: New Lines of Reflection (Printed)
At the 11th General Assembly of CODESRIA, which was held in Maputo in December 2005, Adame Ba Konaré presented the Leopold Sedar Senghor Lecture, casting her historian eye on democracy and its values. Konaré calls for the enshrinement of democracy in Africa, where citizens are free to participate responsibly in decision-making on matters of common interest, and in ways that simply do not mimic externally induced notions or reflect unquestioningly the will of Heads of State.
The Study of Africa, Volume 2: Global and Transnational Engagements
This is the second of a two-volume work taking stock of the study of Africa in the twenty-first century: its status, research agenda and approaches, and place. It is divided into two parts, the first entitled Globalisation Studies and African Studies, and the second, African Studies in Regional Contexts. Topics addressed in part one include: trans-boundary formations and the study of Africa; global economic liberalisation and development in Africa; African diasporas, academics and the struggle for a global epistemic presence; and the problem of translation in African studies. Part two considers: African and area studies in France, the US, the UK, Australia, Germany and Sweden; anti-colonialism and Russian/soviet African studies; African studies in the Carib bean in historical perspective; the teaching of African history and the history of Africa in Brazil; African studies in India; African studies and historiography in China in the twenty-first century; and African studies and contemporary scholarship in Japan.
Histoire, démocratie, valeurs : nouvelles pistes de réflexion (Printed)
Jetant son coup d’oeil d’historienne sur la démocratie et ses valeurs, Adame Ba Konaré a fait le discours de Léopold Sedar Senghor lors de la 11ème Assemblée Générale du CODESRIA à Maputo en Décembre 2005. Konaré a appelé à l’enracinement de la démocratie dans une Afrique où les citoyens sont libres de participer à part entière au processus de prise de décisions qui répondent à l’intérêt général; ceci d’une manière qui ne constituerait pas une simple imitation de notions inoculées de l’extérieur ou qui refléterait sans questionnement le désir des Chefs d’État. Selon Konaré, pour que les citoyens puissent jouir pleinement de la démocratie dans l’humilité et le respect mutuel, il leur faudra le droit à la liberté d’association et de mobilisation dans l’intérêt de tous et en parfaite harmonie avec les valeurs africaines qui ont su résister au temps.
The Study of Africa, Volume 1: Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Encounters (Printed)
This is the first of a two-volume work which takes stock of the study of Africa in the twenty-first century: its status, research agenda and approaches, and place. It is divided into two parts, the first on the academic disciplines and African Studies, the second on interdisciplinary studies.
Topics addressed in part one include: anthropology, race, ethnography and sociology in relation to area studies; African historiography, and the research and teaching of history in Africa in an era of institutional crisis and ‘global history’; and the need to rethink Africanist political sciences.
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