Briefings: The Life and Times of A.M. Babu: Personal Reflections

No abstract available Democracy & Development Vol.3(2) 2003: 85-9

Trajectories of accumulation: how neoliberal primitive accumulation is planting the seeds of suicide

The disparity we see between workers and owners, between rural and urban areas and between colonised and metropolitan countries is the result of a process of unequal exchange that goes back several centuries. Prof Shivji traces the wretched path of expropriation that has shaped social and economic relations over this period and up to the present with a grim warning of how this mode of exchange threatens the very source of life on earth: the seeds we use to grow our food

Accumulation in an African Periphery : A Theoretical Framework

The 'Washington consensus' which ushered in neo-liberal policies in Africa is over. It was buried at the G20 meeting in London in early April, 2009. The world capitalist system is in shambles. The champions of capitalism in the global North are rewriting the rules of the game to save it. The crisis creates an opening for the global South, in particular Africa, to refuse to play the capitalist-imperialist game, whatever the rules. It is time to rethink and revisit the development direction and strategies on the continent. This is the central message of this intensely argued book. Issa Shivji demonstrates the need to go back to the basics of radical political economy and ask fundamental questions: who produces the society's surplus product, who appropriates and accumulates it and how is this done. What is the character of accumulation and what is the social agency of change? The book provides an alternative theoretical framework to help African researchers and intellectuals to understand their societies better and contribute towards changing them in the interest of the working people

The Silences in the NGO Discourse: The role and future of NGOs in Africa

This paper is an attempt to examine critically the role and future of the NGO in Africa in the light of its self-perception as a non-governmental, non-political, non-partisan, non-ideological, non-academic, non-theoretical, not-for-profit  association of well-intentioned individuals dedicated to changing the world to make it a better place for the poor, the marginalised and the downcast. It is the argument of the paper that the role of NGOs in Africa cannot be understood without a clear characterisation of the current historical moment. On a canvas of broad strokes, I depict Africa at the cross-roads of the defeat of the National Project and the rehabilitation of the imperial project. In the face of the avalanche of ‘end of history’ diatribes, I find it necessary, albeit briefly, to reiterate the history of Africa’s enslavement from the first contacts with the Europeans five centuries ago through the slave trade to colonialism and now globalisation. The aim of this historical detour is to demonstrate the fundamental antithesis between the National and the Imperial Projects so as to identify correctly the place and role of the NGOs in it. I locate the rise, the prominence and the privileging of the NGO sector in the womb of the  neo-liberal offensive whose aim is as much ideological as economic and  political. I argue that the NGO discourse, or more correctly the non-discourse, is predicated on the philosophical and political premises of neo-liberalism  globalisation  paradigm. It is in this context that I go on to discuss the ‘five silences’ or blind-spots in the NGO discourse. I draw out the implications of these silences on the contemporary and future role of the NGO sector in Africa. At the outset, I must make two confessions. First, the paper is undoubtedly critical, sometimes ruthlessly so, but not cynical. Secondly, the criticism is also a self-criticism since the author has been involved in NGO activism for the last fifteen years or so. And, finally, I must make it clear that I do not doubt the noble motivations and the good intentions of NGO leaders and activists. But one does not judge the outcome of a process by the intentions of its authors; one analyses the objective effect of actions regardless of intentions. Hopefully, that is what I have done.Cet article tente de faire un examen critique du rôle et de l’avenir des ong en Afrique, qui se veulent être des associations non gouvernementales, non  politiques, non partisanes, non idéologiques, non académiques, non théoriques et à but non lucratif, composées d’individus bien intentionnés, ayant pour ambition de changer le monde afin, de le rendre meilleur pour les pauvres, les marginalisés et les groupes opprimés. Cet article affirme que le rôle des ong en Afrique ne peut être compris sans une caractérisation bien claire du moment historique actuel. Je dépeins l’Afrique comme étant au carrefour de la défaite duProjet National et de la réhabilitation du projet impérialiste. Face à l’avalanche de diatribes «  catastrophistes », je considère qu’il est nécessaire de rappeler l’histoire de l’asservissement de l’Afrique, de ses premiers contacts avec les Européens il y a cinq siècles à l’actuelle mondialisation, en passant par l’esclavage et le   colonialisme. L’objectif d’une telle digression historique est de démontrer  l’antinomie fondamentale entre les Projets Nationaux et Impérialistes, afin de bien identifier la place et le rôle des ong au sein de ceux-ci. Je situerais le  développement, l’importance et la place privilégiée des ong dans les entrailles  mêmes de l’offensive néolibérale dont la finalité est aussi bien idéologique  qu’économique et politique. Je soutiens que le discours des ong, ou plus exactement leur non-discours, est fondé sur les hypothèses philosophiques et politiques du paradigme du néolibéralisme/de la mondialisation. C’est dans ce contexte que je poursuis, en discutant des « cinq silences » ou zones d’ombres décelées dans le discours des ong. Je dégage ensuite les implications de ces silences sur le rôle futur et contemporain des ong en Afrique. Dès le départ, j’aimerais me livrer à deux confessions. Premièrement, cet article est sans nul doute critique, parfois impitoyablement critique, mais jamais cynique. Deuxièmement, cette critique est également une auto-critique, car l’auteur s’est livré à l’activisme des ong au cours des quinze dernières années. Enfin, j’aimerais préciser que je ne doute pas des bonnes intentions et de la noble motivation qui animent les dirigeants et activistes des ong. Mais l’on ne peut juger du résultat d’un processus à travers les intentions de ses auteurs. L’on analyse l’effet objectifdes actions menées, sans tenir compte des intentions. J’espère que c’est ce que j’aurai réussi à réaliser ici

Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism : Lessons of the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union

The Pan-Africanist debate is back on the historical agenda. The stresses and strains in the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar since its formation some forty years ago are not showing any sign of abating. Meanwhile, imperialism under new forms and labels continues to bedevil the continent in ever-aggressive, if subtle, ways. The political federation of East Africa, which was one of the main spin-offs of the Pan-Africanism of the nationalist period, is reappearing on the political stage, albeit in a distorted form of regional integration. It is in this context that the present study is situated. Backgrounding the major dramas of the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar this book studies the personalities involved and their politics, and includes an account of the Dodoma CCM conference that toppled President Jumbe. It is also a detailed legal analysis of the union incorporating powerful new material

The Concept of Human Rights in Africa

Hitherto the human rights debate in Africa has concentrated on the legal and philosophical. The author, Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam, here moves the debate to the social and political planes. He attempts to reconceptualise human rights ideology from the standpoint of the working people in Africa. He defines the approach as avoiding the pitfalls of the liberal perspective as being absolutist in viewing human rights as a central question and the rights struggle as the backbone of democratic struggles. The author maintains that such a study cannot be politically neutral or intellectually uncommitted. Both the critique of dominant discourse and the reconceptualisation are located within the current social science and jurisprudential debates