DEPARTMENT OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL
SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF
GHANA
SECOND SEMESTER
2018/2019 ACADEMIC YEAR
COURSE SYLLABUS
Programme: BACHELOR
OF ARTS (BA)
Course Code and
Title: POLI 346: AFRICA AND THE GLOBAL SYSTEM
Credits: THREE
CREDIT HOURS
Lecture
Period(s) and Venue: Thursdays 7:30am-9:20am, JQB 24
Course
Instructor(s): S.K.M. AHIAWORDOR
Office:
Room #6, Political Science Department
Office
Hours: Wednesday 10:00am-3:00pm and Thursday 9:30am-2:00pm
Email:
ahiawordor2000@yahoo.com
Teaching Assistant(s): Gideon
Bilijoe (0243247533), Adwoa Konadu Asante (0504979679), and Barbara Lartey
(0502471616)
|
Purpose
and Objectives
Course
Description: This
course focuses on Africa’s role and position in Global Affairs from the post-colonial
to the present era. It exposes
students to the nature of the African condition, her role in global affairs
as well as her relationship with major actors such as states in the developed
world and global governance and economic/financial institutions. It as well
deals with challenges facing Africa’s development and her contribution to
global development.
Course
Outcome: Students
should be able to understand the nature of the Global System as well as
Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world. In particular, students
should be able to appreciate the issues that have influenced Africa’s
integration into the global system and be able to discuss these issues with
empirical evidence.
Course
Objectives/Goals: The primary goal for offering this course is to encourage
students to form independent judgments about Africa’s role and position in
the Global System. Students are encouraged to be able to identify factors
undermining Africa’s progress. Students will be encouraged to increase their
understanding and ability to analyze current policy debates on global issues
and to be able to explain the complex interactions of actors in the global
system that directly impact Africa.
Course
Requirement: Every
week, there will be assigned topics for discussion. It is important that students effectively
prepare and contribute to such discussions. Reading materials listed below must
be read for a decent grade in the course.
The readings have been selected to provide the basis for effective
class-tutorial discussions. However, these readings are just representative
of an entire body of literature with which students must familiarize themselves. The readings listed below are constantly
under review and additional/revised readings and sources of information will
be available. The use of the internet for additional information is
encouraged. Students are however seriously advised against plagiarism.
Mode
of Assessment of Students: There shall be two different forms of assessment which
shall include an interim assessment to be held during the semester and an end
of semester sit in examination. The interim assessment may take the form of
quizzes, assignments and sit in mid-semester tests. Students may also be
requested to present term papers. The interim assessment shall carry 30 marks
while the end of semester sit in examination shall carry 70 marks. It is
compulsory for students to partake in these assessment tests.
Final
Examination Format: There shall be six essay questions and students are
required to answer three (3) OR a mixture of short answer questions and
essays.
Plagiarism
Policy: The
University frowns on plagiarism which it considers as a very dishonest
intellectual practice. Consequently, it is an offence to plagiarize the work
of others without duly acknowledging the source. Students who engage in this
dishonest act will be severely sanctioned in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the University. For the avoidance of doubt, students may
access the plagiarism policy on the University of Ghana Public Affairs or the
AQAU webpages.
Grading
Scale: For
information on grading scales, students are advised to refer to the relevant
pages of the undergraduate Handbook.
|
Course Delivery
Schedule
|
Week
|
Date
|
Topic
|
Summary of issues to be discussed
|
|
1
|
4th-8th
Feb
|
Administrative
element of the course/ Course structure.
|
A
general overview of the course requirements and rules will be discussed.
|
|
2
|
11th-15th
Feb
|
The
nature of the Global System and its essential features.
|
This
will involve a discussion of the nature of the global system using the
general systems theory as a theoretical foundation and also identify the essential
features of the system.
|
|
3
|
18th-23rd
Feb
|
Africa’s
position and role in the Global System.
|
A
discussion of what Africa is and what it is not. It will also involve
discussion of the African condition as outlined by Prof Ali Mazrui.
|
|
4
|
25th
Feb-1st March
|
Continuation
of Africa’s position and role in the Global System.
|
A
continuation of Topic Three.
|
|
5
|
4th-8th
March
|
Processes
leading to Africa’s integration into the Global System.
