MODULE 1B

HYPERREALITY: RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA

© Dr. Francis Adu-Febiri 2020

Multi-Ethnic Collaboration?

Conflict Resolution?

Poverty Reduction?

Fighting Corruption?Equity Programs?

Creativity & Innovation?

Green Revolution?

Managing Chaos?

• “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” • Albert Einstein

• MOTIVATE:• Why we should care about re-imagining and re-imaging

Africa

RE-IMAGINING & RE-IMAGING AFRICA:Camosn African Awareness Committee (AAC)

MEETINGS:Days: TuesdaysTime: 5:00 pm – 30:00 pmRoom: Y 220

RE-IMAGINING & RE-IMAGING AFRICA:The Application of the Postmodernist Paradigm

• MAIN THEORY:

• The postmodernist paradigm decries the pre-constituted universalized/globalized center and its accompanying exclusion, marginalization and oppression that the politics, representation, social structure, and philosophy of modernity and modernization-driven globalization produce (Roseman 1992). It is in this context that postmodernist paradigm highlights and approves the fragmentary, heterogeneous, and plural nature of reality and inherently unstable and shifting nature of the subject and individual consciousness that advanced/Post-capitalism has produced (Wallace and Wolf 2006). This is the reality, everything else is hyperreality.

POSTMODERNIST PARADIGM

• RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA FROM THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE:

•Rebranding Approach• Afro-optimism• Balancing Afro-pessimism with Afro-optimism

•Reconstruction Approach• Transforming Africa’s Political Economy:

- Sociology and Development Theories• Transforming Africa’s Socio-cultural Organization:

- Indigenous African perspectives• Transforming Africa’s Human Agency

- HFC Development

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA: Media, Sociology, Development Theories and Human Factor

• 1. Media Gurus propose using the mass and social media to rebrand Africa into an imagined positive symbol. The focus is on IMAGE that could be hyperreal—not reflecting the actual state of the human condition of Africa.

• 2. Sociology and Development Theories focus on SUBSTANCE, that is, developing the continent socially, culturally, politically and economically to create a real IMAGE of Africa to transform the image of Africa to reflect the resultant positive social regularity, not the exceptions, of the continent.

• 3. The Human Factor theoretical perspective agrees with sociology and development theories that rebranding is futile because the existing negative image of Africa may be a reflection of a social regularity (actual state), not the exception, of the continent’s development. Therefore, what is needed is substantive or structural positive transformation.• Unlike Sociology and Development Theories, however, the Human Factor (HF) theory argues that it is human factor

decay (HFD) which is preventing the sustainable development/transformation of Africa. Replacing HFD with human factor competency (HFC) is the most effective way of equipping Africans to re-imagine and create sustainable development breakthroughs. When this is achieved, the image of Africa will organically change from hyperreal to real. The global community will respect Africa and Africans.

•EXPLORE:•KEY CONCEPTS T0 KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE

STRATEGIES OF RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA

• The Rebranding Strategies include:

• 1. Afro-optimists recommend educating the rest of the world to become aware of the positive identity (Africans’ own self-image) of Africa

• 2. The “objective or scientific” perspective recommends the balancing of Afro-pessimism with Afro-optimism in the western media and academy.

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA: REBRANDINGAFRO-OPTIMISM: ESSENTIAL LINKS TO AFRICA’S HOPE

AFRO-OPTIMISM

Awareness of

Human Agency

Vibrant Informal

Economic Sector

Indigenous Social

Support Systems

Indigenous

Knowledges and

Education

Emergent Human

Factor Competency

Education

Re-emerging of

Democracy and

Reconciliation

African Diaspora,

Transnationalism,

and Allies

Resilience of

Africans

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA:REBRANDING

• Objectivity/Scientific: Africans want to see an image of Africa that is scientific, that is, a true or complete reflection of the realities of Africa• Balance Afro-pessimism with Afro-optimism

• Balance: Because of self-fulfilling prophesy involved in labeling, rebranding Africa to reflect the true/complete realities of Africa is more critical than many of what the United Nations millennium development goals have constructed as priorities for African countries.

