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The Political Economy of African International Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

Timothy M. Shaw
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Extract

Our understanding of the international political economy of Africa is underdeveloped; we have inadequate data and theories about the development of underdevelopment on the continent. Even the orthodox study of international politics and foreign policy in Africa is largely a recent phenomenon, stimulated by the rise of new states in the last twenty years. This essay, then, can be no more than a review of the field and a lament over its deficiencies. In particular, we are concerned about: i) the relative inattention afforded the impact of international politics on the rate and direction of social change in African states; ii) the need for a new conceptual framework to advance our understanding of the linkage politics between African elites and external interests; and iii) the related growth and international inequalities on the continent. This essay proceeds therefore from a critical review of analyses of the international political economy of Africa to a tentative presentation of a new typology of states and regimes, regions and behavior, in Africa which reflects the importance of those variables on which students of political economy focus.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , Winter 1975 , pp. 29 - 38
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1975 

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References

Notes

1 See, for instance, Skurnik, W.A.E., The Foreign Policy of Senegal (Evanston, 1972)Google Scholar, Mayall, James, Africa: The Cold War and After (London, 1971)Google Scholar, and Okumu, John J., “The Place of African States in International Relations” in Schou, August and Brundtland, Arne Olav, eds.. Small States in International Relations (Stockholm, 1971), pp. 147–155 Google Scholar.

2 Wallerstein, Immanuel, “Dependence in an Interdependent World: The Limited Possibilities of Transformation within the Capitalist World Economy,” African Studies Review, 17, 1 (April 1974), p. 2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also his paper on “The Present State of Debate on World Inequality,” Colloquium on the Problem of Inequality in the Contemporary World System: Origins and Perspectives, McGill University, May 1974.

3 For a brief history of Africa’s international relations see Timothy M. Shaw, “The Actors in African International Politics” in Timothy M. Shaw and Kenneth A. Heard, eds., Politics of Africa: Dependence and Development (London, forthcoming).

4 See Seidman, Ann, “Changing Theories of Political Economy in Africa,” University of Zambia, 1974. See also her Planning for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (New York, 1974)Google Scholar.

5 See, for example, Klinghoffer, Arthur Jay, “Modernisation and Political Development in Africa,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 11, 1 (March 1973), pp. 1–19 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 See, for example, Rubin, Leslie and Weinstein, Brian, Introduction to African Politics: A Continental Approach (New York, 1974).Google Scholar

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10 Ibid., pp. 275-276. See also his “The Peripheral African Economy and the MNC” in Carl Widstrand, ed.. Multinational Firms in Africa (Uppsala, 1975), pp. 92-124.

11 See First, Ruth, Libya: The Elusive Revolution (Harmondsworth, 1974), passim.Google Scholar

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13 See First, Ruth, The Barrel of a Gun: Political Power in Africa and the Coup d’Etat (Harmondsworth, 1972)Google Scholar, especially pp. 452-465, and Socialism and Participation: Tanzania’s 1970 National Elections (Dar es Salaam, 1974).

14 See Ann Seidman, “Old Motives, New Methods: Foreign Enterprise in Africa Today” in Allen and Johnston, eds., African Perspectives, pp. 251-272.

15 Wallerstein, Immanuel, “Africa in a Capitalist World,” Issue, 3,3 (Fall 1973), p. 9 Google Scholar. See also his “Class and Class Conflict in Contemporary Africa,” Canadian Journal of African Studies, 7, 3, pp. 375-380, reprinted in Monthly Review, 26, 9 (February 1975), pp. 34-42.

16 On the “theory” of national adaptation see Rosenau, James N., The Adaptation of National Societies (New York, 1970)Google Scholar, and “Foreign Policy as Adaptive Behavior,” Comparative Politics, 2,3 (April 1970), pp. 365-387.

17 See John S. Saul, “The Political Aspects of Economic Independence” in Ghai, ed.. Economic Independence in Africa, p. 135.

