...Writer] [Name of the Institution] Introduction Neo-colonialism is used to illustrate the interference and involvement of the developed countries in third world countries. It describes how the system of capitalism and cultural behaviours are being used by these developed nations to take control over a country. Basically, neo-colonialism is no different than traditional colonialism but simply masked in an altered shape. While in colonialism, the country or colony is being ruled by political involvement or by means of military support, neo-colonialism is more refined but uniformly harmful. Rather, it can be more destructive than colonialism. In the traditional way of colonialism, the country taking control of a colony is accountable for its actions, by reporting back to the mother country. All actions and decisions are monitored to a specific level. Also, the country being colonised has a protection of the colonial power. While in neo-colonialism, the developed country is free of any accountability. There is no official system of check and balance and colonial power is not officially responsible to provide protection for the country being affected by its colonial power. All the foreign capital and investments are utilized for the profits of the developed country, leaving the less developed country oppressed with a very nominal or no investment for its betterment. Apart from economical and financial damage, neo-colonialism also casts some health related impacts on the less...
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...refers to the fact that the state is self-governing and that there is no external group or person that has authority over it. Having a sovereign nation means that you boss your own turf. Prior to the 17th century states were known as empires empires. This usually included large lands with many groups or nations. As for Europe, between the fall of the Roman empire and the beginning of the modern system of states, medieval feudalism was largely in place. under feudalism power was not centralized as it was under the Roman empire. the people had to answer to the local nobles and kings who in turn were loosely ruled by an empire. A key factor in the development of our modern international system arose during the period of exploration and colonialism from the 15th to the 17th century. Britain Portugal and Spain were some of the main powers to develop navigational charts and to colonize in other areas of the world. The search of navigation helped create boundaries and borders amongst countries. Prior to the spread of nationalism most people were primarily concerned with local and personal affairs. During this time they knew they were subject to the powerful kings queens and emperors but there was no serious attempt to foster a sense of common identity. People in this time would not participate in government above basic levels. People stayed amongst themselves in their village in the village people there was not really a sense of a belonging to a larger countrywide community. The...
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...Height of slave trade A Point of No Return in Ouidah, Benin, a former gateway for slaves to slave ships. Slavery had long been practiced in Africa.[38][39] Between the 7th and 20th centuries, Arab slave trade (also known as slavery in the East) took 18 million slaves from Africa via trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean routes. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries (500 years), the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 7–12 million slaves to the New World. In West Africa, the decline of the Atlantic slave trade in the 1820s caused dramatic economic shifts in local polities. The gradual decline of slave-trading, prompted by a lack of demand for slaves in the New World, increasing anti-slavery legislation in Europe and America, and the British Royal Navy's increasing presence off the West African coast, obliged African states to adopt new economies. Between 1808 and 1860, the British West Africa Squadron seized approximately 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans who were aboard. Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against "the usurping King of Lagos", deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers. The largest powers of West Africa (the Asante Confederacy, the Kingdom of Dahomey, and the Oyo Empire) adopted different ways of adapting to the shift. Asante and Dahomey concentrated on the development of "legitimate commerce" in the form of palm oil...
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...NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSE CODE:POL 122 COURSE TITLE:INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS COURSE GUIDE POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS Course Writer/Developer Mr. Sikiru Lanre Nurudeen Department of Political Science and Conflict Resolution Al – Hikmah University, Ilorin Kwara State Course Editor Prof. M. Olarotimi Ajayi Faculty of Social Sciences Covenant University Otta Course Coordinator Mr. Abdul-Rahoof A. Bello National Open University of Nigeria ii POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island Lagos Abuja Office No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II, Abuja Nigeria e-mail: centralinfo@nou.edu.ng URL: www.nou.edu.ng Published by National Open University of Nigeria Printed 2009 ISBN: 978-058-415-3 All Rights Reserved iii POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ………………………………………….…………… 1 Course Aims ……………………………………………………… 1 Course Objectives ………………………………………………... 1 Working through Course……………………………………. This 2 Course Materials………………………………………………….. 2 Study Units………………………………………………………. . 2 Text books and References……………………………………….. 3 Assessment File…………………………………………………… 3 Tutor-Marked Assignment ……………………….. ……………… 4 iv POL 122 INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS Final Examination Grading…………………………………...
