Nouveau projet de recherche: "The Developmental State Strikes Back? The Rise of New Global Powers and African States’ Development Strategies"

Ce projet, dirigé au Global Studies Institute par Didier Péclard et coordonné par Guive Khan-Mohammad, est réalisé en partenariat avec les université de Lausanne (Antoine Kernen), Bouaké (Francis Akindès) et Yaoundé (Fabien Nkot). Il est financé sur trois ans par le FNS.

Le résumé du projet (en anglais)

This project proposes to study the place and role of African states in the context of a changing development landscape at the global level as well as on the continent. Our reflection builds on two interrelated observations:

(a) since the end of the Washington consensus, new paradigms in the field of international development are emerging, whereby the state is given a more important role as driver of development;

(b) thanks to unprecedented levels of economic growth and a diversified donor and investor landscape, African states are in a position to increase their room for manoeuver and thus able to play a more central role in the definition of their development agendas.

In this project, we put the development strategies of African states at the centre of the analysis. We interrogate how they react to and appropriate changes in development policies at the global level as well as the arrival of new players such as China and other emerging economies on the development scene. We also ask whether and to what extent the strategies of African states in this new setting are conducive to long-term changes in terms of social and human development, or whether they tend to reproduce and reinforce established power relations. We thereby bring a new perspective to both academic and policy debates on the topic.

Plus d'information sur le projet: http://www.r4d.ch/modules/thematically-open-research/new-global-powers-in-africa