31841 - Political Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (seminar)

Course contents

The course investigates the different phases of the nation-building process in Sub-Saharan Africa. The first part of the course will analyse the postcolonial state-building processes during the 1960s. The second part of the course will analyse the economic and poltical crisis since the late 1970s and the reform processes during the 1980s and the 1990s. A specific attention will be devoted to the countries of Southern Africa. The third  part of the course will analyse some cases of armed conflicts.

Readings/Bibliography

PART 1

1, 2, 3) State-building

Readings for all students:

1) A. Pallotti, Alla ricerca della democrazia. L'Africa sub-sahariana tra autoritarismo e sviluppo, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbetino, 2013.

2) A. Pallotti, M. Zamponi, Le parole dello sviluppo. Metodi e politiche della cooperazione internazionale, Roma, Carrocci (chapters: 2, 4, 6, 7, 8).

4) Civil society, NGO, governance

Readings for presentations:

1) J. Hearn, African NGOs: The New Compradors?, Development & Change, n. 6, vol. 38, 2007 + F. Manji & C. O'Coill, The Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa, International Affairs, n. 3, vol. 78, 2002.

2) M. Bratton & C. Logan, Voters but not Citizens: Democratization and Development Aid, in R. Joseph & A. Gillies (eds), Smart Aid for African Development, Boulder, Lynne Rienner, 2009 + P. Lewis, Growth without Prosperity in Africa, Journal of Democracy, n. 4, vol. 19, 2008.

3) A. Pitcher, M. Moran & M. Johnston, Rethinking Patrimonialism and Neopatrimonialism in Africa, African Studies Review, n. 1, vol. 52, 2009.

PART 2

5) Decentralization

Readings for all students:

1) D. Olowu, Local Governance, Democracy and Development, in R. Joseph (ed), State, Conflict, and Democracy in Africa, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, 1999.

2) M. Ndulo, Decentralisation: Challenges of Inclusion and Equity in Governance, in M. Ndulo (ed), Democratic Reform in Africa. Its Impact on Governance and Poverty Alleviation, London, James Currey, 2006.

6) Decentralization: case-studies

Readings for presentations:

1) P. Francis & R. James, Balancing Rural Poverty Reduction and Citizen Participation: The Contradictions of Uganda's Decentralization Program, World Development, n. 2, vol. 31, 2003 + A. W. Wadala, The Politics of Decentralisation in Uganda, D. Asiimwe & N. Musisi (eds), Decentralisation and Transformation of Governance in Uganda, Kampala, Fountain Publishers, 2007.

PART 3

7) Democracy and HIV/AIDS

Readings for all students:

1) B. O'Laughlin, Questioni di genere, AIDS e migrazioni in Africa asutrale, in Afriche e Orienti, speciale 1/2009;

2) W. Masanjala, HIV/AIDS e livelihood: il caso del Malawi, in Afriche e Orienti, speciale 1/2009;

3) H. Marais, Oltre povertà  e AIDS in Sudafrica, in Afriche e Orienti, speciale 1/2009.

8) Democracy and HIV/AIDS

Readings for presentations:

1) M. Aliber & C. Walker, The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Land Rights: Perspectives from Kenya, World Development, n. 4, vol. 34, 2006 + Maclean, A New Scramble for Africa: The Struggle in Sub-Saharan Africa to Set the Terms of Global Health, Round Table, n.  402, vol. 98, 2009.

2) S. Harman, Fighting HIV and AIDS: Reconfiguring the State?, Review of African Political Economy, n. 121, 2009 + H. Seckinelgin, A Global Disease and Its Governance: HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Agency of NGOs, Global Governance, n. 3, vol. 11, 2005.

PART 4

9) The land question

Readings for all students:

1) S. Berry, Debating the Land Question in Africa, Comparative Studies in Society and History n. 4, vol. 44, 2002.

2) P. Woodhouse & A. Chimhowu, Customary vs Private Property Rights? Dynamics and Trajectories of Vernacular Land Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, Journal of Agrarian Change, n. 3, vol. 6, 2006.

10) The land question

Readings for presentations:

1) C. Toulmin, Negotiating Access to Land in West Africa. Who is Losing out? in B. Derman, R. Odgaard & E. Sjaastad, Conflicts over Land and Water in Africa, London, James Currey, 2007 + L. Cotula & S. Vermeulen, Deal or no Deal: The Outlook for Agricultural Land Investment in Africa, International Affairs, n. 6, vol. 85, 2009.

