Spring 2002
410 Lehman, 854-3779
Office Hours: Tues. 10:30-11:30 and by appointment
As
residents of North America, we are bombarded daily with images of famine,
disease and bloody conflicts in Africa.
Since the publication of Robert Kaplan's article “The Coming of Anarchy”
(Atlantic Monthly, 1994) in which he argues that “West Africa is
becoming the symbol of world wide demographic, environmental, and social
stresses,” a debate between Afro-pessimists and Afro-optimists has been waged
by journalists, policymakers, and academics on both sides of the Atlantic.
While neither argument is completely without foundation, both tend towards an
oversimplification and superficial generalization of current events in Africa.
This
course seeks to present a more balanced view of Africa that reflects its
social, economic and political diversity. Over the course of the semester, we
will examine both the international and domestic causes for Africa's
post-colonial crises in political authority (Section I) and economic
development (Section II) that gave rise to Afro-pessimism as well as current
sources of Afro-optimism. In the final section of the course (Section III), we
will focus on the role of Africa and Africans in world politics, highlighting
issues of peacekeeping, human rights, and the international AIDS crisis by
bringing in activists working on these issues both in Africa and among Africans
in New York City.
A. Papers: Students will be required to write three short papers for this class. The first two essays (25% each) will be on assigned topics based on the lectures and readings for the course. Students will be expected to supplement the readings with several additional sources on a specific African country of their choice. Hopefully, these sources will help you prepare to write your final paper (40%) which will be on a topic you select in consultation with the instructor. Students must submit a one-page statement of their proposed topic on any aspect of African politics along with a short annotated bibliography by 15 February. Memos on the papers are at www.columbia.edu/~ljb34/african_pol/index.htm.
Grading
Policy Regarding Late Papers: All due dates are noted on the syllabus and are firm
deadlines. For each day a paper is late, 1/3 of a letter grade will be deducted
from the final grade (e.g., an A+ becomes an A when the paper is a day late).
No paper will be accepted that is more than one week late unless there is
a documented family or health emergency, in which case an extension will be
negotiated for a precise amount of time, after which the penalties for a late
paper will apply. Students must give prior notification that an emergency
will prevent them from submitting the paper on time. Each assignment must
be submitted prior to the due date of the subsequent assignment or no credit
will be given for a late paper. Given that each paper is worth a minimum of
25% of the final grade, students who cannot fulfill these requirements will
be asked to drop the course. If all but the final paper has been completed
by the last day of classes, requests for an incomplete will be granted according
to university policy.
B.
Class Participation (10%): As the symposium style of the course is intended to combine
lectures with in-class discussion, student participation is required. Prior to
each in-class discussion students will be expected to contribute brief comments
(a paragraph or two) on the assigned texts to the on-line bulletin board for
this class at :
https://www1.columbia.edu/sec/bboard/021/pols4496-001/
To receive credit for students must both sign
their commentary and attend discussion in class.
C.
Map Quiz:
Attached to the syllabus is a copy of a political map of Africa. There will be a map quiz in which you will
be asked to identify each African country.
The goal of this exercise is to familiarize you with the political
geography of Africa which will aid in your understanding of the readings and
class discussion. Students must pass the quiz before the first paper is due.
The
following books are available at Labyrinth Bookstore. These and all other
readings are on reserve at Barnard's Wollman Library. A reading packet will be
made available to students for the remaining readings.
C.
Achebe. Man of the People (Anchor, 1989)
C.
Ake. Democracy and Development in Africa (Brookings, 1996)
R.
Lemarchand. 1994. Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide. (1994)
M.
Mamdani. Citizen and Subject (Princeton, 1996)
P.T.
Mkandawire and C. Soludo. Our Continent, Our Future. (Africa World
Press, 1998)
B.
Shell-Duncan and Y. Hernlund. Female “Circumcision” in Africa. (2000)
W.
Reno. 1998. Warlord Politics and African States. (L Rienner, 1998)
COURSE
OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
D.
Gordon and H. Wolpe. 1998. “The Other Africa: An End to Afro-Pessimism” World
Policy Journal. 49-59.
O.
Owomoyela. 1994. "With Friends like these..." African Studies
Review. 77-102.
D. Rieff. 1998/99. “In Defense of Afro-Pessimism,” World
Policy Journal. 10-12
Recommended Reading:
M. Chege. 1994. “What’s Right with Africa?” Current
History.
