Archie Mafeje Debates in the CODESRIA Bulletin

57 Pages·2008·0.89 MB·English

CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 59
Archie Mafeje Debates in the CODESRIA Bulletin
Culture and Development in Africa: The Missing Link*
The Problematique in its as against the “high culture”/“great
Historical Setting tradition” of modern industrial soci-
ety. Regrettable as it was from the
The problem of culture and development Archie Mafeje
point of view of liberal romanticism,
is at least as old as the social sciences, American University
the primitive or traditional societies
which are largely the product of the West. Cairo, Egypt
were destined to be swept away by
Within the West two principal traditions
modern civilization. This was sup-
which date back to the nineteenth cen-
posed to be reflected in the way tradi-
tury can be identified. These are idealism
ces, which he called “pattern vari- tional villages were being penetrated
and materialism, which in contemporary
ables”. Simply put, these were: tradi- by metropolitan mores even in the
society feature as liberalism and Marxism,
tionalism is to modernity as parochi- most remote parts of countries such
respectively. Of the two, the former is
alism is to universalism, ascription to as Mexico. This found expression in
hegemonic and fully elaborated in the achievement, affective to effective, the so-called “rural-urban” continuum
social sciences. In contrast, Marxism and diffuseness to specificity. These which is associated with the Chicago
has not been part of academic social sci- attributes depended on the type of School. The basic thesis was that with
ence until the onset of the current world social values each society has. Sig- the spread of European Industrial cul-
economic crisis, which saw the resurrec- nificant shifts from the traditional end ture, rustic or traditional values were
tion of political economy and the ascend- of the spectrum towards the other being gradually displaced by modern,
ancy of neo-Marxist studies, especially marked social change. Parsonians have “universal” values. Unlike the “mod-
in development theory. This has meant a always argued that theirs is not a di- ernization” theorists, cultural anthro-
renewed confrontation between these chotomous schema, counter-posing pologists did not think of this as ei-
two major European traditions. In the the traditional against the modern, but ther desirable or necessary but inevi-
Third World this has coincided with the rather a continuum capable of several table. From this point of view their
questioning of Eurocentric social science combinations of variables. If granted, position was more akin to that of We-
this implies a significant departure ber than to Talcott Parsons.
which, in turn, is a reflection of the inten-
from Weber’s sociology, of which
sification of anti-imperialist struggles
Talcott Parsons is supposed to be the (c) The third and less well-known school
which are its antecedents.
American heir-apparent. Max Weber which dealt with the problem of
Here, we do not propose to go into a is renowned among sociologists for development and social values is that
detailed history of these different his ideal-type analysis and cultural of the technological evolutionists.
traditions. However, in order to set the relativity. In the hands of Parsons the They are often referred to as the
stage for a possible African debate and former became real-types, capable of Columbia School of technological
research on the question of culture and measurement along a progressive evolutionists. Marvin Harris and
development, it might be expedient to scale of modernity. Secondly, modern George Foster are the best known
identify the relevant western schools of capitalist society such as that of the representatives among anthropo-
thought: United States became a terminus of logists. But there are others, mainly
all development. This dispensed with economists, who derived their ideas
(a) The best known school “moderni- cultural relativity and replaced it with from C. E. Ayres instrumentalist
zation theorists”. Amongst them an absolute ethnocentric standard, the philosophy. Among these, K. Baldwin,
would be included writers such as W. western bourgeois society. It also im- R. Manners, E. Service and Louis
E. Moore, N. J. Smelser, B. F. Hoselitz, plied a unilineal model of deve- Junker are the best advocates. Their
E. E. Hagen, S. N. Eisenstadt, E. M. lopment. basic thesis is that social values can
Rogers, D. McClelland, etc. Although be divided into two main categories,
these writers are a mixture of sociolo- (b)Over-time the Parsonian paradigm in- ceremonial and instrumental.
gists and what could be called “insti- fected cultural anthropologists as well Traditional societies are characterized
tutional economists”, basically, their in America, especially what came to by the predominance of “ceremonial”
work derives from Talcott Parsons’ be known as the Chicago School. values which militate against experi-
theory of “pattern variables”, as ex- Prominent among these were Robert mentation, whereas modern societies
pounded in The Social System (1948). Redfield (The Primitive World and Its are characterized by instrumental
In his book Talcott Parsons set up a Transformation, 1953) and Oscar values which encourage experimen-
paradigm which consisted of two po- Lewis (The Children of Sanchez, tation and reward techno-logical
lar ends or binary opposites, moder- 1961). In their case traditional/primi- innovation. This is reminiscent of
nity and traditionalism. These could tive society was explicitly associated Talcott Parsons’ “effective” versus
be identified by means of certain indi- with “low culture”/“Little tradition”, “affective”, and “achievement” versus
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 60
“prescriptive” values. Both ascribe The Problematique in its ries which attributed lack of development
social progress to individual initiative Contemporary Setting to cultural differences came from Latin-
and achievement. The only difference As is well-known, “modernization theo- America. In order to test the critical role
is that in Parsonian sociology techno- ries” have suffered a sharp decline since of any variable, it is always convenient to
logical progress is endemic in modern the mid-sixties. This was part of a general be able to hold certain variables constant.
societies and this is how “the social disillusionment with functionalism (see For the reasons already given, Latin-
system” regulates itself in such a way
Gouldner 1971). But more specifically, it America is the only region in the Third
that it maintains its equilibrium
was a nationalistic revulsion from Third World which could do that *, culturally.
indefinitely. In contrast, the techno-
logical evolutionists saw technology World social scientists against the west- The 1970s saw “modernization” theorists
not only as a prime mover but also as ern or northern presumption that in order on the retreat (see Gouldner, 1971 and
liberating force from retrograde to develop, their countries should be car- Bottomore et al., 1982), yielding ground
“ceremonial” values. bon copies of the west/north. The strong- to the dependistas. The “dependencia”
est attack on “modernization theories” theorists anticipated anti-imperialist or
(d)The fourth and opposed school within came from Latin-America, spearheaded in nationalist struggles. What they did not
the western tradition is Marxism, as has particular by the “dependencia” theorists. anticipate was cultural revivalism in the
already been remarked. If it were not They all denied that underdevelopment Third World, which received its most dra-
for its epistemology, the Marxist para- in Latin-America was due to traditional matic expression in the Iranian revolution
digm comes closest to that of the tech-
values or culture (see Sunkel, 1980). In- and Islamic fundamentalism in general.
