Walter Rodneys How Europe Underdeveloped Africa - Essay Example

Using Walter Rodneys "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" discuss the centrality of anthropology to colonial domination of Africa through the lens of apositivists and imperialist approach to domination, rather than a critical and dialectical system, Governed by logic of global capitalism. Anthropology, etymologically, means the study of man. Imperialism refers to the rule of a country over another by taking over the political, cultural and economic life of the subordinate country. It has been argued that colonial domination has a significant role in the centrality of anthropology in Africa. Imperialism and colonialism have been used interchangeably in defining the relationship between Africa and Britain. Brtisch Empire occupied many territories in Africa (Erickson & Murphy, 2008). European Colonial rule in Africa spans from the late 1800s up till the Second World War. Since the advent of the Europeans in Africa, anthropology has largely been seen from the perspective of the outsiders and the view that the colonial power was projecting across. Therefore, anthropology in Africa could not flourish to its complete entirety. In fact, anthropology in Africa greatly suffered as a result of the domination of the imperial powers. When anthropology of different cultures was started being studied in the late 1800s, Africa’s contribution to the economic system was not considered and therefore it remained largely untouched by anthropologists for a long period of time. There were no anthropological researches conducted in Africa up till the Second World War. When anthropologists started conducting cultural studies in Africa, there methods were largely criticized at not being reliable and comprehensive enough. Thus, anthropology in Africa could not receive its due share of research. The development of anthropology in Africa during the Colonial rule was also undermined due to the image projected by the colonizers abroad. European contact was taken as a representation of Africa (Wehrs, 2008). Child pornography and the publicity of the extremely dire economic circumstances the African community was afflicted with, like poverty, lack of infrastructure etc. had an adverse effect on anthropological studies. Another reason that influenced the development of anthropology in Africa is due to the projection by the Europeans about the illiteracy and savagery of the Africans. Post-colonial rehabilitation of anthropology hence becomes difficult. This is partly because Africa still remains undeveloped and can not debunk the stigmatized image of poverty and savagery that is rampant amongst the international community. Western cultural stereotypes of the past have affected the culture of the Africans greatly (Anico & Peralta, 2009). Nkrumah played a vital role in the history of Africa in fighting against the centuries of oppression that Africa faced. Nkrumah is remembered by Pan-Africans for his dream for African unity and his efforts to restore the integrity of the African community which has been greatly suppressed by years of colonial rule. According to Nkrumah, independence of Ghana was the first step towards the consolidation of Africa. He was of the view that neo-colonialism is the end-stage of imperialism and he valiantly fought against it. Although he has been accused for the political upheaval Africa finds itself in today, his efforts against the colonial rule that had impaired the specific identity of the Africans played an integral role in the promotion of anthropology in Africa. There are many issues that surface when considering the impact of colonialism on anthropology. In Africa, they are many issues associated with cultural identity that are due to unequal power relations (Corsane, 2005). The debate arises that what if anthropology has focused on the colonizers rather than the colonized. If anthropology studied the powerful instead of the powerless, there would have been widespread effects on the cultural integrity of Africa. The cultural identity of Africa, its uniqueness, the norms and values of the indigenous and the lifestyle of these people would have had been greatly understated and suppressed. The international community would have had the sent Africa through the lens of European colonialism and have accepted the values and norms of the Europeans to be inherent in the African culture. Culture is defined as the complex whole which includes morals as well as beliefs and customs acquired by man (Ferraro, 2009). The image projected by the colonizers would have been capitalist in nature, with the rights of the natives greatly reduced. If there was more focus on the affluence of the colonizers over the shackles of poverty that the Blacks were bound with, the international community would not have had a fair and accurate image of the real Africa. The choice between the two has affected the outcome. As mentioned above, the stigmatization of Africa due to the image projected by the Europeans has negatively affected the growth of anthropological efforts in Africa. Thus, the culture and traditions of the indigenous have not been able to set a mark for themselves in the anthropological discipline. It was a culture of legalized brutality, a ruling-class culture of fear and suppression (Grinker, Steiner & Lubkemann, 2010). It has done little to empower the locals. In fact the relationship between the colonizers and colonized is hierarchal in nature; the post-colonial anthropology in Africa, therefore, has embraced the concept of a superior-inferior relationship, although the Africans