#postdevelopment

In part one of this short introduction to my dissertation, I talked a bit about how I went from looking at black identity as a research topic to looking at the concept of diaspora and development. However I didn't have enough space to go into what I'm actually researching about with this topic, so I thought I'd write some more. I must say, writing about what I writing for my dissertation has made me realise how self obsessed I am and how deeply the roots of the issues I choose to research are centred in my own experiences and aspirations. But then isn't that the case for all of us? Basically my dissertation starts with me questioning what my role is in African development, but from there it does lead to some interesting and less self centred questions about black identity, the concept of diaspora and the international development industry.  

The research question for the dissertation basically explores the role for second generation African immigrants in Britain (like me) and the potential role they play in diaspora led development in Africa. I focus on West Africa because I want to narrow down my study but hopefully I am learning something useful about diaspora led development in the whole continent.

The role of second generation migrants is a particularly under explored area of diaspora development that i wanted to learn more about because I think we can learn something interesting about the nature of African identity in Britain and we could potentially find a practical way of helping nations in Africa move out of debilitating poverty and offer more to the world. It's important to note that the main discussions about diaspora and development (that I mentioned in the previous post) aren't necessarily focused on the importance of identity in diaspora development or really taking the historical context of the African diasporas relationship with Africa into account. The core focus is mostly on maximising migrant remittances and creating channels for investment into Africa. At least that is what the mainstream media is talking about. It's mostly about economics and the scope for political and social change to me is made to seem more controversial and unattainable. This is understandable because hard economics, often trumps wishy washy soft social and political stuff in terms of meaningful impact for individuals.

However I am a little weary of the current narratives that are solely focused on the development of the private sector and middle classes in Africa. It sounds all quite neoliberal and capitalistic to me. And after the damage that has been caused by neoliberalism and structural adjustment policies in Africa I do question whether this kind of African development will simply perpetuate the neoliberal economic and political system that causes the waste, inequality and degradation that it says its trying to fight.

In fact this is a question that has been asked of whole development industry and some people's answer to that question is yes. One of the most famed critics of the development industry is a guy named Arturo Escobar. He's heavily associated with a line of thinking called Postdevelopment that essentially says that the whole exercise of "development" is a load of capitalist tosh. They see development as western hegemonic forces trickily imposing their capitalist values on the poor regions of the world whilst making it seem like they're helping out. The very act of offering help, they believe, actually reasserts the notion that the west has power over other poor regions and the west uses that power to prescribe a solution to the rest of world, which essentially says that they should adhere to their values. The little socialist that lives inside of me really wants to explore this in more depth, especially in relation to the way that the African diaspora is encouraged to engage in development.

I'm quite sympathetic to the Arturo and his post development mates' ideas. And in relation to migrants returning to Africa, I am aware that, even within myself there lives a sentiment that I have an expert outsider perspective that allows me to see all the problems in Africa that need solving. Coupling that with my experience living in the developed west, I fool myself that I have the one shot remedy to some, if not all of Nigeria and most of Africa's development ailments. As I know I'm not the only one who thinks like this, I have to question whether diaspora led development isn't just a western trojan horse ready to spew it's dark skinned agents of hegemony from it's underbelly into Africa?

Ultimately, despite the little socialist that lives in my insides softly cajoling me towards the radical left, I think I'm a pragmatist, so I don't mind that the focus of diaspora development seems a bit capitalistic but I would like to have a greater understanding of alternative ways second generation African migrants can support Africa's progress aside from economic remittances and classic bleeding heart philanthropy. Escobar's solution to resolving poverty in regions like Africa is focused on finding local alternatives to social change and finding new ways of thinking about social change. I must admit I find his kind of ethereal intellectual approach to challenging practical problems is a bit annoying. When NEPA's famous power outages, leave streets across Lagos in darkness, "new ways of thinking and social movements challenging the discursive functions of the development apparatus", aint gonna turn the lights back on, so small children can do their homework at night. However saying this I do believe Escobar has a point when he focuses on the local and social movements. I question how far the Africa diaspora could be considered as "local"? And within this study I've been looking for ways that second generation migrants can engage with Africa on a political level rather than purely on economic terms. I'm interested to find out whether there is a desire for British Africans to do so and if there is, where does it come from? What ways will it be utilised to create social change in Africa. 

This question becomes even more fascinating when you consider the historical role of people from Africa's "old diaspora" (that is black people from across the globe who's ancestry come from the Africans forcibly migrated through slavery) and their role in African development.  I think its interesting that in the past they engaged with Pan Africanism and the movement for decolonisation on the basis of black empowerment and racial equality without having a direct relationship with the African continent.  Second generation migrants in the UK are in a similar position to the"old diaspora" because they often weren't brought up in Africa and may not have a direct relationship with it. But in a way they have closer ties to Africa because their parents and extended family are direct from the continent. I would like to see whether they feel they can have a political impact in Africa and if they feel they have responsibility to the countries they are from in the same way that people like W.E.B Dubois and Marcus Garvey related to Africa.