Political economies & the study of Africa: Critical considerations

This paper is a revised version of a keynote address to the Review of African Political Economy Conference in Birmingham on 5 September 2003. It situates the contributions of the Review of African Political Economy to understanding Africa in relation to the defining texts of political economy and economic science and of political domination. It rejects culturalist, rationalist and causal explanations of African societies in favour of historical analyses. It argues for the importance of studies of Africa for the historical and social sciences. It considers the conditions necessary to create and sustain democratic citizenship. It questions the idea of ‘development’ and argues for the need to examine ‘really-existing policies’. It follows Max Weber in contrasting the conflicting responsibilities of political action and scientific enquiry.