| A West Africa Review special issue: "Socioeconomic Progress in Africa: An Internal Reexamination of Issues." The issue will be guest-edited by Dr. Philip Effiong. Deadline: March 15, 2016 Submit your paper directly to Philip Effiong. We are seeking articles (5,000 to 6,250 words) and review essays (on books, films, videos, websites, etc. 1,000 to 1,500 words). There is increased controversy in the identification of issues that continue to stall development on the African continent. For many, the reference to historical factors like the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism and neocolonialism, notwithstanding the regressive legacies they introduced, are hardly valid excuses for the slow rate of progress in many African countries. Some cite the survival spirit of African descendants in the New World following a brutal experience in captivity, or the economic recovery that took place in Japan notwithstanding the WWII devastating atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Others refer to countries like Malaysia and Singapore that demonstrate unprecedented economic growth in spite of their colonial histories. Looking at the remarkable natural sources on the African continent, another school of thought concludes that the continent should not be a recipient of foreign aid (except, perhaps, areas hard hit by conflict and natural disasters), and that it is endowed with all that it needs to achieve economic prominence and leadership. Adherents to this thought further argue that all societies to various degrees have encountered and will continue to encounter major challenges, and that such setbacks should not be advanced as legitimate reasons for backwardness. They conclude that Africa’s natural resources will be largely inconsequential without a methodical commitment to improving its human resources both mentally and intellectually. Your paper should address the above issues (or related issues), and should ultimately delineate your thoughts on the extent to which Africans should blame external factors or take responsibility for their progress and ultimate destiny. Essentially, you would be embarking on an exercise similar to removing proverbial logs from one's eyes before searching for dust elsewhere. Below are some of the possible topics you may address. (However, you are not limited to these topics.) Pre-colonial human rights violations in African societies Obstacles in implementing revolutionary change Inevitable social change before colonial change The paradox in communality versus ethnic bigotry The failure to institute effective anticrime, anticorruption measures Hypocrisy in the condemnation of colonial rule Apparent veneration of VIP crooks and military dictators Collusion with multinationals in exploiting natural resources Celebration and rejection of noble traditional values Failure to preserve and tap from ancestral scientific and healthcare practices Conflict and the disregard for human life Disunity in confronting enemies of the people (or of the continent) Failure to abandon regressive belief systems and practices (clitorectomy, infibulation, forced marriage of girls, male chauvinism, homophobia) Reinstituting a morally and professionally practical educational system Send submissions or inquiries as attached document to pueffiong at yahoo.com in MS Word format. Author name and contact information should be included on a SEPARATE page. All submissions will be acknowledged via email. Kindly contact the guest-editor if you do not receive acknowledgement for your submission. For further submission guidelines, please go to: http://www.africaknowledgeproject.org/index.php/war/about/submissions. |