50 Jahre Unabhängigkeit: Reflexionen zur Bedeutung des Verlagswesens und zur Rolle progressiver Intellektueller in Afrika

In this contribution, the role of progressive African intellectuals fifty years after independence in the context of African postcolonial, political and socio-economic conditions is examined. African intellectuals have been marginalized by the African state, and progressive intellectuals have been disunited in their struggle for relevance. The possibilities for African intellectual autonomy and international solidarity are shown through a recollection of the flourishing intellectual environment and local publishing output of post-independence Tanzania. The end of that era and the demise of publishing, including in African languages, has negatively impacted African economic and intellectual emancipation and can only be addressed by international solidarity among progressive intellectuals.Der Autor untersucht die Rolle progressiver Intellektueller Afrikas fünfzig Jahre nach der Unabhängigkeit und im Kontext postkolonialer politischer und ökonomischer Bedingungen. Die Intellektuellen Afrikas wurden durch den Staat marginalisiert; gleichzeitig waren progressive Intellektuelle bei ihren Bemühungen um Anerkennung nicht geeint. Der Autor versucht, das Potenzial intellektueller Autonomie und internationaler Solidarität aufzuzeigen, indem er an das blühende intellektuelle Leben in Tansania und die Leistungsfähigkeit des dortigen Verlagswesens nach der Unabhängigkeit erinnert. Das Ende dieser Ära und der Niedergang des Verlagswesens, insbesondere auch des Publizierens in afrikanischen Sprachen, haben sich negativ auf die ökonomische und intellektuelle Emanzipation ausgewirkt. Der Autor plädiert daher für internationale Solidarität unter den progressiven Intellektuellen Afrikas

The development of technical publishing in Africa

In an article on publishing in Africa which appeared in the French nespaper Le Monde, the writer commmented that 'in these countries of oral culture, the printed word has difficulty imposing itself' Special paper in: CTA annual report 1992

50 Jahre Unabhängigkeit: Reflexionen zur Bedeutung des Verlagswesens und zur Rolle progressiver Intellektueller in Afrika

In this contribution, the role of progressive African intellectuals fifty years after independence in the context of African postcolonial, political and socio-economic conditions is examined. African intellectuals have been marginalized by the African state, and progressive intellectuals have been disunited in their struggle for relevance. The possibilities for African intellectual autonomy and international solidarity are shown through a recollection of the flourishing intellectual environment and local publishing output of post-independence Tanzania. The end of that era and the demise of publishing, including in African languages, has negatively impacted African economic and intellectual emancipation and can only be addressed by international solidarity among progressive intellectuals.Der Autor untersucht die Rolle progressiver Intellektueller Afrikas fünfzig Jahre nach der Unabhängigkeit und im Kontext postkolonialer politischer und ökonomischer Bedingungen. Die Intellektuellen Afrikas wurden durch den Staat marginalisiert; gleichzeitig waren progressive Intellektuelle bei ihren Bemühungen um Anerkennung nicht geeint. Der Autor versucht, das Potenzial intellektueller Autonomie und internationaler Solidarität aufzuzeigen, indem er an das blühende intellektuelle Leben in Tansania und die Leistungsfähigkeit des dortigen Verlagswesens nach der Unabhängigkeit erinnert. Das Ende dieser Ära und der Niedergang des Verlagswesens, insbesondere auch des Publizierens in afrikanischen Sprachen, haben sich negativ auf die ökonomische und intellektuelle Emanzipation ausgewirkt. Der Autor plädiert daher für internationale Solidarität unter den progressiven Intellektuellen Afrikas

50 years of independence: reflections on the role of publishing and progressive African intellectuals

