Intellectuals And African Development: Pretension And Resistance In African Politics (africa In The New Millennium)

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This book looks at different responses to the African predicament from prominent writers like Soyinka, Ngugi, and Achebe, the military men in power and the students who defy repression. It suggests that intervention by international agencies who claim to promote "democracy" and "empower the youth" may reinforce authoritarian attitudes and structures, and gives voice to the outrage, ridicule, revolutionary ardour and reformist caution of those directly affected. It also exposes the shallow pretences of those in power as well as the hypocrisy and arrogance of the foreign helpers, and concludes that being an "insider" or an "outsider" is less important than being committed to listen to ordinary people.

E-Book Content

Africa in the New Millennium about this series The books in this new series are an initiative by CODESRIA, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, to encourage African scholarship relevant to the multiple intellectual, policy and practical problems and opportunities confronting the African continent in the twenty-first century. CODESRIA in association with Zed Books Titles in the series: African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development Edited by Thandika Mkandawire Africa and Development Challenges in the New Millennium: The NEPAD Debate Edited by J. O. Adésinà, A. Olukoshi and Yao Graham Urban Africa: Changing Contours of Survival in the City Edited by A. M. Simone and A. Abouhani Liberal Democracy and Its Critics in Africa: Political Dysfunction and the Struggle for Social Progress Edited by Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo Negotiating Modernity: Africa’s Ambivalent Experience Edited by Elísio Salvado Macamo Insiders and Outsiders: Citizenship and Xenophobia in Contemporary Southern Africa Francis B. Nyamnjoh African Anthropologies: History, Critique and Practice Edited by Mwenda Ntarangwi, David Mills and Mustafa Babiker About CODESRIA The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is an independent organization whose principal objectives are facilitating research, promoting research-based publishing and creating multiple forums geared towards the exchange of views and information among African researchers. It challenges the fragmentation of research through the creation of thematic research networks that cut across linguistic and regional boundaries. CODESRIA publishes a quarterly journal, Africa Development, the longest-standing Africa-based social science journal; Afrika Zamani, a journal of history; the African Sociological Review, African Journal of International Affairs (AJIA), Africa Review of Books and Identity, Culture and Politics: An Afro-Asian Dialogue. It co-publishes the Journal of Higher Education in Africa, and Africa Media Review. Research results and other activities of the institution are disseminated through ‘Working Papers’, ‘Monograph Series’, ‘CODESRIA Book Series’, and the CODESRIA Bulletin. About the editors Björn Beckman is a Research Professor in the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University. He has published extensively on African political economy and organized interests. His current work compares African trade unions and their interventions in policy and politics. Gbemisola Adeoti is a Lecturer in the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. He studied for his PhD in English at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His areas of teaching and research include dramatic literature, poetic traditions, literary history and literary theory. He has contributed to scholarly journals both within and outside Nigeria. His collection of poems, Naked Soles, has just been published. björn beckman & gbemisola adeoti | editors Intellectuals and African development Pretension and resistance in African politics CODESRIA dakar