nological evolutionists. Whilst in
stead, they maintained that it was attrib- Notwithstanding the ambiguity of the
Marxist theory a distinction is made
utable to structural factors that gave rise political results thus far, it is clear that
between the superstructure, which
to the dependence of the south on the revulsions against western domination
represents philosophical and legal
north, which had a constraining effect on have issued an increasing and general
rationalizations, social ideologies and
cultural forms and beliefs, and the the autonomous development of the emphasis on local culture and traditions.
infrastructure, which represents south. As is acknowledged, Gunder Frank This is the fountain from which national-
material and productive forces, it is is probably the one who put in the last ist movements draw their sustenance.
the latter two (accumulated and live nail on the coffin of “modernization theo- However, such a quest for authenticity
labour) which are accorded a determi- ries” when he published his article, “So- and an independent identity has not nec-
nant role. The superstructure is treated ciology of Development and Underdevel- essarily been linked directly to what in
as a derivative category i.e. it is a re- opment of Sociology” in 1966. The final the current jargon is called “develop-
flection of what goes on in the infra- verdict was that, on the basis of the Latin- ment”. Third World nationalists often
structure. For this reasons, in Marxist American experience, “modernization theo- appeal to local culture, without saying
theory the concept of “culture” is ries” were empirically invalid and theoreti- clearly what kind of new society they wish
hardly elaborated (see Worsley, 1981), cally wanting “by their own standards”. to build, as is exemplified by Iran or
except in the general sense of “civiliza- A straight reading of this would lead to Afghanistan. In Africa the nationalists
tion” or the development of the arts.
the conclusion that culture qua culture have shown a great inclination towards
The only occasion in which “culture re- was irrelevant to the problem of develop- western capitalism. Then, the interesting
ceived a positive treatment in Marxist ment. Structural relationships between question is: if a genuine case were to be
theory is in relation to the question of the developed and underdeveloped coun- made, where would the African intellectu-
right of nations to self-determination or tries was the underlying problem. In other als begin?
definition of nation, as such. Even then, words, while not ascribing an active role It is obvious that evolutionist theories
it remains a subjective category. This is to culture in the process of development, would oblige them to accept industrial
notwithstanding the fact that Marxists the Latin-Americans were satisfied that capitalism and bourgeois culture as the
have had some difficulties with language whatever cultures existed in their region apogee of development so far. The an-
and family, both of which straddle the were not a barrier to development. It is thropological view of writers such as
supra- and infrastructure. Kinship rela- conceivable that Latin-Americans whose Kroeber or Redfield and Weber’s cultural
tions can denote both culture and pro- modern culture is a derivative of Euro- relativism would seem attractive, but this
duction relations. Language can be sym- pean culture (including language) could would be succumbing to liberal idealism
bolic/expressive as well instrumental at afford this minimalist position. Therefore, which has very little to do with the nasty
the level of cognition and concep- if culture could be treated as a common praxis of development. It is true that We-
tualization as in the development of sci- variable between them and Mediterranean ber in his The Protestant Ethic and the
ence. What all this points to is the fact Europe, then their underdevelopment Spirit of Capitalism (1921) did tackle head
that Marxism is a child of European ra- could not be explained by recourse to the on the question of values and develop-
tionalism and is ill-equipped to deal with same variable. The logical conclusion ment. Nevertheless, Weber, along with
what is perceived as subjective aspects which could be drawn from this is that classical anthropologists, has been criti-
of social existence. However, it must be the nationalism of the “dependencia” cized for ignoring structural and material
recognized that its emphasis on material theorists was structural rather than cul- forces in his theory of development and
factors at the expense of non-material fac- tural. This deduction might not appeal to change. Most of this criticism came,
tors was a reaction against Hegelian ide- some chauvinistic Latin-Americans. But though not exclusively, form Marxists,
alism. The question, then is whether from the point of view of the sociology of starting with Lukacs’ tour de force, His-
Marx’s followers the world over should knowledge, it is not without significance tory and Class Consciousness: Studies
forever be haunted by Hegel’s ghost. that the most effective critique of theo-
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 61
in Marxist Dialectics (1926). But as has without negations. All cultures are sub- remedied. This could be a measure of the
been warned, Marxists have never used ject to mutations and transformations. social alienation of most African intellec-
“culture” as a critical concept in their Since Tylor’s celebrated definition in 1871, tuals. For instance, when views are solic-
theorization of society. Therefore, a radi- it is generally known what culture encom- ited on the problem of rural and agricul-
cal call for the re-instatement of culture in passes in its complexity. What is not tural development, “experts” form the
development studies, justified as it is in known in advance is what elements are former imperial countries have more to say
the context of anti-imperialist. On the possessed with a potential for farther de- than the indigenous scholars. The rea-
other hand, it is a deviation from classical velopment. This is a sensitive and intri- son is that the latter suffer from illusions
Marxist theory, which is anti-imperialist cate problem which cannot be deciphered of grandeurs. They imagine that they
in so far as it is anti-capitalist. Conse- through received theory or contrived could reach the summit, without having
quently, any explorations in this field rep- universalism. It requires intimate knowl- established a solid foundation. The foun-
resent a terra nova which should be ap- edge of the dynamics of African culture dation in Africa culturally- and practically-
proached with some reverence. in a contemporary setting. This has to be speaking, in the agrarian sector. If any-
so because there is no way in which mod- thing unique is to be discovered on the
The Necessity of Culture ern Africans can re-live their pre-colonial continent, it is most likely embedded there.
As is well-known, culture distinguishes past. This does not detract from any calls The immediate challenge is to produce
man from brutes. It characterizes the hu- for authenticity. Indeed, there have been intellectual tools for unraveling it. This
man species and simultaneously divides calls from Third World intellectuals for the cannot be a solitary but a collective enter-
it over time and space. The history of indigenization of the social sciences. This prise, involving a series of workshops and
human civilizations testifies to this. Mod- presupposes a rejection of received seminars in which well-considered papers,
ern western civilization is the first civili- theory and an awareness and knowledge grounded on regional or local reality, are
zation to try and homogenize culture. This of indigenous modes of thought and do- presented.
is not only impoverishing, culturally- ing. Africa is the worst victim of intellec-
FESPAC in December, 1988 in Dakar could
speaking, but is also inimical to develop- tual and cultural imperialism and, conse-
offer a useful and convenient platform for
ment in so far as it denies so many other quently, is in the grips of the worst
introducing the topic, raising the relevant
unexpected possibilities. Nonetheless, the development crisis ever. And yet, no clear
questions and for setting up the machin-
invitation to the study of these possibili- views have emerged from African intel-
ery for further discussions and research.
