Africa in Contemporary Perspective

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Description

An important feature of Ghanaian tertiary education is the foundational African Studies Programme which was initiated in the early 1960s. Unfortunately hardly any readers exist which bring together a body of knowledge on the themes, issues and debates which inform and animate research and teaching in African Studies particularly on the African continent. This becomes even more important when we consider the need for knowledge on Africa that is not Eurocentric or sensationalised, but driven from internal understandings of life and prospects in Africa. Dominant representations and perceptions of Africa usually depict a continent in crisis. Rather than buying into external representations of Africa, with its �lacks� and aspirations for Western modernities, we insist that African scholars in particular should be in the forefront of promoting understanding of the pluri-lingual, overlapping, and dense reality of life and developments on the continent, to produce relevant and usable knowledge. Continuing and renewed interest in Africa�s resources, including the land mass, economy, minerals, visual arts and performance cultures, as well as bio-medical knowledge and products, by old and new geopolitical players, obliges African scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to work with each other to advance knowledge and uses of those resources in the interests of Africa�s people.

Sujets

• Regional Studies
• African Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: Sub-Saharan Publishers
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789988647490
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 22 Mo

Extrait

AFRICA IN CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE A Textbook for Undergraduate Students

d byEdite Takyiwaa Manu and EsiSuterland-Addy

First published in Ghana in 2013 by Sub Saharan Publishers P.O. Box 358 Legon-Accra Ghana. email: [e-mail] www.sub-saharan.com.

© IAS and Contributors 2013

ISBN 9978-9988-647-37-7

All rights reserved. No part part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise than for reviews, without the permission of the copyright owner and the publishers.

Cover design: Patrick Awuah Antwi

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Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PREFACE THE AFRICAN GENIUS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF MAPS LIST OF FIGURES NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS INTRODUCTIONTakyiwaa Manuh and Esi Sutherland-Addy

SECTION 1: AFRICA–GEOGRAPHY, POPULATION & LANGUAGE CHAPTER 1 GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICAAlex B. Asiedu CHAPTER 2 THE POPULATION OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICADelali M. Badasu CHAPTER 3 LANGUAGE AND AFRICAMary Esther Kropp Dakubu

SECTION 2: CULTURAL, SOCIAL & POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS CHAPTER 4 GENDER AND SOCIETY IN AFRICA- AN INTRODUCTION Akosua Adomako Ampofo CHAPTER 5 AFRICA AND ITS DIASPORASEbenezer Ayesu CHAPTER 6 THE CULTURAL FRAMEWORK OF DEVELOPMENTA. K. Awedoba CHAPTER 7 AFRICAN WORLDVIEWSBrigid M. Sackey CHAPTER 8 ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICAAbraham A. Akrong CHAPTER 9 TRADITIONAL AND MODERN LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA Joseph R.A. Ayee

v vi xiv xiv xv xvii 1

13 13 48 78

94

94 116 131 151 165

181

SECTION 3: ECONOMY, IVELIHOODS & SECURITY 199 CHAPTER 10 DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND AFRICAN SOCIETY:  AN INTRODUCTIONKojo S. Amanor 199 CHAPTER 11 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICADaniel Obeng-Ofori 221 CHAPTER 12 HUMAN SECURITY IN AFRICARichard Asante and Kojo Opoku Aidoo 248 CHAPTER 13 POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY OUTCOMES  IN POSTCOLONIAL AFRICALord C. Mawuko-Yevugah 266

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SECTION 4: HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY CHAPTER 14 IN SEARCH OF HEALTH AND WELL-BEING IN AFRICAKojo Senah CHAPTER 15 ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN SUB-SAHARAN  AFRICAOsman A.R. Alhassan CHAPTER 16 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR AFRICAMarian Ewurama Addy  and Ebenezer Laing

SECTION 5: ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA CHAPTER 17 THE HERITAGE OF LITERARY ARTS IN AFRICAEsi Sutherland-Addy CHAPTER 18 AN EXPLORATION OF AFRICAN ARTKwame Amoah Labi CHAPTER 19 DANCE SYMBOLISM IN AFRICAF. Nii-Yartey CHAPTER 20 MUSIC IN AFRICAN COMMUNITIESAlexander A. Agordoh CHAPTER 21 A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT IN SUB-  SAHARAN AFRICAJohn Collins CHAPTER 22 A GUIDE TO SELECT REFERENCE SOURCES IN AFRICAN STUDIES Olive Akpebu Adjah Index