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...POS 322 QUESTION 1 DISCUSS THE ESSENCE OF POLITICAL THOUGHT Solution In discussing the essence of political thought, we need to first ask the question, what is political thought? Political thought though has several meaning in application, is most referred to as that body of thinking, idea, reason that has examined issues and events and phenomenon relating to politics at large. It is the intellect one’s philosophical expression of one political part, that expresses itself. A person political thought is that which expresses itself through its interaction with others, and is often difficult to separate political thought from other thought like, economic, social, religious, jurisprudence, emotional and among others. Since it is made up of idea that involves politics, and has passed through from one generation to another. Its automatically made everyone in the society to be a potential contributor to political thought. Invariably since one had an idea on politics and share thought about what he thinks, like or dislike, its already playing or practicing politics and political process (which express the process of practicing politics). In order word, political thought is neither archaic nor restricted to professional philosophers who are terms as major thinker of political thought. Since we have body of idea of political thought, however is to simply imply that there might be other body which are not political thought which include (economic, psychological...
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...DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND AFRICAN STUDIES FOURAH BAY COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE Module: History of Pan-Africanism (HIST 417) First Semester, 2008 Instructor (Lecturer): Dr. (Professor) Alusine Jalloh Name: Josephus J. Ellie Final Year, History and Politics Research Paper (Term Paper) Topic: “The Role of Kwame Nkrumah in Pan-Africanism” Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Key Factors that Influenced Nkrumahs’ Pan – African Motives 6 3. Nkrumah’s Roles in Organizing Key Pan-African Events 8 3.1 Nkrumah’ Contributions to the 5th Pan-African Conference 8 3.2 Nkrumah in promoting African Unity 10 4. Nkrumah’s Writings and Pan-Africanism 15 5. Conclusion 16 6. References 17 Introduction There is no one way to define Pan-Africanism. What constitutes Pan-Africanism, what one might include in a Pan-African movement often changes according to whether the focus is on politics, ideology, organizations, or culture? Pan-Africanism actually reflects a range of political views. At a basic level, it is a belief that African peoples, both on the African continent and in the Diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny. This sense of interconnected pasts and futures has taken many forms, especially in the creation of political institutions. One of the earliest manifestations of Pan-Africanism...
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...Finally, there is the legacy that all of this African colonialism has created within the continent of Africa. To begin with is the idea of Pan-Africanism, which is the encouragement of solidarity of Africans worldwide, has become a major stamp left on the legacy of Africa. Key historical figures such as Edward Blyden, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois each used the idea of worldwide African solidarity as the foundation for the creation of immensely influential books and ideas. Blyden became an influential social movement leader though invention of the “African personality.” (Laumann, 65) Garvey and Du Bois became key figures through the Pan-African movement in the early twentieth century. Garvey did so through the creation of the Universal...
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...the United States is still at the forefront in the economic world along with Europe, the days of their dominance is slowly dwindling. Regions such as China, South America particularly Brazil, India and others are growing at rates never before seen in these nations due to a multitude of different economic factors. However, in this new world economy, Africa seems to be left out. A place with an abundance of natural resources and agricultural capabilities, Africa has yet to reach its full potential. There are many theories to which one could attribute the lack of growth in Africa to but I will be specifically looking at decolonization and how, in my opinion, it has disallowed Africa to become a major player in the world economy. to understand why africaneconomies are still not growing like comparable emerging markets one must first start with the history and the worker for he/she is the driving force behind any economic system. in “dialects of decolonization” Cooper gives a detailed history of the French african worker during decolonization and reform movements. focusing on the social aspect of the labour movement, french west africa transitioned from a “class-centered, internationalist organization that insisted that workers subordiante their own concerns, interests and collective awarness to the emerging national struggle”. though this sounds honarbale, the will and the goals of the workers are not economically important and are one of the root causes of the economics problems...
