African Democracies and African Politics (Human Security in the Global Economy) FROM THE PUBLISHER
Challenging orthodox views on contemporary African politics and democracy, M.A. Mohamed Salih offers a fresh approach to the topic, emphasizing the role of ethnicity and religion, in particular that of minorities. His central theme is that government donors from Western nations have imposed Western style democracy in Africa, ignoring the indigenous politics of the region, often resulting in chaos. As a consequence many African societies are divided by ethnicity. Revealing how minorities are inevitably marginalized in all aspects of development and education, Salih shows how, in many instances, they are treated as enemies of the state, as are the opposition parties. He examines democracy and authoritarian development in a pan-African context and the democratic potential of political education, and provides a range of country-specific case-studies, including multiparty democracy in Sudan; democratizing anarchy in Sierra Leone; religious violence in Obassango's Nigeria and ethnic federalism in Ethiopia.
SYNOPSIS
Challenging orthodox views on contemporary African politics and democracy, M.A. Mohamed Salih offers a fresh approach to the topic, emphasizing the role of ethnicity and religion, in particular that of minorities. His central theme is that government donors from Western nations have imposed Western style democracy in Africa, ignoring the indigenous politics of the region, often resulting in chaos. As a consequence many African societies are divided by ethnicity.Revealing how minorities are inevitably marginalized in all aspects of development and education, Salih shows how, in many instances, they are treated as enemies of the state, as are the opposition parties. He examines democracy and authoritarian development in a pan-African context and the democratic potential of political education, and provides a range of country-specific case-studies, including multiparty democracy in Sudan; democratizing anarchy in Sierra Leone; religious violence in Obassango's Nigeria and ethnic federalism in Ethiopia.
FROM THE CRITICS
CHOICE
This series of essays on democracy and politics in Africa focuses on factors that affect the feasibility of the democratization process in African states in general, but with specific reference to Ethiopia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and several states in southern Africa. While (there is an excellent resume of theories and factors affecting the process, Salih's main emphasis is in the role and deprivations of ethnic or religious minorities that not only serve to weaken governments but also lead to anarchy and civil strife .Although these factors vary from one state to the next, they create all-too-familiar patterns of political responses that hinder democracy and are often so irreconcilable that they tend to minimize development of the nation-state. Recommended for lower- and upper-division undergraduates.
Foreign Affairs
This well-informed study starts from the premise that Western-style democracy has never been appropriate in Africa and is unlikely to catch on any time soon, despite concerted efforts by international donors and lenders to force it on reluctant African leaders through strings attached to aid. The author, an African scholar teaching in the Netherlands, makes a case instead for positively reconsidering ethnicity as a political organizing principle, pointing to the current Ethiopian experiment with ethnic federation as a promising model. It is a notable attempt to bring a fresh African perspective to the continent's politics.
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