African Governance and Development Issues in a World of Change

The present work is part of the outcome of the 2018 International Conference of the Association for the Promotion of African Studies, which had the theme African ideologies in a world of change.

Heraclitus of Ephesus, an ancient philosopher and one of the important thinkers in human history, said that change is the basic law of nature and the condition of all things. All things are in a state of flux. You cannot step twice into the same river, for just as water in a river is ceaselessly changing, so are all things in a state of flux. In relation to Africas historical experience, Alik Shahadah observes that Africa is a continent where cultures have smashed through deserts; crossed trade routes; traveled through immigration borders, disregarding her notions of geography and race; and names, foods, cultures, religions, genetics have jumped between Asia and Africa, etc. with blatant disregard for our social constructions.

The Association for the Promotion of African Studies, in her 2018 international conference, provided a context for African scholars to study African ideologies in a world of change, especially as it concerns politics and development in Africa from a variety of points of view. This piece, which is a collection of academic papers from seventeen scholars, focuses on the processes of change and disorganization of the various traditional, social, and cultural patterns and organizations and then on the possible recrystallization of some traditional elements within the more modern and differentiated societies.