• http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA: REBRANDING: Toward “Science” of Balancing Afro-pessimism with Afro-optimism

AFRO-

PESSIMISM

AFRO-

OPTIMISM

Famine Agricultural

Success

Stories

De-forestation

Re-forestation

Ethnic

ConflictMulti-Ethnic

CooperationOppression

of Females Female

Power

Political

InstabilityTransition to

Democracy

Civil Wars

Conflict

Resolution

Poverty

Enterprise

of the Poor

Resource

CurseResource

Blessings

HIV/AIDS

Pandemic

Reducing and

Living Positively

With HIV/AIDS

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA: REBRANDING BALANCING AFRO-PESSIMISM WITH AFRO-OPTIMISM

• For every famine there exists an agricultural “success story” such as Botswana, where forward-thinking leadership has made that country a net exporter of foodstuffs. For every military coup d’etat there exists a transition to civilian rule, such as Benin, where 19 years of military dictatorship (1972-91) was replaced by democracy (1991- present). For every civil war there exists a case of conflict resolution, as in Mozambique, where a peace accord signed in 1992 ended nearly 30 years of guerrilla warfare. For every ethnic conflict there exists a well-meaning attempt to create multi-ethnic cooperation, such as South Africa’s democratization under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela (1994-99) and his successor, President Thabo Mbeki (Schraeder2004, p. 14).

RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA: REBRANDINGBALANCING AFRO-PESSIMISM WITH AFRO-OPTIMISM

• For the upwardly mobile cosmopolitan Africans…Africa is no longer the poverty-stricken panderer of yesteryears, and a hopeful phase of dramatic economic growth signals a new dawn. Articles from renowned publicationsand projections from the IMF validate the so called “rise.” In addition to the growth of the telecommunication industry, an expanding consumer class, new natural resource reserves, and a surge in foreign direct investment, the new emerging African economy is a triumphant story that many in the Diaspora promulgate and celebrate. Unsurprisingly, participants at conferences and galas at Harvard and Columbia this year are invited to embrace the momentum, realize that Africa is on the move, and celebrate Africa’s successes. In doing so, however, they are discounting the overwhelming realities of millions of Africans whose livelihood has stagnated or deteriorated in this period of great growth (http://www.compareafrique.com/africa-is-rising-most-africans-are-not/)

• RE-IMAGINING AND RE-IMAGING AFRICA: RECONSTRUCTION APPROACH:

• 1. Transformed Political Economy: The Perspectives of Sociological and Development Paradigms/Theories

• 2. Transformed Socio-cultural Organization: The Indigenous African Perspectives

• 3. Transformed Human Agency: The Perspective of the Human Factor Theory

RECONSTRUCTING AFRICA: THE SOCIOLOGICAL PARADIGM

S(p)Personal, particular, place, political, passion

are a function of Social Forces

1. Functionalist Paradigm

2. Social Conflict Paradigm

3. Interactionist Paradigm

4. Feminist Paradigm

5. Postmodernist Paradigm

Auguste Comte, the Father of Sociology

RECONSTRUCTING AFRICA: DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

Immanuel Wallerstein:

World System Theory

Andre Gunder Frank:

Dependency Theory

W.W. Rostow:

Modernization Theory

Senyo Adjibolosoo & Francis Adu-Febiri

Human Factor Theory

RECONSTRUCTING AFRICA: DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

• The Western Approach to Africa’s Reconstruction

• DEVELOPMENT THEORIES– Modernization Theory: Marketization Approach and Civil Society

Approach: Adopt western culture and technology

• Flows from Functionalist Sociological Paradigm

– Dependency Theory: The State Approach: Break from the western capitalist political economy

• Flows from Social Conflict Sociological paradigm

– World System Theory: Develop Socialism/Communism

• Flows from Social Conflict Sociological Paradigm

RECONSTRUCTING AFRICA: WESTERN APPROACH

• Top-Down and externally initiated:

– 1. The Market Approach (Marketization: Profit before people)

– 2. The State Approach (Politicization: Power before people)

– 3. The Civil Society Approach (Cummunitization: Community before individual people)

RECONSTRUCTING AFRICA: INDIGENOUS AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES

• Perspective: African solutions to Africa’s problems

• It is a Community Empowerment Approach: Bottom-up, locally initiated and people-focused:

• The community empowerment approach

• African Hearts (http://www.african-hearts.org/)

• Leader: Lutaaya Abdul

• WomenFirst(http://womenfirst.co/contact-us/)

• Leader: Agnes Twoli

• Uganda Rural Fund (http://ugandaruralfund.org/about-urf/)

• Leader: Fr. John Mary LugemwaMr. L. Abdul, Executive Director,

Senge Junior school, presenting to

Francis Adu-Febiri & Camosun and

Uvic field school students in Uganda,

May 2013

RECONSTRUCTING AFRICA: THE HUMAN FACTOR PERSPECTIVE

• Human Agency: Human Factor Theory:

• Intersects with the Interactionist Sociological Paradigm.