ties should not be seen as affirmation, lectuals as to how the situation could be
* CODESRIA Bulletin, Number 1, 1988, (p. 7-8)
Archie Mafeje
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 62
African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment
Programmes: An African Recovery in Thought*
Preamble ent theory of agrarian transformation nor
Since the beginning of the present eco- clear recommendations on land policy.
nomic crisis in Africa, the continent has Archie Mafeje Instead, it is guided by normative values
been inundated with “approved” pro- American University which are noble in themselves but do not
grammes of economic recovery. These Cairo, Egypt advance our scientific understanding of
mainly came from credited international the development problems of the conti-
agencies, whose job it is to contrive such nent. Existing theories must be upheld or
programmes for underdeveloped regions, discarded according to their explanatory
cence, political paternalism, and ideologi-
especially. In Africa the most predominant power, and not be merely suspended for
cal mystification was unlimited.
since 1980 has been the Structural Ad- anybody’s convenience.
justment Programmes (SAPs), sponsored In practice this has led to a situation This demand is perfectly consistent with
by the World Bank and the International where in changes in policy are highly ar- the canons of scientific positivism. In-
Monetary Fund (IMF). These have been bitrary and dependent governments such deed, what on the surface gave the World
implemented in more than thirty African as the African ones are tossed form pillar Bank its intellectual dominance among the
countries to date. In addition, there has to post, without any clear scientific ex- international development agencies over
been the FAO programmes, African Agri- planation. For instance, while in the 1960s the last ten years is that it prides itself on
culture: the Next 25 Years (1986), and the and 1970s FAO was advocating indi- applying these proven principles, with-
United Nations Programme of Action for vidual land tenure and capitalist agricul- out compromise. Despite Robert
African Economic Recovery and Devel- ture as a matter of policy and a “scien- McNamara’s flirtation with the idea of
opment 1986-1990 (UN-PAAERD). tific” basis for development, since the “small producers” in the late 1960s and
World Conference on Agrarian Reform
During the same period (1985) the Organi- the early 1970s, the World Bank techno-
and Rural Development (WCARRD) in
zation of African Unity (OAU) adopted crats were theoretically less concerned
1979 it has emphasized the role of the poor
Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic about this and were itching to get back to
in agricultural development and the need
recovery 1986-1990 (APPER). From the undiluted neoclassical economic theory.
to alleviate rural poverty. In that context
point of view of re-direction of the Afri- With the change of guard in that vaunted
in 1981 it published a policy document
can economies and the analytical grounds power-house later in the 1970s, they got
entitled, The Peasants’ Charter. These
for it, there was nothing distinctive about their chance. McNamara’s policies in Af-
were significant policy changes and FAO
APPER. Consequently, it had virtually no rica had failed and the African economies
perceived them as such. Confronted with
impact on its African audience. This is to were in shambles because of certain eco-
them in the 1980s the present author
be expected because the majority of Afri- nomic irrationalities and a certain interna-
could not help remembering being re-
can countries had already adopted the tional soft-mindedness or sentimentality.
buked, as a young consultant in 1974, for
SAPs and had accepted the loans offered The new marching orders were foreshad-
advocating the same thing and being
for the purpose – the so-called Structural owed in the now famous or infamous (de-
described as “too ideological” by one of
Adjustment loans (SALs). Under the cir- pending on how one looks at it) Berg re-
the FAO chiefs.
cumstances APPER was politically hollow, port, Accelerated Development in
intellectually platitudinous, and finan- In 1986 when I read African Agriculture: Sub-Saharan Africa: An Agenda for Ac-
cially uncompetitive. the next 25 years, I knew FAO had come tion, World Bank, Washington D.C., 1981.
full circle. In a written response (Mafeje, As is well-known, the report had a great
In contrast, the programme sponsored by
1987), I wanted to know the scientific/ impact but largely negative. African gov-
international agencies had everything
theoretical reasons for it. I knew that there ernments, which had just the year before
going for them. Invariably they had the
were none for, if there were, they would adopted their own blue-print, the Lagos
blessings of the developed countries, al-
have appeared in the document itself. Plan of Action (1980), were jolted. Pub-
ways bolstered up by great intellectual/
Africans would have had the pleasure of licly, they refused to endorse the Berg
technical pretensions and seductive fi-
learning a new scientific theory about Report on the grounds that it contradicted
nancial benefits. Therefore, to varying
agrarian transformation, new methods for their own policy priorities, as set out in
degrees their sponsors tend to take for
allocation of production factors, espe- the Lagos Plan of Action.
granted their intellectual and ideological
cially distribution of land or improved land
presuppositions in dealing with Africa, In spite of the unfulfilment of the Lagos
tenure regimes for future development.
especially. This is not to suggest that their Plan of Action, the issues were clear. The
The only deduction that could be made
postures are identical or static but that World Bank was insisting on the reinstate-
from this lack of intellectual consistency
the intellectual reasons for any shift of ment of neoclassical orthodoxy. Among
is that while FAO might be sensitive
positions have been for a very long time other things, this entailed concentration
enough not to push too hard its earlier
internal to them as far as Africa is con- on capitalist farmers and export agricul-
neoclassical orthodoxy, in the case of
cerned. Thus, the scope for scientific li- ture, elimination of price controls, removal
Africa this has left it with neither a coher-
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 63
of agricultural and food subsidies, liqui- AAF-SAP: Its Intellectual and justing, “weak” adjusting, and non-
dation of parastatals in favour of the pri- Theoretical Significance adjusting,
vate sector, and curtailment of public In reviewing AAF-SAP the intention is
e) indiscriminate price decontrol; and
spending. On the other hand, the African not only to pay tribute to its architects,
governments, while not equipped with the UN Economic Commission for Africa f) anti-social curtailment of public
any particular orthodoxy, knew from po- (ECA) under the leadership of its Execu- spending.
litical experience that there was a range of tive Secretary, Professor Adebayo
On (a) the evidence presented in a docu-
things they could not afford. Foremost Adedeji, but also to bring it to the atten-
ment entitled Statistics and Policies
among these was the question of food tion of African intellectuals and scholars.
