"How France Lost Africa to the U.S." or "What's New? I mean it's France" or "Why ACSS is great!"

This article is by G. Pascal Zachary (a former foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, author of Married to Africa,  a professor of practice at the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State University).  In a complete aside, check out the link to his book.  It looks like a very interesting read that would offer a more personal look into life in Africa. 


First of all, The Atlantic is one of my favorite magazines.  They publish consistently engaging articles and usually at least one that's Africa related (and a subscription is only $12 a year or so) each month.


This article immediately caught my attention because half of the nurses that my beautiful wife works with in her hospital are from various African countries.   I was surprised to read how closed off/caste-like the french business world is to European-educated Africans--I'd be curious to hear a counter-argument from a french businessman/company. 


 How France Lost Africa to the U.S. - The Atlantic


I've also included the abstract to the paper mentioned in Zachary's article.  Unfortunately neither you or I can cannot read the entire paper without subscribing to African Affairs (don't worry, it's not a dating website) or paying a one-time use fee of $25 !!!!!! (hahahah, seriously?) to read the article.  A subscription to the magazine (published 4 times a year) is only $22.  Wouldn't it be better to just charge .25 an article that would be available through a one-click connection to a paypal account (my .02). 


OR, as I just found out, if you have access to PROQUEST (through MERLN) you can read the whole article (and the whole magazine) for free.  How do you get this access you ask?  It's easy, you attend the great week-long "Introduction to African Security Affairs" course (or any of the other phenomenal ones they teach) that the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS http://africacenter.org/) puts on at least once a year.  All alumni from ACSS get access to MERLN!

Diaspora, faith, and science: Building a Mouride hospital in Senegal
by Ellen E. Foley and Cheikh Anta Babou

Ellen E. Foley (efoley@clarku.edu) is an Assistant Professor of International Development and Social Change at Clark University. Cheikh Anta Babou (cheikh@sas.upenn.edu) is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.

Abstract

This article examines a development initiative spearheaded by the members of a transnational diaspora – the creation of a medical hospital in the holy city of Touba in central Senegal. Although the construction of the hospital is decidedly a philanthropic project, Hôpital Matlaboul Fawzaini is better understood as part of the larger place-making project of the Muridiyya and the pursuit of symbolic capital by a particular Mouride dahira. The dahira's project illuminates important processes of forging global connections and transnational localities, and underscores the importance of understanding the complex motivations behind diaspora development. The hospital's history reveals the delicate negotiations between state actors and diaspora organizations, and the complexities of public–private partnerships for development. In a reversal of state withdrawal in the neo-liberal era, a diaspora association was able to wrest new financial commitments from the state by completing a large infrastructure project. Despite this success, we argue that these kinds of projects, which are by nature uneven and sporadic, reflect particular historical conjunctures and do not offer a panacea for the failure of state-led development.


Links:
Diaspora, faith, and science: Building a Mouride hospital in Senegal
How France Lost Africa to the U.S. - The Atlantic
http://africacenter.org/
http://africacenter.org/2009/12/introduction-to-african-security-issues/
Married to Africa