18 On the need for, and debate over, analysis of the state in Africa see Saul, John S., “Socialism in One Country: Tanzania” in Arrighi, Giovanni and Saul, John S., Essays on the Political Economy of Africa (New York, 1973), pp. 237–335 Google Scholar, and “The State in Post-Colonial Societies: Tanzania” in Miliband, Ralph and Saville, John, eds.. The Socialist Register 1974 (London, 1974), pp. 349–372 Google Scholar. Cf. Issa G. Shivji, “Peasants and Class Alliances,” Review of African Political Economy, 3 (May-October 1975), pp. 10-18, and Class Struggles in Tanzania (London, forthcoming).

19 See Miliband, Ralph, The State in Capitalist Society (London, 1969)Google Scholar.

20 Santos, T. dos, “The Crisis of Development Theory and the Problem of Dependence in Latin America” in Bernstein, Henry, ed., Underdevelopment and Development: The Third World Today (Harmondsworth, 1973), p. 79 Google Scholar.

21 For suggestive analyses along these lines see, for example. Szentes, Tamas, The Political Economy of Underdevelopment (Budapest, 1971)Google Scholar, and Shivji, Issa G., Tanzania: The Silent Class Struggle (Lund, 1971)Google Scholar, reprinted in Cliffe, Lionel and Saul, John S., eds., Socialism in Tanzania, Volume 2: Policies (Dar es Salaam, 1973), pp. 304–330 Google Scholar.

22 Amin, Samir, “Underdevelopment and Dependence in Black Africa-Origins and Contemporary Forms,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 10, 4 (December 1972), pp. 520, 524CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 Ibid., p. 519.

24 Ibid., p. 518. See also his Neocolonialism in West Africa (Har mondsworth, 1973), and “Accumulation and Development: A Theoretical Model,” Review of African Political Economy, 1 (August-November 1974), pp. 9-26.

25 See Shaw, Timothy M., “Regional Cooperation and Conflict in Africa,” International Journal, 30, 4 (Autumn 1975).Google Scholar

26 Amin, “Underdevelopment and Dependence in Black Africa,” p. 523.

27 See Shaw, Timothy M., “The Development of International Systems in Africa,” Third International Congress of Africanists, Addis Ababa, December 1973.Google Scholar

28 See Rood, Leslie L., “Foreign Investment in African Manufacturing,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 13, 1 (March 1975), pp. 19–34 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

29 Ibid., pp. 23, 26, 28-33.

30 Arrighi and Saul, “Nationalism and Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa” in their Essays on the Political Economy of Africa, p. 46.

31 Ibid., p. 50.

32 See Saul, “The Political Aspects of Independence,” pp. 124-125.

33 See Ghai, “Introduction,” in his Economic Independence in Africa, p. xiii.

34 Ghai, “Concepts and Strategies of Economic Independence,” p. 35. See also his “Perspectives on Future Economic Prospects and Problems in Africa” in Bhagwati, Jagdish N., ed.. Economics and World Order (New York, 1972), pp. 257–286 Google Scholar.

35 See, for instance, Green, Reginald H. and Seidman, Ann, Unity or Poverty? The Economics of PanAfricanism (Harmondsworth, 1968)Google Scholar, passim, and Jan J. Jorgensen, “Multinational Corporations and the Indigenization of the Kenyan Economy” in Widstrand, ed., Multi national Firms in Africa, pp. 143-177.

36 See Amin, Neocolonialism in West Africa, and Seidman, Ann, Comparative Development Strategies in East Africa (Nairobi, 1972)Google Scholar.

37 For a comprehensive analysis of the politics of oil see Odell, Peter R., Oil and World Power: Background to the Oil Crisis (third edition, Harmondsworth, 1974).Google Scholar

38 Seidman, Planning for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, p. 55.

39 See, for instance, Seidman, Ann, “The Distorted Growth of Import-Substitution Industry: The Zambian Case,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 12, 4 (December 1974), pp. 601–631 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and “Multinational Corporations and Economic Independence in Africa,” African Social Research, 19 (June 1975), pp. 739-750.

40 Wallerstein, “Dependence in an Interdependent World,” p. 22. See also his “The Range of Choice. Constraints on the Policies of Governments of Contemporary African Independent States” in Lofchie, Michael F., ed., The State of the Nations (Berkeley, 1971), pp. 19–33 Google Scholar.

41 Arrighi and Saul, “International Corporations, Labor Aristocracies and Economic Development in Tropical Africa” in their Essays on the Political Economy of Africa, p. 141.

