humanities and social sciences

Africa without Clichés

Looking at Africa from the standpoint of several disciplines is a good way to combat preconceived notions. This is one of the priorities of researchers at the Center for the Study of Black Africa in Bordeaux (CEAN), which offers another vision of this continent.

Africa is more than just natural disasters and ethnic conflicts. One can also find democracies, elections, parliaments, and societies in full evolution, the study of which can teach us a great deal. For the first time, people engaged in studying Africa from various fields–political scientists, historians, and geographers–came together in late 2006 (see box below) to discuss their research. “African studies is not a discipline. Africa is an area in which we apply the same scientific methodologies that are used for the study of industrialized countries. For example, there is no need to go to Africa to study witchcraft. I can't wait for the day when a turnaround in perspective takes place: an African student coming to France's Berri region to do a thesis on witchcraft.” Strolling through the magnificent pine forest of the Pessac campus, René Otayek, director of the Center for the Study of Black Africa (CEAN),¹ offers a summary of his laboratory's approach–multidisciplinary and comparative–and a tongue-in-cheek definition of its objective, “to make Africa normal,” i.e., to deconstruct the clichés that are too often associated with this continent. CEAN is affiliated with the National Political Science Foundation (FNSP),² which gives it its underlying discipline, but it welcomes political scientists, lawyers, geographers, historians, anthropologists, economists, and others–in all, twenty researchers and instructors, and no fewer than fifty PhD candidates. “We are small compared to hard science laboratories, but big for a social science laboratory,” says CEAN's director. The center is, of course, dedicated to research, but it also puts a strong emphasis on documentation–with a library of 25,000 books and journals–as well as on training and publishing.³

 

A CROSSROADS OF VIEWPOINTS

The fact that CEAN is in Bordeaux is no accident. Bordeaux was a slave-trading port and has always had contact with Africa. “The Bordeaux academics that established this center in 1958 wanted to draw on these complex historical relations,” says Otayek. While it was initially limited to French-speaking Africa in the context of decolonization, its spectrum was then considerably broadened, starting in the 1970s, to include the English and Portuguese-speaking countries, which now account for most of the laboratory's research activities. It thus covers almost the whole continent (with the exception of the Maghreb) from multiple and interdisciplinary standpoints: Institutions and governance, sociology of armed conflicts, identities in globalization, international relations and regionalism, religion and politics, political economy, urban dynamics, new information technologies... everything that makes up the–poorly understood–daily life of Africa is a potential topic of investigation. “When I say that I work on African governments, people giggle. And in general, Africa is not considered an attractive subject nowadays. Asia is more sexy,” says Dominique Darbon, a CEAN researcher in charge of Africa for French research institutes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is due to an abundance of preconceived notions. First on the list is the restrictive term, “Black” Africa. “It refers to the colonial past,” notes Otayek, “but we keep using it in our name for reasons of visibility. We have, however, added a thematic subtitle: 'politics, societies, international relations with the South,' and we hold to it.” One cliché that remains very persistent concerns ethnic strife. “It's no more prevalent in Africa than in the Balkans!” points out the CEAN director. Other biased views paint it as a continent with no history, condemned to suffer all sorts of calamities, wars, and coups d'état–which exist of course, but Mali and Benin, to give just two examples, have now had three successive democratic transfers of power.

If CEAN succeeds in offering an alternative vision of Africa, it is thanks to the strong presence of its scientists in the field. This translates into high costs, for which the laboratory is always seeking additional financing. “We respond to tender offers from CNRS of course, but also to funding initiatives from national French ministeries. That said, we are above all a basic research laboratory, not government advisors, even if our expertise is acknowledged.”

 

WORK REQUIRING PATIENCE

CEAN's expertise is the result of an approach with patience to spare because being accepted by the society that one wants to study can take time. Patrick Quantin, a CEAN researcher, spent a month and a half observing the functioning of the National Assembly of Benin, to which he had patiently acquired access. “I started with a teaching assignment in Cotonou, where I made contacts. The President of the National Assembly of Benin gave me his approval. Little by little, I gained access to the Assembly chamber, to the corridors, the government offices. And I carried out many interviews with members of parliament and janitors!” The perseverance of Christine Deslaurier, a researcher at Development Research Institute (IRD)⁴ associated with CEAN, has also borne fruit. A specialist on Burundi, she's traveled to the country almost every year from 1993 to 2003. “Conflicts are not just destructive, they can also be constructive for countries, because they redistribute roles and modify social and economic relationships,” she stresses. In the field, what takes longest is being accepted by the combatants, the leaders of the rebel groups or the regular army, which is not always on good terms with the government. “It is sometimes dangerous to work on a conflict. In 1994, I couldn't say that I was French because of the genocide in Rwanda in which France's position was criticized. I had to say that I was Belgian or Swiss. There was shooting in front of my house.”

 

There would be no question of sending inexperienced students on such missions, especially since at CEAN training begins at the Bordeaux Political Science Master's degree level. “We were increasingly being called on to do appraisals. That is why we moved toward professionalization in 2001,” says Céline Thiriot, in charge of the “Risk Management in Southern Countries” Master's program. The students come from varied backgrounds, and a large proportion are recruited from African countries. “But their number has been declining in recent years, especially because of the ever-greater difficulties they encounter in obtaining visas,” deplores Thiriot. “Work opportunities are varied, from positions with international organizations to those with local NGOs. Once they are working in the field, the alumni constitute a precious network for CEAN, promoting contacts in various areas.” This “spirit of network,” has paradoxically, until now, been lacking in France. “Research on Africa has been fragmented for too long. But thanks to CNRS, which has supported the priority thematic network (RTP) on Africa, a federating congress was held in late 2006,” says Otayek. “We must unite our efforts to establish the scientific legitimacy of research on Africa, for all disciplines. This is all the more essential because the African continent is increasingly at the center of major global strategic issues, for example immigration and energy resources. China and the United States are taking an ever-greater interest. Now more than ever, Africa must be studied!”

 

Jean-François Haït