Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T20:24:18.506Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Forging Mutuality: The ASA and Africa in the Coming Decades

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Gwendolyn Mikell
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

On its fortieth anniversary, the African Studies Association faces the task of forging mutuality between itself and others in the study of Africa and in relationships with Africa. This task involves three distinct challenges. The first is to overcome the historical hierarchies based on race and nationality that attended the creation and early history of the ASA. These hierarchies pushed many Africanists of color to the margins of our organization. The second challenge is to address the need for mutuality in internal policy relationships regarding Africa, particularly at a time when many American international affairs experts have said diat there are no U.S. national interests that link us to Africa and that any such assertions are divisive. However, the third and perhaps most time-sensitive challenge is that of creating mutuality in intra-ASA relationships. We must grow comfortable with the increasing diversity of ASA members. We cannot cede African studies to either black or white Africanists, but we must insist that our association, our newly trained professionals, and our ASA leadership mirror the cultural and ethnic diversity that is America.

Résumé:

Résumé:

En son quarantième anniversaire, l'Association des Etudes Africaines a pour tache de forger la mutualité entre elle et les autres organisations dans le domaine de l'étude de l'Afrique et par rapport à l'Afrique. Cette tache pose trois défis. Le premier à relever est celui de dépasser les anciennes hiérarchies fondées sur la race et la nationalité et qui ont caractérisé la création et les premières années de notre organisation. Ces hiérarchies avaient marginalisé plusieurs africanistes de couleur au sien de l'ASA. Le second défi est de faire face au besoin de mutualité dans les politiques intérieures à l'égard de l'Afrique, surtout à un moment où plusieurs experts américains en affaires internationales ont affirmé qu'il n'y a pas d'intérêt national américain nous liant à l'Afrique et qu'une telle déclaration menait à la discorde. Cependant, le troisième défi, et peut-être le plus urgent, est celui de créer la mutualité au sien même de l'organisation. Nous devons nous sentir à l'aise dans la diversité croissante des membres de l'ASA. On ne saurait céder les études africaines ni à des africanistes noirs ni à des africanistes blancs, mais on doit insister pour que notre association, nos nouveaux cadres, et notre direction reflètent la diversité ethnique et culturelle caractéristique de l'Amérique.

