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The Spread of Economic Doctrines and Policymaking in Postcolonial Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2014

Thandika Mkandawire
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Abstract:

This article looks at the relationship between economic ideas and policymaking in Africa over the last half century. It discusses the ways in which the focus of economists working on Africa has moved from the structuralist-developmentalist and neo-Marxist perspectives of the 1960s and 1970s, through a neoliberal phase of the 1980s and 1990s, to a more eclectic combination of neo-institutionalism, growth orientation, and welfarist interests in poverty and redistribution issues. These shifts in development thinking, while not unique to Africa, have not been the subject of much debate in Africa. The article argues that such a debate is long overdue, including an interrogation not only of the leverage of foreign interests, but also of the profession of economics itself and the implications of its material underpinnings and social construction on the integrity and credibility of its research.

Résumé:

Cet article porte sur la relation entre les idées économiques et l’élaboration des réglementations en Afrique au cours du dernier demi-siècle. Il examine la façon dont l’attention des économistes travaillant en Afrique s’est détournée des perspectives structuralistes-développementalistes et néo-marxistes des années 60 et 70, en passant par une phase néo-libérale dans les années 80 et 90, pour se pencher sur une combinaison plus éclectique comprenant une approche néo-institutionnaliste, une orientation sur la croissance, une politique d’allocations pour les plus démunis, et un intérêt sur les questions de redistribution. Ces changements dans la pensée du développement, tout en n’étant pas propres à l’Afrique, n’ont pas fait l’objet de beaucoup de débats sur le continent. L’article soutient qu’il est grand temps d’avoir ce débat, et de s’interroger sur l’effet de levier des intérêts étrangers, sur la profession même de l’économie, sur les conséquences de ses bases matérielles et sur la construction sociale de l’intégrité et la crédibilité des travaux de recherche la concernant.

Keywords

Economypolicymakingdevelopmentneo-institutionalismpoverty reduction
Type
ASR FOCUS ON ALI A. MAZRUI
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , April 2014 , pp. 171 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2014 

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