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The objective of this collection of short essays and true stories is to describe and analyze the present "black condition" in the African context. The book recreates the imaginaries of present-day Africa, from the picturesque absurdity of daily life to the political economics of marriage, from the philosophy of menus and table manners to the uses of the body. This welter of stories and ideas illustrates various forms of nihilism and negritude and sketches the hypothesis of an ethic of evil.--

Darstellung der politischen Verhältnisse des Landes in den Jahren 1982-85

AbstractDespite its structural flaws and excesses, its regularly prophesized demise and foretold death, capitalism has remained predominant worldwide because under the appropriate institutional framework it offers the most viable path for optimal industrial upgrading, structural transformation, and economic development. In this article, I discuss a particular vulnerability of capitalism, that is, its high propensity to produce major risks, which exacerbates inequality and social tensions. I analyse the differential set of risk-coping options between poor households and non-poor. I then focus on African versions of capitalism, which reflect the peculiar historicity of the continent, marked by centuries of foreign domination, pervasive violence, randomness in economic policy-making, and power struggles not arbitrated by constitutional or legal means. I highlight the root causes of the distorted, extraverted, and largely ineffective forms of capitalism in vogue in Africa and suggest a policy framework for resurrecting capitalism.

Traditional narratives of external imbalances have focused on the analysis of national accounts, trade flows, and financial flows. They have generated two opposing views of the current situation of the world economy: on one side, a prudent, if not pessimistic view considers large imbalances as evidence of problems with the international monetary and financial system, and symptoms of domestic distortions (mainly in the United States and China). On the other side, a relaxed, if not optimistic view suggests that global imbalances are not anomalies but simply the predictable outcome of a world with increasingly globalized financial flows in search of the right mix of risks and returns. This paper offers a critical analysis of these competing explanations of the United States-China imbalances and suggests a way of reconciling them. The paper uses Hegel's parable of the development of self-consciousness to explain the dynamics between the two countries. Hegel may not have been a great philosopher of history but his study of lordship and bondage provides a good framework for analyzing the dialectics of recognition and acknowledgement that currently characterizes the macroeconomic relationships between the United States and China.

When analysing the implosion of political space and the rupture of social stability which has characterised the course of African history in recent years, there has too often been a tendency to focus attention on institutions, structures, and politicans. Whilst these are obviously important, such an approach tends to obscure the groundswell of new and yet barely understood social changes. Yet given that the 'politicians' seem unable to advance the process in which so many people have invested so much, many observers feel the need to explore alternative sources of dynamism. This is largely the reason for the current interest in the notion of 'civil society' which has recently become fashionable in the often cloistered world of African studies.

Der vielseitige Kameruner Literat und Journalist findet zahlreiche Beispiele aus dem zeitgenössischen afrikanischen (urbanen/modernen) Alltag, mit denen er seinem Essay über die Notwendigkeit der Betonung des Selbstbewußtseins der 'afrikanischen bürgerlichen Gesellschaft' Gewicht zu geben versucht. Nur mit ihr kann der Kontinent sich aus dem "complexe de faillite" erheben. (DÜI-Sth)

How poor countries can ignite economic growth without waiting for global action or the creation of ideal local conditionsContrary to conventional wisdom, countries that ignite a process of rapid economic growth almost always do so while lacking what experts say are the essential preconditions for development, such as good infrastructure and institutions. In Beating the Odds, two of the world's leading development economists begin with this paradox to explain what is wrong with mainstream development thinking-and to offer a practical blueprint for moving poor countries out of the low-income trap regardless of their circumstances.Justin Yifu Lin, the former chief economist of the World Bank, and Célestin Monga, the chief economist of the African Development Bank, propose a development strategy that encourages poor countries to leap directly into the global economy by building industrial parks and export-processing zones linked to global markets. Countries can leverage these zones to attract light manufacturing from more advanced economies, as East Asian countries did in the 1960s and China did in the 1980s. By attracting foreign investment and firms, poor countries can improve their trade logistics, increase the knowledge and skills of local entrepreneurs, gain the confidence of international buyers, and gradually make local firms competitive. This strategy is already being used with great success in Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and other countries. And the strategy need not be limited to traditional manufacturing but can also include agriculture, the service sector, and other activities.Beating the Odds shows how poor countries can ignite growth without waiting for global action or the creation of ideal local conditions