Democracy and politics are under siege globally. This is visible in current trends of narrowing civil society, homogenization of knowledge and thought, depoliticization of imagination, as well as identity and post-truth politics. In Africa, we can see a problematic new “Scramble for Africa” by the US, EU and China. The latter is famously undemocratic, yet a thriving economy. So the question becomes, what is the role of democracy in the future in relation to planetary politics and erosion of political imagination?
The “battle” of the future is no longer on communism vs. capitalism, but rather freedom itself. Many argue the future will be African due to demographic, economic and political transitions taking place globally. Political mobilizations are currently prevalent within Africa and beyond, which raise questions of sovereignty and imaginations of politics. According to Afrobarometer, democracy and political freedom are endogenous visions for Africa, which is exemplified in contemporary civil movements on the continent. Therefore, how Africa evolves and thinks about democracy, is crucial how future global politics of planetary governance will unravel.
According to Achille Mbembe, Africa needs not just elections, but substantive democracy. He emphasizes that the internal dynamics in Africa will matter more than external forces and actors. Watch a discussion below where Mbembe and Felwine Sarr discuss democracy in Africa.
POLIFA 