are deserving of the focus of attention. The role of anthropology in Africa during the tenure of Nkrumah is represented by the following quote: “A painting used to hang in the ante-room of former President Kwame Nkrumah.The painting was enormous, and the main figure was Nkrumah himself, fighting, wrestling with the last chains of colonialism. The chains are yielding, there is thunder and lightning in the air, the earth is shaking. Out of all this, three small figures are fleeing, white men, pallid. One of them is the capitalist, he carries a briefcase. Another is the priest or missionary, he carries the Bible. The third, a lesser figure, carries a book entitled African Political Systems: he is the anthropologist...” (Kuper & Kuper, 2009). This assesses the importance given to anthropology in Africa. It also highlights the impact of colonialism in Africa. The capitalist illustrates the exploitation of resources that the Imperialistic powers did in Africa. The missionary and the anthropologist delineates the fact that colonial Africa was overshadowed by colonizers their traditions. Anthropology in Africa can be assed by two methods: the first one is the positivistic approach while the second is the critical and dialectical approach. The positivistic approach or the empiricist approach believes in the study of humans and their cultures etc. by way of observation and testing different hypotheses by physically seeing the results rather than the metaphysical aspect. The critical and dialectical approach provides a more holistic approach of studying anthropology. What holds anthropology together is its insistence that every facet of the society is important (Kelly & Thomas, 2009).If anthropology was to abandon the positivistic approach for a critical one, it would have brought into limelight factors that the positivistic approach ignores. These factors are those that can not be observed physically, yet have a role in determining the trends in culture etc. of the community. However, anthropology in Africa refused to take up a holistic approach. Therefore, it accepted the superiority of the Europeans. This superiority was established on the slavery that the Europeans practiced as well as the mass movement of the resources and wealth of Africa to their homeland. African slavery was brutal and slaves had no rights (Horton & Horton, 2005). Another factor contributing to this superiority of image was plantations of the Europeans in Africa and the land that they owned. Thus anthropology in Africa began fashioning itself on the lines of the Imperialistic culture. European culture and norms began imbuing themselves in the African community. Because of this, anthropology in Africa was influenced greatly by European traditions and values. Anthropology therefore founded its craft on myth. It revolved around the concept of the white men and their race. It gave minimal importance to the elements that set the Black race different from the White. Therefore, there was a clash of concepts. Both the concepts of the white man and the race were in conflict with the elements of the local race residing in the country. These elements were also dubious and the fact that the aforementioned race was initially developed for animals in the 1600s made it even more implicit. As a result, these concepts failed to provide clear insight into the workings of the race. The Europe also adopted some of the elements that characterize the colonized nations it ruled. Consequently, Europe also used Indian numerals, Arab algebra, Chinese gun powder, paper and compass along with African red bricks. In 1851 Francis de Casltenay’s work Naim Naim of Africa talked about certain attributes that are characteristic of African culture. Furthermore, it has been seen that African culture has seen high lives of crime. Lomroso, 1895-96, observed that the Dinka if Sudan was prone to crime and therefore crime might be innate in the Negros. Rigby (1996) writes about the criminality attributed to Negros, “Their nose .. Not only flattened but trilobed, resembling that of monkey, thereby placing the Dinka on lower evolutionary level – hence criminality.” In South Africa, the preoccupation with crime had turned into making it difficult to distinguish between reality and the phenomenon (Comaroff & Comaroff, 2006). Many authors contend that anthropology has not always colonial. In contrast to that, anthropology contains many diverse groups that help it transcend itself; however, the racist profile remains. This is illustrated by the aforementioned crime rate that has been labelled as being innate in the Negros. The impact of British culture on their subjects is very strong (Ekeh, 2008). In early days, anthropology was also essential to scientific racism. There used to be an emphasis on physical anthropology which forms the basic for genetics and IQ in the current world. Africans were not considered equal to the Europeans. In fact they were considered to be from a lower race, and were looked down upon condescendingly by the Imperialistic powers. Therefore they were seen as primitive people, with little propriety and orderliness of manners. Africans were viewed as savages because of their crude ways of living compared to the Europeans’ lifestyles. Consequently, this shut them off from exerting any clout in the higher authorities and reduced their status to mere subjects ruled upon by the colonizers. Modern outlooks on racism contend that ancient groups were not racist and slaves came from across many ethnic groups. Racism is traceable to the 18th century but it was in the 19th century that it became central to the western