"Der Autor untersucht die Rolle progressiver Intellektueller Afrikas fünfzig Jahre nach der Unabhängigkeit und im Kontext postkolonialer politischer und ökonomischer Bedingungen. Die Intellektuellen Afrikas wurden durch den Staat marginalisiert; gleichzeitig waren progressive Intellektuelle bei ihren Bemühungen um Anerkennung nicht geeint. Der Autor versucht, das Potenzial intellektueller Autonomie und internationaler Solidarität aufzuzeigen, indem er an das blühende intellektuelle Leben in Tansania und die Leistungsfähigkeit des dortigen Verlagswesens nach der Unabhängigkeit erinnert. Das Ende dieser Ära und der Niedergang des Verlagswesens, insbesondere auch des Publizierens in afrikanischen Sprachen, haben sich negativ auf die ökonomische und intellektuelle Emanzipation ausgewirkt. Der Autor plädiert daher für internationale Solidarität unter den progressiven Intellektuellen Afrikas." (Autorenreferat)"In this contribution, the role of progressive African intellectuals fifty years after independence in the context of African postcolonial, political and socio-economic conditions is examined. African intellectuals have been marginalized by the African state, and progressive intellectuals have been disunited in their struggle for relevance. The possibilities for African intellectual autonomy and international solidarity are shown through a recollection of the flourishing intellectual environment and local publishing output of post-independence Tanzania. The end of that era and the demise of publishing, including in African languages, has negatively impacted African economic and intellectual emancipation and can only be addressed by international solidarity among progressive intellectuals." (author's abstract

Academic Publishing in Africa

Provision of education at all levels has always been one of the, if not the, most important expectation that Africans demand of their governments. In the twenty-first century even a bachelor’s degree is no longer good enough for the few available government jobs or for those in the private sector. Awareness of the extent of the demand for education has made private investment in education profitable. Private universities and colleges in East Africa currently outnumber public universities and the population of university students is growing by leaps and bounds. This translates into high demand for textbooks and reference books and, in principle, expands opportunities for and viability of locally producing those books. Available evidence, however, does not bear this out. On the contrary, demand for the increased number and variety of books is being met by importation, mostly from UK and US publishers, and increasingly also from India. Weaknesses of the African book chain – capacities in authorship, editorial functions, publishing finances and management, marketing, distribution – are most acutely felt in academic publishing. The Print-On-Demand and digital print solutions that have been touted remain largely chimeric. African academic authors and their publishers in Africa are not likely to challenge the predominance of the multinational publishers, not in the near future, nor in the foreseeable future. This reality is fraught with contradictions requiring and inventing their own resolutions. Unmet demand creates a market for photocopying, first by chapters, which leads mutatis mutandis to wholesale piracy as the regular source of academic textbooks. Bona fide publishers with moral compunction will probably die out. The paper will explore and elucidate these issues and propose possible solutions in the interest of indigenous and multinational publishers with an interest in African education and development

Academic Publishing in Africa

Provision of education at all levels has always been one of the, if not the, most important expectation that Africans demand of their governments. In the twenty-first century even a bachelor’s degree is no longer good enough for the few available government jobs or for those in the private sector. Awareness of the extent of the demand for education has made private investment in education profitable. Private universities and colleges in East Africa currently outnumber public universities and the population of university students is growing by leaps and bounds. This translates into high demand for textbooks and reference books and, in principle, expands opportunities for and viability of locally producing those books. Available evidence, however, does not bear this out. On the contrary, demand for the increased number and variety of books is being met by importation, mostly from UK and US publishers, and increasingly also from India. Weaknesses of the African book chain – capacities in authorship, editorial functions, publishing finances and management, marketing, distribution – are most acutely felt in academic publishing. The Print-On-Demand and digital print solutions that have been touted remain largely chimeric. African academic authors and their publishers in Africa are not likely to challenge the predominance of the multinational publishers, not in the near future, nor in the foreseeable future. This reality is fraught with contradictions requiring and inventing their own resolutions. Unmet demand creates a market for photocopying, first by chapters, which leads mutatis mutandis to wholesale piracy as the regular source of academic textbooks. Bona fide publishers with moral compunction will probably die out. The paper will explore and elucidate these issues and propose possible solutions in the interest of indigenous and multinational publishers with an interest in African education and development