(1989) was devastating. Using weighted
subsidies for populations which gener- Through OAU representatives and Afri-
averages and 1980 as the baseline, instead
ally suffered from sub-minimal levels of can Ministers of Economic Planning and
of the unweighted averages used by the
income and the plight of small producers Development, and of Finance, African
Bank and 1985 (an exceptionally good
whose economic situation was getting so politicians and policy-makers are fully
year) as its baseline, ECA was able to
desperate that, without government fi- aware of the document. As the document
show that: “…during 1980-1987 the per-
nancial support, the alternative was represents basically a framework, it will
formance of Sub-Saharan African coun-
chronic food shortages among the rural certainly require further elaboration and
tries with strong SAPs was the worst of
and urban poor with predictable conse- research. In the given division of labour,
any group; a negative annual average
quences. this falls largely on the shoulders of Afri-
growth rate of -0.53 percent contrasted
In the posture adopted by most African can scholars. Here, one is reminded of the with a positive 2.00 percent for countries
governments on this issue there might role of the Latin-American scholars in the with weak structural adjustment pro-
have been a huge dose of cynicism. But 1960s and early 1970s under the stimulus grammes and a relatively strong positive
this does not matter so much. What mat- of the UN Economic Commission for rate of 3.5 percent for non-adjusting coun-
ters most is their sense of reality or of the Latin-America (ECLA). As is well-known, tries in Sub-Saharan African”. Although
objective situation. If at first they were this gave rise to a pervasive paradigm the World Bank tried to find formal ex-
afraid that they may might endanger their which was distinctly Latin-American and cuses for its omissions, substantively, it
survival by endorsing publicly the Berg yet inspired scholars everywhere in the was not able to prove in this reply that its
Report, since their individual capitulation Third World by proving the fallibility of findings were not spurious. The rest of
to the SAPs subsequently provoked noth- northern conventional wisdom. For a the points by ECA concerned approach
ing dramatic, most might have got encour- paradigm to achieve such a transforma- to development itself. While at first the
aged to forget about the Lagos Plan of tional effect, it does not have to be “right” Bank was inclined to argue that its pro-
Action. This is particularly so that they on every specification within its field of grammes are basically a stop-gap and do
were promised continued blood transfu- discourse. So it was with the Dependencia not aim at long-term development, later it
sion in the form of SALs and that, if they paradigm. It is sufficient to show through produced a report, Poverty Adjustment,
played the game according to the rules, systematic analysis and methodological and Growth in Africa (1989), which pur-
recovery was inevitable. Whether or not rigour that there could be an alternative, ported to deal with all the social issues
recovery has come to the SALs adopters, if the various omissions of existing theo- and problems of equity raised by agen-
as time ticks away there is bound to be ries were taken into account. In other cies such as ECA and UNICEF. Therefore,
increasing anxiety, if not apprehension, words, the selection of indices for meas- the challenge form the ECA’s African Al-
among both the adopters and the authors urement is as important as the measure- ternative Framework should help to clarify
of the programmes. This is especially so ment itself. In our view, this is precisely the matter.
that all along there had been a certain what gave birth to the AAF-SAP.
amount of muted scepticism among some The Challenge
Indictment Against the Bank
African intellectuals and policy-analysts. Although the ECA at times made it ap-
This received its first collective expres- In its review of the World Bank’s report pear that its critical comments on the or-
sion in The Khartoum Declaration on the Africa’s Adjustment and Growth in the thodoxy of the structural adjustment pro-
Human Dimension of Africa’s Economic 1980s (1989), the ECA accused the Bank grammes were nothing more than a call
Recovery and Development (1988). This of the following: for a modification of policy instruments
as it may, the Khartoum declaration and measures, in fact they were tanta-
a) manipulation of statistical data to con-
amounted to nothing more than a com- mount to an explicit rejection of the ap-
firm pre-conceived ideas;
plaint. It was soft and constituted no real proach of the World Bank and the IMF.
scientific challenge to the SALs. None- b) a simplified approach which failed to Likewise, the attempt by the World Bank
theless, the emotive impulses behind it take into account external factors, the to give the impression that it could em-
were strong and widespread enough to social costs of adjustment, and long- brace a “human-centred” development
set the stage for the next round, which term negative effects of the recom- strategy, without abandoning its basic
proved to be the greatest challenge that mended adjustment policies; philosophy of development, was mislead-
has come out of Africa since independ- ing. If, as the ECA did, the following were
c) ignoring the role of aid flows which
ence. We are here referring to the African declared unacceptable:
favoured adjusting countries and thus
Alternative Framework to Structural
Adjustment Programmes (AAF-SAP). penalized non-adjusting countries; • Drastic budgetary reductions, espe-
cially with respect to expenditures and
d) arbitrary classification of sub-Saharan
African countries into “strong” ad-
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 64
subsidies on social services and es- with equity had been debated fiercely in ciency in Africa, it is not quite clear what
sential goods; academic circles since the Arusha Decla- would be the role of agriculture in the
ration by the Tanzanian government. Ac- changed circumstances. This is bearing
• Indiscriminate promotion of traditional
tually, the debate spreads from the Uni- in mind that conventionally and histori-
exports through price incentives of-
versity of Dar-es-Salaam to other cally agriculture had been looked upon
fered only to “tradeables”;
university campuses in Zambia, Nigeria, as an earner of foreign exchange and a
• Across-the-board credit squeeze; and Kenya towards the end of the 1970s. source of primitive accumulation. Under
For that matter, it might not be an acci- the twin concepts of “sustainable
• Generalized devaluation through dent that the SALs have had an extremely growth” and “preservation of the envi-
open foreign exchange markets, cur-
mixed reception in countries such as Tan- ronment”, would African agriculture be
rency auctions and large and frequent
zania, Zambia, and Nigeria. Thirdly, the able to meet all these requirements? This
currently depreciations;
concept of “self-reliant” development, is particularly pertinent because contrary
nationally and regionally, had also re- to the assumptions of the AAF-SAP, Af-
• Unsustainable high real interest rates;
ceived a great deal of attention from Afri- rican agriculture has not suffered neces-
• Total import liberalization; can scholars between 1968 and 1975 un- sarily because of technological level but
der the influence of the Latin-American its performance continues to approximate
• Over-dependence on market forces for
dependencia theory. Fourthly, though to to the low technological level. In the mean
getting the “prices right” in structur-
a limited extent, the question of the rela- time, there are reports everywhere in Af-
ally distorted and imperfect market
tionship between external and domestic rica about the degradation of the soil. In
situation and
demand had already been raised in the the circumstance is intensification of tech-
• Doctrinaire privatization. context of export crops versus food crops. nological factors a self-evident policy in-
Fifthly, although not an area of concen- strument, as the ECA is inclined to sug-
What would the World Bank be left with
tration by any means, since the end of gest.