ideology. Sub-Saharan Africa was affected greatly by the racist ideology. Africans were considered inferior to whites and all other races. These were then split into various functions. Anthropology fostered this concept and contributed to it. It should be noted that capitalism as a source of racism was not followed. The economic bases of racism say that without it there would be no New World and no Plantations. However, on this point too, anthropology sided with the powerful, projecting the view of the colonizers across. Anthropology subordinated the Sub-Saharan Africa in many ways. This includes the Hamitic myth which has been applied to the East and Central Africa. The Hamitic myth is primarily responsible for creating racism that had very widespread effects and has contributed to a lot of ethnic conflicts in Africa. The base for this racism was certain distorted and imprecise passages of the Scripture that described certain evolutionary theories about the Africans. These passages stated that the Africans were lower on the evolutionary scale than the Europeans. When missionaries from Belgium arrived in Rwanda in the 1880s, they introduced this concept into the community. Since the missionaries were shirt of supporters to back up their agenda, they promoted the idea that the Tutsi Tribe, which was in effect a minority, were close relatives of the Europeans and dubbed them as African Aryans (Shearer). The Tutsi people were picked in particular because they had a white bone structure that resembled the Europeans, and was an affront leveled at the Hutu tribe, termed as the true Africans. Therefore, the other tribes were European look-alikes need to be treated differently and were not mentally sound enough. The dubious assumptions about the myth were that initially there was a pure race in Africa and then it got mixed with other races that came in from Asia and the Europe. These races were superior to the Africans and intermarrying with the Africans led to a heterozygous race. This explained why the Tutsi tribe was more European like and hence superior to the Hutu. The theory stated that the new comers came in wave that pushed the other locals inside; after some period of time, this wave would degenerate and a new wave of pure outsiders would sweep in. what needs to be noted here is that there was a capitalistic approach to making the Hutu the Africans. The colonizers wanted more labor force and since the Hutu were in majority, they were referred to as the lower class and hence exploited. The colonizers needed the minorities and therefore translated this myth into reality. They created tribes and codified differences according to their needs and requirements. Although the myth is now totally discredited and not considered genetically and linguistically viable, it showed the racism that was brought about by the colonizers. Hence missionaries from Belgium preached that the tall Batutsi were superior to the short Bahuta. They also publicized the myth that the tall Tutsi were superior to the short Hutu and that lighter the color of the people, the more the intelligent they are. Malinowski says “Many African tribes before European contact throve on cannibalism, grew prosperous on slavery or cattle raiding ... Would any anthropologist therefore advocate a return to a human flesh diet ..? (Rigby 1996:78-79). Thus the lesser caste was to be taught and treated as wards and minors since it was not mature enough. The colonizers also projected the philosophy of functional anthropology although it was not present in real. Therefore functional illusion posed a dilemma. This included that there was equilibrium in between parts when in effect there was not. Furthermore, it created a problem because change lead to disintegration and was considered dangerous whereas the natives were more open to corruption. The idea of functionalism has been advocated by Malinowski and it did not bring any good to America and Australia. However since Europe wanted Africa either ways, the anthropology of eating the chicken and retaining it came into play. Ethnographic studies had important effects on the way imperial powers in Africa approached subject peoples (Tilley & Gordon, 2007). Anthropology answered the colonial need by the illusion of structural functionalism. The book African Political Systems by M.Fortes and E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1940) discussed functionalism however the theory was already put into use before the book came out. English-speaking anthropologists dominated the region and were given a chance to express themselves in an innovative way by the colonizers. As the colonial era progressed, colonizers became more interested in education (Shillington, 2005). Subsequently, colonial powers wanted the help of anthropologists with effective ways of changing education, religion and political control while keeping the society intact for economic reasons. Anthropologists obliged and advised Fortes on Tallensi marriage custom and courts. They also helped out Margaret Read on migration issues and Nadel on Pagan Courts in Nigeria as well as on taxation. The colonial administration complained about the reports because they were too lengthy and often contained unnecessary information. Moreover, the reports were too academic to be practical and hence had little applicability in the system. The Rhodes-Livingstone Institute was lucky enough to escape censorship by the government and talked at the regional level. The institute was charged for disgracing the white man because of mixing with the Blacks. The people form the institute attended rituals of