We Need to Talk About Africa

It is time to change how we think about Africa

If you boil a kettle twice today, you will have used five times more electricity than a person in Mali uses in a whole year. How can that be possible?

Decades after the colonial powers withdrew Africa is still struggling to catch up with the rest of the world. When the same colonists withdrew from Asia there followed several decades of sustained and unprecedented growth throughout the continent. So what went wrong in Africa? And are we helping to fix it, or simply making matters worse?

In this provocative analysis, Tom Young argues that so much has been misplaced: our guilt, our policies, and our aid. Human rights have become a cover for imposing our values on others, our shiniest infrastructure projects have fuelled corruption and our interference in domestic politics has further entrenched conflict. Only by radically changing how we think about Africa can we escape this vicious cycle.

Auteur

Tom Young is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK. He is the editor of Readings in African Politics.

Texte du rabat

Shows how Western attitudes have shaped the story of Africa and how our interference in domestic politics has further entrenched conflict.

Résumé
It is time to change how we think about Africa