The developmental state in Africa - Dani W Nabudere

This article places the failure of higher education to transform the societies and economies of Africa within a broader analysis of the failures of post-independence states to achieve development, modernization and nation-building. It describes how in response to these problems higher education has come to rely increasingly on commerce and business, and has lost focus on the interests and possible contributions of other social actors, notably the poor and marginalized. It describes how the failure of the developmental policies of post-independence states - inevitable in view of the historically-determined power relations of the time - opened the door for the imposition of neo-liberal policies, which however only increased the woes of African populations. Using the concept of the ' glocal', which recognizes the power of the new technologies that link the world in a complex network, while also pointing to the energies of local cultures and economies, the article goes on to suggest how frequently marginalized informal economies, the cultural resources of the continent and the often substantial capital locked up in institutions such as pension funds could be mobilized to form new federal states from below. In this envisaged context, higher education and research, among other areas, could come into their own in the service of these newly energised African societies.
From: Southern African Review of Education, Vol. 13 no. 2 (2007)