S. Ellis. 2000. "Reporting on
Africa," Current History. 221-26.
R. Kaplan. 1994. “The Coming
Anarchy,” Atlantic Monthly.
V.Y. Mudimbe. 1988. "Discourse of Power and
Knowledge of Otherness,"
The Invention of Africa. 1-23.
M.
Mamdani. 1996. Citizen and Subject. esp. 3-61, 285-301.
C.
Young. 1994. The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective. pp.
13-42.
Recommended Reading:
P. Curtin. 1995. African History: From Earliest
Times to Independence.
J. Herbst. 2000. States and Power in Africa.
R. Oliver and J.D. Fage. 1990. A Short History of
Africa.
K. Firmin-Sellers. 2000. “Institutions, Context and
Outcomes: Explaining French and British
Rule in West Africa,” Comparative Politics. 253-271.
B. Freund. 1984. The Making of Contemporary
Africa.
B. Davidson. 1992. Black Man's Burden.
J.
Busumtwi-Sam. 1999. “Redefining ‘Security’ after the Cold War: The OAU, the UN
and
Conflict Management in Africa,” Civil Wars in
Africa.
S.
N. Grovogui. 1996. Sovereigns, Quasi Sovereigns, and Africans. esp.
1-11, 179-208.
R.
Jackson and C. Rosberg. 1982. "Why Africa's Weak States Persist," World
Politics. 1-24.
Recommended Reading:
J. Forrest. 1988. The Quest for
State Hardness in Africa.
R. Iyob. 2000. “The Ethiopian-Eritrean Conflict:
Diasporic vs. Hegemonic States in The Horn
of Africa,” Journal of Modern African Studies (38:4).
K. von Hippel. 1995. "The Non-Interventionary
Norm Prevails: An Analysis of the Western
Sahara" Journal of Modern African Studies. 33(1) 67-81.
G. Naldi. 1989. The Organization of African Unity.
P. Nugent and A.I. Asiwaju. 1996. African
Boundaries.
Feb
7-19 Political Legitimacy and The
Patrimonial State
C.
Achebe. Man of the People (Anchor, 1989)
J.P.
Olivier de Sardan. 1999. "A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?" Journal
of Modern African
Studies, 37 (1) 25-52.
Recommended Reading:
L. Diamond (ed). 1997. Transition without End: Nigerian
Politics. and Civil Society
under
Babangida.
In P. Lewis (ed). 1998. Africa: Dilemmas of
Development and Change:
R. Jackson and C. Rosberg. "Personal
Rule: Theory and Practice in Africa," 17-43.
R.
Joseph. "Class, State and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria" 44-63.
P. Ekeh.
"Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa," 87-109.
K. Maier. 2000. This House Has Fallen. Ch 1.
J. Scott. 1969. “Corruption, Machine Politics and
Political Change,” American Political Science Review.
J. Umoren. 1996. Democracy and Ethnic Diversity
in Nigeria. Especially chs. 6 and 7.
S. Wright. 1998. “Identity, Society and Nation,” Nigeria.
Feb
21-26 Ethno-politics
B.
Berman. 1998. "Ethnicity, Patronage and the African State: The Politics of
Uncivil Nationalism,"
African Affairs, 97(38) 305-341.
R.
Lemarchand. 1994. Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide. Esp. 1-75,
160-187.
Recommended Reading:
A. Des Forges. 1999. Leave None
to Tell the Story.
E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger. 1983. The
Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
P. Gourevitch. 1998. We Wish to
Inform You that Tomorrow We will Die.
S. Khan. 2000. The Shallow Graves of
Rwanda.
J. Scott. 1969. “Corruption, Machine Politics and
Political Change,” APSR.
S.
Decalo. 1998. "Idi Amil," Psychoses of Power:
African Personal Dictatorships. 115-186.
W.
Reno. 1998. Warlord Politics and African States. 1-78, 147-83.
T.
Turner. 2001. “The Kabilas’ Congo,” Current History 100, 213-218.
Recommended Reading:
J-F Bayart. 1999. The
Criminalization of the State in Africa.
S. Decalo. 1998. Civil-Military Relations in
Africa.
L. Diamond and Plattner. 1996. Civil-Military
Relations and Democracy.
R. Lemarchand. 2000. "The
Crisis in the Great Lakes," Africa in World Politics. 324-352.