the Blacks and shared their cigarettes. They also courted their girls and spoke the language of the Blacks. However, this helped break down cultural barriers. There was also a myth of Indirect Rule that sounded noble but had adverse effects on the Africans as well. It discriminated the Africans by providing education to the children of the chiefs only. Thus education was not accessible to everyone. The myth advocated cash economy in the region, drawing away the wealth of the indigenous. Furthermore the myth advocated the missionaries and promoted their cause. The myth also helped establish a certain degree of law and order in the region. Despite the some studies being conducted in the region, they failed to underscore the local Blacks. This was due to the fact that most anthropologists were conservatives. They belonged to the upper class and portrayed Africans as savages. Communism was ignored by them. However these anthropologists protected the cultural values of the local people when they were in line the values of the conservative. They also promoted European family values and subordination of women. Therefore in conclusion, anthropologists did not represent the true anthropology of the colonized, rather they focused on the Europeans. Marxist theology also gained momentum in Africa. It manifested the characteristics that enabled it to be more effective against the capitalistic and imperialistic motives of the British. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney sheds light on the effect of colonial rule on Africa. The book follows the Marxist school of thought and states that underdevelopment is a historical phenomenon. As a result, underdeveloped areas are different from undeveloped. This distinction is crucial since undeveloped represents nil or zero development in the area. The book recommends that alternative terms like developing, less developed and poor can be used interchangeably with underdeveloped. Political economy work was undertaken by Samir Amin, Gunder Frank and Barane. They dominated in the 1970s and their contribution from the third world is vital to the process of political economy work. However, most of these people were too economistic. In spite of that, there were some exceptions and some people like Tony Barnet and Mamdani, O’Brein were well ground in the principles of anthropology. Many of them implied that de-linking was the solution to the social and economical problems. Although many anthropologists supported socialism, African socialism was not fruitful (Indabawa & Mpofu, 2006). Wealth was not there in the first place and the flop of socialism led the anthropologists thinking if Africa really was in need for socialistic measures. More African leaders adopted a strategy of industry-first investment. The goods and resources were largely in the control of the state. The formation of a post-colonial country led to the disintegration of cultural, economic and racial differences that had impeded anthropological development of the locals under the control of the Imperialistic powers. European colonialism had a devastating effect on Africa (Shah, 2010). In the view point of bourgeois intellectuals, colonialism served the interests of the west, giving little importance to the colonizers. According to them, although there was widespread exploitation of the Africans, there was also some development that led to the foundation of modern stated. Thus in their perspective the good outweighs the bad. This outlook was not in the interest of the Africans since the effects of colonization on the anthropological development of Africans were ignored. However notions were regarded as false and colonialism was considered a one-armed bandit. British considered themselves as the ruling political elite and did not give rights to the local people (Praeg, 2006). There were little services that the colonizers had provided to the locals and there was no development in Africa in the first three decades of colonial rule. Some services for the locals appeared after the Second World War. Therefore, the good does not outweigh the bad and hence the Balance sheet is negative. The same can be illustrated by means of statistics. In 1934, the service per head in the British Isles was about £6 and 15 shillings whereas in Ghana it was only 7 shillings and 4 pence. In Nigeria, the condition was even worse and the service per head was only 1 shilling and 9 pence. There was also a very high mortality rate in Africa and with infant’s mortality rate in Algeria as high as 170 per 1000 in the rural areas. Angola and Guinea-Bissau were the worst off. Furthermore, the colonials favoured certain minorities over the larger majority and this created problems later on. It was seen that it led to ethnic strife within factions in the postcolonial era. The predominance of war and conflict in post-colonial Africa is attributable to the problems it faced during colonial rule (Graham & Howard, 2008). In the Sub-Saharan Africa, there was more emphasis on the white over the black whereas in East Africa Europeans and then Indians asserted their superiority over the Blacks. In Rwanda, the Tutsi tribe was given preference over the Hutu and in Sudan the Northern Arabs were considered to be better off than the locals. Development in Nigeria was relatively better. However the statistics show a contrast in the services being offered to the British and the locals. There were 11 beds for fifty Europeans whereas 34 beds for half a million Africans. In Nigeria as a whole, there were 14 hospitals for 4,000 Europeans and in contrast to that, 40 hospitals fro 40m natives. The