Back
| Semester | spring semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Sarah Kunkel (sarahfee.kunkel@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | With African countries gaining independence during the cold war, many new nations opted to base their political government and economies on socialist principles. After being subjected to colonial capitalist economies, socialism was advertised as offering a break from exploitative politics. This seminar explores how in independent African nations such as Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Kenya, politics were shaped by socialist principles in these different contexts. Students will learn how the ideologies of different thinkers and politicians, for example Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore, Thomas Sankara, Tom Mboya, Mamadou Dia, Leopold Sedar Senghor and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti shaped various forms of socialism in Africa. In the seminar, we will explore the political ideology of African socialism as well as the realities of living under socialism in Africa. Besides looking at case studies of African socialist countries, the aim is to contextualise socialist development in the pan-African movement, as well the politics of non-alignment. In this context, special focus is put on countries like Kenya and Ghana that pursued an economic policy located somewhere between capitalism and socialism. The aim of this course is to understand the processes of decolonisation, the dialectics of political ideology (between Europe and regions in Africa) and the economic trajectories of independent nations. After the course, students will be able to understand how independent economies were informed by socialist principles to improve conditions for workers and society at large. We will also learn about how socialist development affected gender roles and women’s socioeconomic position. |
| Bibliography | Afari-Gyan, Kwadwo. 1991. “Kwame Nkrumah, George Padmore and W.E.B. Du Bois.” Research Review 7 (1&2): 1–10. Cohen, Robin, and Harry Goulbourne, eds. 1991. Democracy and Socialism in Africa. Boulder, Colo. Westview Press. Fiala, Vlastimil. 2013. “Afro-Marxism: Formation of the Working Party of Ethiopia.” Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society 1 (2): 28–59. Fistein, David. 2011. “Guinea-Bissau: How a Successful Social Revolution can become an Obstacle to Subsequent State-Building.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies 44 (3): 443–55. Lupalo, Lawrence E.K. op. 2016. Nyerere and Nkrumah: Shared vision. Scotts Valley: CreateSpace. Müller, Tanja R. 2014. Legacies of Socialist Solidarity: East Germany in Mozambique. Lanham: Lexington Books. Rodney, Walter. 1972. “Tanzanian Ujamaa and Scientific Socialism.” African Review 1 (4): 61–76. Soyinka, Wole, Bereket H. Selassie, Micere Githae Mugo, P. Thandika Mkandawire y Samir Amin. 2015. Reimagining Pan-Africanism: Distinguished Mwalimu Nyerere Lecture Series 2009-2013. Tanzania: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd. Speich, Daniel. 2009. “The Kenyan Style of “African Socialism”: Developmental Knowledge Claims and the Explanatory Limits of the Cold War.” Diplomatic History 33 (3): 449–66. |
| Comments | Freitag 13. März 10:15 - 14:00 Samstag 14. März 10:15 - 13:00 Freitag 29. Mai 10:15 - 14:00 Samstag 30. Mai 10:15 - 13.00 |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Electives Bachelor History: Recommendations (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Areas: aussereuropäisch (Master's degree program: European History (Start of studies before 01.08.2018)) Modul: Europäisierung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Modul: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Profil: Geschichte Afrikas (Master's degree program: European History (Start of studies before 01.08.2018)) Wahlbereich Master Geschichte: Empfehlungen (Master's degree subject: History) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |