Africa: Modernity without Development?

Abstract

Events in Africa over the last two decades have puzzled many. Worsening poverty, corruption, as well as the repeated occurrence of coups or extreme civil violence, all conspire to give a cheerless, if not downright frightening, image of the continent. Are the causes of this crisis to be found in Africa's place in the world economy or in the continual disorder which afflicts the continent? Is the present turmoil a temporary setback or has it become a permanent condition? Why is there such breakdown of society? Will the present efforts for democratization ensure an improvement in the living conditions of the vast majority or merely benefit the elites? Has the continent been 'left behind by the rest of the world', as some have argued? Taken together, these issues raise the more general question of modernization.