African Development and the Globalization Imperative: New Directions, Familiar Crises

Abstract

Globalisation has emerged as the defining conceptual and contextual
socioeconomic framework of analysis for the early 21st century. Throughout
Africa particularly, globalisation has become a political-economic buzzword
for profound structural change, as well as the focus of vociferous and
rigorous criticism by those sectors of society disadvantaged, damaged, or
bypassed by the forces of global restructuring. Moreover, globalisation often
is discussed from an absolutist perspective and framed almost exclusively
within the context of the political state. As a result, regions, places, and
people frequently are reduced to insignificant actors or are omitted from
the analysis altogether. This paper examines the theoretical and practical
implications of globalisation for development in Africa and argues for an
analytical approach that encompasses key regional and local conditions. With
Africa as the framework of reference, six critical elements of development
under globalisation are examined: social polarisation, migration,
democratisation, cultural identity, transportation, and environmental
change. The paper concludes by discussing the concept of ‘globalisation’
and arguing for a policy approach that rethinks the extant framework
and restructures the analytical construct in a more proactive manner