Contemp. Africa Midterm

Front 1

Ferguson
"Global Shadows"

Back 1

Deregulation and privatization are NOT the cure.
IMF reforms -> collapse of basic institutions
IMF do not improve Africa technologically, but focus on unstable commodities.

Democratization has placed blame on voters.

states not sovereign, controlled by banks.

networks of economic connections do span the globe, but hop over places. enclaves, separate from local economies.

NGO's attract civil servants, hallow out states.

West must take responsiblity, we blame africa but they're using policies leftover from colonialism. gov'ts have little control when restrained by western banks.

civil society is more international, same level as state.

Front 2

Ellis
"the mask of anarchy"

Back 2

masks say much about hidden nature of reality in liberia.

Against Ferguson- don't do research on why people do things, look at broad picture.

blames system of indirect rule. colonialism broke down rules. no checks and balances on politicians. the societies that did balance power, were outlawed by gov't.

so what should be done? avoid patronage system.

Front 3

Dowden
"Africa"

Back 3

What went wrong? POLITICS. internal competition for power and external interference wrecked africa.

new rulers tried to use the tools of a western-style state to control societies rested in their own traditions.

borders have no regard for ethnicities.
Greatest impact of imperialism: destruction of african self-belief.

world bank applied formulas it thought was universal, not giving thought to social implications

Aid enables war. (feed civilians->feed army)

cannot dismiss bad images if they are true.

Front 4

coup leader and then President of Liberia, 1980‐1990; Ellis calls him the first “warlord”

Back 4

samuel doe

Front 5

attended Bentley College in MA, jailed several times in several places; controls a faction of the NPFL

Back 5

Charles Taylor

Front 6

tortures and kills Doe; controls another faction of the NPFL; retires to Nigeria when he concedes that he cannot become President

Back 6

Prince Johnson

Front 7

Apartheid

Back 7

Afrikaner National Party wins election 1948. intial focus on white settlers, eventually went to controlling Africans completely.

1952- "population registration act"- fewer rights depending on race

Front 8

Mau Mau

Back 8

ethnic group in Kenya, starts fighting white settlers in 1952 (whites took their land & made them laborers).

1955, Mau Mau dead militarily.
British try to "reeducate" thru camps. called them primitive, beaten until learned our ways.

Mau Mau has become model of military tactics gone bad.

Front 9

Revolutionary United Front

Back 9

rebel movement of Sierra Leone. Gave guns to children but fought on boths sides, just wanted the power.

Front 10

Mugabe

Back 10

Zimbabwe. leader of ZANU (guerrilla liberation movement against white gov't of Ian Smith).

Kept Smith's repressive laws.

Mugabe killed some 25,000 to crush ethnic group Ndebele.
British said nothing, relieved that ethnic problems were solved (according to Dowden)

Front 11

"The fundamental difference between the Portuguese adventuerers...and the majority of BR, Dutch and FR traders was that the Porguguese dependended for their physical survival on ______ _______ and ______ while the other europeans maintained close links with their traiding companies in Europe and demanded protection by their national natives" 204 dowden

Back 11

local kings and chiefs

Front 12

sobel

Back 12

a term given to someone who is a soldier by day, a rebel by night

part of revolutionary united front

Sierra Leone chapter in dowden

Front 13

De Beers

Back 13

the BR mining company, first place where diamonds were mined on an industrial scale

stockpiled diamonds to keep prices high, idea of "blood diamonds" brought about their demise.

Front 14

2 types of ideas about African self-rule:

Back 14

Marxist - change structures and seize political power

Africanist - free Africans from "alien rule"

Front 15

Fashoda incident

Back 15

conflict between Britain and Africa to gain control over the region of southern sudan in order to control the nile and link BR colonies in the south (zimbabwe, zambia) with east (kenya)

early 1898

Front 16

"creolization"

Back 16

mentioned in Ferguson, a term for combining Western culture with elements of the present African culture

argument against monoculture that seems to be pervasive around the globe.

Front 17

Transkei

Back 17

mentioned in Ferguson's book, the pseudo-state that was created to house unsavory ethnic groups under the guise that they were being granted independence

Ppl receptive to protests b/c transnationalism. Opposition movement had global circuits, used media to go global.

used by Ferguson to argue the absurdity of the concept of nation states

"the race problem would be solved, for there would BE no more black south-Africans. Instead, the problem would be re-posed as a problem of nationality and of migration between intdependent national states" 56

Front 18

Charles Taylor

Back 18

Americo-liberian elite. 89' invades liberia.
National Patriotic liberia (NPL). Looted $75 million.

entrepruener like. aim isn't to control the state, but resources to sell to international community

wants to be prez, for international recognitioin. would have monopoly over other factions so that only he can do business with international community.

Front 19

Richard Sklar

Back 19

Thinks focus on ideology rather than realities is bad.

Any development must be powered by the state. ideology doesn't matter.

Front 20

Prince Johnson

Back 20

tortures and kills Doe; controls another faction of the NPFL; retires to Nigeria when he concedes that he cannot become President

Front 21

civil society

Back 21

Ferguson. "global shadows"

civil society is not underneath the state, as we may believe, but at the same level. this is a problem because it displaces blame, we blame grassroot ppls.

Front 22

Barriers to creating a national consciousness.

Back 22

unevenness of colonial rule

multiplicity of feelings of belonging (ethnicities...)

vastness and conflicting interests in territories

too few elites? (teachers, professionals..)

Front 23

father-chief moral matrix

Back 23

uses metaphor of the family to explain and legitimatize rule based around the leader.

fathers love children, but also wield discipline against bad children.

implicit infantilization of population

Front 24

why build developmental projects?

Back 24

1. create national unity (upper volta dam)
2. enhance the glory of the leader

Front 25

Idi Amin

Back 25

the military dictator and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979.

He took power in a military coup of January 1971, deposing Milton Obote.