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282 282

307

336

362 362 390 413 430 445

467 497

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

African Worldviews

As editors, te fact tat tis volume as taken far longer to appear in print tan we would ave wised as not diminised our initial conviction about te book’s importance and relevance. During tat long period of gestation, we benefitted from te generosity of several persons and we wis to place on record te enormous debts tat we ave accrued.  We wis to acknowledge most sincerely te initial assistance from te University of Gana troug te World Bank-funded Teacing and Learning Innovation Fund (TALIF) grant to te Institute of African Studies tat elped us pay some of te costs of commissioning te capters and publication. We are grateful to te staff at te Accounting Section of te Institute for teir assistance in administering te grant.  We tank all te contributors for saring in our conviction about te importance of te volume and for teir patience and forbearance. We can only ope tat te ready uptake and use of te volume by readers in Gana, and around Africa and elsewere will more tan make up for te delay tat tey ave endured. We remember especially our late colleague, Reverend Dr. Abraam Akrong, wo passed on a few monts ago.  he following staff members, students and associates of te Institute assisted us as we prepared te volume for publication- Emmanuel Ekow Artur-Entsiwa, George Bob-Millar, Korklu Laryea, Patrick Awua Antwi, and Eyram Fiagbedzi- and we remain grateful for teir assistance. Mr. and Mrs. Hans and Kwadua Rot welcomed us to teir airy ome on te ills at Kitase, near Aburi, and permitted us to spend some time in teir guest quarters for a writing retreat, and we remember tem wit great affection. he Botcweys at he Place, also near Aburi, were also ospitable to us, and we tank tem.  In te period since we embarked on tis project, tere ave been rapid developments on te continent and many commemorative moments wic call for an immediate sequel to tis foundational volume. We believe tat te issues, omissions and disagreements arising from tis volume sould spur responses from te growing pool of scolars working to produce knowledge and epistemologies for a renascent Africa, and we look forward to teir appearance.

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REFACE

THE AFRICAN GENIUS

Speec by Dr.Kwame Nkruma, President of Gana, on te occasion of te opening of he Institute of African Studies at te University of Gana , Legon, 25t October, 1963.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I am very appy to be wit you on tis occasion and to welcome you to tis official opening of te Institute of African Studies. I regard tis occasion as istorically important. Wen we were planning tis University, I knew tat a many-sided Institute of African Studies wic sould fertilise te University, and troug te University, te National, was a vital part of it. his Institute as now been in existence for some time, and as already begun to make its contribution to te study of African istory, culture and institutions, languages and arts. It as already begun to attract to itself scolars and students from Gana, from oter African coun- tries and from te rest of te world. he beginning of tis present academic year marks, in a certain sense, a new development of tis Institute. Already, te Institute as a team of seventeen researc fellows and some forty post-graduate students — of wom about one- tird come from Gana and te remainder from countries as diverse as Poland and te United States of America, Nigeria and Japan. We ope soon to ave students and fellows from Cina and te Soviet Union. his Institute is no longer an infant, but a growing cild. It as begun to develop a definite caracter of its own; it is beginning to make itself known in te world. his, terefore, is a mo- ment for taking stock and to tink afres about te functions of te Institute, and of te Uni- versity witin wic it is set. Wat sort of Institute of African Studies does Gana want and need to ave? In wat way can Gana make its own specific contribution to te advancement of knowledge about te peoples and cultures of Africa troug past istory and troug contemporary prob- lems? For wat kind of service are we preparing students of tis Institute and of our Universities? Are we sure tat we ave establised ere te best possible relationsip between teacers and students? To wat extent are our universities identified wit te aspirations of Gana and Africa? You wo are working in tis Institute— as researc workers and assistants; teacers and stu- dents — ave a special responsibility for elping to answer tese questions. I do, owever, wis to take tis opportunity to put to you some of te guiding principles wic an Institute of Afri- can Studies situated ere in Gana at tis period of our istory must constantly bear in mind. First and foremost, I would empasise te need for a re-interpretation and a new assessment of te factors wic make up our past. We ave to recognise frankly tat African Studies, in te