42 See Langdon, Steven, “Multinational Corporations, Taste Transfer and Underdevelopment: A Case Study from Kenya,” Review of African Political Economy, 2 (January-April 1975), pp. 12–35 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

43 See Ghai, “Perspectives on Future Economic Prospects and Problems in Africa” and Shaw, Timothy M., “Discontinuities and Inequalities in African International Politics,” International Journal, 30, 3 (Summer 1975), pp. 369–390 Google Scholar.

44 See Sunkel, Osvaldo, “Transnational Capitalism and National Dis integration in Latin America,” Social and Economic Studies, 22, 1 (March 1973), pp. 132–176 Google Scholar.

45 See, for example, Godfrey, Martin and Langdon, Steven, “Partners in Underdevelopment? The Transnationalisation Thesis in a Kenyan Context,” Canadian Association of African Studies, Toronto, February 1975 Google Scholar, and Langdon, Steven, “Technology Transfer by Multinational Corporations in Africa: Effects on the Economy,” African Studies Association, San Francisco, October 1975 Google Scholar.

46 Leys, Colin, Underdevelopment in Kenya: The Political Economy of Neocolonialism (Berkeley, 1974), p. 274 Google Scholar.

47 Godfrey and Langdon, “Partners in Underdevelopment?”, p. 15.

48 Jorgensen, “Multinational Corporations and the Indigenization of the Kenyan Economy,” pp. 167-170.

49 Wallerstein, “Class and Class Conflict in Contemporary Africa,” p. 380.

50 Leys, Underdevelopment in Kenya, p. 11. See also Widstrand, ed., Multinational Firms in Africa, passim.

51 See Jorgensen, “Multinational Corporations and the Indigenization of the Kenyan Economy,” especially pp. 152-156 and 167-170.

52 On the case of Zambia see Shaw, Timothy M., “Zambia: Dependence and Underdevelopment,” Canadian Journal of African Studies (forthcoming), and Dependence and Underdevelopment: The Development and Foreign Policies of Zambia (Athens, 1976).Google Scholar

53 See Shaw, Timothy M., “African States and International Stratification: The Adaptive Foreign Policy of Tanzania” in Ingham, K., ed.. The Foreign Relations of African States (London, 1974: Colston Paper Number 25), pp. 213–236 Google Scholar. Cf. his “Uganda under Amin: The Costs of Confronting Dependence,” Africa Today, 20,2 (Spring 1973), pp. 32-45.

54 See Loxley, John and Saul, John S., “Multinationals, Workers and Parastatals in Tanzania,” Review of African Political Economy, 2 (January-April 1975), pp. 54–88 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

55 See Brian van Arkadie, “Development of the State Sector and Economic Independence” in Ghai, ed.. Economic Independence in Africa, pp. 88-122.

56 For a comprehensive case study see Rweyemanu, Justinian, Underdevelopment and Industrialization in Tanzania (Nairobi, 1973).Google Scholar

57 See his Tanzania: The Silent Class Struggle and Class Struggles in Tanzania.

58 For contributions to this debate see, inter alia, ibid., Cliffe and Saul, eds., Socialism in Tanzania. Two Volumes, “Special Issue on the Political Economy of Parastatals,” Eastern African Law Review, 5, 1-2 (1972), Justinian Rweyemanu et al., eds.. Towards Socialist Planning (Dar es Salaam, 1972), and Saul, “Socialism in One Country: Tanzania” and “The State in Post-Colonial Societies: Tanzania.”

59 Loxley and Saul, “Multinationals, Workers and Parastatals in Tanzania,” pp. 61-62. Cf. Shivji, I.G., “Capitalism Unlimited: Public Corporations in Partnership with Multinational Corporations,” African Review, 3, 3 (1973), pp. 359–382 Google Scholar.

60 Davidson, Can Africa Survive?, p. 85.

61 See Shaw, , “The Actors in African International Politics.” On the impact of such an ambivalent inheritance on Zambia see his “The Foreign Policy System of Zambia,” African Studies Review, 19, 1 (April 1976)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

62 Nyerere, Julius K., “The Rational Choice” in his Freedom and Development: Uhuru Na Maendeleo (Dar es Salaam, 1973), p. 384 Google Scholar.

