SOCIAL CHANGE IN AFRICA
In: International affairs, Volume 36, Issue 4, p. 447-456
ISSN: 0020-5850
Africans today in rejecting their European rulers do not reject their techniques of production & gov; they assert African control over them. Africa is passing through a process of change from small-scale to large-scale org, econ & pol'al; generalizations are impossible, but throughout Africa south of the Sahara production for exchange was less important than production for subsistence. It has, however, become part of a world system of production for exchange through incorporation in the pol'al systems of European nations. The consequent widening of the scale of soc relationships has had great effects on African society. The growth of towns produces a modern Ur society, & only there have the unifying forces of the modern pol'al & econ systems their effect. In all Africa local solidarity remains strong because so many local groups have until recently been autonomous pol'al units. The gulf between literate & illiterate is deep & there are great difficulties of staffing public services & industry. The whole pol'al system is superimposed on smaller-scale politics. The new rulers may yet afford tolerance of opposition; they must be authoritarian enough to maintain stability & yet not so oppressive as to provoke resistance. IPSA.