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Africa and Europe: Historical, Political, Economic and Psychological Relationships
Rodneys central ideas and how do they impact your knowledge acquistion, understanding and consciousness of the African Diaspora and world view? Comment on the intersections of history, politics, economics and psychology in his analysis and your disucssion; and his perspective from Guyana.
Olivia’S RESPOND
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What are Rodneys central ideas and how do they impact your knowledge acquisition, understanding and consciousness of the African Diaspora and world view? Comment on the intersections of history, politics, economics and psychology in his analysis and your discussion; and his perspective from Guyana.
First, I want to echo Janices comment and say how refreshing it is to read a history book outside the European narrative. Before reading this book, I knew that Africa had been plundered and pillaged by Europeans, but not to the extent or in the way Rodney explains. It feels like an indication of my white privilege to not have known how many corporations still exist and benefit from their historical (and likely ongoing) exploitation of Africa Barclays, Unilever, and Firestone to name a few. About half the time when I finish reading a book, I say to myself, Everyone should read this book. I feel the same way about How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, but feel it is really essential reading for anyone living in Europe, the United States, and Canada. The current public (and private) education system in these places perpetuates the white-supremacist patriarchal narrative that maintains a system of enormous oppression and continued underdevelopment of both Africa and the African diaspora. Rodney (1972) succinctly summarizes the true nature of these Euro-centric powerhouses as morally underdeveloped.
If underdevelopment were related to anything other than comparing economies, then the most underdeveloped country in the world would be the USA, which practices external oppression on a massive scale, while internally there is a blend of exploitation, brutality, and psychiatric disorder. (p. 14)
From a political and economic viewpoint, I found Rodneys comparison of the interactions between market economies and planned economies with Africa enlightening. Although both Capitalist and Socialist countries traded with Africa, only Capitalist countries ever invested and owned land in Africa for its exploitation and future monetary returns (p.23). He points out that Africa, as an extension of the European economy, was forced into the market economy model (p. 24), despite existing in various stages of development markedly communalism and feudalism before European arrival. I found it ironic that, although slavery was never a dominant mode of production in Africa, slaves became the biggest commodity in Africa for sale to Europeans (p. 77).
Although Rodney discusses the ways in which Europeans strong-armed coastal African states into participating in the slave trade and exploited Africans with insufficient reimbursement and brutality, there is room for more discussion about the underlying psychological effects that have followed continental and diaspora Africans for generations. (To be honest, I havent finished the final chapter of the book yet and this discussion may exist in the final pages.)
Rodney, W. (1972). How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
