Which Way Africa?': Reflections on Basil Davidson's The Black Man's Burden
Author(s)
Ki-Zerbo, Joseph
Abstract
The paper is the author’s reading of fellow historian Basil Davidson’s classic, The Black Man’s Burden, which leads him on to a number of reflections on the plight of Africa today and the urgency of a new vision for the future. The author outlines Davidson’s analysis of the continent’s past and present ills: its uncritical adoption of the European paradigm of the nation state; the destruction of social and cultural cohesion; the growing bias towards the national ‘centre’ and the mass exodus from the rural areas to cities which are disintegrating under the strain of unregulated growth. The author agrees with Davidson that the nation state has become Africa’s principal burden, but also stresses the importance of situating the state within the organic structure of the ‘modern’ world, where it is accompanied by two other actors: the market, and science. That the African states have only a 7.5 per cent share of the world market and are unable to afford up-to-date technology and expertise is further evidence of its unviability. An important omission in Davidson’s account of the African crisis is, in the author’s view, the bankruptcy of African intellectuals. Acknowledging that their widespread silence and noninvolvement is in large measure due to conditions not of their own making, he nevertheless deplores their retreat into heartless individualism. While sympathizing with Davidson’s call for federalism, the author points out that it does not always mean a positive momentum (witness Nigeria). The author concludes that what is required is not so much the abolition of African nation states but their transformation into new institutions better suited to address the realities, interests, and values of African people.
