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

230 Pages·1993·15.95 MB·English

by  Timothy M. Shaw

REFORMISM AND REVISIONISM IN AFRICA'S
POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE 1990s
Also by Timothy M. Shaw
AFRICA IN WORLD POLITICS (editor with Ralph I. Onwuka)
AFRICA PROJECTED (editor with Olajide Aluko)
NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZING COUNTRIES AND THE
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH-SOUTH RELATIONS
(editor with Jerker Carlssori)
NIGERIAN FOREIGN POLICY (editor with Olajide Aluko)
PEACE, DEVELOPMENT AND SECURITY IN THE
CARIBBEAN (editor with Anthony T. Bryan and J. Edward
Greene)
TOWARDS A POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR AFRICA
Reformism and
Revisionism
in Africa's Political
Economy
in the 1990s
The Dialectics of Adjustment
Timothy M. Shaw
Professor of Political Science and
International Development Studies
Dalhousie University, Canada
M150th YEAR
St. Martin's Press
© Timothy M. Shaw 1993
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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First published in Great Britain 1993 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
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 0-333-57745-0
Printed in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
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 0-312-07977-X
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shaw, Timothy M.
Reformism and revisionism in Africa's political economy in the
1990s: the dialectics of adjustment / Timothy M. Shaw,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-312-07977-X
1. Africa—Economic conditions—1960- 2. Africa—Politics and
government—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 viii
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 111
VII
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
vin
List of Boxes
1 African Societies and Political Culture 15
2 African Authors and Political Decay 18
3 Plus qa Change'. Post-war Planning for Africa 19
4 Informal Sectors: Subsistence and Sustainable? 22
5 Varieties of Refugees: Economic, Ecological and
Professional as well 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 Trince, 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