UNIT 1 HISTORY Issue 1. Did the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Underdevelop Africa? YES: Paul E. Lovejoy, from "The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature," Journal of American History (1989) NO: John Thornton, from Africa and the Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World (Cambridge University Press, 1992) Paul E. Lovejoy, professor of history at York University, argues that the trans-Atlantic slave trade significantly transformed African society. It led to an absolute loss of population on the continent and a large increase in the enslaved population that was retained in Africa. The economic advantages of exporting slaves did not offset the social and political costs of participation, there were disastrous demographic impacts, and Africa's relative position in world trade declined. John Thornton is a professor of history at Boston University. He notes that slavery was widespread and indigenous in African society. Europeans simply worked with this existing market and African merchants, who were not dominated by Europeans, responded by providing more slaves. African leaders who allowed the slave trade to continue were neither forced to do so against their will, nor did they make irrational decisions. As such, the preexisting institution of slavery in Africa is as much responsible as any external force for the development of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Issue 2. Have the Contributions of Africans Been Recognized for Developing New World Agriculture? YES: Duncan Clinch Heyward, from Seed from Madagascar (University of North Carolina Press, 1937) NO: Judith Carney, from "Agroenvironments and Slave Strategies in the Diffusion of Rice Culture to the Americas," in Karl S. Zimmerer and Thomas J. Bassett, eds., Political Ecology: An Integrative Approach to Geography and Environment-Development Studies (Guilford Press, 2003) Duncan Clinch Heyward, a former Carolina rice planter writing in the middle of the last century, represents the mainstream view that Europeans were primarily responsible for developing South Carolina's remarkable rice plantations in the eighteenth century. In his own accounting of the rise of rice cultivation in the Carolinas, Duncan suggests that the techniques and approaches must have been derived from those observed in China. Judith Carney, a professor of geography at UCLA, explains that slaves from rice-producing areas in West Africa have only recently been recognized for their intellectual contributions to the development of rice cultivation in the New World. Carney describes how her work, and that of others, challenged the view that slaves were mere field hands, "showing that they contributed agronomic expertise as well as skilled labor to the emergent plantation economy." Issue 3. Is European Subjugation of Africans Ultimately Explained by Differences in Land, Plant, and Animal Resources? YES: Jared Diamond, from "Why Europeans Were the Ones to Colonize Sub-Saharan Africa," Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (W.W. Norton, 1999) NO: Lucy Jarosz, from "A Human Geographer's Response to Guns, Germs and Steel: The Case of Agrarian Development and Change in Madagascar," Antipode (2003) Jared Diamond, professor of physiology and biogeography at UCLA, argues that Europeans were able to colonize Africa (rather than vice versa) because of the advantages of guns, widespread literacy, and political organization. These advantages stem ultimately from different historical trajectories that are linked to "differences in real estate" (or differences in physical geography). Lucy Jarosz, associate professor of geography at the University of Washington, is troubled by Diamond's narrow conception of geography and asserts that explaining differences in wealth and power between regions must also take account of social, political, and economic connections. She focuses on the specific case of Madagascar and argues that the intentions of the colonizer are as or more important than their military power for determining the nature of the colonial relationship. Issue 4. Did Colonialism Distort Contemporary African Development? YES: Marcus Colchester, from "Slave and Enclave: Towards a Political Ecology of Equatorial Africa," The Ecologist (September/October 1993) NO: Robin M. Grier, from "Colonial Legacies and Economic Growth," Public Choice (March 1999) Marcus Colchester, director of the Forest Peoples Programme of the World Rainforest Movement, argues that rural communities in equatorial Africa are today on the point of collapse because they have been weakened by centuries of outside intervention. In Gabon, the Congo, and the Central African Republic, an enduring colonial legacy of the French are lands and forests controlled by state