Type
Articles
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , April 1999 , pp. 1 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aina, Tade Akin. 1997. “Globalization and Social Policy in Africa: Issues and Research Directions.” African Sociological Review 1 (2): 175. CODESRIA (Universite Cheik Anta Diop) Dakar, Senegal.Google Scholar
Aké, Claude. 1996. “The Future of the State in Africa.” International Political Science Review 6 (1): 105–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akabogu, Chike. 1992. “ECOWAS Takes The Initiative.” In Vogt, Margaret A., ed., The Liberian Crisis and ECOMOG: A Bold Attempt at Regional Peace Keeping. Lagos: Bubumo Publishing Co. Google Scholar
Akuetteh, Nii. 1997. “Concept Paper: Organizing African Immigrants for Self-Help and Service.” Unpublished paper, Southern Regional African Constituency meeting (Coalition of Concerned African Scholars), Atlanta, Ga., 09 29, 1997.Google Scholar
Appiah, Anthony. 1995. In My Father's House. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Aryeetey, Ernest. 1992. “Introduction: Africa in Search of an Alternative Development Path.” In Aryeetey, , ed., Planning African Growth and Development: Some Current Issues. Accra, Ghana: ISSER/UNDP.Google Scholar
Ayittey, George. 1992. Africa Betrayed. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Ayittey, George. 1998. Africa in Chaos. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Bender, James, Coleman, James, and Sklar, Richard, eds. 1986. African Crisis Areas and U.S. Foreign Policy. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Robert. 1998. “Getting Africa on the American Agenda: Growth and Opportunity in the Next Century.” Unpublished paper, Georgetown University African Studies and United Nations Development Program Conference, 02 26-27, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Brown, Ronald. 1996. Secretary of Commerce's Comments on the African Trade Mission, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 03.Google Scholar
Busia, Abena. 1996. “On Cultures of Communication: Reflections from Beijing.” SIGNS 22 (Autumn): 204–10.Google Scholar
Busia, Abena. 1990. Testimonies of Exile. Lawrenceville: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Cambell, Horace. 1989. “Namibia: What Kind of Independence?” Monthly Review 41, 9–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowan, L. Gray. 1970. “President's Report. African Studies Review 13 (3): 343–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, Robert. 1992. “A Historical Perspective on the Lagos Plan of Action.” In Beyond Structural Adjustment in Africa: The Political Economy of Sustainable and Democratic Development. London: Praeger, 29–47.Google Scholar
Cummings, Robert. 1989. “An African Alternative Framework and the Lagos Plan of Action.” Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Curtin, Phillip. 1995. “The Ghettoization of African Studies.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 02.Google Scholar
Deng, Francis. 1995. Wars of Vision: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Fomunyoh, Christopher. 1998. “Democracy African Style: Its Essence and Its Prospects for Stability.” Talk given at the National Democratic Institute, 03 16, 1998.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1972. The Archaeology of Knowledge. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Guyer, Jane. 1995. African Studies in the United States. New York: The Ford Foundation.Google Scholar
Halpern, Ben. 1979. “Exile: Abstract Condition and Concrete Community.” In “Negating the Diaspora: A Symposium,” Jewish Frontier 47 (10): 9.Google Scholar
Hance, William and Curtin, Philip. 1966. “African Studies in Africa and the American Scholar.” African Studies Bulletin 9(1): 24–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Joseph. 1982. “Introduction” and “A Comparative Approach.” In Harris, Joseph, ed., Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Herskovits, Melville. 1958. Myth of the Negro Past. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Heywood, Linda. 1998. “Toward an Understanding of Modern Political Ideology in Africa: Ovimbundu of Angola.” Journal of Modern African Studies 36 (1): 139–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heywood, Linda. 1989 “UNITA and Nationalism in Angola.” Journal of Modern African Studies 27 (1): 4–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1997. “The Erosion of American National Interests.” Foreign Affairs 76 (5): 2–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Imam, Ayesha. 1994. “Muslim Women and Politics in Kano, 1975–85.” In Moghadam, Valentine, ed., Identity Politics: Cultural Assertions and Feminism in International Perspective. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Google Scholar
Imam, Ayesha. 1991. “Ideology, the Mass Media and Women: A Study from Radio Kaduna, Nigeria.” In Coles, C. and Mac, B., eds., Hausa Women in the Twentieth Century. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 244–52.Google Scholar
Johnson-Sirleaf, Ellen. 1987. “Ellen Johnson Sirleaf” (Interview). Africa Report 32 (01-02): 73–77.Google Scholar
Johnson-Sirleaf, Ellen. 1997. “Interview with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf” Jeune Afrique. 06.Google Scholar
