Africa in the New World Order: The Trouble with the Notion of African Marginalization

Abstract

This Article presents an analysis of the place of Africa in the new world order. It is a role or position marked by the kind of heterogeneity and complexity conceivable of a continent of fifty-three states, over forty of them from sub-Saharan Africa alone. There are three aspects to the analysis. First is a theoretical statement on the concept of a new world order. Second is an outline and discussion of the trouble with marginalization as applied in the analysis of Africa. Among these troubles is that the concept depicts Africa as sui generis, when most of the problems Africans face are global features of underdevelopment common to the developing world as a whole. Third, the Article suggests several strategies for combating African marginalization in the new world order. Some of the suggested strategies are options addressed to developed countries in testimony to the reality of complex interdependence and in the interest of a legitimate international order. The overall result is a comprehensive critique of marginalization as an intellectual tool for the understanding of Africa and African realities in the new world order.