as building blocks for its programme? For
the 1970s the limitations of import-sub-
all intents and purposes, the World Bank This brings us to the third issue, “in-
stitution industrialization strategy with
is committed to laissez-faire policies and creased inter-linkages” between agricul-
regards to production of essential goods
by implication to old-fashioned “trickle- ture and industry. It might well be that
for mass consumption had been made
down” suppositions. In contrast, the ECA what is at stake here is not the magnitude
apparent.
upholds the principle of government in- of inter-linkages between the two but the
tervention in the allocation of resources It is, therefore, surprising to discover that type of inter-linkages. It has been com-
and income distribution. These represent after a brilliant critique of the World Bank plained that import-substitution industri-
two different approaches to the problem of SAPs the ECA technical staff have not alization led to a discrepancy between
development and transformation in Africa. been able to take advantage of prior resource use and domestic demand and
insights by African scholars and go be- that agriculture was used, without any
In the light of this, one of the questions
yond what is given. For instance, in the transformational benefits. Likewise, one
that has been raised is whether the rejec-
AAF-SAP under Strengthening and Di- of the charges against the SAPs is that
tion of the World Bank orthodoxy
versifying Production Capacity in table they are anti-industrialization in their ef-
amounted to a serious questioning of
5.2 reference is made to “land reforms” fects. The question then is: at the stage
neoclassical assumptions and a new con-
and “increased inter-linkages between of primitive accumulation what is going
tribution to African development theory.
agriculture and industry”. “Land reform” to be the relationship between agriculture
This might not be part of the ECA’s brief
is a term which frequently features in and industry and what is going to be the
but that of the African academic commu-
policy recommendations in Latin-America dynamic link between the two, especially
nity in general. However, the supposition
and Asia. In Africa nobody knows pre- under the rigours of “self-reliance” and
could be made that there is a relationship
cisely what it refers to, outside the settler scarcity of foreign exchanges? The ECA’s
between ECA’s intellectual/scientific en-
economies of Southern Africa. In Sub- interesting idea of diversifying export
deavours and those of the African aca-
Saharan Africa it used to be associated crops by diversifying their products can
demic institutions. If this turns out not to
with the introduction of individual land be subsumed under “agro-industries”,
be the case, as one suspects, then the
tenure and modern technology. But both which need not be outward-oriented.
implications are very serious indeed.
these indices have been under serious These are some of the questions on which
Therefore, it might be worthwhile to check
review up to as late as the Third Govern- policy makers need guidance which goes
to what extent are the ECA’s prescriptions
ment Consultation on Follow-up to beyond the usual economic clichés.
under AAF-SAP informed by the dis-
WCARRD in Africa in Addis Ababa, Oc-
course that has taken place beforehand Consistent with its idea of “human-cen-
tober, 1989. As a result of sustained re-
in African academic institutions. tred” development, the AAF-SAP is very
search on land tenure systems in Sub-
strong on Pattern of Expenditure for the
Broadlyspeaking, the AAF-SAP advo- Saharan Africa by no more than five
Satisfaction of Needs. By placing a pri-
cates a mixed economy approach. This African scholars, FAO can no longer
macy on the satisfaction of critical social
idea had been on the agenda since the vaguely refer to something called “land
needs, investment in human capital and
Indian second five-year plan in the fifties reform” in Africa. How much more with
raising the living standards of the major-
and had been adopted in Africa since in- ECA?
ity of the population, the AAF-SAP suc-
dependence as a matter of necessity for
Secondly, while there can be no question ceeded in putting upside-down the para-
the same reasons as advanced by the
about the desirability of food self-suffi- digm of the World Bank. But it would seem
ECA. Secondly, the problem of growth
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 65
that the emphasis on increased consump- in Africa i.e. an alternative to mere import- crisis of the 1980s, they should have been
tion is not matched by equally stout policy substitution. able to derive clues from that experience
instruments and measures for increased for formulating practicable policies for the
Finally, we come to the section on Insti-
production. In recommendations under future. What adjustments did these coun-
tutional Support for Adjustment with
Improving the Level of Income and the tries make on their own to survive the cri-
Transformation. Here, the concern is
Pattern of its Distribution the main con- sis?
agrarian development and transformation.
cern is how to augment government rev-
The frame of reference used is fairly con-
enues. Although frequent reference is Conclusion
ventional – credit facilities, extension serv-
made to “productive investment” of rev- From the point of view of the psychology
ices, mobilization of small producers (es-
enues so gained, this remains unspeci- of knowledge-making, it is of historic im-
pecially women), popular participant,
fied and no clear long-term pattern of in- portance that the ECA was able to issue
NGOs, self help, and promotion of cot-
vestment emerges under the section. It is the challenge it did. Even more signifi-
tage industries. All these activities are
true that under the previous section, cant, psychologically, is the fact that what
subsumed under the concept of “inte-
Strengthening and Diversifying Produc- its technical staff wrote is something
grated rural development”, which has
tion Capacity, agriculture is given prior- which they had already known or was
gained currency in recent years. But the
ity mainly from the point of view of food known but for one thing: the implicit be-
question is: what is “transformational”
self-sufficiency and employment oppor- lief in the infallibility of external agencies
about it? Be it noted that historically, this
tunities. This still leaves us with a largely such as the World Bank. The simple dis-
referred to a transformation from one set
consumption-oriented development strat- covery that the statistical claims of the
of institutions to another or from one level
egy. The same comments could be made World Bank were spurious gave them the
of technological development to another.
in regard to the separation of social serv- confidence to give vent to suppressed,
In Sub-Saharan Africa the rural institu-
ices from production and treating them authentic, intellectual knowledge. Prior to
tions are kinship- or communally-based.
as a purely bureaucratic responsibility. this, the same external intellectual domi-
Modernization advocates, including the
nation might have led to the devaluation
It would seem that whatever happens in World Bank, conceived of transformations
of internal intellectual capital. Otherwise,
Africa in the next few years, “diversify- as a movement away from such institu-
how else do we explain the fact that the
ing production capacity” must go beyond tions to more individualized and privatized
recommendations of the AAF-SAP start
the usual pre-occupation with crop diver- forms of ownership and production. Tech-
from a lower scientific base than would
sification within agriculture and confront nologically, they equated this with the
be justified by the state of the arts within
the problem of diversification of produc- adoption of western machinery and pro-
Africa?
