Said@Duke: Professor Achille Mbembe -- A Critique of Democracy in West Africa

Said@Duke: Achille Mbembe, professor of history and politics University of the Witwatersrand. "The democratic ideal is a minority proposition in Africa from an ideological point of view. The key driving ideology in the continent... has to do with the decolonial, meaning the reassertion of African sovereignty."

University of the Witwatersrand professor Achille Mbembe was the keynote speaker at last week's symposium exploring forms of democratic governance in West Africa. Speakers focused on contemporary modes of governance and the pan-Africanisms and militarisms of the early postcolonial period that still reverberate in the region. The Africa Initiative at Duke University and the Franklin Humanities Institute co-sponsored the event.

View more from the Said@Duke series.