1.

In A Bend in the River, Naipaul presents a grim description of Africa two decades
after independence. What are the major negative characteristics of the Africa
Naipaul describes, and how does he illustrate each with specific characters and
incidents? To what extent have these characteristics changed for the better in
more recent decades according to authors such as Thomson, Knowles, Taylor and
others? Are you pessimistic or optimistic about Africas future and Why?

a. Introduction
i. In A Bend in the River, the author describes post independence African
struggles through an unnamed African country and narrator, Salim.
Naipaul presents a very grim description of Africa two decades after
independence through his narration.
ii. Background on Naipaul
1. Grew up in Trinidad but received scholarship to Africa
2. Very conservative, no sympathy for those of 3rd world
3. Highly controversial due to his distant, objective writings
iii. A Bend in the River
1. Big man in book = Joseph Mobutu of DRC from 1965 to 1997
a. In 1977 everyone thought he would fall
2. Country = Democratic Republic of Congo Zaire
a. Recently independent from Belgian Rule 1960s
b. City = Kisangani
iv. Provides a negative outlook on personal patrimonial regimes which
were established after independence in many areas
v. Major Negative Characteristics (3)
1. Lack of Institutional Rules and Restraints
2. Effect of Military Coup
3. Relation to Outside Articles

b. Supports
i. Main focus of Naipaul is on Lack of Institutional Rules and Restraints
One Man Dictatorship and effect of Patrimonial Rules
1. The Big Man: Autocrats and Princes
a. Joseph Mobutu
b. There is no horizontal accountability (Checks + balances in
government) or vertical accountability (voting rights, one
party system)
2. Corruption seen from the very first chapter
a. Salim travels through country to town where he buys a
shop has to stop to pay bribes all the time
i. On pg. 1 described as having to shed a few bank
notes and giveaway some of his tinned food
b. When Salim moves to England, his shop is taken by the
government and distributed similar to communist
tendencies
c. According to the corruption index, this is consistent with
numbers provided for the Congo
3. Coercion
a. Army
i. Youth Guard reminiscent of Hitlers army, brutal
and thoughtless killings
 ii. Police Force mass arrests, killings, cause difficulty
for foreigners
4. Clientelism
a. Raymond Patron
i. Mother was a maid connected to big Man
ii. He advised Big Man to join the army, now he owes
Raymond and makes him part of his network, gets
perks of wealth in Domain
iii. Shows fragility of client patron relationships,
increasingly complex
iv. Dismissed when it becomes looked down upon to
have white guy in capital
b. Metty Patron
i. Metty is a very impressionable man
ii. Supports big man during the height of his
propaganda
iii. He begins to distance himself from Salim who is
showing resistance to big man
iv. Metty betrays Salim reports him for illegally selling
Ivory, feels that he abandoned him
c. Domain built as an area of living for government, soldiers
and privileged foreigners
i. Incentive to be in with big man
ii. Consistent with ideas of Big man showcase wealth
iii. Reward for following Big Man
ii. Effect of Military Coup
1. President stages coup to ride country of any unwanted Western
Influence
2. Revolutionary Government becomes increasingly authoritarian
3. Countrymen required to call one another Citoyen which means
citizen in French
4. Propaganda increasingly spread
5. Terror and fear spread kidnappings and mass arrests
a. Salim mentions that on average 3 people killed a night
6. Threat of Counter coup
a. Liberation Army claims Our ancestors shriek towards
end of book
7. Constant fear of being overtaken because dont establish
legitimacy

c. Outside Articles
i. NEOCOLONIALISM present
1. A Bend in the River
a. Bush at war with new Africa result of neocolonialism
b. Exploitation of new elites (big Man is one of them)
c. Big man creates new domain, replica of Europe
2. Daniel Knowles
i. Pros
1. Democracy increased
2. Peace increased
3. Infrastructure increased
 4. Africa seen as a hopeful continent
3. Colchester
a. Critical of colonialism
b. Independence is a sham b/c new African leaders were
protgs of previous imperial powers Neo colonialism
d. Pessimism or Optimism?
i. Personally Optimistic
1. Dont agree with Naipauls vision of Africa
a. Only showed bad parts
2. Bauer
a. Agree that imperial powers left behind a mess but also left
behind the key to material progress
b. Knowledge, education
c. Brought large amounts of trade
d. Productive economies established
e. This negative example is only one place in Africa
f. Many other positive examples
i. Botswana with Diamonds
ii. Rwanda turned itself around

2. Analyze the principal causes of high level ethnic conflict in Africa since
independence and show how ethnicity has influenced politics in Kenya, Nigeria,
Somalia, and Rwanda (and any other countries you feel are relevant). What policies
would you advocate to reduce ethnic tensions in Africa in general and Rwanda in
particular?

a. Introduction
i. An ethnic group can be defined as a community of people who have
the conviction that they have a common identity and a common fate
based on the issues of origins, traditions and cultural uniqueness.
During the colonial period, maps and boundaries were rewritten in
Africa with little regard for current tribes and groupings. Too many
different people put together in colonial multiethnic state and conflict
will ensue. Thomson goes as far to say that ethnic groups are a
construction of modernity, artificial groupings. Ethnic groups
themselves dont cause conflict but instead an array of different
factors.

