Reformism and Revisionism in Africa’s Political Economy in the 1990s: The Dialectics of Adjustment

228 Pages·1993·16.15 MB·English

by  Timothy M. Shaw (auth.)

REFORMISM AND REVISIONISM IN AFRICA 'S
POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE 1990s
Also by Timothy M. Shaw
Al'RICA IN WORLD POLITICS (editor wirh Ralplz I. Ollwuka)
AFRICA PROJECTED (editor witll Olajide Aluko)
NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES AND THE
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH-SOUTH RELATIONS
(editor with Jerker Carlssoll)
NIGERIAN FOREIGN POLICY (editor wilh Olajide Aluko)
PEACE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY IN THE
CARIBBEAN (editor with Amhony T. Bryan and J. Edward
Greene)
TOWA RDS A POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR AFRICA
Reformism and
RevisionisIn
in Africa's Political
EconoInY
in the 1990s
The Dialectics of Adjustment
Timothy M. Shaw
Professor of Political Science and
International Development Studies
Dalhousie University, Canada
150th YEAR
M
St. Martin's Press
© Timothy M. Shaw 1993
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1993 978-0-333-57745-5
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or ttansmission of
this publication may be made without written pennission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
ttansmitted save with written pennission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the tenns of any licence pennitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published in Great Britain 1993 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LT D
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-39094-6 ISBN 978-0-230-37637-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230376373
First published in the United States of America 1993 by
Scholarly and Reference Division,
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-07977-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shaw, Timothy M.
Refonnism and revisionism in Africa's political economy in the
19905: the dialectics of adjustment /Timothy M. Shaw.
p. cm.
Inc1udes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-07977-2
1. Africa-Economic conditions-1960- 2. Africa-Politics and
govemment-1960- I. Title.
HC800.S527 1993
338.96--dc20 92-2904
CIP
To successive generations of African university students who
continue courageously to challenge the arbitrary assumptions
and assertions of African states

Contents
List of Maps VIll
List of Tables viii
List of Boxes IX
List of Figures X
Preface xi
List of Abbreviations xii
1 Introduction: Beyond the Dialectics of Dependence 1
2 The African Condition: From Crisis to Conjuncture 59
3 The Continent in the 1990s: New Factors and Forces 103
4 Into the Twenty-first Century: Marginal or Central? 129
5 Conclusion: African Studies and African States 151
Appendix: OAU - Treaty Establishing the African
Economic Community (June 1991) 179
References 199
Index 211
List of Maps
1 Political Economies of Africa, 1991 14
2 Political Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1960 61
3 Political Systems in Africa, 1991 105
List of Tables
1 Africa: Country Profiles 4
2 Political Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa 6
3 Africa and the South: Regional Aggregates of Human
Development Indicators 33
4 Total External Public and Private Debt and Debt
Service Ratios 66
5 Balance of Payments and Reserves 73
6 Human Development Index, 1991 77
7 Women in Development 127
8 Women's Comparative Rank According to Alternative
Indexes 175
viii
List of Boxes
1 African Societies and Political Culture 15
2 African Authors and Political Decay 18
3 Plus c;a Change: Post-war Planning for Africa 19
4 Informal Sectors: Subsistence and Sustainable? 22
5 Varieties of Refugees: Economic, Ecological and
Professional as weIl as Political 26
6 The 'New Poor': Demise of the Middle Class 28
7 Mobile Elites: Transnational Families 30
8 Private Wealth: Public Squalor 53
9 The Essentials of Luxuries: from Stereos to
Satellite Dishes 57
10 Decline in Basic Human Needs (BHN) Satisfaction 81
11 Fertility and Food: Malthusian Nightmare 134
12 'New' and Old Diseases: AIDS, Hypertension and
Malnutrition 141
13 AIDS in Central Africa: the Disease of the Rich 142
14 Security of Polity and Property: Africa's Growth
Industry 147
15 'Prince, Autocrat, Prophet, Tyrant': Personalities in
African Politics 148
16 Political Wives and Social Corruption 158
17 Military Roles and Debts: Costs of Coups or
Equipment 159
18 Deindustrialisation and Perpetual Underdevelopment 162
19 African Multinational Corporations 163
20 Fate Worse than Debt? 168
21 Gold Rush: Minerals in the Informal Sector 169
22 Uganda: Rehabilitation Despite Conditionalities 172
23 Africa's Last Colony: the Independence of
Namibia, 1990 174
24 Success Stories: For Whom? For How Long? 176
25 Eritrea, 1993: Protracted Struggle to Recapture
Independence 177
IX