Ali, Merima,Odd‐Helge Fjeldstad and Abdulaziz B. Shifa. "European colonization and the corruption of local elites: The case of chiefs in Africa." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 179 (2020): 80-100.

The paper focuses on the legacy of British and French colonial rule on the corruption of local elites (chiefs) in Africa through a comparative analysis of levels of corruption among local elites (chiefs) in anglophone and francophone Africa. The study concludes that the level of corruption among local elites in anglophone countries was slightly higher than in francophone countries and chiefs in anglophone countries command a significantly lower level of public trust. The authors point to the British style of colonization(indirect rule) which may have contributed to the corrupt nature of local elite(chiefs) in some African countries. This system offered chiefs more autonomy, weakened the pre-existing local mechanisms of checks and balances and made them less accountable to their local communities rather accountable to their colonial masters. This meant they could abuse their power. In the long run, the formal legal system introduced by the central state had limited relevance to much of the population in anglophone countries. The French style of colonial rule on the other hand, undermined the power and autonomy of chiefs over the local population. Chiefs were stripped of their power to appoint sub-chiefs or handle legal matters. This limitation meant chiefs in francophone countries could not afford local patronage nor abuse power.

Ainslie, Andrew, and Thembela Kepe. “Understanding the resurgence of traditional authorities in post-apartheid South Africa.” Journal of Southern African Studies 42, no. 1 (2016): 19-33.

The article explores the changing status of traditional authorities in the Eastern Cape Province over the 20 years since 1994. It also examines the resurgence of the chiefs in relation to the consolidation of democratic processes and of emergent, neo-patrimonial modes of government. It briefly considers the role of traditional authorities in three key and closely related spheres, namely the institution of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, the question of how gender is handled by and within traditional institutions, and the continuing challenges of land administration and development in rural areas. Ainsile and Kepe conclude that in all these spheres, and in the face of real opposition, the voice and influence of traditional authorities have emerged stronger than ever. The authors suggest that, as traditional authorities are drawn deeper into governance and have to play a formal role in addressing a myriad of institutional challenges, new questions should be asked about the status and influence of traditional authorities, and their substantive contribution to democracy in South Africa.

Chiefs: Economic development and elite control of civil society in Sierra Leone. Journal of Political Economy 122, no. 2 (2014): 319-368.

This article explores how chiefs exercise their political and economic power and whether they are accountable to their communities. The study asserts that the chieftaincy system in Sierra Leone is interwoven and complex. For example, paramount chiefs are elected, and candidates would have had to satisfy a long line of ruling families to be elected. The authors argue that the number of ruling families that put forward candidates for chieftaincy positions is a measure of political competition and a form of constraint on the power of paramount chiefs. Because of this, chiefs who are less constrained face greater political competition from other ruling families. This leads to worse development outcomes because chiefs have more freedom to engage in economically undesirable activities through the control of land, taxation and the judicial system. Chieftaincies with fewer ruling families have greater levels of bonding and bridging social capital leading to better accountability and better development outcomes.

Bargna, Ivan. African Art. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 2000

The concept of Africa as an entity is a recent and largely artificial idea. Africa is made up of very diverse cultures, tribes, religions, traditions and geographies and it is constantly changing. In this thought-provoking study of African art, Bargna emphasises the need to connect individual items to ethnographic information with the aesthetic experience. It is important also, not to bring to the study of African art the trappings of the traditional artistic judgements with which Western art is viewed. The rich and varied production of the African continent is viewed and interpreted in terms of its close relationship with the world of the sacred, of myth and of religious ritual practices.

Source: Google Books.

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1-54 Marrakech

International art fair

London, UK, New York, USA, Marrakech, Morocco

1-54 is the first leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Founded by Touria El Glaoui, the fair has held annual editions in London since 2013, New York since 2015 and Marrakech since 2018. Drawing reference to the fifty-four countries that constitute the African continent, 1-54 is a sustainable and dynamic platform that is engaged in contemporary dialogue and exchange.

https://www.1-54.com/about/

Bajorek, Jennifer. Unfixed: Photography and Decolonial Imagination in West Africa. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2020.

In Unfixed, Jennifer Bajorek traces the relationship between photography and decolonial political imagination in Francophone west Africa in the years immediately leading up to and following independence from French colonial rule in 1960. Focusing on images created by photographers based in Senegal and Benin, Bajorek draws on formal analyses of images and ethnographic fieldwork with photographers to show how photography not only reflected but also actively contributed to social and political change. The proliferation of photographic imagery—through studio portraiture, bureaucratic ID cards, political reportage and photojournalism, magazines, and more — provided the means for west Africans to express their experiences, shape public and political discourse, and reimagine their world. In delineating how West Africans’ embrace of photography was associated with and helped spur the democratization of political participation and the development of labor and liberation movements, Bajorek tells a new history of photography in west Africa—one that theorizes photography’s capacity for doing decolonial work.

Source: Duke University Press