tion within the economy as a whole. For duction techniques. Both assumptions
instance, is agriculture going to be main- have become a source of controversy in Nonetheless, it is worth reiterating that
tained in the intermediate future as the contemporary Africa. the AAF-SAP is an effective critique of
leading sector, despite the low added- the SAPs and thus has created a new
Therefore, it would have been useful if
value in its products and high market policy environment in Africa. It falls short
the AAF-SAP had spelled out the kind of
inelasticities? This question could be an- of providing a recognizable alternative,
transformation its authors had in mind.
swered in relation to the role of mineral as against a modification of the World
Allusions to accelerated “process of
wealth in the future development of the Bank’s flawed framework, this should be
achieving a green revolution in Africa”
continent. Very little attention has been welcome as an invitation to African re-
will not allay the worst fears among some
paid to this factor and no reference is searchers scholars to make good any de-
African analysts, given the Asian experi-
made to it in the AAF-SAP. Yet, the stra- ficiencies therein. It is very rare for a ho-
ence and that of African countries such
tegic value of minerals in a rapidly indus- listic framework to be evenly developed
as Nigeria. If what is envisaged is indus-
trializing world and their potential for re- in a single shot. Above all the temptation
trialization of agriculture, then this can-
gional industrialization cannot be towards reformism is ever so present, es-
not be realized, without basic industriali-
minimized. It must be remembered that it pecially when social indices are included
zation of the African economies
is this kind of wealth which made coun- as an integral part of development models,
themselves. Therefore, what is needed
tries such as South Africa. Among Afri- which are by convention “economic”. This
most is advice on the intermediate steps.
can countries Botswana is making effec- political economy approach favoured in
There are enough ideas and research find-
tive use of it and it is hoped that Namibia the AAF-SAP has been in disuse for
ings to make this feasible. In fact, some of
will follow suit. But what about the rest of sometime or associated with “leftists”.
the evidence would have come from ECA
mineral-rich African countries? One can- Now that there are no leftists to worry
itself. When they discovered that it was
not help feeling that the AAF-ASP could about any more, it might be the time has
the “weak adjusting” and non-adjusting
have been more forthcoming on pros- come to experiment with new models, with-
African countries that did best during the
pects and strategies for industrialization out appealing to the usual prejudices of
* CODESRIA Bulletin, Number 2, 1990, (p. 11-14) the west.
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 66
On ‘Icons’ and African Perspectives on Democracy:
A Commentary on Jibrin Ibrahim’s Views
I
n the context of Jibrin Ibrahim’s po political vigilance guaranteed individual
lemic against ‘Icons’, it could easily freedom. Part of this was, of course, illu-
Archie Mafeje
be retorted that the opposite of ‘Icon’ sory for two major reasons.
American University
is ‘neophyte’ (from the Greek word, neo-
Cairo, Egypt First, as is known, civil society derived
phytes, meaning ‘newly planted’).
its strength from organisation. Secondly,
Whether we think of it as ‘newly initiated’
insofar as civil society is organised into
or ‘novice’ the emotive connotations
their civil and political rights as individu- different social groups with different in-
would not be soothing to anybody’s ego.
als”. Be it noted that the shift in his for- terests, it is open to social competition
Therefore, why appeal to those terrible
mulation from collective nouns and pro- for power. Thus, the necessity for social
things, human passions - green, yellow,
nouns to individuals is mystifying. organisation and the self-imposing im-
and red? Why not keep to essence – black
Sociologically-understood, at what point perative to protect common interests in
and white – so that we can tell with clarity
does collective political action become practice make nonsense of the abstracted
whether it is a funeral or a wedding; a req-
the social property of individuals and de- ‘individual’ of the laissez-faire theorists.
uiem for the ‘icons’ or an overture for ‘neo-
fendable by them as such? Without collective commitment, individu-
phytes’.
als cannot be defended. The significance
Contrary to liberal ideology, what became
Jibrin Ibrahim’s strictures against what he of this assertion becomes apparent only
known as individual freedom, rights, or
calls ‘icons’ can neither be clarified nor if we are able to decide in our own minds
civil rights, is not attributable to indi-
validated because they violate all the rules whether individuals are subjects or ob-
vidual achievements but rather to social
of intellectual discourse. First, nowhere jects of freedom. Bourgeois thinkers be-
struggles. In the case of feudal Europe it
in his diatribe does he define his terms. came self-contradictory on this matter
was a question of liberating whole classes
Second, he uses abstracted single sen- because while they insisted on individu-
from either bondage or political subordi-
tences as substitute for studied texts. alism and treated the state with great sus-
nation. It is obvious that to liberate peo-
Third, he shows great disregard for his- picion, they at the time maintained that
ple from generalised servitude or oppres-
torical and empirical facts. Fourth and not only was it the right of the state to
sion, recognition of the individual has
most disconcertingly, he has no argument guarantee civil liberties but also its duty
great intrinsic as well as strategic value.
but merely a series of subjective com- to protect them. But the state could not
However, this does not detract from the
plaints. Fifth and sadly, he seems to be guarantee all this, without reserving the
fact that social liberation of any kind is a
oblivious of the dangers of “finger-point- right to overrule individuals or even
collective responsibility.
ing” or of ad hominem accusations. Fail- groups if justified according to the same
ure to become “unabashed celebrants of This is an issue which plagued European constitution which theoretically binds it
liberalism” does not in all honesty render bourgeois social thought and philosophy to its citizens.
any of Ibrahim’s chosen ‘icons’ liable to until the first quarter of this century. For
The second major point is that the coun-
accusations of having spent ‘too little time both its realisation and protection bour-
ter position between ‘state’ and ‘civil so-
learning or practising (in this case fight- geois individualism relied on collective
ciety’ is part of bourgeois mystification
ing for) democracy’. To be a breaker of action. This irony of history did not es-
because it fails to identify the state ac-
images (eikonoklastes in Greek), one does cape the attention of such well-known
cording to its origins and social charac-
not have to be a jaundiced biographer, a ‘laissez-faire’ individualists as Auguste
ter. There is no such a thing as an undif-
theoretical nihilist, or an epistemological Comte (1789-1857) and Hebert Spencer
ferentiated civil society. Part of civil
anarchist. This defeats the whole purpose (1820-1903). Their problem was how to
society accounts for the origins and the
of intellectual discourse and militates reconcile individual freedom with the ne-
social character of the state and this part
against the development of an intellec- cessity for social organisation. Accept-
is organised to guarantee the social re-
tual community. Therefore, without mini- ing the latter as a necessary evil, they
production of the state and benefits by it.
mizing the importance of Ibrahim’s legiti- resolved the issue by drawing a sharp
For instance, what is popularly called
mate concern and disillusionment with distinction between the ‘state’ and ‘civil
‘petit bourgeois’/‘neo-colonial’ govern-
senior African scholars, it behoves every- society’. In this context the state was
ments in Africa is not autogenous appari-
body to play the game according to the rules. seen as generally inclined to impose its
tions but rather a reflection of the social
will on individuals and it was thought
interests of the emergent African elites.
