85494 - Citizenship and Development in Africa

Academic Year 2020/2021

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in International Cooperation on Human Rights and Intercultural Heritage (cod. 9237)

Learning outcomes

This course unit aims at forming the student skills in analysing the relationship between social and political belonging, the formation of the nation-state and current and past development challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, this course unit will examine the historical trajectory from the modernization paradigm linked to the development of the nation-state after independencies (1960s) to the good governance reforms and democratization processes of the post-cold war context. In this regard, the course unit will point to the different visions about citizenship developed over the years, and to their relationships with local, national and transnational forms of belonging in sub-Saharan Africa.

Course contents

COURSE OUTLINE

* Class 1.

Topic: “Historical and methodological introduction to the course content”

Suggested readings:

- F. Cooper, Africa Since 1940. The Past of the Present, Cambridge University Press 2002, Chapter 1

- E. J. Keller, Identity, Citizenship and Political Conflict in Africa, Indiana University Press, 2014, Chapter 1

 

* Class 2.

Topic: “State- and Nation-building between colonial rule and independence”

Mandatory readings:

- F. Cooper, Africa Since 1940. The Past of the Present, Cambridge University Press 2002, Chapters 3 and 4;

- M. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject. Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton University Press 1996, Chapter II

 

* Class 3.

Topic: “The citizenship question from the ‘modernization’ paradigm to the ‘good governance and democracy’ era” (Part I).

Mandatory readings:

- F. Cooper, Africa Since 1940. The Past of the Present, Cambridge University Press 2002, "Interlude" and Chapter 5.

 

* Class 4.

Topic: “The citizenship question from the ‘modernization’ paradigm to the ‘good governance and democracy’ era” (Part II).

Mandatory readings:

- S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent, ‘Introduction: Citizenship and its Casualties in Africa’ in S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent (eds.), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa, Brill 2007.

- C. Tornimbeni, ‘Transmitting and Negotiating Paradigms on Citizenship, State and Development in sub-Saharan Africa: Introducing a Discussion on Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Dynamics’, in C. Tornimbeni (ed.), Working the System in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Values, National Citizenship and Local Politics in Historical Perspective, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2013.

 

* Class 5.

Topic: “Case-studies: Ivory Coast and Democratic Republic of Congo ”

Mandatory reading:

- R. Marshall-Fratani, ‘The War of "Who Is Who": Autochthony, Nationalism and Citizenship in the Ivorian Crisis", in S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent (eds.), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa, Brill 2007

or

- G. Nzongola-Ntalaja, ‘The Politics of Citizenship in the Democratic Republic of Congo’, in S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent (eds.), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa, Brill 2007

 

* Class 6.

Topic: “Case-studies: Rwanda and Uganda”

Mandatory reading:

- E. J. Keller, Identity, Citizenship and Political Conflict in Africa, Indiana University Press, 2014, Chapter 8.

or

- A. Sjögren, ‘Oil, Territorial Control and Political Belonging in Uganda", in C. Tornimbeni (ed.), Working the System in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Values, National Citizenship and Local Politics in Historical Perspective, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2013.

 

* Class 7.

Topic: “Case-studies: South Africa and Zimbabwe”

Mandatory reading:

- D. James, ‘Property and Citizenship in South African Land Reform’, in S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent (eds.), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa, Brill 2007

or

- M. Zamponi, ‘Land, State and National Citizenship in Zimbabwe’, in C. Tornimbeni (ed.), Working the System in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Values, National Citizenship and Local Politics in Historical Perspective, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2013.

 

* Class 8.

Topic: “Case-studies: Kenya and Ethiopia”

Mandatory reading:

- E. J. Keller, Identity, Citizenship and Political Conflict in Africa, Indiana University Press, 2014, Chapter 7

or

- E. J. Keller, Identity, Citizenship and Political Conflict in Africa, Indiana University Press, 2014, Chapter 5.

 

* Class 9.

Topic: “Case-studies: Tanzania and Mozambique”

Mandatory reading:

- A Pallotti, ‘The Poverty of Democracy: From Socialism to Neo-Liberal Citizenship in Tanzania’, in C. Tornimbeni (ed.), Working the System in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Values, National Citizenship and Local Politics in Historical Perspective, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2013.

or

- J. Sumich, ‘Tenuous belonging: citizenship and democracy in Mozambique’, in Social Analysis, 57 (2), 2013: 99-116.

 

* Class 10.

Topic: “Debating citizenship, belonging and development in sub-Saharan Africa”

Mandatory reading:

- E. J. Keller, Identity, Citizenship and Political Conflict in Africa, Indiana University Press, 2014, Chapter 2

 

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings for the final exam for students ATTENDING classes

* All mandatory readings of classes 2, 3, 4, 10

* Two case-studies readings to be chosen from classes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Mandatory readings for the final exam for students NON-ATTENDING classes

- F. Cooper, Africa Since 1940. The Past of the Present, Cambridge University Press 2002, Chapters 3, 4, "Interlude", 5.

- M. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject. Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton University Press 1996, Chapter II

- C. Tornimbeni, ‘Transmitting and Negotiating Paradigms on Citizenship, State and Development in sub-Saharan Africa: Introducing a Discussion on Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Dynamics’, in C. Tornimbeni (ed.), Working the System in Sub-Saharan Africa: Global Values, National Citizenship and Local Politics in Historical Perspective, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2013.

- S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent, ‘Introduction: Citizenship and its Casualties in Africa’ in S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent (eds.), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa, Brill 2007.

- R. Marshall-Fratani, ‘The War of "Who Is Who": Autochthony, Nationalism and Citizenship in the Ivorian Crisis", in S. Dorman, D. Hammett and P. Nugent (eds.), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa, Brill 2007

- E. J. Keller, Identity, Citizenship and Political Conflict in Africa, Indiana University Press, 2014, Chapters 2 and 7.

Teaching methods

The topic of each class will be first presented by the professor, and then will be debated with the students on the basis of the readings that students are requested to analyze in advance (see “Course Content”). Students are supposed to formulate their own vision and understanding of the topic of each class, and will be asked to justify their own argument in view of the discussion organized during the class. Attending students will also prepare specific case studies (1 for each student) to be presented in class for discussion with the professor and the other students.

Assessment methods

The final exam consists of an oral examination on the entire syllabus and, specifically, on the readings indicated in the “Readings/Bibliography” section of the course program. The aim of the interview is to assess the methodological and critical skills acquired by the student. In particular, it will assess the students' ability to use literature and to reason on the debates developed during classes in order to properly expose the contents of the course.

For the students attending classes, the oral examination will also take into account the preliminary evaluation of their preparation and participation in class discussions.

 

Teaching tools

At the beginning of the lessons the use of search engines and specialized sites for the multidisciplinary study of sub-Saharan Africa will be illustrated.

Office hours

See the website of Corrado Tornimbeni

SDGs

No poverty

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.