Politics or Sociology: Which one holds the key for Africa ?
My mum is a professor by trade even though she does not teach anymore. Nonetheless, she is so incredibly smart. She was so happy when I decided to do Politics at university in 2004(even though she was not thrilled about me doing French as a joint subject lol). Now, as I am winding up my degree, I do go to my mum for advice about writing essays and formulating arguments. My mum reckons I have become more sociological in my approach. It made me think: is sociology really that bad, is it really the silly relation to politics and history ? And can sociology truly *help* the diaspora ?
The cocktail of African politics: This covers such a broad spectrum of countries, all with different histories. I shall refrain from talking about my country Tanzania but instead look at the Democratic Republic of Congo as my example. Joseph Kabila is the president yet some segments of the Congolese nations do not see him as Congolese because they claim he has Rwandese blood and is therefore not Congolese. I would argue that sociological perspectives thus become relevant here. Because by choosing to not identify with Kabila on the sole fact that he is supposedly not Congolese, these people are excluding him on the basis that he is not “one of them”, therefore, not part of their national identity or culture, therefore trying to put him on the periphery of their society. I believe that understanding how societies conduct themselves and moreover how people see themselves in societies in Africa holds the key, in a general sense, to understanding the problems such as poverty.
Poverty and Politics: I do not think poverty in Africa such as in most nations is truly just an economic issue, even though it is based on the disparity of wealth. I think where politics goes wrong in how it tackles poverty, (ie, how corrupt presidents like Mobutu Sese Seko kept a great deal of ££ to themselves) is that it becomes elitist, by pretending to eliminate poverty. Because in essence, anyone can be poor but circumstance affects why people become poor. I think more political systems need to take account of the importance of empowering people not only through institutions like schools but through alleviating class divides. Which brings me onto…
Class: This is a deadly word in western Marxist thought. And many middle class African families and indeed African people in general in the continent and the diaspora are affected by class, whether they realise it or not. This is because of its neo-colonialist tinge. It is a remnant of colonialism and strangely has become entrenched in our lives as African people. However, from a political stance, I think class has been exploited by ruling political groups in order to preserve wealth and elitism. Yet, from a sociological perspective, it has only served to enlarge the disparities between the working class African people and the middle class. In effect, it has only served to perpetuate class struggle that Karl Marx himself was against. And this is the danger. Classism is alien to Africa yet political systems @ home are making it part of the fabric.
I think politics and sociology are more interwoven than people would have us believe. They are separate disciplines of course but they are linked, because essentially they are trying to do the same thing: find answers and create progression. As Africans, we have to decide that we want this to happen, and not just say so.
May 23, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Aulelia, I believe sociology will be a path to our healing then linking over to politics. Since politics is about make policy, we should grasp a hold of how the world sees us, how we view ourselves. I believe we should all maintain our culture, but not to our detriment. Our world is pressurized by world policy/politics. Many of those that apply the pressure do in fact maintain their cultural identity, but don’t allow for the differences to disturb their ultimate mission and goals. Yet, Black people are having a difficult time maintaining their cullture and keeping our eyes on the ultimate goal. For instance you write “Joseph Kabila is the president yet some segments of the Congolese nations do not see him as Congolese because they claim he has Rwandese blood and is therefore not Congolese….Because by choosing to not identify with Kabila on the sole fact that he is supposedly not Congolese, these people are excluding him on the basis that he is not “one of them”, therefore, not part of their national identity or culture, therefore trying to put him on the periphery of their society.” This is a problem coming from the continent of Africa. In my view this is where we have to learn that first and formost Joseph Kabila (this includes Kabila) is a Black man in world run at this time by whites, and if he can lead them, the Congolese to a better life then it matters not if he has Congolese or Rwandese blood lines. Again, this same issue rises to the fore in the West. As you posted about your Blog Fancies you mention that the blogsphere is dominated by African-Americans, and that The Jose Vilson was a blog that seemed more open to (I paraphrase here) non African-Americans. In the comments the first thing Jose points out is; “Interestingly enough, I wouldn’t really be considered african-american. I’m a Black Latino.” This shows me that many of us, Black people don’t know how the world views the Western Hemisphere. I have a Yourba friend, and he kept telling me his brother was married to an American, but she was from Jamaica. Until, I learned the rest of the world looks at the western hemisphere as America. Including Jamaica, Trinidad, Brazil, The Dominican Republic, Haiti or Guadeloupe, it doesn’t matter. This taught me to refer to the place I live as the U.S. and not America, since Mexico is America, Canada is America, Brazil is America. I live in the United States OF America. Anyone born here whether it be Brazil, Panama, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic is an American. Just as anyone born in Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt or Chad are Africans.