b. Causes of Ethnic Conflict

i. Colonialism
1. Colonialism cited as main cause of ethnic groups in Africa
2. Nigeria
a. Ethnic Groups
i. Hausa Fulani 30% Muslim, North Nigeria
ii. Yoruba 21% Mixed, South West
iii. Igbo 18% Christian, South East
iv. Middle Belt City of Jos, traditionally Muslim,
b. Multi ethnic states are naturally more susceptible to group
on group violence
3. Rwanda
 a. 1933 Census created, forced Hutu and Tutsi to be defined
more rigidly, before more fluid
4. Kenya
a. Much dispute between Somali and Kenyan population
b. Somali population in Kenya want the land where they live
to go to Somalia but Kenya doesnt want to let go of land
c. Refugee camps anti Muslim sentiment in Kenya towards
camps
5. Somalia
a. Failed state, 1992
b. Government not provided basic functions
6. FAVORITISM PLAYED
a. Nigeria
i. Igbo favored by colonial powers
ii. Became more educated and well off as a result
iii. Other ethnic groups jealous of treatment
b. Zambia + Malawi
c. Rwanda
i. Tutsi favored by Belgians during colonialism period
ii. Tutsi received more education and opportunities
because more willing to convert to Catholicism
iii. Hutu begin to fight back against favoritism, have
majority so not hard
ii. Cultural Differences and Stereotypes
1. Nigeria
a. One group has stereotype about another
b. Igbos in Nigeria seen as entrepreneurial but Hausa
describes them as cheaters and shady. Same ideas but
different way of seeing it
2. Somalia
a. Fighting among clans
b. Difficult because no majority clan
c. Lack of strong central government has caused all clans to
claim land as their own resulting in violence
d. Civil war resulted, many moved to refugee camps
iii. Post-Independence Scarcity
1. As economic scarcity increases, so does competition
2. Zambia and Malawi
a. Posner article
b. Chewa and Tambuka
c. In Zambia, both minority groups so they get along well
i. Less competition for resources
ii. Not a political pawn in attempt to mobilize forces of
support
d. In Malawi, they are bigger groups, must fight for resources
3. Somalia refugees, need resources
iv. Religious Differences
1. In general, 3 major religious groups in Africa
a. Islam
i. 1/3 Sub Saharan Africans
ii. Not a unified faith
 iii. Believe in sharia (basic code of conduct)
iv. Extremists believe that sharia should govern both
church and state not ok with current separation
b. Christianity
i. sub Saharan Africa
ii. Mainly Pentecostal and evangelical
c. Traditional Animism
i. Idea that the physical world is controlled by many
different kinds of spirits
c. Places with not a lot of conflict
i. Ghana
ii. Tanzania
1. No large ethnic groups to contend with
2. Ujamaa socialism land nationalized, based off of idea that
social equality
3. Highly successful in terms of peacefulness but destroyed
economy
4. Nyerere not corrupt leader but created national identity
d. Managing ethnic conflict
i. Rwanda
1. Good corruption control by Kagame
2. Free market activity greatly encouraged
a. Reduces amount of scarcity of resources
3. Banned the words Hutu and Tutsi Kagame is trying to create a
new, united Rwandan national identity
a. Trying to make the problematic ethnic distinction go away
4. I would advocate improvement in education and skilled labor
many Tutsi killed made up the skilled labor class, need to
educate and create growth within this class
5. I would also recommend holding a free election, Kagame is good
for the country but he also has been in power for far too long
without democracy
ii. Somalia
1. Clans elect their own representative, each with their own council
member
2. Similar to concept of separate but equal states
3. Divide land either equally or based on population of each clan

3. Which contributed more to Africas poor economic performance from independence

to the 2000 colonialism and the raw material export dependency it promoted or
the economic and political decisions of Africas own governmental leaders?
Describe both sides of this debate in depth and take a personal position using
specific examples from the case of Ghana (and any other countries you think are
relevant) in your argument. Be sure to draw directly from Thomson, Colchester,
Bauer, Taylor and any other authors you think are relevant.

a. Colonialism and the raw material export dependence contributed more to

Africas poor economic performance from independence to the 2000 than
Africas own governmental leaders. This was because when colonial powers
 left, they left behind leaders who were unequipped to handle their countries.
The African leaders poor decisions are also a result of colonialism.
b. Ghana
i. Burdens of international economy
ii. 1st president, Nkrumah, argued that colonialism had merely made way
for a type of neo-colonialism
iii. Although formal control had ended, Africa still had to contend with old
colonial inequalities
iv. Structural Problems
1. Unequal exchange
a. Colonial rule left almost all of Africa with highly specialized
economies
b. Only producing one or two commodities for export
c. Westerners at considerable advantage because operated
closed markets to depress prices
d. Meant Africans had to buy expensive Western goods with
income generated from cheap primary export products
2. Monocrop Economies
a. There was no other source of major economic activity in
which to generate additional income in case of a bad
harvest or slump
i. Little local demand for their products, everything
must be exported