Contenu du sommaire : La renaissance afro-asiatique ?

Africa in Asia
Today, the presence of Asia in everyday life in Africa has given rise to extravangant hopes and fears, as well as syncretic ideologies. This issue of Politique africaine examines both the differences and interactions between what might be called doctrinal « Afro-Asianism » and the present day pragmatism of relations between the two continents.

Comrades, Pariahs and Businessmen
This article analyses transformations in relations between South Africa and China during the Cold War, the crisis created by the question of diplomatic relations after apartheid, and the development of contemporary economic and political relations. It demonstrates how the recent intensification of exchanges is inscribed in the continuity of informal relations established during the apartheid era.

The Asian Subsidiaries of the Ivory Trade
The recent legal sale of Central African ivory to Japanese entrepreneurs reopens a chapter of the very long and lucrative commercial history linking Africa to the Far East, often via Europe. Despite the ban on ivory sales, transnational subsidiaries have demonstrated the limits of strictly repressive economic policy; they incite decisionmakers to rethink the terms of attempts to preserve endangered species.

Ideologies, Diplomacy and Interests in Afro-Asian Economic Relations
Since 1960, Afro-Asian economic relations have gone through four very distinct phases, which reflect concurrent periods of Asian growth. Efforts to create new preferential relations between Africa and Asia through political voluntarism has only facilitated and exacerbated this growth.

When Malaysia Inc. Plays the South-South Card in Subsaharan Africa
As the champion of « Asian knows how to say no » to the negative effects of globalization and the Western model of development, Dr. Mahathir knew was quite able to conquer an attentive audience and complacent economic partners in sub-saharan Africa. Malaysia has managed to impose itself somewhere between south-south cooperation and south-south exploitation, thus becoming, in just a few years, an undeniable and yet ambiguous political-economic fact on the continent today.

Indians Return to Uganda
Having been expelled by Idi Amin in 1972, while in control of the country's core economic activities, Indians have been returning to Uganda since the early 1990s. Encouraged by the Museveni regime's new positioning, many hope to recover their properties and implicate themselves in business ventures. This article points out the economic and political stakes, as well as the social tensions produced by this return to Uganda.

Resolving the Western Sahara Conflict
The referendum on self-determination in the Western Sahara appears, once again, destined for postponement. How have recent changes in the region – the coming to power of Bouteflika in Algeria, the death of Hassan II and the discrediting o Driss Basri in Morocco – impacted upon the resolution of this conflict? As it seems to sink into quicksand, many Saharouis have gone to Morocco and Mauritania, where they find political and economic opportunities. This move, however, has not led to the effacement of their claim to Saharoui identity.

Tunisia: The Illusion of Elections
Twelve years after the coming of the « new era » in Tunisia, this country hast taken up a paradoxical stance: official discourse which attempts to be reformist and modernist in the face of political practices of immobilism and represssion. The last elections illustrate quite flatly the difficulties of maintaining such an equilibrium in a context of transformation.

Architecture, Resistance and Christian Faith in a Bamileke Chiefdom: Building in the Name of God
Architecture is a poweful tool in the construction of political power. It also plays an important role in resistance to such power. This article examines how a Bamileke community has made use of the constructed environment, topography, construction methods, and diverse conceptions of landscape. It shows how and why, through architecture, diverse sectors of the Bamileke community (chiefs and their allies, priests and pastors, commoners, women) have turned Christian institutions to their own benefit in order to achieve their own objectives and ensure social mobility.

Reflections on Civil Society in Africa in post-Zongo Burkina Faso
Following up on articles consecrated to the « Zongo affair » in Politique africaine (June 1999), the journal now offers an analysis of the mobilization of civil society in Burkina Faso. One year after the disappearance of this journalist, this author shows how the assassination has contributed to the political affirmation of civil society, while underscoring the ambiguities of this movement. Indeed, the ambivalent status of this political movement highlights new areas of empirical research on African civil society.