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form in wic tey ave been developed in te universities and centres of learning in te West, ave been largely influenced by te concepts of old style “colonial studies”, and still to some extent remain under te sadow of colonial ideologies and mentality. Until recently te study of African istory was regarded as a minor and marginal teme witin te framework of imperial istory. he study of African social institutions and cultures was subordinated in varying degrees to te effort to maintain te apparatus of colonial power. In Britis institutes of iger learning, for example, tere was a tendency to look to social an- tropologists to provide te kind of knowledge tat would elp to support te particular brand of colonial policy known as indirect rule.  he study of African languages was closely related to te practical objectives of te European missionary and te administrator. African music, dancing and sculpture were labelled “primitive art”. hey were studied in suc a way as to reinforce te picture of African society as someting grotesque, as a curious, mysterious uman backwater, wic elped to retard social progress in Africa and to prolong colonial domination over its peoples.

African economic problems, organisation, labour, immigration, agriculture, communica- tions, industrial development — were generally viewed from te standpoint of te European interest in te exploitation of African resources, just as African politics were studied in te con- text of te European interest in te management or manipulation of African affairs. Wen I speak of a new interpretation and new assessment, I refer particularly to our Pro- fessors and Lecturers. he non-Ganaian non-African Professors and Lecturers are of course, welcome to work ere wit us. Intellectually tere is no barrier between tem and us. We ap- preciate, owever, tat teir mental make-up as been largely influenced by teir system of education and te facts of teir society and environment. For tis reason, tey must endeavour to adjust and re-orientate teir attitudes and tougt to our African conditions and aspirations. hey must not try simply to reproduce ere teir own diverse patterns of education and culture. hey must embrace and develop tose aspirations and responsibilities, wic are clearly essen- tial for maintaining a progressive and dynamic African society. One essential function of tis Institute must surely be to study te istory, culture and insti- tutions, languages and arts of Gana and of Africa in new African centred ways — in entire free- dom from te propositions and pre-suppositions of te colonial epoc, and from te distortions of tose Professors and Lecturers wo continue to make European studies of Africa te basis of tis new assessment. By te work of tis Institute, we must re-assess and assert te glories and acievements of our African past and inspire our generation, and succeeding generations, wit a vision of a better future. But you sould not stop ere. Your work must also include a study of te origins and culture of peoples of African descent in te Americas and te Caribbean, and you sould seek to main- tain close relations wit teir scolars so tat tere may be cross fertilisation between Africa and tose wo ave teir roots in te African past. he second guiding principles, wic I would empasise, is te urgent need to searc for, edit, publis and make available sources of all kinds. Ganaian scolars wo at an early period were actively concerned wit te study of Gana’s istory and institutions and elped to pre- pare te way for te creation of tis Institute — suc as Carl Reindorf, Jon Mensa Sarba,

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Casely-Hayford, Atto-Auma, Attoba Coguano. Antony William Amu — understood ow muc te development of African Studies depended on te recovery of vital source material. Indeed, te searc, publication and our interpretation of sources are obviously processes tat must go and in and. Among non-African students of Gana’s istory and institutions, one of te most distin- guised was undoubtedly Captain Rattray. By is intellectual onesty and diligence, e was able to appreciate and present to te world te values inerent in a culture, wic was, after all, for- eign to im. It is impossible to respect an intellectual unless e sows tis kind of onesty. After all, Academic Freedom must serve all legitimate ends, and not a particular end. And ere te term “Academic Freedom” sould not be used to cover up academic deficiencies and indiscipline. I would terefore like to see tis Institute, in co-operation wit Institutes and Centres of Af- rican Studies in oter African States, planning to produce wat I would describe as an extensive and diversified Library of African Classics. Suc a library would include editions, wit transla- tions and commentaries or works — weter in African, Asian or European languages— wic are of special value for te student of African istory, pilosopy, literature and law. I can tink of no more solid or enduring contribution wic te Institute could make to te development of African Studies on sound lines during te second alf of te Twentiet Century, or to te training of future generations of Africanists. Here in tis Institute of African Studies you ave already made a useful beginning wit te collection of a substantial body of Arabic and Hausa documents. his collection as revealed a tradition of scolarsip in Gana about wic little was previously known, and I ope tat it will trow a new ligt on our istory as part of te istory of Africa. I also regard as important te work wic you are doing in te collection of stool istories and oter forms of oral tradition— of poetry and African literature in all its forms— of wic one admirable expression is Professor Nketia’s recently publised book entitled “Folk Songs of Gana”, and Kofi Antubam’s latest book on African culture. Oter Ganaians ave done equally admirable work in tis field. I may mention ere Epraim Amu, wose work as created and establised a Ganaian style of music and revived an appreciation for it. Our old friend, J. B. Danqua, as also produced studies of Akan culture and institutions. Muc more sould be done in tis direction. here exist in our Universities, Faculties and Departments, suc as Law, Economics, Politics, History, Geograpy, Pilosopy and Sociology, te teacing in wic sould be substantially based as soon as possible on African material. Let us take an example. Our students in te Faculty of Law must be taugt to appreciate te very intimate link tat exists between law and social values. It is terefore important tat te Law Faculty sould be staffed by Africans. here is no deart of men and women among us qualified to teac in te Law Faculty. his applies equally to oter Faculties. Only in tis way can te Institute of African Studies fertilise te Universities and te Nation. he magnitude of te canges taking place in Africa to-day is a positive index of te scale and pace necessary for our social reconstruction. Our Universities sould provide us wit te force and impetus needed to maintain tis reconstruction. After years of bitter political struggle for our freedom and independence, our Continent is emerging systematically from colonialism and from te yoke of imperialism. he personality of te African, wic was stunted in tis process, can only be retrieved from tese ruins if we make