institutions that operate as patron-client networks to enrich indigenous elite and outside commercial interests. Robin M. Grier, associate professor of economics at the University of Oklahoma, contends that African colonies that were held for longer periods of time tend to have performed better, on average, after independence. UNIT 2 DEVELOPMENT Issue 5. Have Free-Market Policies Worked for Africa? YES: Gerald Scott, from "Who Has Failed Africa? IMF Measures or the African Leadership?" Journal of Asian and African Studies (August 1998) NO: Thandika Mkandawire, from "The Global Economic Context," in B. Wisner, C. Toulmin, and R. Chitiga, eds., Towards a New Map of Africa (Earthscan, 2005) Gerald Scott, an economist at Florida Atlantic University, argues that structural adjustment programs are the most promising option for promoting economic growth in Africa. He disputes the evidence used to suggest that these programs have a deleterious effect on economic growth in Africa. Thandika Mkandawire, director of the UN Research Institute for Social Development, counters that, even though African governments have reshaped domestic policies to make their economies more open, growth has faltered. Mkandawire assesses structural adjustment from a developmental perspective, judging its effects on economic development and the eradication of poverty. He suggests that structural adjustment policies designed to integrate Africa into the global economy have failed because "they have completely sidestepped the developmental needs of the continent and the strategic questions on the form of integration appropriate to addressing these needs." Issue 6. Are Abundant Mineral and Energy Resources a Catalyst for African Development? YES: Oliver Maponga and Philip Maxwell, from "The Fall and Rise of African Mining," Minerals and Energy (2001) NO: Sunday Dare, from "A Continent in Crisis: Africa and Globalization," Dollars and Sense (July/August 2001) Oliver Maponga, Economic Affairs Officer in the Southern Africa Office of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and Philip Maxwell, professor at the Western Australian School of Mines at Curtin University of Technology, describe a resurgence in the African mining industry in the 1990s after several lackluster decades. They assert that mineral and energy mining can make a positive contribution to economic development in Africa. Sunday Dare, a Nigerian journalist, describes how "much sorrow has flowed" from Africa's resource blessing. While Dare blames African leaders for corruption and resource mismanagement, he also implicates transnational corporations (TNCs) as key contributors to this problem. He states that TNCs have acted as economic predators that support repressive African leaders in order to garner uninterrupted access to resources. The result, Dare suggests, is that Africa's "raw materials are still being depleted without general development." Issue 7. Is Increasing Chinese Investment Good for African Development? YES: Ali Zafar, from "The Growing Relationship Between China and Sub-Saharan Africa: Macroeconomic, Trade, Investment and Aid Links," World Bank Research Observer (Spring 2007)119 NO: Padraig R. Carmody and Francis Y. Owusu, from "Competing Hegemons? Chinese versus American Geo-Economic Strategies in Africa," Political Geography (2007) Ali Zafar, a macroeconomist with the World Bank, acknowledges the downside of increasing Chinese economic interests in Africa, but foresees more potential winners than losers. Among the big winners of increasing Chinese trade are oil exporters (Angola, Gabon, and Sudan) and resource-rich countries (Mauritania, South Africa, Mozambique, and Zambia). Chinese foreign direct investment is also increasing rapidly in those countries where it has trade interests. Padraig R. Carmody of Trinity College Dublin and Francis Y. Owusu of Iowa State University are less sanguine about Chinese involvement in Africa. Even though they also perceive potential benefits from increasing trade with China, they describe how increasing resource flows are strengthening authoritarian states and fuelling conflict. UNIT 3 AGRICULTURE, FOOD, AND THE ENVIRONMENT Issue 8. Does the Conflict in the Darfur Region of Sudan Have Environmental Causes? YES: UN Environment Programme, from "Conflict and the Environment," Sudan: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment (June 2007) NO: Lydia Polgreen, from "A Godsend for Darfur, or a Curse?" New York Times (July 22, 2007) The UN Environment Programme a rgues that there is a strong link between land degradation, desertification, and conflict in Darfur, Sudan. It suggests that declining rainfall in Darfur, ecological collapse, and population growth have triggered social disintegration and the conditions for conflict that are