Abstract
This is a laudable effort to deconstruct “Africa” by replacing sweeping statements on an entire continent in its diversity by a selection of themes and cases to illustrate realities on the ground in specific contexts. As the author points out in the Epilogue, it is hardly possible to “summarize a condensed version of African history and politics since decolonization” (282). His effort therefore relies on some selective topical issues, aiming at a “more nuanced, and better informed” treatment of the continent (ix). By doing so, he is aware that “any academic work condenses reality, reduces complexity, and is bound by the zeitgeist” (3). This insight is guiding his ambition to show that “African actors are not bystanders in national and international politics but shape national and international politics” (5). Each of the twelve chapters, followed by a total of 70 pages of notes/references, can “largely stand for themselves” (11).
Being translated from German, originally published as Afrika seit der Dekolonisation: Geschichte und Politik eines Kontinents (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 2020), one of the last empirical reference points was the prominent handling of Ebola in Eastern DRC 2019 by international media 2019 in contrast to the hundreds of thousands of people killed in armed conflicts (284). The largely ignored effects of the Covid pandemic on domestic economies, increased authoritarian policing of restrictions imposed on civil liberties mainly affecting the poorest and their daily struggles for survival, but also manifestations of so-called vaccination apartheid, are therefore falling outside of the scope. These would have been further evidence for the perpetuation of asymmetric global as well as local power relations, putting countries and citizens on the continent at the receiving end. But I digress. After all, while the insights and lessons offered by the pandemic reconfirm some of the basic features of socioeconomic and political realities in Africa and African relations with the outside world, the volume testifies sufficiently to these.
The volume opens with a short summary chapter on conquest and colonization, chapter 2 then turns to decolonization and liberation. It shows “that resistance … took many forms and was realized by various actors … There was not one anti-colonialism but many” (42; original emphasis). Although the Cold War during the “winds of change” is mentioned (and once again a subject in chapter 4), the United Nations remain much of a blind spot, not least when dealing with the Suez crisis (45ff) and the (Belgian) Congo (29ff) – also as a forum entered by the new members from the global South. UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (killed in office when trying to find a solution to the confrontation in the Congo in a plane crash at Ndola under suspicious circumstances, currently reinvestigated by the UN) is despite his influential role (not least by institutionalising and deploying the blue helmets in both cases) not mentioned at all. Chapter 3 then highlights some of the ambiguities left behind as colonial legacies. Although the epilogue points out that new rulers “largely kept the colonial state intact – with a new leadership” (283), not much detailed anatomy is offered on just 15 pages.
Chapter 4 summarizes the different stages of and shifts in external influences. The Cold War, guided by geostrategic interests, had created a favourable environment “for authoritarian governments being able to remain in power – or were even brought to power” (73). With what Welz dubs the “liberal-cosmopolitan order” of the twentieth century last decade, despotic regimes came increasingly under pressure to comply with norms of a so-called good governance. Since the turn of the century, the emergence of new global players (most prominently China) once again shifted the manoeuvring space for African regimes and confronted the Western spheres of influence with new challenges and constraints. The chapter ends pointing at the need to replace “the political and economic wishful thinking that has shaped the discussions all too frequently” by solid assessments. It adds a quote from The Economist, that in the new era of multipolarity, African countries “need more than extra choices over whom they strike deals with. They need the power to choose their politicians, too” (89).
Economic and socioeconomic developments since the 1960s until 2000 and the two decades since then in the “new scramble for Africa” are at the core of chapters 5 and 6, respectively. They show in various ways and forms the continued dependency of the continent's economies on foreign actors and global institutions, applying a questionable notion of “development.” This leads to the assessment of states, political systems, and actors in chapter 7. It takes stock of how state power is composed, reproduced, and shaped or influenced by a variety of domestic agencies. Chapter 8 then turns to continental and regional multilateral interactions. It concludes that heads of state are often guided by a search for maximum political legitimacy from outside their country, leading to “forum-shopping” (193).
Chapter 9 then returns to mainly domestic dynamics by examining secessions, coups d’états, electoral violence, and terrorism, often encouraged by a weak state and its institutions (203). A “failure of the postcolonial governments to project their influence … and the resulting instability and insecurity leads to a rise of alternative forms of governance” (213). Large-scale inter- and intrastate conflicts are the focus of chapter 10, including the genocides in Darfur and Rwanda and the war in the Great Lake region, ending with the consequences in the form of forced migration and refugees. Chapter 11 then attends to international conflict management, the different actors involved and the forms of transitional justice. It closes with the ominous question “Will Pax Africana eventually arise?” (263). Finally, chapter 12 examines the role of African actors in international relations. It concludes that at least in some specific cases (such as climate change negotiations, the ICC and the Chagos Islands) “African actors have influence.” Limitations are not least also reinforced by the absence of strong globally heard voices able to effectively strengthen perceptions and influence of Africa (281).
The author's intention is to document and explain “the complexity and diversity of past and contemporary politics in Africa broadly” in the hope to “spark an interest to follow and further study African affairs” (7). The unavoidable “blind spots” do not make this undertaking superfluous or irrelevant. Rather, it is a useful introduction for the teaching of African Studies. The volume therefore is a welcome addition to this category, “written in a spirit of promoting dialogue” (283).