63 See Foster, Philip and Zolberg, Aristide R., eds., Ghana and the Ivory Coast: Perspectives on Modernization (Chicago, 1971)Google Scholar, Woronoff, Jon, West African Wager: Houphouet versus Nkrumah (Metuchen, 1972)Google Scholar, and Amin, Neocolonialism in West Africa.

64 Chenery, Cf. Hollis et al., eds.. Redistribution with Growth (London, 1974).Google Scholar

65 See Shaw, “Discontinuities and Inequalities in African International Politics.”

66 See the review of alternative types of political economy in Gilpin, Robert, “Three Models of the Future,” International Organization, 29, 1 (Winter 1975), pp. 37–60.Google Scholar

67 See Rothchild, Donald and Curry, Robert L., “Beyond the Nation-State: The Political Economy of Regionalism,” American Political Science Association, San Francisco, September 1975 Google Scholar, and Ghai, “Concepts and Strategies of Economic Independence.”

68 See Wallerstein, “Dependence in an Interdependent World.”

69 Wallerstein, “The Present State of Debate on World Inequality,” p. 15.

70 See Shaw, Timothy M., “The Political Economy of Energy in Southern Africa: Oil, Israel and the OAU,” Africa Today, 23, 1 (Winter 1976)Google Scholar.

71 Jenkins, Robin, Exploitation: The World Power Structure and the Inequality of Nations (London, 1970), p. 84 Google Scholar.

72 Stephen Hymer, “The Multinational Corporation and the Law of Uneven Development” in Bhagwati, ed.. Economics and World Order, p. 114.

73 On Zambia’s ambivalence towards regional confrontation and integration see Shaw, Timothy M., “The Foreign Policy of Zambia: Ideology and Interests,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 14, 1 (March 1976)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

74 See Shaw, “Regional Cooperation and Conflict.”

75 See Shaw, Timothy M., “International Stratification in Africa: Sub-Imperialism in Eastern and Southern Africa,” International Political Science Association, Edinburgh, August 1976 Google Scholar.

76 See Ghai, “Perspectives on Future Economic Problems and Prospects in Africa” and “Africa, the Third World and the Strategy for International Development” in Mazrui and Patel, eds.. Africain World Affairs, pp. 235-256.

77 See Seidman, “Multinational Corporations and Economic Independence in Africa.”

78 On contemporary changes in the nature of the world economy and the multinational corporation see Norman Girvan, “Economic Nationalists v. Multinational Corporations: Revolutionary or Evolutionary Change” and Clive Y. Thomas, “Industrialization and the Transformation of Africa: An Alternative Strategy to MNC Expansion” in Widstrand, ed.. Multinational Firms in Africa, pp. 26-56, 325-360.

79 See, for instance, Sandbrook, Richard and Cohen, Robin, eds.. The Development of an African Working Class: Studies in Class Formation and Action (London, forthcoming)Google Scholar.

80 For a helpful review see Foster-Carter, Aidan, “Neo-Marxist Approaches to Development and Underdevelopment” in Kadt, Emmanuel de and Williams, Gavin, eds.. Sociology and Development (London, 1974), pp. 67–105 Google Scholar.

81 Amongst such early attempts at rigorous empirical analysis see Kaufman, Robert R. et al., “A Preliminary Test of the Theory of Dependency,” Comparative Politics, 7, 3 (April 1975), pp. 303–330 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Rosen, Steven J. and Kurth, James R., eds.. Testing Theories of Economic Imperialism (Lexington, 1974)Google Scholar, McGowan, Patrick J., “Economic Dependence and Economic Performance in Black Africa,” Journal of Modern African Studies, 14, 1 (March 1975)Google Scholar, and Vengroff, Richard, “Neo-Colonialism and Policy Outputs in Africa,” Comparative Political Studies, 8, 2 (July 1975), pp. 234–250 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and “Dependency and Underdevelopment: An Empirical Test,” Texas Tech University, 1975. Such tests may not be conclusive, however, because of the cultural and psychological as well as the political and economic impact of dependence; on the many manifestations of dependence see Singer, Marshall R., Weak States in a World of Powers: The Dynamics of International Relationships (New York, 1972)Google Scholar.