Africa Flashcards
How was Africa integrated into the capitalist world order?
- In a dependent position
- Exporting primary commodities + importing expensive finished products
- Means what is produced is not consumed + what is consumed is not produced
In what way is Africa deeply reliant on external markets?
Whilst West can expand + be self-sustaining, Africa can only do this as a result of that expansion
Has resulted in structural disarticulation
What was the Gatekeeper State in colonial times?
- Colonial states had weak roots in African countries -> barely under their control
- Focus on guarding the gate
- Collecting taxes, controlling entry + exit, issuing licences…
After independence, did the idea of a Gatekeeper State still exist?
- New elites perpetuated instruments of colonial rule
- Did little to gain support or stability
- Whoever gained control of state, gained control of resources
- > used to entrench their rule
- > fierce competition for control of the gate
What did the new elites actively participate in?
Played an active role in maintaining continent’s dependent position within global system
What has been the result of this extraversion?
Means wealth is not filtered down, but syphoned off to MNCs or to the elites themselves
Africa has some of the…
Weakest states in the world, ruled by highly personalised regimes
Many Africa states only possess quasi-statehood. What does this mean?
- Whilst their autonomy is internationally recognised, internally political structures characterised by neopatrimonial forms of governance
- > favour the elite + perpetuate dependence of western world
- Internally have lost legitimacy + capacity to perform basic functions within territory
Why have many African states failed?
- Civil war
- Corruption
- Malgovernance
- Weak economy
Who makes African foreign policy?
- The President
- So shaped by the personalisation of the state
What is the backstage world of verandah politics?
Formal apparatus of government put on show for foreign dignitaries + donors = just a facade
What is personalised FP making facilitated by + what is the effect of this?
Lack of democracy
Interests of the regime substitute for interests of nation
In what way do African leaders take advantage of international norms of state sovereignty?
As gatekeepers, leader + his circle extract resources from international system to enable them to keep ruling
e.g. by taxing external actors who wish to engage in the country
Does Africa have a large appetite for integration?
Africa’s appetite for integration outstrips that of any other continent
Why do African states want to integrate so much?
Done for political considerations / donors have pushed it
-> little economic logic to such relationships
