Customer Reviews

Democracy and Development in Africa

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Claude Ake has once again written a very insightful book on the precarious situation currently facing Africa (more specifically Sub-Saharan Africa). His analysis, although sometimes a tough read, is well planned and descriptive, and he thoroughly explains his original thesis on what he believes is the best course for Africa to embark on both politically and economically. His discussion of current and past trends and efforts at the development and democratization of Africa is very informative, original, and well-researched. Ake's use of statistics and examples of events are very accurate and do not appear (on further research) to be misused or taken out of context to misrepresent what has occured and is occuring as fact. This book has proven very useful to my studies in the democratization processes currently transpiring througout Africa and offers a fresh insight and ideas for future developments.

I was assigned this book as a reading for an international development class. The book is has it's highlights, but it functions on the assumptions of dependency theory, generally considered to be an outdated developmental mindset. It raises some good points, but I my opinion it tries too hard to blame all of Africa's problems on colonialism. I have spent a few years in Africa and I can say that there are far more important problems for us to be focusing on. Blaming the colonists will give us someone to point the finger at, but it doesn't solve the immediate issues that Africa faces.
To be fair, this book was published about twelve years ago, and the author died in a plane crash before he could finish editing the book.
Overall, I was impressed with the amount of research and the depth of thinking, but I do not agree with the Ake's focus.