Abstract
Several researches have been conducted on the nature, character and causes of underdevelop- ment in Africa. Some scholars have alluded to the imperativeness of leadership in fostering de- velopment in Africa while some pointed a robust accusing finger to the structures of the interna- tional political system. While this paper does not join issues with these scholars, it however fo- cuses on locating the dilemma of social identity as the missing factor in all inter personal rela- tionships in Africa with special bias for the relationship between the led and the leaders. This pa- per briefly engages the arguments and counterarguments of the paradox of development in Africa and then goes on to show how the absence of social identity or group identity has been the bane of development in Africa. While dwelling on available secondary data, this paper theorizes the inter- play among politics of underdevelopment, leadership and social identity in Africa. It concludes by arguing for the necessity of class suicide of the political class and also cognitive re-orientation of the led through education.
Highlights
There is an interconnection among development or underdevelopment, social identity and leadership
The problem this paper basically addresses entails the consistent argument for the cause of underdevelopment in Africa
What follows is a critical discussion of the several variables in this topic in order to further achieve the objective of this paper which aimed at re-directing the argument against Western political hegemony as the bane of development in Africa; and re-focusing on the loss of social identity as the cause of misbehaviours of the leaders and the led in Africa
Summary
There is an interconnection among development or underdevelopment, social identity and leadership. The problem this paper basically addresses entails the consistent argument for the cause of underdevelopment in Africa. It visits this argument with the intention of showing the possibility of a perennial crisis of development in Africa if we do not grab the “bull by the horns”. Leadership, Social Identity and the Politics of Underdevelopment in Africa. What follows is a critical discussion of the several variables in this topic in order to further achieve the objective of this paper which aimed at re-directing the argument against Western political hegemony as the bane of development in Africa; and re-focusing on the loss of social identity as the cause of misbehaviours of the leaders and the led in Africa. Amin proposed “delinking” which he construed as the subordination of external relations to internal demands for popular transformation and development as against the bourgeois strategy of adjusting the internal growth of their countries to the demand of the worldwide expansion of capitalism (Amin, 1987)
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