April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

divert attention from the struggles of the working peoples, from students,
from women, from the youth, who are against the capitalist system as it
exists. We are in the midst of the most intense capitalist crisis since 1930s.
This struggle internationally is a struggle against capitalism.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Campbell, I want to thank you very much for
being with us, a professor of African American [studies] and political
science at Syracuse University, African American studies and political
science at Syracuse. He’s written extensively about African politics. As we
move on now from talking about the protests from the Middle East and
North Africa to the Midwest to Iraq, we’ll be going to Iraq in a minute.
www.democracynow.org
No more imposed policies: Challenges for Africa
Demba Moussa Dembele First Published in Pambazuka 2 March 2011
In an interview with Rosa Moussauoi and Chantal Delmas, Demba Moussa
Dembele discusses Western-imposed policies for Africa, the faces of
contemporary imperialism, the notion of China’s ‘yellow peril’ and
reinvigorating the struggle against neoliberalism.
ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: We are in a period in which the
world crisis is still unresolved. It has had very concrete social
repercussions, particularly in Africa. What is the context in which the
World Social Forum took place in Dakar?
DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: The Dakar World Social Forum took place in the
context of a worsening of the crisis, not only in Senegal but also in the
bulk of African countries. For over 30 years we have been experiencing
various aspects of this crisis, which was imposed on us both by the
international context and by the negligence and abdication of some
African leaders.
The hunger riots recently in Mozambique remind us that the problem of
food supply remains acute in Africa. In Europe you are often faced with
the problem of immigration, allegedly clandestine and illegal. This is due
to the developmental crisis Africa is experiencing: mass unemployment of
young people and the crisis of education. These problems are linked to the
programmes imposed on us, which have caused budgetary austerity, the
dismantling of state and para-state enterprises and which have prevented
economic growth and employment. As a result, poverty has increased.
More than half of African countries – or rather more than half of the
African population – live on less than one dollar a day. This is less felt by
us because there are ‘safety nets’ built into the way African societies are
organised. However, the fact remains that the world is now recognising
that the programmes that have been imposed on Africa have aggravated
not only the unemployment problem but, especially, the problem of
poverty – not only in rural areas but also in urban centres. In Dakar itself,
let alone its outskirts, there are families who can only afford one meal a
day.
ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: Therefore this forum was to take
place in an extremely difficult economic and social environment. What
about the political implications?
DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: Since people no longer accept being pushed