Approach: Human Factor Competency Education and Training

• Human Factor Leadership Academy

https://www.iihfd.org/educational-programs/human-factor-leadership-academy/

THE HOPE OF AFRICA

THE HOPE OF AFRICA

• The hope of Africa lies in the internal-oriented community empowerment approach through the development of human factor competency (HFC) and the elimination of human factor decay (HFD) instead of rebranding of Africa or external-oriented reconstruction of African countries.

THE HOPE OF AFRICA: “Cheetah Generation”?

• http://www.ted.com/talks/george_ayittey_on_cheetahs_vs_hippos.html

• “This grab-you-by-the-throat speech by Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes an almost breathtaking torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders and the complacency that allows them to thrive. These 'Hippos' (lazy, slow, ornery) have ruined postcolonial Africa, he says. Why, then, does he remain optimistic? Because of the young, agile 'Cheetah Generation,' a 'new breed of Africans' taking their futures into their own hands.”

THE HOPE OF AFRICA: “Human Factor Competency”

• The “Cheetah Generation” of Africans need to use the SANKOFA methodology to acquire and apply Human Factor Competency (HFC) that flows from the UBUNTU philosophy in order to accomplish the laudable feat of taking Africa from the quagmire of underdevelopment to the desired levels of sustainable development (Senyo Adjibolosoo 1995; Francis Adu-Febiri 2001 and 2003).

• Without the implementation of the human factor competency (HFC) education model in Africa, the “cheetah generation” is likely to metamorphose into a “hippo generation”

THE HOPE OF AFRICA: “Human Factor Competency”

• Human Factor Competency (HFC) constitutes peoples’ thinking and humanitarian abilities that inspire and facilitate their acquisition and application of appropriate resources to connect with our common humanity and the environment emotionally, morally and spiritually to make a sustainable difference in society (Adu-Febiri 2014)

HUMAN FACTOR LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (HFLA):Producing a generation with Human Factor Competency

• Hence the establishment of the Human Factor Leadership Academy (HFLA) in Akatsi, Ghana

• https://www.iihfd.org/educational-programs/human-factor-leadership-academy/

Prof. Adjibolosoo, Founder & CEO of HFLA

HUMAN FACTOR LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (HFLA):Producing a generation with Human Factor Competency

THE HOPE OF AFRICA: Producing a “cheetah generation” with Human Factor Competency

THE HOPE OF AFRICA:The Revival of UBUNTU

• Human Factor Competency education would play a major role in reviving and applying the African philosophy of UBUNTU to re-create sustainable development in Africa.

• Revival is built into Indigenous African societies. Therefore, Africa does not need to look elsewhere for inspiration to revive ubuntu.

THE HOPE OF AFRICA:REVIVAL OF UBUNTU

• REVIVAL = Sankofa:

• “The Sankofa Bird looks backward with the egg of the future in her beak, constantly checking [with the past] as she moves into the future”. (http://www.sankofa.com/videobookscafe/).

Indigenous Akan (Ghana)

metaphor or symbol of

inspiration for revival.

Sankofa Bird Sankofa Symbol

THE HOPE OF AFRICA:The Revival of UBUNTU

• Ubuntu is a complex word from the Nguni language with several definitions, all of them difficult to translate into English. At the heart of each definition, though, is the connectedness that exists or should exist between people. Ubuntu is best known outside of Africa as a humanist philosophy associated with Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Curiosity about the name may also come from it being used for the open source operating system called Ubuntu.

• Ubuntu refers to behaving well towards others or acting in ways that benefit the community. Such acts could be as simple as helping a stranger in need, or much more complex ways of relating with others. A person who behaves in these ways has ubuntu. He or she is a full person(https://www.thoughtco.com/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-43307)

THE HOPE OF AFRICA:The Revival of UBUNTU

• The ubuntu world view [is a social force] expresses an ontology [reality] that addresses relations among people, relations with the living and the nonliving, and a spiritual existence that promotes love and harmony among peoples and communities (Chilisa 2012, p. 109)

THE HOPE OF AFRICA:The Revival of UBUNTU• …It [ubuntu] is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my

humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong. It speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous, willing to share. Such people are open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The quality of ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanise them (Tutu 2004).

