----- Original Message ----- From: "asianhistory" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "malele dodia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 1:50 PM Subject: [marxist] "Disciplining" Democracy Africa/Zambia > At 14:05 27-6-01 +0200, "malele dodia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >For your interest since this particular publication refers to the Zambian > >Case. Public Sector workers strike into its second month as you probably know. > > Best wishes to all! I will forward this interesting article > > >Hope all well otherwise. > >Best as always > >Malele > >---------------------------------------------- > >>From: Russell Grinker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>Subject: [BRC-NEWS] BOOK: Disciplining Democracy > >>Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 04:12:00 -0400 (EDT) > >> > >>http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000002D127.htm > >> > >>Spiked (UK) > >> > >>21 June 2001 > >> > >>Ideology as Absurdity > >> > >>By Dr. Julie Hearn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> > >>Finally - a book that neatly and intelligently dissects the > >>democracy discourse that has come to dominate African > >>political economy, and shows it for what it is: an absurdity > >>with tragic consequences. > >> > >>In Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good > >>Governance in Africa (1) Rita Abrahamsen, a lecturer at the > >>University of Wales, systematically demonstrates the > >>absurdity of attempting to construct a very limited form of > >>procedural democracy in material conditions of widespread > >>abject poverty. Abrahamsen builds her argument by positing > >>and skilfully exploring three key aspects of Africa's > >>political economy that mitigate against the development of > >>democracy. She then examines the kind of minimal democracy > >>that is being promoted in African countries, and concludes > >>by showing the end-product of their union. > >> > >>The continent's political economy can be summed up in the > >>following way: a situation of no growth, no control and no > >>political will. Instead of addressing poverty, the > >>structural adjustment era has brought a degree of > >>macro-economic stability combined with permanent recession. > >>African GDP has shrunk, living standards have worsened yet > >>further, and growth remains as elusive as ever. > >> > >>The demos in Africa are dirt poor, unemployed, underemployed > >>and desperate for an improvement in material living > >>conditions. African governments do not have the sovereignty > >>to choose any economic policy other than permanent > >>'belt-tightening'. > >> > >>Abrahamsen shows how, in the case of Zambia, > >>trade-union-based opposition leaders were forced to court > >>donor policy. She writes about states being caught between > >>two constituencies - donors and their own domestic > >>constituency - with the donors always winning. This is the > >>case where political parties do have their constituency in > >>the poor. More often than not, opposition parties are just a > >>form of recycled elites with no mass constituency, as in the > >>case of Kenya. In this situation, Abrahamsen argues, they > >>have as little interest in addressing the needs of the poor > >>majority as do the donors. > >> > >>The kind of democracy being advanced by international and > >>national elites is a form of democratic elitism - democracy > >>with the demos deliberately taken out. The poor majority are > >>not only incidental as political actors, but their needs are > >>irrelevant to this redefinition of democracy. > >> > >>Abrahamsen traces the current conceptualisation of democracy > >>to the writings of Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter and more > >>recent theorists of democratic elitism. For these > >>ideologues, the goal is not active participation, but > >>'stability' and the political containment of social > >>deprivation. Mass political passivity, commonly and > >>patronisingly referred to as 'apathy', is seen as positively > >>helpful and even as an essential feature of stable > >>democratic systems. Not only are the poor sidelined as > >>active citizens, but their needs are delinked from > >>democracy. > >> > >>Theorists of minimal democracy go so far as to argue that > >>years of authoritarism have 'increased people's willingness > >>to accept economic hardship in return for democratic > >>freedoms'. Abrahamsen cites Karen Remmer, who writes of the > >>'democracy of lowered expectations' in contrast to the > >>'revolution of rising expectations' (2). In other words, > >>minimal democracy has nothing to do with a better life for > >>the poor majority. > >> > >>So what happens when you bring this vision of democracy to a > >>continent entrenched in poverty? You undermine minimal > >>democracy itself, and are left with a mockery of political > >>rights. Governments that were unable to satisfy their > >>domestic constituencies for lack of resources, control and > >>political will, began to chip away at democratic principles > >>and procedures in order to secure their own political > >>survival. > >> > >>'It soon became apparent that many newly elected governments > >>lacked the capacity or the willingness to tackle criticism, > >>dissent and economically motivated protest without resorting > >>to the authoritarian measures of the past', writes > >>Abrahamsen. 