Albeit the divergences on the debate about development in Africa, it is indubitable that the continent remains underdeveloped after five decades of development efforts. To understand this impasse,... Show moreAlbeit the divergences on the debate about development in Africa, it is indubitable that the continent remains underdeveloped after five decades of development efforts. To understand this impasse, it is necessary to trace Africa's encounter with Europe to the period of early modernity. This paper first outlines the theory of modernity and Enlightenment. Next, it traces the genealogy of the idea of development as modernity and how the African development process gets entangled in it. Zeroing in on the current idea of late or hypermodernity, the author dismisses the idea that there is something new in the globalization-backed neoliberal development paradigm. He then addresses the complex question of how the impasse of modernity can be transcended, arguing that Africa needs to construct its own modernity, different from that of the West. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This report gives a personal assessment of the local needs of the Southern Sudanese population in the period of societal reconstruction envisaged in the likely event of a meaningful peace... Show moreThis report gives a personal assessment of the local needs of the Southern Sudanese population in the period of societal reconstruction envisaged in the likely event of a meaningful peace agreement being realized in 2004 between the SPLM/A and the government of Sudan. In particular, the report examines the challenges and prospects of Quick Impact Programmes. Chief domains of attention for relief and reconstruction include: the internally displaced persons and refugees, security, infrastructure and economic recovery, the setting up of educational structures, the building of an administrative political structure, and food security. The author argues that QIPs should not focus exclusively on 'technicalities' and should take into account the political context in which they operate. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