Joseph, Richard. 1997. “African Renewal: Report of a Conference on State, Conflict and Democracy in Africa,” 03 6–9, 1997. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Joseph, Richard. 1995. “Democracy in Africa.” Africa Demos 5. Atlanta Ga.: The Carter Center.Google Scholar
Kaplan, Robert. 1994. “The Coming Anarchy.” Atlantic Monthly, 02, 44–76.Google Scholar
Katz, Stanley. 1996. “Internationalization of the Curriculum.” Newsletter of the American Council of Learned Societies, Spring.Google Scholar
Kieh, George. 1996. “Liberia and ECOMOG.” White Paper, TransAfrica Forum, Spring, 1997.Google Scholar
Kieh, George. 1997. “Obstacles to the Peaceful Resolution of the Liberian Civil Conflict.” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 17: 7–108.Google Scholar
Mabogunje, Akin. 1997. Moshood Abiola Lecture, African Studies Association Meetings, 11 13, 1997.Google Scholar
Mama, Amina. 1996. Women's Studies and Studies of Women in Africa During the 1990s. Working Paper Series 5/96. Dakar, Senegal: CODESRIA Google Scholar
Michaels, Marguerite. 1993. “Retreat From Africa.” Foreign Affairs 72 (1): 9–110.Google Scholar
Mikell, Gwendolyn, ed. 1997a. African Feminism: The Politics of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikell, Gwendolyn. 1997b. “It must be a Mutually Beneficial Partnership: The U.S.-African Transportation Relationship in the 1990s.” Department of Transportation conference, Washington, D.C., 10 8, 1997.Google Scholar
Mikell, Gwendolyn. 1996a. “Ethnic Particularism and the Creation of State Legitimacy in West Africa.” Tulsa Journal of Comparative and International Law 4 (1): 99–115.Google Scholar
Mikell, Gwendolyn. 1996b. “Constructing a New U.S. Policy Toward Africa.” Presentation given at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos Nigeria, 06 13, 1996.Google Scholar
Mikell, Gwendolyn. 1995. “African Feminism: The Politics of Representation.” Feminist Studies (Summer).Google Scholar
Mutua, Makua Wa. 1995. The Banjul Charter and the African Cultural Fingerprints: An Evaluation of the Language of Duties. Virginia Journal of Human Rights 35.Google Scholar
National Research Council (NRC). 1992. “Democratization in Africa: African Views, African Voices.” Monograph. Washington, D.C.: NRC.Google Scholar
Nawrojee, Binafer. 1995. “Joining forces: UN and Regional Peacekeeping–Lessons from Liberia.” Harvard Human Rights Journal 8: 129–51.Google Scholar
Ogundipe-Leslie, Molara. 1994. Re-Creating Ourselves: African Women and Critical Transformations. Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Organization of African Unity. 1963. Resolutions and Recommendations of the Council of Ministers. First Ordinary Session, Dakar, Senegal, 08 2-08 11, 1963.Google Scholar
Organization of African Unity. 1981. The Lagos Plan of Action for Economic Development of Africa, 1980–2000. Geneva: International Institute of Labor Studies.Google Scholar
Randrianja, Solofo. 1994. “Nationalism, Ethnicity and Democratization.” In Ellis, Stephen, ed., Africa Now, People, Policies, Reforms. Leiden: DGIS & James Currey, 2–41.Google Scholar
Said, Abdul Aziz. 1977. Ethnicity and U.S. Foreign Policy. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Sassen, Saskia. 1991. The Global City: New York, London, and Paris. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Schlessinger, Arthur. 1997. “Has Democracy a Future?” Foreign Affairs 76 (5): 2–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Mark. 1979. Ethnicity and Politics. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Sklar, Richard. 1993. “The African Frontier for Political Science.” In Bates, R., Mudimbe, V., and O'Barr, J., eds., Africa and the Disciplines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Skinner, Elliott P. 1992. African-Americans and United States Policy Toward Africa, 1850–1924. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Skinner, Elliott P. 1995. “Through a Glass Darkly: Aspects of African-American Cooperation.” Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Skinner, Elliott P.. 1992. “The Dialectic: Diasporas and Homelands.” In Harris, Joseph, ed., Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Anthony D. 1992. Ethnicity and Nationalism. International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology, vol. 60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ssempala, Edith. 1997. “The Road to Democracy: Africa in the 21st Century”; and “Democracy: Uganda's Experience” (unpublished papers). Distinguished Lecture, Georgetown University African Studies Program, 03 19, 1997.Google Scholar
Sutherland, Peter D. and Sewell, John W.. 1997. The Challenges of Globalization. Washington, D.C.: Overseas Development Council.Google Scholar
Thornton, John. 1993. Africa and the Atlantic World. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
UN Economic Commission for Africa. 1989. African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation. AAF-SAP, E/ECA/CM.15/6/Rev.3, Addis Ababa.Google Scholar
Van de Walle, Nicholas. 1996. “The Politics of Aid Reform.” In Ellis, Stephen, ed., Africa Now: People, Policies, Reforms. Leiden: James Curry, 232–50.Google Scholar
Wilson, Ernest J. III. 1993. “The Political Economy of Robert Bates: A Critical Reading of Rational Choice in Africa.” World Development 21 (6): 1035–53.Google Scholar
World Bank. 1994. Adjustment in Africa: Reforms, Results, and the Road Ahead. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar