(Black) Neo-Colonialism and Rootless African Elites
Tracing conceptions of global inequality in the writings of George Ayittey and Kwesi Kwaa Prah, 1980s–1990s
⬤ Abstract
The article examines two Ghanaian-born intellectuals – economist George Ayittey and anthropologist and sociologist Kwesi Kwaa Prah – and their positions on both local and global inequalities by studying their writings from the mid-1980s–1990s. It answers the questions of how and through which debates both intellectuals addressed and engaged with notions of global inequality. Methodologically anchored in global intellectual history, this article offers a historical, qualitative, and actor-oriented study. As emphasised by Jonathon Earle, the question of how African intellectuals have shaped the intellectual history of the modern world represents an understudied field within global intellectual history. In an attempt to address this void, I show how Ayittey and Prah invoked global inequalities through different notions of neo-colonialism as well as criticisms of African elites, such as their indigenous rootlessness. The article argues that their conceptions of global inequalities were hinged on broader debates revolving around issues of African (under)development while their proposed solutions were founded on notions of African indigeneity, drawing on earlier African thought. I show how they actively reused ideas of indigenous development as formulated by Gold Coast intellectual Joseph E. Casely Hayford (1866–1930) in the beginning of the twentieth century.
Keywords: African intellectual history, African development, neo-colonialism, global inequality, criticism of elites, 1980s-1990s
Mélanie Lindbjerg Guichon (2021) (Black) neo-colonialism and rootless African elites: tracing conceptions of global inequality in the writings of George Ayittey and Kwesi Kwaa Prah, 1980s–1990s, Intellectual History Review, DOI: 10.1080/17496977.2021.1913390
Link here
(Black) Neo-Colonialism and Rootless African Elites
Tracing conceptions of global inequality in the writings of George Ayittey and Kwesi Kwaa Prah, 1980s–1990s
⬤ Abstract
The article examines two Ghanaian-born intellectuals – economist George Ayittey and anthropologist and sociologist Kwesi Kwaa Prah – and their positions on both local and global inequalities by studying their writings from the mid-1980s–1990s. It answers the questions of how and through which debates both intellectuals addressed and engaged with notions of global inequality. Methodologically anchored in global intellectual history, this article offers a historical, qualitative, and actor-oriented study. As emphasised by Jonathon Earle, the question of how African intellectuals have shaped the intellectual history of the modern world represents an understudied field within global intellectual history. In an attempt to address this void, I show how Ayittey and Prah invoked global inequalities through different notions of neo-colonialism as well as criticisms of African elites, such as their indigenous rootlessness. The article argues that their conceptions of global inequalities were hinged on broader debates revolving around issues of African (under)development while their proposed solutions were founded on notions of African indigeneity, drawing on earlier African thought. I show how they actively reused ideas of indigenous development as formulated by Gold Coast intellectual Joseph E. Casely Hayford (1866–1930) in the beginning of the twentieth century.
Keywords: African intellectual history, African development, neo-colonialism, global inequality, criticism of elites, 1980s-1990s
Mélanie Lindbjerg Guichon (2021) (Black) neo-colonialism and rootless African elites: tracing conceptions of global inequality in the writings of George Ayittey and Kwesi Kwaa Prah, 1980s–1990s, Intellectual History Review, DOI: 10.1080/17496977.2021.1913390
Link here