M. McNulty. 1999. "The Collapse of Zaire:
Implosion, Revolution or External Sabotage?"
Journal of Modern African Studies. 37 (1) 53-82.
F. Ngolet. 2000. “African and
American Connivance in Congo-Zaire,” Africa Today
47(2): 64-85.
E. O'Balance. 2000. The Congo-Zaire Experience.
I. Taylor and P. Williams. 2001.
“South African Foreign Policy and the Great Lakes Crisis: Afr Renaisance Meets Vagabondage
Politique?” African Affairs, 265-286.
M. Schatzberg. 1988. The
Dialectics of Oppression.
C. Young and T. Turner. 1985. The
Rise and the Decline of the Zairian State.
I.W. Zartman (ed). 1995. Collapsed States.
M. Wrong. 2001. In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz:
Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo.
N.
Kasfir. 1998. "'No-Party Democracy' in Uganda," Journal of
Democracy. [pp?]
L.
Thompson. 1999. "Mbeki's Uphill Challenge," Foreign Affairs.
78(6) 83-95.
G.
Carbone. 2001. “Constitutional Alternatives for the Regulation of Ethnic
Politics? Institution-Building
Principles in Uganda’s and S Africa’s Transitions,” Journal of Contemporary
African Studies 19:2, 229-252.
Recommended Reading:
K. Asmal et al. 1996. Reconciliation Through
Truth.
H. Ball 1999. Prosecuting War
Crimes and Genocide.
A. Boraine. 2000. A Country Unmasked: Inside
South Africa’s TRC.
S. Dicklitch. 1995/96. “Uganda: A Microcosm of
Crisis and Hope in Sub-Saharan Africa,”
International Journal. 103-125.
D. Goodman. 1999. Fault Lines: Journeys into the
New South Africa.
H.B. Hansen and M. Twaddle. 1998. Developing
Uganda.
R. Kassimir. 1999. “Reading Museveni: Structure,
Agency and Pedagogy in Ugandan Politics,”
Canadian Journal of African Studies. 649-673.
W. James et al (ed.) 1996. Now that We are Free.
J. Kiyaga-Nsubuga. 2000.
"Managing Political Change: Uganda under Museveni," Civil
Wars in Africa. 13-34.
O. Amaza Ondoga. 1995.Museveni's long march :
from guerrilla to statesman.
P. van Zyl 1999. "Dilemmas of Transnational
Justice: The Case of South Africa's TRC" Journal
of International Affairs (52).
K. Wiredu. 1997. "Democracy and Consensus in
African Traditional Politics: A Plea for
a Non-Party Polity" in Postcolonial
African Philosophy. 303-312.
March
14 Debate on the Colonial Legacy:
First Paper Due
RESOLVED: Despite four decades of independence, the legacy
of the colonial state continues to adversely influence the political
development of African states.
C.
Ake. 1996. Democracy and Development in Africa.
P.
Englebert. 2000. “Accounting for Africa’s Development Crisis,” State
Legitimacy and Development
in Africa.
Recommended Reading:
R. Bates. 1981. Markets in Africa
M.B. Brown. 1995. "Africa Must Unite," Africa's
Choices. 119-134.
R. Browne and R. Cummings. 1985. Lagos Plan of
Action vs. Berg Report.
T. Callaghy and J. Ravenhill. 1993. Hemmed
In..
G. Hyden. 1971. Beyond Ujamaa.
R. Klitgaard. 1990. Tropical Gangsters: One Man's
Experience with Development and Decadence in Deepest Africa.
S. Rugumamu. Lethal Aid: The Illusion of
Socialism and Self-Reliance in Tanzania.
R. Sandbrook. 1993. The Politics of Africa's
Economic Recovery.
P.
Chabal and J-P Daloz. 1999. “The Bounties of Dependence,” Africa Works:
Disorder as Political
Instrument.
P.T.
Mkandawire and C. Soludo. 1998. Our Continent, Our Future.
B.
Sadasivam. 1997. “The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Women: A Governance
and
Human Rights Agenda,” Human Rights Quarterly.
19(3).
Recommended Reading:
N. Amponsah. “Ghana’s Mixed Structural Adjustment
Results: Explaining the Poor
Private Sector Response,” Africa
Today 47(2) 8-32.
M.A. Thomas. 2001. “Getting Debt Relief Right,” Foreign
Affairs 80:5, 36-45.