On Liberalism and Liberal that individuals could save themselves
Sociologically, these are identifiable as the
Democracy from the imposition by insisting on in-
educated elite, politicians, senior bureau-
dependent existence outside the state.
Jibrin Ibrahim simply fails to define either
crats, estate/commercial farmers, and busi-
Thus ‘civil society’ came to symbolise a
of these two terms. The nearest he comes
nessmen – mainly parasitic merchants.
community of private citizens who by
to define ‘liberal democracy’ is to make a
virtue of their collective existence and
vague reference to people’s “attachment to
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 67
Despite the denial of civil liberties and mains the issue whether raised inside or to take all this for granted and for good
frequent violation of human rights in Af- outside capitalist societies. historical reasons to ask for more. It is the
rica, these elements swear by bourgeois ‘more’ which is, theoretically and politi-
In this connection it is well to remember
democracy and in most cases it is written cally, interesting because it is not self-
that social indictment is not about the
into their national constitutions. They are evident. It leads to divergent views which
good that is given but about the good
sufficiently indoctrinated in bourgeois are worth considering in their own right,
that is seen but denied. Therefore, it is
ideology and in their own inferiority that especially with regard to the question of
rather inane to suppose that a critique of
they are consumed by a great desire for whether or not African and other Third
liberal democracy is necessarily a denial
bourgeois respectability. When this can- World countries can hope to reproduce
of the value of the rights which liberal
not suffice, they opportunistically appeal the socio-historical experience of the
democracy ushered in its heyday. Conse-
to ‘traditional’ African values such as the West. Failure to confront this fundamen-
quently, the cutting edge of any contem-
justification for the one-party state and tal question can only lead to such drip-
porary demands for democracy should be
life presidencies in Africa. They know that, ping-wet arguments as ‘half a loaf is bet-
the perceived good which is denied by
objectively, they cannot afford bourgeois ter than no bread’. These are no
existing social systems. If, for instance,
democracy and the most they can do is to arguments but jaded apologetics which
liberal democracy is offered as a sop to
pretend. The result is that there are nei- sounded the death knell of liberalism –
the African ‘masses’, is it not the duty of
ther guiding principles nor authenticity the inclination to be charitable where else
African intellectuals to show in what ways
in the running of national affairs. In the fails. Although Ibrahim confuses “liber-
this is historically fraudulent? It might
circumstances the road is open to arbi- alism” with “liberal democracy”, the two
come as a surprise to Ibrahim to discover
trary and personalized use of power by terms have come to denote two entirely
that his African ‘icons’ did not have to
the rulers and what would have been the different things. “Liberalism” has become
‘demolish’ liberal democracy because that
objective functions of the state, even a an expression of contempt in intellectual
had already been done by the societies
reactionary one, become secondary. Con- and political debates precisely because it
which invented it.
trary to Ibrahim’s fervent belief, the cure does not offer any solutions but apolo-
of this socio-political aberration is not First, it was European voters who passed gies. Witness the contempt in which
reversion to liberal democracy anywhere a negative verdict against liberal parties democratic Americans hold ‘liberals’ since
in the world. This is, indeed a foreclosure in the aftermath of World War I. It was the doomed attempt by President Truman
which befits an ‘icon’. However, in miti- not an ideological revulsion but a well- to set the clock back after World War II.
gation it can be stated that it is not born founded perception of the good that was Yet, the Americans nationally are willing
of dogmatism but of a more than casual not being delivered. This did not become to destroy half of humanity in defence of
reading of the development of bourgeois crystal clear until the onset of the ‘Deep “liberal democracy”. Social democracy
democracy. Depression’ of 1929-1933. Liberal indi- having been publicly renounced on their
vidualism could not give any solace to continent, the Europeans are also willing
Philosophically speaking, World War I
multitudes of unemployed and starving to beat the drums of war but are not brash
marked the end of ‘liberal democracy’ as
individuals nor could ‘laissez-faire’ theo- enough to do it themselves. In the cir-
a leading bourgeois ideology. Different
ries of the 19th century suffice. The lib- cumstances, why would any self-respect-
issues had emerged. First was the ques-
eral model with its trickle-down supposi- ing African ‘icon’ be expected to condone
tion of whether ‘bourgeois democracy’
tions had collapsed. This cleared the way such cynicism and to engage in a feck-
was realisable at all in ex-colonial coun-
for the Keynesian revolution in econom- less parody of ‘liberal democracy’?
tries dominated by imperialism. This was
ics. Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ was
raised by socialist idealists in the wake of
jettisoned in favour of the visible hand of On “Liberal” and “Socialist
the Russian revolution. Their concern
the state in the management of national Democracy
was not repudiation of civil liberties as
economies. For political expediency, the
had been attained under liberal democ- On this particular issue Jibrin Ibrahim can
state interference in the allocation of la-
racy but rather socialist democracy which be accused of muddled thinking and a
bour and resources, and in the redistribu-
was seen as a negation of class rule and woeful lack of sense of historiography.
tion of value in the form of free social serv-
exploitation. Although this got associated Metaphorically, albeit inelegantly, it could
ices was beguilingly referred to as
with the ‘proletariat’ revolution and inter- be said that: “liberal democracies evolved
‘indicative planning’. In fact, this sig-
national ‘socialism’ among Marxists or social democracy”. But, historically and
nalled the rise of the welfare state which
members of the Third International, the analytically, this obscures the fact that it
had different ideological underpinnings
critique of liberal democracy itself was not was those who objected to the omissions
from those of liberal individualism or
limited to them. It had become general in of liberal democracy, namely, the workers
‘laissez-faire’. The governments of the
capitalist countries in a way which is and their socialist/Marxist allies, who
day were called upon to intervene to
hardly acknowledged by their historians. were instrumental in the evolution of so-
stimulate economic growth, to create em-
The risk of labour parties or social demo- cial democracy within bourgeois society.
ployment, and to guarantee the livelihood
cratic parties in different parts of West- Secondly, if ‘liberal democracies’ is used
of the unemployed/unemployable. This
ern Europe and the failure of the liberal as a metaphor for bourgeois society, then
is precisely what the social democrats had
parties to win popular support in the in- it must be granted that, historically, bour-
been agitating for since the end of the
ter-war period and after the Second World geois society produced a number of other
19th century.