capitalism and exploitation tale of the Imperialistic powers does not end here. The East African Ordinance 1931 discouraged credit and insurance to natives and hence did not give them access to the services that the Europeans used. Moreover, the Portuguese were the first initiate the trade of slaves and were the last to quit. The wealth generated through the trade of slaves helped develop Portugal. Through the exploitation of slaves and coerced workers, the Portuguese became successful and profitable (Grivetti & Shapiro, 2009). There are many modern companies as well that have origins on slavery. These companies include Lloyed Unilever, Barclays Bank and many others. Besides that, local investment by colonial powers focussed on expansion, exploration and capital accumulation. It did not give due importance to the development of services for the indigenous. The African economy had primarily been dominated by European and Arab slave traders. After the colonials left, they took away most of the capital of the Africans, not to mention the resources that they had exploited in Africa to hoard wealth during their rule. Although this capital was generated in Africa, the colonial nations did not set aside some capital for the promotion and development of the African countries. If Africa’s problems are to come to terms with those of modern nations, then Africans’ demands and priorities need to be addressed (Hellen, 2009). The Angola Diamang -Diamond Company generated 140% profit of their original investment in Africa in 1954-55. Most part of this capital went to USA, Belgium and Portugal. Again reiterating the point, the colonials did not focus on creating opportunities for the local Africans. Therefore, this led to a rise in poverty and depletion of the economic status of the Africans. The colonial powers failed to do in Africa what they did in Europe. Those who derive maximum economic profit form political office have the most judicial, administrative and religious responsibilities (Fortes, 2006). However the colonials did not show any obligation to these responsibilities. There was no urban proletariat class of workers, nor was there any African owning class. Africa was dominated by outsiders who were not considerate and sensitive to the needs of the locals, unlike the domination of South America and Asia. The Europeans encouraged foreign minorities at an expense to the Africans. The Greek, Arabs, Indians, Syrians competed with Europeans at a lower level to dominate middle ground like petty trade. This had an adverse impact on the Africans, who were crushed and their economical interests were sapped and weakened. Africans were also discouraged by legislation to participate in activities that promoted their interests. No industry was allowed to flourish. This could be illustrated by examples o banning of industries in Europe that were importing products from Africa. This included the Senegalese peanut oil, which was banned in France; the British also ruined Nigerian oil mills. The locals were encouraged only to export raw materials; thus Sudan and Uganda exported cotton and imported fabrics. Ivory Coast sent cocoa and got it tinned or made chocolates. However the dearth of industries means little or no skills. Moreover, the Europeans thought that there was no need to educate the Africans. The widespread exploitation of resources depleted them. Tanganyika lost all its gold from 1933-53. Processing of gold and diamond were done abroad. The agriculture was primitive in nature because the workers were not skilled and it was labour intensive. It started with a hoe and an axe and came out with same. Land was also ruined with Africans being pushed to marginal zones and the depletion of crop production of peanuts and cotton. Mono-agriculture was used as well. The failure to transfer skills was governed by logic of global capitalism and marked by global division of labour. The low skills meant lower wages and any fluctuations in the agricultural output due to ad weather etc. meant that these wages were further reduced. Colonial authorities strived to produce Africans who were culturally barred from their cultures (Njoh, 2006). Africans were not given freedom and this lack of freedom also affected the heritage and morals of the community. Politics was also ruined with native chiefs dispossessed and political institutions destroyed. The political elite of the post-colonial time were largely influenced by the European legacy (Okoth, 2006). Women were also removed from politics and were paid very little wages in agriculture. Tribalism also emerged as a product of colonial rule. Colonialism is more damaging at social level, and hence Africa was banished from taking part in economical projects because it was underrepresented. Africa emerged from colonialism with nothing of its own (Fowale, 2009). Hence in conclusion, Africa remained underdeveloped during colonial rule. The emergence of globalization and its effects on cultures around the world, left a devastating print on the people of Africa (Haviland, Walrath & Prins, 2007). With the impact of colonial policies on the culture and lifestyles of the indigenous, one can say that colonial rule has influenced anthropological development in Africa. The anthropology that has developed has largely been depictive of the colonial powers and therefore it emphasizes on the scope of anthropology in the development of Africa. References Anicom, M. & Peralta, E. (2009). Heritage and Identity in the Twenty-First Century. Oxon (OX): Taylor & Francis. Comaroff, J. & Comaroff, J. (2006). 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