then sustained by political, tribal, or ethnic differences. Lydia Polgreen, reporter for the New York Times, questions whether environmental degradation is at the root of the Darfur Crisis. Making such a causal link leads to the faulty conclusion that the conflict may be resolved by improving environmental conditions. An alternative explanation for the conflict lies in the land-use patterns promoted by the government of Sudan and the development policies of the World Bank and the IMF. Issue 9. Is Food Production in Africa Capable of Keeping Up with Population Growth? YES: Michael Mortimore and Mary Tiffen, from "Population and Environment in Time Perspective: The Machakos Story," People and Environment in Africa (John Wiley & Sons, 1995) NO: John Murton, from "Population Growth and Poverty in Machakos District, Kenya," The Geographical Journal (March 1999) Michael Mortimore, a geographer, and Mary Tiffen, a historian and socio-economist, both with Drylands Research, investigate population and food production trajectories in Machakos, Kenya. They determine that increasing population density has a positive influence on environmental management and crop production. Furthermore, they found that food production kept up with population growth from 1930 to 1987. John Murton, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British government, uses household-level data to show that the changes in Machakos described by Mortimore and Tiffen "have been accompanied by a polarization of land holdings, differential trends in agricultural productivity, and a decline in food self-sufficiency." As such, he argues that the "Machakos experience" of population growth and positive environmental transformation is neither homogenous nor fully unproblematic. Issue 10. Does African Agriculture Need a Green Revolution? YES: Kofi A. Annan, from "Remarks on the Launch of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa at the World Economic Forum," in Cape Town, South Africa (June 14, 2007) NO: Carol B. Thompson, from "Africa: Green Revolution or Rainbow Revolution?" Foreign Policy In Focus (July 17, 2007) Kofi A. Annan, former UN Secretary General, deplores the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where per capita food production has declined. Annan is now leading a new organization that answers the call of many African leaders to build on the achievements and lessons learned from the Green Revolution in Asia and Latin America that began several decades earlier. He is spearheading an African Green Revolution that aims to increase African food production. Carol B. Thompson, professor of political economy at Northern Arizona University, suggests that increasing yields of a few targeted crops will not solve Africa's food problems. Rather, she argues that sustaining Africa's food crop diversity and indigenous ecological knowledge is the key to reducing hunger. She further eschews food security built on global market dependence in favor of food sovereignty. Issue 11. Is Sub-Saharan Africa Experiencing a Deforestation Crisis? YES: Kevin M. Cleaver and Gotz A. Schreiber, from Reversing the Spiral: The Population, Agriculture, and Environmental Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa (The World Bank, 1994) NO: Thomas J. Bassett and Koli Bi Zueli, from "Environmental Discourses and the Ivorian Savanna," Annals of the Association of American Geographers (March 2000) World Bank economists Kevin M. Cleaver and Gotz A. Schreiber argue that Africa is engaged in a downward spiral of population growth, poor agricultural performance, and environmental degradation. Academic geographers Thomas J. Bassett and Koli Bi Zueli counter that it is dominant perceptions of environmental change, rather than concrete evidence that lie behind the widely held belief that Africa is engaged in an "environmental crisis of staggering proportions." UNIT 4 SOCIAL ISSUES Issue 12. Should Female Genital Cutting Be Accepted as a Cultural Practice? YES: Fuambai Ahmadu, from "Rites and Wrongs: Excision and Power among Kono Women of Sierra Leone," in B. Shell-Duncan and Y. Hernlund, eds., Female 'Circumcision' in Africa Culture, Controversy, and Change (Lynne Reiner, 2001) NO: Liz Creel et al., from "Abandoning Female Genital Cutting: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Efforts to End the Practice," A Report of the Population Reference Bureau (August 2001) Fuambai Ahmadu, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, finds it increasingly challenging to reconcile her own experiences with female initiation and circumcision and prevailing (largely negative) global discourses on these practices. Her main concern with most studies on female initiation is the insistence that the practice is necessarily harmful or that there is an urgent need