S. Devarajan et al. 2000 Aid and Reform in
Africa.
D. Elson. 1995. “Male Bias in
Macro-Economics: The Case of Structural Adjustment,”
Male Bias in the
Development Process.
J. Nelson (ed.) 1989. Fragile Coalitions: The
Politics of Economic Adjustment.
J. Sanford. 1998. “Africa’s Debt Burden: Proposals
for Further Forgiveness,” Promoting US
Economic Relations in Africa.
S. Schatz. 1996. "The World Bank's Fundamental
Misconception in Africa," Journal of Modern African Studies. 34(2)
239-47.
J. Thacker. 2000. "The High
Politics of IMF Lending?" World Politics.
The Struggle for
Accountability.
N. van de Walle. 1999. "Aid's
Crisis of Legitimacy: Current Proposals and Future
Prospects," African
Affairs (98) 337-352.
World Bank. 2000. Can Africa Claim the 21st
Century?
April
2 Video: “Our Friends at the Bank”
A.
Goldsmith. 2001. “Foreign Aid and Statehood in Africa,” Intl Organization
55:1, 123-148.
M.
Ottaway and T. Chung. 1999. "Toward a New Paradigm," Journal of
Democracy. 99-113.
A.
Wingo. 2001. “Good Government as Accountability,” Exploration in African
Political Thought. 151-170.
Recommended Reading:
C. Ake. 1993. “The Unique Case of
African Democracy” International Affairs (69:2)
239-244.
M. Bratton and N. van de Walle. 1997. Democratic
Experiments in Africa.
P. Chabal and J-P Daloz. 1999. Africa Works:
Disorder as Political Instrumental.
L. Diamond and M. Plattner. Democratization
in Africa.
G. Hyden and M. Bratton. 1992. Governance
and Politics in Africa.
E. Gyimah-Boadi. 1998. “The Rebirth of African
Liberalism,” Journal of Democracy.
P. Landell-Mills. 1992. “Governance, Cultural Change
and Empowerment,” Journal of Modern African Studies. (30:4)
543-567.
T. Mkandawire. 1995. "Adjustment,
Political Conditionality and Democratization in Africa," in Democratization
Processes in Africa. 81-99.
M. Ottoway (ed). 1997. Democracy in
Africa: The Hard Road Ahead
M. Ottoway. 1999. Africa's New Leaders: Democracy
or State Reconstruction?
P. Robinson. 1994. “The National Conference
Phenomenon in Francophone Africa,” Comparative
Studies in Sociology and History (36) 575-610)
A. Tripp. 2000. “Anatomy of a Deception,” Women
& Politics in Uganda. 197-215.
N. van de Walle and T. Johnston. 1998. “Improving Aid
to Africa,” Promoting US Economic
Relations with Africa.
M. Bratton. 1994. "Civil Society and Political Transition in Africa," Civil Society and the State in Africa. 51-82.
M. Mamdani. 1995. "A Critique of the State and Civil Society Paradigm in Africanist Studies," African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy. pp. 602-616.
C.
Messiant.. 2001. “The E. Dos Santos Foundation: Or, How Angola’s Regime is
taking over Civil Society,” African
Affairs. 100, 287-309.
Recommended Reading:
M. Bratton. 1989. “Beyond the State: Civil Society
and Associational Life in Africa,” World
Politics (41:3) 407-30
M.B. Brown. 1995. "The Informal, Second
Economy," Africa's Choices: 217-238.
P. Geschiere. 1997. The Modernity of Witchcraft.
T. Shaw, S. MacLean and M Nzomo. 2000.”Going beyond
states and markets to civil
societies” Strange Power.
Thomas-Slayter and Asamba. 1995. Gender,
Environment and Development in Kenya.
A. Tripp. 1997. Changing the Rules.
A. Tripp. 2000. “Political Reform in Tanzania: The
Struggles for Associational Autonomy,”
Comparative Politics 191-214.
April
16 Simulation of Economic Policy Negotiation: Second Paper Due April
9
After reading the case study of a factious African country, ‘Abazonia’, students are to submit a position paper based on their designated role as a member of the international donor community, the government of Abazonia, or its civil society. Under the leadership of the President of Abazonia, the country’s economic policy will then be negotiated during an in-class conference.
H.
Howe. 1998. "Private Security Forces and African Stability: The Case of
Executive Outcomes,"
Journal of Modern African Studies. 36(2) pp. 307-331.