•CREATE:•Be a Changemaker; be a Gamechanger

CREATIVITY & INNOVATION EXERCISE #1

• 1. Examine/review the two creative ideas—the rebranding and reconstruction approaches—of eliminating Africa’s hyperreal image and establishing a New Afrika.

• 2. Use the knowledge you gain from the review to either:• A) produce an innovative social design (provide description and diagram of

your design that coordinates processes/steps, tasks, resources, and people) to implement any of these two creative ideas or

• B) come up with alternative creative ideas (provide description) to replace Africa’s hyperreal image with a new real image

3. Write down your innovative design or creative ideas and bring to the next class for two bonus marks.

•CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

• To understand and “develop” Africa, we need

• 1) a real and complete scientific image of Africa.

• 2) an authentic indigenous African development vision (ubuntu), methodology (sankofa), theoretical perspective (HF theory), and processes/practices (HFC education and training) instead of Africa mimicking Western development agenda and focusing on rebranding.

• 3) the revival (sankofa) of the UBUNTU vision/philosophy through the development and application of human factor competency (HFC) of Africans and their allies would engage and uplift Africa to re-create its own capacity to initiate and do its own development. This is how the image of Africa would transform from hyperreality into reality; not through rebranding and the cheetah generation that lacks HFC.

• It is through Human Factor Competency Education and training that Africa and Africans will experience sustainable development.

CONCLUSION14CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

• Adjibolosoo, Senyo B-S. K. 1995. The Human Factor in Developing Africa, Westport,

• Conn.: Praeger.

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2014. “Educating for a World that Does not Exist: Issues in Africa’s Education and Training Programs” Forthcoming. Review of Human Factor Studies.

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2013. “Intercultural Diversities, Common Humanity”. LOTUS Presentation on Intercultural Diversity and Restructuring Post-Secondary Education, organized by LOTUS, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2004. “Re-defining the Human Factor: An Explorative exercise”. Review of Human Factor Studies, Volume 10, No. 1, Special Issue, pp. 121-128.

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2003/2004. “Facilitating cultural Diversity in a Monolithic Global Economy: The Role of Human Factor Education.” International Journal of the Humanities, Volume 1, pp. 885-908.

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2003: “Putting the Human Factor to Work in African Tourism: A Human Factor Competency Model.” In Victor N. Muzvidziwa and Paul Gundani (eds.). Management and the Human Factor: Lessons for Africa. Harare: University of Zimbabwe Publications.

REFERENCES

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2001: “Human Factor Competence and the Performance Effectiveness of Hospitality Professionals.” Senyo Adjibolosoo, ed., Portraits of Human Behavior and Performance: The Human Factor in Action, Lanham: University Press of America.

• Adu-Febiri, Francis. 2000. “Putting the Human Factor to Work in African Tourism: A Human Factor Competency Model”. Paper presented at the 4th Bi-annial conference of the IIHFD, July 17-18, 2000. Harare: University of Zimbabwe.

• Ayittey, George. 1999. Africa is Chaos: A Comparative History. London: Palgrave Macmillan

• Chavis, Rod. 1998. “Africa in the Western Media.” A Paper presented at the Sixth Annual African Studies Consortium Workshop, October 02, 1998). UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER.

• Finch, Charles S. 1989. “Meeting the Pharaoh: Conversations with Cheikh Anta Diop”. In Great African Thinkers. Third Edition. Ivan Van Sertima (ed.).New Brunswick, NJ.: Transaction Books, Rutgers.

REFERENCES

• Mengara, Daniel (ed.). 2001. Images of Africa: Stereotypes and Realities. London: Africa World Press

• Moseley, William G. 2009. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on African Issues,Third Edition. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education.

• Schraeder, Peter J. 2004. African Politics and Society: A Mosaic in Transformation. Second Edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth

• Tutu, Desmond. 2004. God Has A Dream: London: Doubleday.

• Wangoola, Paulo. 2013. Mpambo Afrikan Multiversity: A Transformative Knowledge Chain in Higher Learning. Jinja, Uganda: Mpambo Afrikan Multiversity.

• Wangoola, Paulo. 2012. People-to-People Mini Summit of The Afrikan Black Nation (The First nation) and The First Nations of the Turtle Island (Canada) on Mulembr Mutinzi. Jinja, Uganda: Mpambo Afrikan Multiversity.