to stop female genital mutilation in communities where it is done. She suggests that "the aversion of some writers to the practice of female circumcision has more to do with deeply imbedded western cultural assumptions regarding women's bodies and their sexuality than with disputable health effects of genital operations on African women." Liz Creel, senior policy analyst at the Population Reference Bureau, and her colleagues argue that female genital cutting (FGC), while it must be dealt with in a culturally sensitive manner, is a practice that is detrimental to the health of girls and women, as well as a violation of human rights in most instances. Creel et al. recommend that African governments pass anti-FGC laws, and that programs be expanded to educate communities about FGC and human rights. Issue 13. Are Women in a Position to Challenge Male Power Structures in Africa? YES: Richard A. Schroeder, from Shady Practices: Agroforestry and Gender Politics in The Gambia (University of California Press, 1997) NO: Human Rights Watch, from "Double Standards: Women's Property Rights Violations in Kenya," A Report of Human Rights Watch (March 2003) Richard A. Schroeder, an associate professor of geography at Rutgers University, presents a case study of a group of female gardeners in The Gambia who, because of their growing economic clout, began to challenge male power structures. Women, who were the traditional gardeners in the community studied, came to have greater income-earning capacity than men as the urban market for garden produce grew. Furthermore, women could meet their needs and wants without recourse to their husbands because of this newly found economic power. Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit organization, describes how women in Kenya have property rights unequal to those of men, and how even these limited rights are frequently violated. It is further explained how women have little awareness of their rights, that those "who try to fight back are often beaten, raped, or ostracized," and how the Kenyan government has done little to address the situation. Issue 14. Is the International Community Focusing on HIV/AIDS Treatment at the Expense of Prevention in Africa? YES: Andrew Creese, Katherine Floyd, Anita Alban, and Lorna Guinness, from "Cost-Effectiveness of HIV/AIDS Interventions in Africa: A Systematic Review of the Evidence," The Lancet (2002) NO: Philip J. Hilts, from "Changing Minds: Botswana Beats Back AIDS," in Rx for Survival: Why We Must Rise to the Global Challenge (Penguin Books, 2005) Andrew Creese and his colleagues, who work for the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Universities, suggest that cost-effectiveness is an important criterion for deciding how to allocate scarce health care funding. A case of HIV/AIDS can be prevented for $11 by selective blood safety measures and targeted condom distribution with treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. In contrast, antiretroviral treatment for adults can cost several thousand dollars. They argue that a strong economic case exists for prioritizing preventive interventions and TB treatment. Philip Hilts, who teaches journalism at Boston University, describes a comprehensive HIV/AIDS program in Botswana. This program not only offered preventive care, but sophisticated triple drug AIDS treatments to all people of the nation, free of charge. By 2005, the program was treating 43,000 people and the cost of treatment is one-tenth of what it is in the United States. Issue 15. Should Developed Countries Provide Debt Relief to the Poorest, Indebted African Nations? YES: Dorothy Logie and Michael Rowson, from "Poverty and Health: Debt Relief Could Help Achieve Human Rights," Health and Human Rights (1998) NO: Robert Snyder, from "Proclaiming Jubilee-For Whom?" The Christian Century (June 1999) Dorothy Logie, a general practitioner and active member of Medact, and Michael Rowson, assistant director of Medact, argue that debt is a human rights issue because debt and related structural adjustment policies reduce the state's ability to address discrimination, vulnerability, and inequality. Debt relief, if channeled in the right direction, could help reduce poverty and promote health. Robert Snyder, faculty in the department of biology at the College of the Ozarks, counters that debt cancellation will only work if the factors that created debt in the first place are addressed. He uses a case study of Rwanda to demons trate why political and social change must occur for debt forgiveness to work. UNIT 5 POLITICS, GOVERNANCE, AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION Issue 16. Is Multi-Party Democracy Taking Hold in Africa? YES: Michael Bratton and Robert Mattes, from "Support for Democracy in Africa: