I have a number of students doing research in Eritrea --on fisheries, extractivism, and on peace and conflict resolution. It is a a country that I have visited, and is a place I know a little about. Yes, indeed, many Eritreans are, understandingly, voting with their feet about authoritarianism and/or economic hardship. But this is an empirical issue, not a nostrum; and the shouting out about gulags and labour camps, is not helpful (not from you, but from one someone else who has ceased dialogue, as a way of avoiding discussion), and is a vast distortion of what is happening there. We should also try to understand the various reasons as to why this is taking place now; why it might of not happened earlier, and why it is getting the attention it is, right now?
Remember Gaddafi? He was the only source of oil for Eritrea, a country spurned by the so-called international community; and country set in thrall by comparison to Ethiopia, and for easy demonization, They are strapped; it is place with a very young population, and very few resources, but that young, human labour. In the future, they may be able to exploit their fisheries, and there are some some scope for extraction near the Ethiopian border and about which, of curse, there has been a dispute. Indeed, there is a joint venture with a a Canadian mining company that one can be ambivalent about, which might provide some tax revenues, but not much in the way of employment, but it might also be the basis for some kind of agreement with Ethiopia, which also has interests in the other side. We can only hope. Like many other countries in Africa, there just isn't enough work to go around. The overlapping and desperate conduits of migrancy are little different, except in their recentness and the attention that they have been given, than found in many other African counties, and in some respects encouraged by local states. Finding how they end up on the shores of north Africa, is one of the questions, and not to attributing everything to the simple common denominator of political violence and/or repression. The comparison with Syria is just not helpful.
Best,
Pablo
On 2015-06-14 5:09 PM, kenneth harrow wrote:
there are two sets of refugees now flooding the boats to europe, desperate refugees fleeing bad oppressive violent circumstances. etritreans and syrians.
ken
On 6/14/15 2:15 PM, Folu Ogundimu wrote:
Don't uphold Eritrea as a paragon of a moral, modern African state, please. We can do better than live in Gulags and hail oppressors as patriotic leaders.
F.
Sent from my iPhone--Agree, sister Gloria.
And when African leaders chart a path of self-determination they are assassinated, overthrown, smeared or otherwise undermined--frequently with western connivance. The most recent example being Eritrea now labeled a "brutal dictatorship" by the US govt.
I've ordered Taiwo's book and was able to read the intro and a substantial part of Chapter 1. Interestingly, the author says he identified with Marxist principles in Nigeria. He then went to Canada to school only to discover that capitalism wasn't that bad after all. Modernity is western thing (no mention of the ongoing oppression of First Nations/Indigenous Canadiens). Yes, he concedes, the west has got some things wrong, slavery, for example. However, because they have embraced individualism and the related principle of individual rights, western nations have shown the capacity to correct themselves. He correctly notes that all societies have gone through a communalistic stage. Africans, according to Taiwo, are stuck in this phase thus impeding their development.
African Americans didn't have to invent anything new in their demand for equal rights, they simply insisted that America live up to its lofty principles of modernity. I agree. But that isn't the whole story. He is unaware that communism played a key role in challenging racism in the Jim Crow South. A role that was only reluctantly taken up by the NAACP. He is critical of the conservative American right and what he see as the turn from modern ideas. He mentions specifically mass incarceration, the assault of voting rights, etc.
Taiwo believes that "Africans" haven't embraced "modernity" because they focus incessantly on its negative aspects whilst ignoring the many positive elements. He seems to miss that contemporary geopolitics have also played a significant role in what he calls Africa's "backwardsness"; that western development depends on African underdevelopment; that the principles of modernity didn't just "correct" gross injustices. Rather "modernity" America required the brutal oppression of Indigenous Americans and Africans. That oppression is less brutish but ongoing. Just as development in the west depends on Africa's raw materials presently.
kzs
--
On Jun 13, 2015, at 3:00 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:
Is Taiwo calling for Africa to embrace neo-liberalism, cut-throat capitalism,
western hegemony, World Governance (unipolarity), extra-judicial drones,
a military - prison-industrial system, Big Pharma and its toxic pharmaceuticals,
corporatism and rule by corporations etc.
These features may be considered part of modernity
by some analysts, rightly or wrongly.
That is why I look forward eagerly to the definition of modernity.
Since you have read the book, Pablo, kindly shed some light on this
so that we don't jump to the wrong conclusions.
G
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Pablo [pidahosa@yorku.ca]
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2015 3:11 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Professor Olufemi Taiwo: "Africa Must be Modern" ?
It would help if people read Femi's book.
Pablo
On 2015-06-13 10:49 AM, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:
I agree. I will add exploring modernity, warts and all too.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 2:28 PM
To: 'usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>'; Wanazuoni
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Professor Olufemi Taiwo: "Africa Must be Modern" ?
I hope he spent quite a while defining what he considered 'modernity' to be.
GE
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2015 8:00 PM
To: Wanazuoni
Cc: Waafrika
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Professor Olufemi Taiwo: "Africa Must be Modern" ?
"The apprehension that African nations feel about embracing modernity, which has hindered their economic and political development, is the focus of a new book by Olúfémi Táíwò, professor of Africana studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. In "Africa Must be Modern," Táíwò explores the current problems and political climate in African countries and their progress in recent years; and compares their growth to similar countries in other regions of the world. Costa Rica, for example, preserves its forests and earns substantial revenue from ecotourism, while Liberia risks losing its forests to logging. While the two countries have similar populations, Costa Ricans can expect to live two decades longer than Liberians. "Similar comparisons can be made of, say, Chile and Zambia, Ethiopia and the Philippines, Brazil and Nigeria, and so on," he writes. These comparisons support Táíwò's argument that modernity is necessary for African nations' survival: "If we would compare ourselves with others, rather than differentiate ourselves from them, we might be shamed into action that will move us forward with the rest of humanity." - Africana professor issues call for modernity in Africa | Cornell Chronicle<http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/05/africana-professor-issues-call-modernity-africa>
<http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/05/africana-professor-issues-call-modernity-africa>
Africana professor issues call for modernity in Africa |...<http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/05/africana-professor-issues-call-modernity-africa>
TáíwòThe apprehension that African nations feel about embracing modernity, which has hindered their economic and political development, is the focus of a new book...
View on www.news.cornell.edu<http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/05/africana-professor-issues-call-modernity-africa>
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"In a forthright and uncompromising manner, Olúfémi Táíwò explores Africa's hostility toward modernity and how that hostility has impeded economic development and social and political transformation. What has to change for Africa to be able to respond to the challenges of modernity and globalization? Táíwò insists that Africa can renew itself only by fully engaging with democracy and capitalism and by mining its untapped intellectual resources. While many may not agree with Táíwò's positions, they will be unable to ignore what he says. This is a bold exhortation for Africa to come into the 21st century" - Africa Must Be Modern: A Manifesto<http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Must-Be-Modern-Manifesto/dp/0253012759>
Africa Must Be Modern: A Manifesto<http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Must-Be-Modern-Manifesto/dp/0253012759>
Africa Must Be Modern: A Manifesto [Olúfémi Táíwò] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In a forthright and uncompromising manner, Olúfémi Táíwò explores Africa's hostility toward modernity and how that hostility has impeded economic development and socia...
View on www.amazon.com<http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Must-Be-Modern-Manifesto/dp/0253012759>
Preview by Yahoo
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-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu--
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