Understanding, that culture is important, but should be laid aside for the greater good. For instance, when a Black Latino is seriously injured during the murder of Sean Bell in NYC, an African American in Rev. Al Sharpton came out to confront the police with many other nationalities of Black or African-(you fill in the blank) in support of the Black Latino that was injured. I am not African American and actually reject this term since Africa is not a nation but a continent. We need to gain a greater social understanding about each other, our cultures and learn how we can work together for our greater uplift, in making policy for our greater good this would be the link from sociology to politics.
Just my thoughts
May 23, 2008 at 2:15 pm
@Ensayn, thank you for such a multi-layered answer. You have given me a lot to think about.
In reference to my post,. I do not understand the full intracacies of the identity issues because I am not American. but I do personally think that black people, wherever they are from in the world need to look at themselves from a socio-political context, leaning more on the political. I think we, black people, are so obsessed with identity. I won’t lie. I think it is very important. However, I think that considering the US cultural hegemony that inflicts on other cultures in the world, this is where politics comes to the fore.
Like in the blogosphere, again, like international politics is dominated by AA/BA blogs. This is absolutely fine. Like I said in my blog fancies post, which you mentioned, I like both of those blogs and I think that is great. However, I disagree with you in saying that the rest of the world automatically incorporates America, the West Indies with being “American”. I don’t and I think that is a perception, as opposed to reality.
I am glad you brought up Haiti. I think Haiti is a key example of a nation that has been ravaged by social issues and political fuck ups. Sure, it is easy for me to say that they should merge the two to make shit work but the problem is, as with many post-colonial societies, the infrastructure has already been raped thus making it impossible to find this Holy Grail to fix the country.
I think black nations must must look to political solutions such as empowering their citizens through initiatives in order to change societies. Politics influences societies but citizens make politics.
Thanks!
May 23, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Thanks, Aulelia. And I love the new face of your site!!!
I think those people, primarily whites boast that they are the real Americans and this gives people like me, a bad taste in the mouth, because of the evil the U.S. is spreading in the world under the name Ameicans as if Mexicans aren’t American or Brizilians aren’t American. I think in this mind state, meaning the crap the U.S. has unloaded on the world, people in other countries would want to divorce themselves from the term America, but geographically speaking we stand on North, Central and South America, including the Caribbean.
Hey in the end I am not sure either way is the absolute way, it may be a matter of advancing one or the other depending on the various situations that need a remedy.
May 30, 2008 at 1:44 am
Well I’ll say this: it’s one thing to theorize on certain things and another to experience it. In my experience, I’ve noticed that I’m not automatically accepted in the African-American community here, nor am I automatically accepted in the Haitian or Dominican cultures. I’m somewhat of an anomaly, and thus, people may make a grand generalization of whether I fit into the racial categories we’ve made, but I also notice that much of that is somewhat superficial. When it comes to deeper issues, I can’t say I’ve ever fully been accepted like others may in their own communities.
And that’s not just with people in the Western Hemisphere, but also people from the Eastern Hemisphere detect something “different” in me from other African-Americans. I definitely understand how others may view me, and I’m always prepared to unwrap that and see what that means about the person who’s making that statement. Furthermore, I also don’t think that the Western Hemisphere is always viewed as America in its entirety. The US has done a very good job of keeping the name for its own country, rather than having a Pan-American understanding, but aulelia touched on that already.
Good post. I actually was just doing a Google search on myself, and found myself here. Glad to be in familiar territory.
May 31, 2008 at 8:23 am
@Ensayn, you are right, perhaps it is about using one option. However, maybe a mish-mash approach would be useful too. Politics or sociology ? It is enough to rack your brains for hours!
@Jose, may I ask, what do you personally identify as ? I think essentialism obviously is dangerous for black people but again, I think black people worldwide need to think in economic political terms and social terms. Economics also affects how politics and sociology in themselves run and is, in my opinion, the decisive factor in the problems that haunt Afrika like poverty. The problem is, I think many Afrikan elites (black ones) know that their economic prowess gains them accesses the political halls of power and therefore, means that they can affect society. I think that is why I think we as black people owe it to ourselves to work on understanding the textures of both approaches because at the end of the day, they affect how we create our (black) identities and how we interact as black people with each other.