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...Q7. Discuss the Contribution of either Julius Nyerere or Kwame Nkrumah, in the promotion of Pan Africanism. Introduction Pan Africanism is an ideology and movement that encourages the solidarity of Africans world wide.It is based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress and aims to “unify and uplift” people of African descent. The ideology asserts that the fate of all African peoples and countries are intertwined. At its core Pan-Africanism is “a belief that African peoples, both on the continent and in the Diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a common destiny” The largest Pan-African organization is the African Union. Kwame Nkrumah “I’m not African because I was born in Africa; I’m an African because Africa’s born in me.” Kwame Nkrumah Early Life Education Kwame Nkrumah, was born in approximately 1909 in the town of Nkroful, in the Nzima region of present-day Ghana. His father was a goldsmith by trade and kept many wives, although Kwame Nkrumah was his mother’s only child. His early education was conducted at local missionary schools, and his aptitude enabled him to attend the Government Training College in Accra in 1926. At the Government Training College, Nkrumah was trained to become a teacher and graduated in 1930 (Adi, 2003: 144). He worked as a teacher for five years and although during this time period he also contemplated a move into the priesthood. In 1935 Nkrumah decided to take his studies abroad. After a shorter...
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...Modern African states have several problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. The effects of colonialism have been offered as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given the extent to which they have lagged behind other former European colonies in many aspects. In the first section, I will consider the problems with African states from the level of the state. That is, the nature of the states' inceptions and the underlying flaws may explain some of the issues that have been associated with African states today. Next I examine the development of, or lack of, civil society and the institutions which took place across the continent in the colonial era. In particular, I consider the lack of education and judicial authority and how this affected the formation of the structures which exist in the post-colonial era. Lastly, the economic legacy of colonialism is analysed, and whether the failure of African states to prosper can be explained by colonial practices. State Formation Ever since the boundaries of Africa were drawn up in 1884/5, very little has changed in terms of the continent's territorial divisions. Much has been made of the fact that the post-colonial states which constitute Africa were the products of colonial demarcations, and whose territories are not congruent to existing political and ethnic organizations....
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...The end of World War Two marked a time were colonies began to gain their independence. The hopes of these colonies, was that independence would bring democracy and prosperity. However, at this moment most former colonies are fail states. Why decolonization has not delivered on the hope of prosperity and democracy? I would suggest that most decolonized states are still being exploited by the international system. Even though most (developed) countries lost their colonies, they still have a monopoly on their former colonies commodities. They use multi-national companies as a mean to control these commodities and other resources. As a result, most of the profit (generated) by the natural resources in underdeveloped countries, in fact goes to more develop countries. This caused the economies of former colonies to cripple. Furthermore, these states are still suffering from the legacy of inequality and ethnic tension which also prevent them from developing. Whereas, developed countries have used direct military threat to protect their multi-national companies interest. For instance, the United States had orchestrated the overthrown of the Guatemalan government in 1954 to preserve the monopoly of land of an US owned multinational company. A majority of ex-colonies remain under-developed because the economic international system still disfavors them. They are still serving the interest of core countries. (What interests) As a result, it is becoming increasing difficult for them to...
