African Voices, African Visions

Bibliographic Data

ID3911364
AuthorsCasely B Essamuah (corresponding author), Olugbenga Adesida (0000-0002-2557-1526, Nordic Africa Institute), Arunma Oteh
Year2002
Volume35
Issue1
Pages207
Publication date2002-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe International Journal of African Historical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-7882 • E-ISSN: 2326-3016
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3097408
OpenAlexW2795890967
LanguageEN
References cited11

Africa is a continent in crisis.Manifested economically, socially and politically, this crisis is multidimensional and has deep-seated historical roots.If current events have a bearing on the future, and indeed, necessarily condition and shape it, there may be little cause for cheers about the prospects for the future in the next few decades or so.Yet, it is essentially because the terrible conditions are not hidden, practically hitting the headlines on a daily basis in the continent and beyond, that one might take solace in the human capacity to find solutions to identifiable problems.On an even more practical note, there are basic counteracting people-centered trends initiated outside official circles which are clear indications of a determination to overcome and transcend the harsh realities of the contemporary African economic and political climate.In attempting to visualize the future of Africa, our aspirations and expectations must be realistically projected.This, in turn, requires that all anchors be sought in the dominant trends and tendencies at various levels of development, that are at play at the global, continental and national levels.Certain trends, often contradictory, are discernible globally and have major implications for the future of the African continent.These are essentially reflections of the post cold war international order and the neo-liberal economic framework which, since the 1980s, has increasingly assumed the status of a global economic orthodoxy.The first relates to the phenomenon of globalization, the process of increasing interdependence and global enmeshment which occurs as money, people, images, values and ideas flow ever more swiftly and smoothly across national boundaries (Hurrel and Woods, 1995:447).This process implies a tremendous deepening of global economic interactions propelled by the revolution in telecommunications and the near triumph of the neo-liberal economic doctrine worldwide

Political science · Sociology · Vision · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Gender Studies · History

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