African spaces between development and

sustainable development

Tuesday March 4th 2008

General presentation of the class

African spaces – Week 1

• Introductions• The aim of the class• Tools and ways to use them• Presentation of the program• Oral presentation choice• First elements• Next week• Before the end ...

African spaces – Week 1

Cristina D’Alessandro-Scarpari• PhD in Human Geography

(Université de Tours) : geographers and development

• Post-doctorate in the US (West Virginia University): Digital Earth, Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park

• Research topics: Subsharan Africa, environmental protection, development, African cities

African spaces – Week 1

Cristina D’Alessandro-Scarpari

Courriel: cristina.dalessandroscarpari@sciences-po.orgcristina.dalessandroscarpari@wanadoo.fr

Site web:http://scarpari.free.fr/ cristina

African spaces – Week 1

The aim of the class African spaces

Scientific objectives• Look at Sub-Saharan Africa from a geographical perspective• Deal with different scales: not only Africa as a unit, but also

spaces, places, regionsDidactic objectives• Go beyond common ideas brought by the media about

underdevelopment, poverty, violence, corruption...• Study problems, but also African solutions, paying attention

to powers, dynamics and changes in spaces• Be confronted with the complexity of the situations, with the

variety of cases and the huge differences within the subcontinent

General objectives• Give you theoretical frameworks and case studies• Train you to develop a critical understanding of African

realities• Give you the intellectual tools to understand the news and

the changes• Give you an understanding of African voices

African spaces – Week 1

An indispensable tool

Basic knowledge of Sub-Saharan Africa

A geographical perspective

African spaces – Week 1

http://allafrica.com/

http://en.afrik.com/

African spaces – Week 1

The best…..

African spaces – Week 1

It can be useful

African spaces – Week 1

http://www.sciences-po.fr/

Please send me an email: cristina.dalessandroscarpari@sciences-po.org

African spaces – Week 1

Sciences Po’s library

•http://bibliotheque.sciences-po.fr/ • To locate documents• Paper documents • Electronic documents (e-bibliothèque)

African spaces – Week 1

Sciences Po’s cartography lab.

http://cartographie.dessciences-po.fr/recherche.php5

African spaces – Week 1

Program’s presentation

Calendar Program Grading system Oral presentations Bibliography and readings

Choice of oral presentations

African spaces – Week 1

To start• African spaces and not Africa or

territories powerspowers• Human Geography is a social

science society and social groups, individuals actorsactors

• Spaces are not made once for all dynamicsdynamics

• Social representations have practical consequences imaginaries and actionsimaginaries and actions

African spaces – Week 1

Spaces

Societies

Powers

African spaces

African spaces – Week 1

Development?Development is a group of practices

sometimes (apparently) contradictory… to insure social reproduction … … it forces the transformation and

destruction of physical environments… and social relations …… in order to increase production …… merchandise (goods, services) …… exchanged by a solvent demand.

African spaces – Week 1

Gilbert Rist

Institut Universitaire d’Etudes du Développement

African spaces – Week 1

Next week Week 2 - From postcolonial

development to structural adjustment

Mandatory reading : Cooper F. (2002), Africa since 1940. The past of the present, Cambridge University Press, 91-132 (chapter 5 – Development and disappointment)

Fundamental reading to discuss in class : read and analyze it, think of the content

African spaces – Week 1

To end ...

www.guardian.co.uk/Monday February 25th 2008"South Africa to resume elephant culling” 

For the first time since 2004The number of elephants in the country

has risen from 8.000 to 20.000

African spaces – Week 1

Different actors and voices

• The country’s environment minister: last resort population control measure

• Animal Rights Africa criticized as flawed for ethical, scientific and historical reasons they accused the government of "bowing to pressure from private landownersprivate landowners and South South African National ParksAfrican National Parks".

African spaces – Week 1

To go further…

• Fields destroyed and landowners complain

• The South African Parks’ position• The economic business involved• The government’s dilemma• The animal rights activists To combine conservation and

people’s lives and economic needs