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Beyond Neo-Colonialism: Varieties of Corporatism in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Extract

Although the essential character of Africa's dependence on the world system changes very slowly, if at all, particular aspects of it are always in flux. For whilst dependence continues to generate underdevelopment, some growth has occurred in several countries at particular periods with important implications for certain classes. The incorporation of the continent into the world system is an ongoing process that reflects shifts in (i) the nature of the world system, and (ii) the nature of Africa's political economies. The sub-structure of the periphery – the capitalist and extractive modes and relations of production – evolves slowly, but the super-structure – the politics and ideology of the state – are considerably more volatile. Given the organic links between the sub- and super-structure, the instability of the latter affects the continuity of the former.

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Articles
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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References

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page 241 note 2 Whilst studies of class formation in Africa should not slavishly expect class relations to duplicate the patterns of nineteenth-century Europe, neither should they exclude insights derived from contemporary neo-Marxist analysis. As Harry Goulbourne suggests, ‘the debate on the state in post-colonial societies and that being carried out in Europe over the developed forms of the capitalist state must come closer together’; ‘Some Problems of Analysis of the Political in Backward Capitalist Social Formations’, in his Politics and State in the Third World (London, 1979), p. 29.Google Scholar

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page 246 note 1 Lanning with Mueller, op.cit. p. 495.

page 247 note 1 Ibid. p. 97. For an introducation to limited changes and opportunities in the world system, see Shaw, Timothy M., ‘Dependence to (Inter) Dependence: review of debate on the (New) International Economic Order’, in Alternatives (New York), 4, 4, 03 1979, pp. 557–78.Google Scholar

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page 249 note 1 Ibid. p. 14.

page 249 note 2 Lanning with Mueller, op.cit. p. 501.

page 249 note 3 Ibid. p. 499. As Sau indicates, op.cit. p. 156, the autonomy of the state in the Third World is related to the pattern of class relations: ‘In a society where no single class is in command, but an alliance of classes wields power, the state is vested with a measure of autonomy; and it is called upon to reconcile the conflicts of the ruling class.’

page 250 note 1 Lanning with Mueller, op.cit. p. 501.

page 250 note 2 Sau, op.cit. pp. 155–6.

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page 253 note 1 Roxborough, op.cit. p. 135.

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page 254 note 3 Collier, David, ‘Overview of the Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Model’, in Collier, op.cit. p. 25.Google Scholar On the interesting Nigerian case, see Shaw, Timothy M. and Fasehun, Orobola, ‘Nigeria in the World System: alternative approaches, explanations, and projections’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 18, 4, 12 1980, pp. 551–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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page 255 note 4 ‘Glossary’, in Collier (ed.), op.cit. p. 400.

page 256 note 1 Stepan, Alfred, The State and Society: Peru in comparative perspective (Princeton, 1978), p. 80.Google Scholar The period from 1975 onwards may mark the beginning of a ‘late’ import-substitution phase in much of Africa, associated with the rise of more exclusionary régimes.

page 256 note 2 O'Donnell, Guillermo A., ‘Corporatism and the Question of the State’, in Malloy, James M. (ed.), Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America (Pittsburgh, 1977), p. 47.Google Scholar

page 256 note 3 See, from a variety of perspectives, Ake, Claude, Revolutionary Pressures in Africa (London, 1978)Google Scholar, Potholm, Christian P., The Theory and Practice of African Politics (Englewood Cliffs, 1979)Google Scholar, and Rosberg, Carl G. and Callaghy, Thomas M. (eds.), Socialism in Sub-Saharan Africa: a new assessment (Berkeley, 1979).Google Scholar

page 257 note 1 Malloy, James M., ‘Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America: the modal pattern’, in Malloy, (ed.), op.cit. p. 10.Google Scholar

page 257 note 2 Ibid. p. 12.

page 257 note 3 Ibid. p. 14. For one of the lamentably few attempts to deal with populism in Africa, see Saul, John S., ‘On African Populism’Google Scholar, in Arrighi, Giovanni and Saul, John S., Essays on the Political Economy of Africa (New York, 1973), pp. 152–79.Google Scholar

page 257 note 4 O'Donnell, loc.cit. p. 78.

page 258 note 1 Collier, ‘Overview of the Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Model’, p. 24.

page 258 note 2 Ibid. p. 25.

page 258 note 3 Ibid. p. 26.

page 259 note 1 On the emergence of such a bourgeoisie in Nigeria, see Shaw, Timothy M., ‘Introduction: Nigeria as Africa's major power’, in Shaw, Timothy M. and Aluko, Olajide (eds.), Nigerian Foreign Policy: alternative perceptions and projections (London, 1982).Google Scholar On the potential of Nigeria for a transition towards the semi-periphery and semi-industrialisation, see Evans, op.cit. p. 313: ‘It would be a negation of the Brazilian historical experience and a theoretical embarrassment if Nigeria were able to step smoothly from classic dependence to dependent development… That the Nigerian case appears suitable to formulations of the triple alliance at all is impressive. In fact, the prospects for Nigeria moving successfully in the direction of the triple alliance seem good. Thirty years ago Brazil had no petroleum engineers; thirty years from now Nigeria should have a class of state-sector executives quite like the men who run Petrobas or Pemex’.

page 259 note 2 Collier, loc.cit. p. 27.

page 259 note 3 Malloy, loc.cit. p. 4.

page 260 note 1 Collier, loc.cit. p. 383.

page 260 note 2 Evans, op.cit. p. 52.

page 260 note 3 Samoff, loc.cit. p. 5. Two recent monographs do lend support to his pre-publication optimism: Saul, John S., The State and Revolution in Eastern Africa (New York, 1979)Google Scholar, and Ake, Claude, A Political Economy of Africa (London, 1981).Google Scholar

page 260 note 4 Samoff, loc.cit. p. 24.

page 261 note 1 Amin, Samir, Neo-Colonialism in West Africa (Harmondsworth, 1973), p. 226.Google Scholar