Intrinsic or Instrumental" British Journal of Political Science (July 2001) NO: Joel D. Barkan, from "The Many Faces of Africa: Democracy Across a Varied Continent," Harvard International Review (Summer 2002) Michael Bratton, professor of political science at Michigan State University, and Robert Mattes, associate professor of political studies and director of the Democracy in Africa Research Unit at the University of Cape Town, find as much popular support for democracy in Zambia, South Africa, and Ghana as in other regions of the developing world, despite the fact that the citizens of these countries tend to be less satisfied with the economic performance of their elected governments. Joel D. Barkan, professor of political science at the University of Iowa and senior consultant on governance at the World Bank, takes a less sanguine view of the situation in Africa. He suggests that one can be cautiously optimistic about the situation in roughly one-third of the states on the African continent, nations he classifies as consolidated democracies and as aspiring democracies. He asserts that one must be realistic about the possibilities for the remainder of African nations, countries he classifies into three groups: stalled democracies, those that are not free, and those that are mired in civil war. Issue 17. Is Foreign Assistance Useful for Fostering Democracy in Africa? YES: Arthur A. Goldsmith, from "Donors, Dictators and Democrats in Africa," The Journal of Modern African Studies (2001) NO: Julie Hearn, from "Aiding Democracy? Donors and Civil Society in South Africa," Third World Quarterly (2000) Arthur A. Goldsmith, professor of management at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, examines the relationship between the amount of development assistance given to sub-Saharan African countries in the 1990s and the evolution of their political systems. He suggests that there is a positive, but small, correlation between donor assistance and democratization during this period. He views aid as insurance to prevent countries from sliding back into one-party or military rule. Julie Hearn, with the department of politics and international relations at Lancaster University, investigates democracy assistance in South Africa. She critically examines the role assigned to civil society by donors, questioning the "emancipatory potential" of the kind of democracy being promoted. Issue 18. Is Corruption the Result of Poor African Leadership? YES: Robert I. Rotberg, from "The Roots of Africa's Leadership Deficit," Compass (2003) NO: Arthur A. Goldsmith, from "Risk, Rule, and Reason: Leadership in Africa," Public Administration and Development (2001) Robert I. Rotberg, director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, holds African leaders responsible for the plight of their continent. He laments the large number of corrupt African leaders, seeing South Africa's Mandela and Botswana's Khama as notable exceptions. According to Rotberg, the problem is that "African leaders and their followers largely believe that the people are there to serve their rulers, rather than the other way around." Arthur A. Goldsmith, professor of management at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, suggests that African leaders are not innately corrupt but are responding rationally to incentives created by their environment. He argues that high levels of risk encourage leaders to pursue short-term, economically destructive policies. In countries where leaders face less risk, there is less perceived political corruption. Issue 19. Are African-Led Peacekeeping Missions More Effective than International Peacekeeping Efforts in Africa? YES: David C. Gompert, from "For a Capability to Protect: Mass Killing, the African Union and NATO," Survival (Spring 2006) NO: Nsonurua J. Udombana, from "Still Playing Dice with Lives: Darfur and Security Council Resolution 1706," Third World Quarterly (2007) David C. Gompert, an adviser to Refugees International and a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, believes that the African Union could be effective in Sudan if adequately supported. He believes that Africans are willing to commit combat forces to stop the killing in Darfur because they are more deeply affected by such abuses than Europe or North America. In fact, the unwillingness of the great powers to create a standing UN peacekeeping force is illustrative of a weak commitment of the West to intervene in Africa. Nsonurua Udombana of Central European University is more critical of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan. He believes this mission has failed in Darfur because it suffers from several weaknesses, including problems of command and control, logistical support, operational practice, and lack of funds.