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a conscious effort to restore Africa’s ancient glory. It is only in conditions of total freedom and independence from foreign rule and interferences tat te aspiration of our people will see real fulfilment and te African genius find its best expression. Wen I speak of te African genius, I mean someting different fromNegritude, someting not apologetic, but dynamic.Negritude consists in a mere literary affectation and style, wic piles up word upon word and image upon image wit occasional reference to Africa and tings African. I do not mean a vague broterood based on a criterion of colour, or on te idea tat Africans ave no reasoning but only sensitivity. By te African genius I mean someting posi- tive, our socialist conception of society, te efficiency and validity of our traditional statecraft, our igly developed code of morals, our ospitality and our purposeful energy. his Institute must elp to foster in our University and oter educational institutions te kind of education wic will produce, devoted men and women wit imagination and ideas, wo, by teir life and actions, can inspire our people to look forward to a great future. Our aim must be to create a society tat is not static but dynamic, a society in wic equal opportunities are assured for all. Let us remember tat as te aims and needs of our society cange, so our educational institutions must be adjusted and adapted to reflect tis cange. We must regard education as te “gateway to te encanted cities of te mind” and not only as a means to personal economic security and social privilege. Indeed, education consists not only in te sum of wat a man knows, or te skill wit wic e can put tis to is own advantage. In my view, a man’s education must also be measured in terms of te soundness of is judgment of people and tings, and in is power to understand and appreciate te needs of is fellow men, and to be of service to tem. he educated man sould be so sensitive to te conditions around im tat e makes it is cief endeavour to improve tose conditions for te good of all. As you know, we ave been doing a great deal to make education available to all. It is equally important tat education sould seek te welfare of te people and recognise our attempts to solve our economic, cultural, tecnological and scientific problems. In tis connection, it will be desirable for your master’s degree courses to be designed wit suc problems in mind. It is terefore important and necessary tat our Universities and te Academy of Sciences sould maintain te closest possible liaison in all fields. his will result not only in te efficient plan- ning and execution of researc, but also in economy in te use of funds and resources. Let me empasise ere tat we look to te Universities to set an example by teir efficiency and teir sense of responsibility in te use of public funds. hey must also set an example in loyalty to te Government and te people, in good citizensip, public morality and beaviour. In order tat te students may obtain te maximum benefit from teir education in our Universities, it is imperative tat te relationsip between tem and teir teacers sould be as free and easy as possible. Witout tis close interaction between mind and mind and te common fellowsip of a University, it will be impossible to produce te type of student wo understands te larger issues of te world around im. Are we really sure tat our students are in touc wit te life of te nation? he time as come for te gown to come to town. In tis connection, I can see no reason wy courses sould not continue to be organised at te Law Scool in Accra for Lay Magistrates, Local Government staff and oter officers bot in Government and industry, wo wis to acquire a knowledge of

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