|
The
discussion will involve the factors that have influenced Africa’s integration
into the Global Systems especially the slave trade and Colonialism.
|
|
6
|
11th-15th
March
|
Continuation
of discussion of topic in Week 5.
|
A
continuation of the previous topic
|
|
7
|
18th-22nd
March
|
Pan-Africanism.
|
What
Pan-Africanism is, its founding advocates and what they fought for.
|
|
8
|
25th-29th
March
|
Continuation
of Pan-Africanism.
|
Phases
that Pan-Africanism has gone through and its current state.
|
|
9
|
1st-5th
April
|
Mid
Semester Exams.
|
Mid
Semester sit-in Exams.
|
|
10
|
8th-12th
April
|
Africa
and the Bretton Woods Institutions.
|
What
are the Bretton Woods institutions and what have been their negative and
positive impact on Africa?
|
|
11
|
15th-19th
April
|
Africa and the United Nations
Organization
|
Africa’s
role in the UN and how the UN has impacted Africa.
|
|
12
|
22nd-26th
April
|
The New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD).
|
What
the NEPAD is, its history, objectives, principles, prospects, and challenges
for Africa.
|
|
13
|
29th
April-3rd May
|
Course Review and Evaluation
|
Course
evaluation and summary of all that have been discussed during the semester.
|
|
14-17
|
6th-25th
May
|
Revision and Exams
|
Revision
and Examinations
|
Reading List/Required Text
Ake,
Claude, A Political Economy of Africa, (New York, Longman, 1981).
Asante,
S.K.B., Implementing the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD):
Challenges and the Path to Progress, (Graphic Packaging, Accra, 2006).
Boafo-Arthur,
Kwame, “Caught between NEPAD and Neo-Liberalism: Human Security in Africa’s
Renaissance Strategy”, in Kwame A. Ninsin (ed.), Globalized Africa:
Political, Social and Economic Impact, (Freedom Publication, 2012).
Crowder,
Michael, West African under Colonial Rule, (Hutchinson & Co. Ltd.,
London, 1967), Chapter 2.
Dougherty,
James E., “The Study of the Global Systems”, in Rosenau James N., Kenneth W.
Thompson and Gavin Boyd, World Politics: An Introduction, New York, NY:
Free Press, 1976), pp.597-623.
Dubois,
W.E.B., The World and Africa, (Viking Press, New York, 1947), pp.8-10;
pp.238 & 243-44.
Fitzgerald,
Francis A., “Structural Adjustment in Africa: Theoretical and Practical
Issues”, in Aryeetey, Ernest (ed.), Planning African Growth and Development:
Some Current Issues, (Accra, ISSER/UNDP, 1992).
Goldstein
S. Joshua and Pevehouse C. Jon, International Relations, 5th
edition, (Longman, New York, 2011), Chapter 1.
Jacques
Garvey, Amy, Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey, Vol.11,
(Universal Publishing House, New York, 1926), pp.95-120.
Kevin,
Shillington, History of Africa, 2nd edition, (MacMillan, New
York, 2005).
Mazrui,
Ali A., The African Condition: A Political Diagnosis, (Cambridge
University Press, 1980).
Nkrumah,
Kwame, Africa Must Unite (Heinemann, London, 1963).
Rivkin,
Arnold, The African Presence in World Affairs, (MacMillan, New York,
1964), Chapter 10.
Rodney,
Walter, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, (Washington DC, Howard
University Press, 1982).
Rothchild,
Ronald and Harberson, John (eds.), Africa in World Politics: The Africa
World System in Flux, 3rd edition, (West View Press, San
Francisco, 2000), Chapter 1 and 2.
Rothchild,
Ronald and Harberson, John (eds.), Africa in World Politics: Post-Cold War
Challenges, 2nd edition, (West View Press, San Francisco, 1995),
Chapter 1 and 2.
Taylor,
Ian, The International Relations of Sub-Saharan Africa, (Continuum
International Publishing Group Limited, New York, 2010), Chapter 7.
Uzoigwe,
G.N., “European Partition and Conquest of Africa: An Overview”, in Adu-Boahen
(ed.), General History of Africa VIII: Africa under Colonial Domination
1880-1935, (University of California Press, 1981), pp.19-62
NOTE: other
relevant materials will be recommended as and when necessary during lectures.
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