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...comity of nations, Liberia came to be viewed as a country that significantly contributed to the destabilization of the subregion through encouragement and support given to various armed groups that allegedly attacked Sierra Leone, Guinea and La Côte d’Ivoire. Liberia, nevertheless, is also associated with legendary contributions to Africa and the world at large. These contributions range from the fields of politics to sports, medicine, and religion. In the area of politics, Liberia produced Angie Brooks Randolph, the first African female President of the UN General Assembly. In sports, specifically in soccer, Liberia produced George Oppong Weah, the only African so far to capture two major football titles: World Best from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and European Best from the European Football Association (UEFA). In medicine, Liberia produced the renowned cardiologist, Jerome Ngana, and the prominent AIDS researcher, Stephen Kennedy. In religion, Liberia produced Prophet Wade Harris, founder of the Protestant Methodist Church, La Côte d’Ivoire; Canon Burgess Carl, former Secretary General of the All Africa Council of Churches; William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of the World Baptist Alliance, and Liberia’s 19th president who was overthrown in a bloody coup in 1980; and Herman Brown, one of the first blacks to serve as Special Assistant in the office of the Archbishop of...
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...Globalization in South Africa Regarding the globalization of South Africa, the lifting of the apartheid policy caused a dramatic shift in the both the political and economic policies of the nation. Furthermore, this was absolutely pivotal to the growth and progression of a nation that has now become a major emerging market and one of the world’s largest exporters of metals and minerals. South Africa is a country located on the southern tip of Africa. South Africa has had a long history of colonialism under both the British and the Dutch. The discovery of diamonds and gold in this region spurred the development of the area and immigration to the region while suppressing its native populations. And while the control the empires retained over their colonies was crumbling, South Africa as a colony did as well. It was granted independence in 1931, but when the Nationalist Party took power in 1948, it strengthened the segregationist policies that were established under colonial rule. South Africa finally achieved a full democracy with the elections of 1994, the first time the black population was allowed to vote, bringing the African National Congress (ANC) to power with Nelson Mandela as its leader. This officially brought an end to apartheid and marked the beginning of new era for the country. Although South Africa was formally granted independence in 1931, the South Africa that we know today didn’t exist until early 1990’s when apartheid was lifted. The policy of...
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...contributed little to world civilization is one which many in the West have for a long time assumed and taken for granted. Thanks in part to depictions of Africa which rarely extend past civil wars, famine and the primitive; information about Africa’s past advances and accomplishments have continued to remain obscure and little known. Since first contact between Europe and Africa the history of Africa has been fundamentally dominated by the way Europeans have portrayed themselves in relationship to that continent. So that most of what we read and see about Africa tends to say -- either directly or indirectly -- more about the history of European colonialism and its biases toward Africa than it does about the real Africa and its people (see Ahmad, 1987). The majority of people today of all backgrounds, including those of African ancestry, tend to know little about Africa and its history outside of the transatlantic slave trade and perhaps colonialism. While even in these instances knowledge about these events can be at times, limited. The African continent is too often conceived of as one with no legitimate history before contact with Europeans. Formal anthropological research is now showing that this notion could not be further from the truth. In the bible Ham's sons are believed to have fathered the peoples of Africa. Of Ham's four sons, Canaan, fathered the Canaanites, while Mizraim fathered the Egyptians, Cush the Cushites and Phut the "Libyans". Nimrod, the Grandson...
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...when African countries do possess sources of great wealth--diamonds in Sierra Leone and oil in Nigeria, for instance--those resources often end up being a curse on95% of the respective country's populace. On the other hand, a few nations have done better through internal improvements; Botswana is often cited as an example of this, but their 40% Aids rate--definitely attributable to rampant sexual activity--is impossible to overlook. Encapsulated in this spiel are what could be termed ‘the four great fallacies of the Africa Debate’. I’ll attend to each of these in turn. Fallacy 1 - Africa’s problems are by in large internal There’s no denying that some of Africa’s problems are internal but the claim that they are entirely (or even by in large internal) is demonstrably false: it ignores history and turns a blind eye to the interconnected world that we live in. For a start, many of Africa’s current problems stem from the colonial epoch; and colonialism was hardly an internal process. Instead, an external force (that’s us – the Europeans) plundered Africa’s natural and...
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