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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The African Renaissance: the art of the State |
Author: | Cornwell, Richard |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | Indicator South Africa |
Volume: | 15 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 9-14 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Africa |
Subjects: | political change State |
Abstract: | President Mandela made his first speech at an OAU summit in June 1994. He invoked the vision of an African Renaissance following on the liberation of South Africa, and pledged that his country would do all in its power to transform that vision into reality. The essence of an African Renaissance should be to combat the continuity of negative features on the continent and to revive the African esteem. Although the call for an African Renaissance has been directed at the public at large, a significant role is reserved for the State. However, a State-led Renaissance is hampered by the fact that, contrary to expectations, the end of the Cold War weakened the African State. The lack of policy choices available to governments controlled by foreign donor agendas has resulted in a politics focusing on personality and local/ethnic interests. Africa's best hope lies not in the crumbling remains of externally imposed systems of government, but in the indigenous 'second politics' - the informal means of governance created by the people themselves. Bibliogr., sum. |