'Africa's hard-won civil rights and political > >>liberties were gradually eroded and abandoned' (3). This > >>vindicates her observation that 'the stability of democratic > >>capitalist polities everywhere is to a large extent > >>contingent on social compensation to the poor, and in > >>sub-Saharan Africa such compensation is prevented by > >>sluggish growth' (4). > >> > >>Africa has borne the full brunt of capitalism's propensity > >>to produce underdevelopment. The international elites cannot > >>openly admit that capitalism has failed Africa historically > >>- nor can they admit that each of their political projects > >>to disguise the fact has exacerbated the problem further. So > >>they are forced to construct an ideology of the absurd. > >> > >>This ideology's most recent form is the minimal democracy > >>discourse that accompanies the policies of structural > >>adjustment - that is, permanent recession. With the use of > >>florid terms such as 'empowering the poor', spending on > >>social services in Zambia was cut from 7.4 percent of GDP in > >>1991 to 0.4 percent in 1993 (5). (No wonder, then, that a > >>few years later 'basic needs' were rediscovered by the > >>architects of the current poverty reduction discourse.) > >> > >>That such a blatantly unconvincing ideology ultimately fails > >>to convince is not surprising. However, what does continue > >>to surprise is the extent to which democrats around the > >>world have believed the absurdity and legitimated it, thus > >>allowing the ideas of the international elite to dominate. > >>-- > >> > >>Dr. Julie Hearn teaches development studies at the School of > >>Oriental and African Studies, University of London. > >> > >>-- > >> > >>(1) Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good > >>Governance in Africa, Rita Abrahamsen, London: Zed Books, > >>2000. > >> > >>(2) Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good > >>Governance in Africa, Rita Abrahamsen, p79 > >> > >>(3) Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good > >>Governance in Africa, Rita Abrahamsen, p125 > >> > >>(4) Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good > >>Governance in Africa, Rita Abrahamsen, p77 > >> > >>(5) Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good > >>Governance in Africa, Rita Abrahamsen, p123 > >> > >>Copyright (c) 2001 Spiked. All Rights Reserved. > >> > >>[IMPORTANT NOTE: The views and opinions expressed on this > >>list are solely those of the authors and/or publications, > >>and do not necessarily represent or reflect the official > >>political positions of the Black Radical Congress (BRC). > >>Official BRC statements, position papers, press releases, > >>action alerts, and announcements are distributed exclusively > >>via the BRC-PRESS list. As a subscriber to this list, you > >>have been added to the BRC-PRESS list automatically.] > >> > >>[Articles on BRC-NEWS may be forwarded and posted on other > >>mailing lists, as long as the wording/attribution is not altered > >>in any way. In particular, if there is a reference to a web site > >>where an article was originally located, do *not* remove that. > >> > >>Unless stated otherwise, do *not* publish or post the entire > >>text of any articles on web sites or in print, without getting > >>*explicit* permission from the article author or copyright holder. > >>Check the fair use provisions of the copyright law in your country > >>for details on what you can and can't do. > >> > >>As a courtesy, we'd appreciate it if you let folks know how to > >>subscribe to BRC-NEWS, by leaving in the first seven lines of the > >>signature below.] > >> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - General News Articles/Reports > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe%20brc-news> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20brc-news> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20brc-news-digest> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=brc-news> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Archive1: <http://www.mail-archive.com/brc-news@lists.tao.ca> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Archive2: <http://groups.yahoo.com/messages/brc-news> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Archive3: <http://www.escribe.com/politics/brc-news> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >><www.blackradicalcongress.org> | BRC | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > "[C]apital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt." > --Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Chapter 31 > > Community email addresses: > Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Shortcut URL to this page: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxist > > Also take our one-question survey at > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxist/polls > > Your use of Yahoo! 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