Recommended
Reading:
Alao et al. 1999. Peacekeepers,
Politicians and Warlords: The Liberian Peace Process.
H. Campbell. 1999. "Liberation, Genocide and Military Entrepreneurs in Africa,"
Canadian Journal of African Studies.
Dulany and Savage 1998. Promoting US Economic Relations with Africa
E. Dunn. 1999. "The Civil War
in Liberia," in Civil Wars in Africa. 89-122.
J. Harding. 1997. “The Mercenary
Business: Executive Outcomes,” ROAPE, 87-97.
J. Herbst. 2000. "Western and African
Peacekeepers: Motives and Opportunities," in
Africa
in World Politics. pp. 308-323.
J. Herbst. 1998. "African Armies and Regional
Peacekeeping" in War and Peace in
Southern
Africa.
231-249.
H. Howe. 2000. Ambiguous Order: Military Forces
in African States.
G. Mills and J. Stremlau. 1999. The
Privatization of Security in Africa.
W. Reno. 2001. “The Failure of Peacekeeping in S.
Leone,” Current History, 219-225.
D. Rothchild. 2000. "The Impact of U.S.
Disengagement on African Intrastate Conflict Resolution,"
in Africa in World Politics. pp. 160-187.
P. Schraeder. 1996. US Foreign
Policy Toward Africa.
J. Stremlau. 2000. “Ending Africa’s
Wars,” Foreign Affairs 79:4, 117-132.
April
23 Documentary on Peace-Keeping in
Sierra Leone
Due to the violent, disturbing
nature of this film, this class will be optional.
Human
Rights Watch. World Report 2000. Country report for individual case
study.
S.
James. 1998. "Shades of Othering: Reflections on Female
Circumcision/Genital Mutilation,"
Signs. 23 (4).
B.
Shell-Duncan and Y. Hernlund. 2000. Female “Circumcision” in Africa:
Culture, Controversy and Change.
Chs. 1, 13, and 14.
Recommended Reading:
L. Burstyn. 1995. “Health: Female Circumcision comes
to America,” Atlantic Monthly.
276(4) 28-35.
W.B. Giorgis. 1981. Female
Circumcision in Africa.
N.
Gordon. 1997. “’Tonguing the Body’: Placing Female Circumcision within African Feminist Discourse,” Issue:
A Journal of Opinion.
I. Gunning. 1992. "Arrogant Perception, World
Traveling and Multicultural Feminism:
The Case of Female Genital
Surgeries," Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
F. Hoskens. 1980. Female Sexual
Mutilations: The Facts and Proposals for Action.
F. Kassindja. 1999? Do They Hear You When You
Cry?
H. Lightfoot-Klein. 1989. Prisoners
of Ritual: An Odyssey into Female Genital Circumcision in Africa.
M. Ottaway. 2001. “Reluctant Missionaries,” Foreign
Policy 125, 45-54.
B. Robertson. 1996. "Grassroots in Kenya:
Women, Genital Mutilation, and Collective Action,
1920-1990. Signs.
J. Russell-Robinson. 1997. “African Female
Circumcision and the Missionary Mentality” Issue:
A Journal of Opinion.
USAID. 1999. "Female Genital Cutting: The Facts
and the Myths," at
www.measurecommunication.org/topics/fgc_symposium
C.
Becker et al. (eds). 2000. Experiencing and Understanding AIDS in Africa.
ch 1, 17-18
S.
Booker. 2001. “Bush’s Global Agenda: Bad News for Africa,” Current History.
155-200.
Recommended Reading:
G. Williams et al 1997. A Common Cause: Young
People, Sexuality, HIV and AIDS in
Three
African Countries
J. Mann and D. Tarantola.
1996. AIDS in the World II.
M. Mercer and S. Scott
(eds.) 1991. Tradition and Transition: NGO’s respond to AIDS in Africa.
M. Schoof. 1999. “Aids: The
Agony of Africa,” Village Voice.
M.
Steffen. 1996. The Fight against AIDS: An International Public Policy
Comparison between Four European Countries.
World Bank. 2000. Intensifying Action Against
HIV/AIDS in Africa.
J. Zaffiro. 1994. “Facing up to a Crisis,” Scandinavian
Journal of Development Alternatives. 13(1) 79-105.
* Final Paper Due on the
Last Day of Classes *