War were strong pointers to the inadequa- things such as fascism, dictatorships,
cies of liberal democracy. These did not In the circumstances the only crime the socialists, Marxists, colonialists, racists,
centre on civil liberties but on actual dis- African ‘icons’ might have committed is and imperialists. To avoid depicting
tribution of power and wealth. This re-
CODESRIA Bulletin, Nos 3 & 4, 2008 Page 68
Ibrahim as a starry-eyed neophyte, it could precisely because of the collapse of the and what was perhaps erroneously called
be granted that he knows about all these so-called socialist societies in Eastern ‘socialism’ in Eastern Europe. In this
things but that his ideological interest is Europe. They helped to re-introduce the regard, Samir Amin is correct in
to affirm the virtues of liberal democracy question of social democracy in ‘united’ maintaining that the collapse in Eastern
and to decry the iniquities of “socialism” Europe which, predictably, issued in the Europe does not foreclose any discussion
or Marxist doctrines. The moment for this rise of fascism in Western Europe, the on socialism. However, it would seem that
type of exercise could not be any more centre of wealth and privilege. Mahmood the burden for elucidating the logical
felicitous. However, history does not be- Mamdani’s point about the rights of citi- implications of social democratic
gin or end with the rise and fall of the so- zens and ‘non-citizens’ would apply here struggles by extra-population as
called socialist societies in Eastern Europe. but would not necessarily be attributable happened in the past, falls squarely on
to ‘liberal democracy’ but rather to the the shoulders of the left.
It is very demeaning to suggest that
anachronistic conception of the ‘nation-
American ‘icons’ should celebrate ‘liberal There are pragmatic grounds for posing
state’ at the moment of its historical sup-
democracy’ simply because “socialist re- the question this way. In Third World
pression. In the Third World the collapse
gimes did nothing else but degenerate into countries the struggle for social
had the effect of intensifying popular re-
dictatorships. In the event what would democracy entails a number of other
bellion against external control and
be African about them? Or is their alleged freedoms which might have already been
comprador regimes in the wake of an ag-
‘universalist Marxism’ the rub? Naturally attained in the North e.g. civil rights and
gressive drive by the Western powers to
the collapse of Eastern European socie- national self-determination. Anti-
consolidate their global stranglehold in
ties has theoretical implications for so- imperialist struggles are still reality in their
the name of a ‘new world order’, as is
cialists/Marxists but it does not dispose case and, nationally, denial of civil liberties
boisterously declared by “ugly American”.
of social problems that inhere in capital- by regimes which lack legitimacy but
It is this popular energy which the Ameri-
ist society. The issue concerning ‘liberal enjoy enough external support to hold
cans and their allies are trying to channel
democracy’ versus ‘social democracy’ onto power indefinitely is common-place.
into ‘liberal’ solutions which they them-
was about distribution of the social prod- These jointly put the national question
selves have long forsaken. They patron-
uct and political power between classes firmly on the agenda. Therefore Amin,
ise Third World countries by setting
in capitalists societies. Whether this is- Shivji and myself are hardly mistaken in
lower standards for them than for them-
sue is referred to as “socialism” or “so- emphasizing the right to self-determination
selves and by telling them that ‘half a loaf
cial democracy” is immaterial. What is of and the right of the people to chose for
is better than no bread’. Where is the full
critical importance is that liberal democ- themselves. It is also known that the
loaf? Is it the privilege of the Western
racy does not address it and consequently people do not only want to be free to
bourgeoisie?
it got superseded by programmes which organise themselves and to express their
do. Everywhere the battle lines are drawn Universal struggles, despite the supposed views but also to have adequate access
very clearly between the Right, which collapse of “socialism”, would indicate to means of livelihood or a fair share of
firmly believes in concentration of wealth that nowhere is this accepted the national product. This could mean any
and power and to that extent is prepared unquestioningly. In Europe the struggle of a number of things. Therefore, in
to dismantle the welfare state and to dis- for social democracy is such that the dismissing liberal democracy as ina-
pense with distributive justice, and the triumphant right-wing is not able to dequate it is incumbent upon the African
Left, which fervently believes in the re- consolidate the power of the bourgeoisie, ‘icons’ to say what their conception of
distribution of wealth and power in favour without making social democratic the new dispensations would look like
of underprivileged classes. The left hav- concessions, as is shown by the vicis- almost in the same way that progressive
ing suffered defeat and loss of credibility situdes of the Maastricht Treaty or the Northerners would be required to say
since the reversals in Eastern Europe, is frustrated GATT talks for more than, six what is the possible articulation between
finding it difficult to formulate a new pro- years. The pressures are felt most acutely social democratic struggles in advanced
gramme and to devise strategies for its at the national level. The gullible Eastern capitalist countries and the transition to
implementation. At the same time, it is European reformist regimes have full social equity, whatever it is called.
obvious that retreat into liberalism under discovered, in the shortest possible time,
In approaching the national question, say,
conditions in which it has been over-taken the folly of offering liberal democracy at
in Africa it is an acceptable orthodoxy
by historical events is of no avail, despite this historical juncture, without social
among African ‘icons’ to think in terms of
Ibrahim’s illusions. New and critical think- democracy. Some have even imagined that
a ‘democratic national alliance’, certain
ing is what is required. they could escape their plight by selling
classes having been left out after indepen-
their countries piece-meal to the West for
Pronouncements by African scholars, like dence. It is also a Marxist or socialist or-
a morsel of bread. Empty promises and
any other, can fruitfully be reviewed thodoxy to think in terms of ‘classes’. But
the shutting of the floodgates has been
against the background of changing his- are members of a class always organised
the response from the West partly because
torical perspectives. For instance, in re- as such everywhere? For instance, what
of the fear of internal repercussions but
jecting liberalism and the limitations of lib- happened in Ethiopia, Chad, Somalia or
basically because it still harbours
eral democracy as were experienced in Liberia? Was it a purely class phenom-
imperialistic motives towards Eastern
Europe, the African ‘icons’ are sailing in enon? It would seem that in evolving a
Europe. Therefore; the struggle for social
well-chartered waters. In advocating social-construct for our social democratic
democracy in Europe will continue
socio-democracy as well as democratic revolution it would be necessary to take
unabated. What needs to be reviewed is
pluralism, they are on firm ground since into consideration forms of social organi-
the relationship between such struggles
this has in fact become a universal issue sation other than ‘classes’. Claude Ake,