Teaching Africa and international studies: Forum introduction

Africa has often been defined and represented by outsiders. In International Studies, the continent is frequently viewed as peripheral and uninteresting. This is clearly a problem, and an increasingly apparent one as the number of courses on Africa and IS grow, both in Africa and beyond. Many academics who run these courses are keen to challenge the continent’s traditional marginalisation and perceived dependency, but they are limited by the resources available to them, and the fact that many are establishing new courses from scratch. This article outlines some of the key debates around teaching Africa and IS, setting the scene for the articles that follow

Going to the People : Amílcar Cabral's Materialist Theory and Practice of Culture and Ethnicity

Encontrando com o povo : cultura e etnicidade na teoria e a praxe materialistas de Amílcar Cabral Num momento que a questão da etnicidade está sendo fundamental na política africana, a famosa análise de Amílcar Cabral sobre os grupos sociais e étnicos da Guiné Bissau continua sendo uma ferramenta importante para a reflexão. Independentemente da sua exatidão histórica, a teoria de Cabral constitui uma referência para pensar a etnicidade na África. Ela é uma abordagem materialista da formação, da composição e das origens possíveis dos conflitos étnicos, buscadas nos recursos diferenciados e os diferentes tipos de bens produzidos pelo desenvolvimento desigual da economia colonial. Esse artigo trata da análise de Cabral no contexto mais amplo, não somente da guerra pela Independência e da construção nacional, mas também das relações internacionais e da economia global. Apesar de ser basicamente materialista, a análise de Cabral leva também a cultura em conta.At a time when the problem of ethnicity remains so decisive for Africa's polity, Amílcar Cabral's famous analysis of the composition of social and ethnic groups in Guinea Bissau remains a potent force for analysis. Regardless of the debate on its relevance for the actual history of Guinea, Cabral's discussion remains exemplary in its analysis of ethnicity in Africa. It also constitutes a materialist view of the formation, composition and possible reasons for ethnic conflict, linking it to the differentiation of resources and the actual kinds of commodities produced in the uneven development of the colonial economy. This article sets Cabral's analysis within the wider context of the liberation struggle and nation building, but also the relationship of nation states to the wider world, or global economy. While Cabral's analysis is fundamentally a materialist one, central to this materialism is an analysis of culture.À la rencontre du peuple : culture et ethnicité dans la théorie et la pratique matérialistes d'Amilcar Cabral. À une époque où la question ethnique se pose de manière décisive dans la vie politique des États africains, la célèbre analyse d'Amilcar Cabrai sur la composition ethnique des groupes sociaux en Guinée-Bissau demeure une source d'inspiration efficace pour les travaux d'analyse sur le sujet. Indépendamment du débat sur sa pertinence pour l'histoire actuelle de la Guinée, l'analyse qu'il propose de l'ethnicité en Afrique demeure exemplaire. Elle propose en effet une approche matérialiste des fondements, de la nature et des causes potentielles des conflits ethniques, en les reliant à la question des différences d'accès aux ressources et à la nature même des marchandises produites dans le contexte du développement inégal de l'économie coloniale. Cet article situe également l'analyse de Cabrai dans le contexte élargi de la lutte pour la libération et pour la construction de la nation, mais aussi dans la relation des États-nation au reste du monde et à l'économie globale. Tout en étant fondamentalement matérialiste, c'est sur une analyse de la culture que repose essentiellement le matérialisme de Cabral.Idahosa P. L. E. Going to the People : Amílcar Cabral's Materialist Theory and Practice of Culture and Ethnicity. In: Lusotopie, n°9, 2e semestre 2002. Portugal, une identité dans la longue durée. pp. 29-58

Going to the People : Amílcar Cabral's Materialist Theory and Practice of Culture and Ethnicity

Encontrando com o povo : cultura e etnicidade na teoria e a praxe materialistas de Amílcar Cabral Num momento que a questão da etnicidade está sendo fundamental na política africana, a famosa análise de Amílcar Cabral sobre os grupos sociais e étnicos da Guiné Bissau continua sendo uma ferramenta importante para a reflexão. Independentemente da sua exatidão histórica, a teoria de Cabral constitui uma referência para pensar a etnicidade na África. Ela é uma abordagem materialista da formação, da composição e das origens possíveis dos conflitos étnicos, buscadas nos recursos diferenciados e os diferentes tipos de bens produzidos pelo desenvolvimento desigual da economia colonial. Esse artigo trata da análise de Cabral no contexto mais amplo, não somente da guerra pela Independência e da construção nacional, mas também das relações internacionais e da economia global. Apesar de ser basicamente materialista, a análise de Cabral leva também a cultura em conta.At a time when the problem of ethnicity remains so decisive for Africa's polity, Amílcar Cabral's famous analysis of the composition of social and ethnic groups in Guinea Bissau remains a potent force for analysis. Regardless of the debate on its relevance for the actual history of Guinea, Cabral's discussion remains exemplary in its analysis of ethnicity in Africa. It also constitutes a materialist view of the formation, composition and possible reasons for ethnic conflict, linking it to the differentiation of resources and the actual kinds of commodities produced in the uneven development of the colonial economy. This article sets Cabral's analysis within the wider context of the liberation struggle and nation building, but also the relationship of nation states to the wider world, or global economy. While Cabral's analysis is fundamentally a materialist one, central to this materialism is an analysis of culture.À la rencontre du peuple : culture et ethnicité dans la théorie et la pratique matérialistes d'Amilcar Cabral. À une époque où la question ethnique se pose de manière décisive dans la vie politique des États africains, la célèbre analyse d'Amilcar Cabrai sur la composition ethnique des groupes sociaux en Guinée-Bissau demeure une source d'inspiration efficace pour les travaux d'analyse sur le sujet. Indépendamment du débat sur sa pertinence pour l'histoire actuelle de la Guinée, l'analyse qu'il propose de l'ethnicité en Afrique demeure exemplaire. Elle propose en effet une approche matérialiste des fondements, de la nature et des causes potentielles des conflits ethniques, en les reliant à la question des différences d'accès aux ressources et à la nature même des marchandises produites dans le contexte du développement inégal de l'économie coloniale. Cet article situe également l'analyse de Cabrai dans le contexte élargi de la lutte pour la libération et pour la construction de la nation, mais aussi dans la relation des États-nation au reste du monde et à l'économie globale. Tout en étant fondamentalement matérialiste, c'est sur une analyse de la culture que repose essentiellement le matérialisme de Cabral.Idahosa P. L. E. Going to the People : Amílcar Cabral's Materialist Theory and Practice of Culture and Ethnicity. In: Lusotopie, n°9, 2e semestre 2002. Portugal, une identité dans la longue durée. pp. 29-58