2) L. Alden Wily, Reconstructing the African Commons, Africa Today, n. 1, vol. 48, 2001 + H. Bernstein, Rural Land and Land Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa, in S. Moyo & P. Yeros (eds), Reclaiming the Land, London, Zed Books, 2005.

PART 5

11 & 12) Southern Africa: democracy, land and poverty

Readings for all students:

1) J. Saul, The Strange Death of Liberated Southern Africa, Transformation, n. 64, 2007.

13) South Africa

Readings for presentations:

1) H. Marais, South Africa: Limits to Change, 2nd edition, London, Zed Books, 2001, capitoli 5 e 6.

2) R. Hall, Transforming Rural South Africa? Taking Stock of Land Reform, in L. Ntsebeza & R. Hall (eds), The Land Question in South Africa, Pretoria, HSRC, 2007.

14) Mozambique

Readings for presentations:

1) A.M. Gentili, Democracy and Citizenship in Mozambique, in A. Triulzi & M. C. Ercolessi, State, Power and New Political Actors in Postcolonial Africa, Annali della Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2004.

2) B. O'Laughlin, Class and the Customary: The Ambiguous Legacy of the Indigenato in Mozambique, African Affairs, vol. 99, 2000.

15 & 16) Zimbabwe

Readings for all students:

Lloyd Sachikonye, When a State Turns Against Its Citizens, Cape Town, Jacana, 2011.

Readings for presentations:

1) S. Moyo, Three decades of agrarian reform in Zimbabwe, Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 38, n. 3, 2011.

2) B. Raftopoulos, The Global Political agreement as "Passive Revolution": Notes on Contemporary Politics in Zimbabwe, in Round Table, n. 411, vol. 9, 2010.

17) Gender

Readings for all students:

B. O'Laughlin (2007), A Bigger Piece of a Very Small Pie: Intrahousehold Resource Allocation and Poverty Reduction in Africa, Development and Change, vol. 38, n. 1.

Readings for presentations:

C. Oya, J. Sender (2009), Divorced, separated and widowed women workers in rural Mozambique, Feminist Economics, vol. 15, n. 2.

M. Hames (2006), Rights and Realities: limits to women's rights and citizenship after 10 years of democracy in South Africa, Third World Quarterly, vol. 27, n. 7.

PART 6

18) Violent conflicts

Readings for all students:

1) A.M. Gentili, Ethnicity and Citizenship in Sub Saharan Africa, in P. Chabal, U. Engel & AM Gentili (eds), Is Violence Inevitable in Africa?, Leiden, Brill, 2005.

19) Mali

Readings for presentations:

1)  Y. Zoubir, The Sahara-Sahel Quagmire: Regional and International Ramifications, In Mediterranean Politics, vol. 17, n. 3, 2012 + Bergamaschi, I., The Fall of a Donor Darling: The Role of Aid in Mali's Crisis, in Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 52, n. 3, 2014,pp. 347-378

2) R. Marchal, The Coup in Mali: The Result of a Long-term Crisis or Spillover from

the Libyan Civil War?, Oslo, Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, May 2012 + R. Marchal, Military (Mis)Adventures in Mali, in African Affairs, vol. 112, n. 448, 2013, pp. 486-497.

20) Democratic Republic of the Congo

Readings for presentations:

1) Filip Reyntjens, Regulation, taxation and violence: the state, quasi-state governance and cross-border dynamics in the Great Lakes Region, in Review of African Political Economy, vol., 41, n. 142, 2014, pp. 530-544 + M. Dizolele, The Mirage of Democracy in the DRC, in Journal of Democracy, vol. 21, n. 3, 2010, pp. 143-157.

2) S. Marysse, Regress, War and Fragile Recovery: The Case of the DRCongo, in Filip Reyntjens, S. Marysse (eds), The Political Economy of the Great Lakes Region in Africa. The Pitfalls of Enforced Democracy and Globalization , Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2005 + S. B. Mararo, Kivu and Ituri in the Congo War; The Roots and Nature of a Linkage, in Filip Reyntjens, S. Marysse (eds), The Political Economy of the Great Lakes Region in Africa. The Pitfalls of Enforced Democracy and Globalization , Basingstoke, Macmillan, 2005.

Teaching methods

Seminars and students' presentations

Assessment methods

The final grade is determined by the student's presentation (max 5/30), active participation (5/30), paper (max 6.000 words) (max 10/30), and the final oral exam on all (and only) compulsory readings (max 10/30).

Teaching tools

Powerpoint

Office hours

See the website of Arrigo Pallotti