AFRICA, THIRD WORLD STUDIES AND OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS RESEARCHERS 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

"What is the Capital of Africa", an American Journalist asked Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton at a press briefing when she was preparing, as America's First Lady, to leave on an African trip.1

Thank you very much for the opportunity to share with you a few words as 1 end my term as the 2003-2004 President of the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS). Also, I want to thank all of you - as hardworking colleagues, friends and members of ATWS - for traveling from far and near to attend our annual meeting for the purpose of presenting results and other aspects of the research that is much needed about Africa and other parts of the Third World. Above all, I also wish to thank the Executive Council of ATWS as well as this year's program chair for organizing another wonderful and successful meeting.

The subject of my talk tonight focuses on the following question: What are the pros and cons of studying Africa, Asia and Latin America.2 Additionally, how can we make the study of Africa and, again, other parts of the Third World more meaningful and relevant to the broader scholarly and mainstream communities? Indeed, all of us are scholars and, as a result, there is no need for me to stand here and adumbrate our collective knowledge of various theories and concepts on Africa and other parts of the Third World.

Instead, I wish to use this opportunity to talk briefly about the pros and cons of studying Africa and other Third World regions. It is also to suggest five ways that we, as scholars, can make our research more relevant in our scholarly endeavors as well as communities. Briefly, we can learn from the words of the old gospel hymnal, which thematically underscores, and I quote, "A Charge to keep I have, a God to glorify."3 Consequently, all of us, as scholars of the Third World, have our respective scholarly charges to keep to ourselves, our colleagues in Third World Studies and our peers in the scholarly community. That is why I am suggesting the five ways to keep that charge so that, if well done, no educated person, including our bold American Journalists, would again ask us: either what is the capital of Africa, or the capital of the Third World, as if both areas are monolithic entities!

When we consider how individuals in our society and, indeed, how much of the media do portray the Third World, we must wonder silently and, at times, loudly as whether or not there is any real virtue in studying a part of the world that many people either pity and know nothing about or, at worst, do not respect at all. That was why, in terms of Africa, Mrs. Clinton had to remind her fellow Americans, on page 400 of her published 2003 memoirs, that Africa is not a country but a continent, when she quoted the question of the Journalist that asked for the name of the capital of Africa.4

As I recall, when America began to engage in military operations with Iraq, the media had to use precious television time depicting maps of the Middle East because most Americans did not know where to find Iraq on the globe. Indeed, when we think about Africa and other Third World areas in general, the prevailing notion is that these places are only beneficiaries of Super Power grace, and that they play no significant role in the larger aspects of global power.5

Yet, as scholars - who happily study Africa and other parts of the Third World - we know this to be far from the truth. In fact, for me, the most positive aspect of studying the Third World is the fact that these are areas where good research can make a difference, and this is especially so because research in our various specific areas and specialties has been neglected for so long. That is why we must do more than deny the inaccuracy of presentations and perceptions on the Third World. In fact, we can and, alas, we must use our research prowess and expertise to change them. In the remaining time that I have left, I want to delve directly into the five ways that we can make important changes that can catapult the Third World from the proverbial sidelines as well as obscurity to the mainstream of intellectual and policy discussions.6

First, we know that Third World areas, by virtue of their enormous size, abundance of natural resources, human capital and strategic locations have always played important roles in regional and global history, politics, overall human society and the economy. The mere fact that the first American presidential debate and the only vice-presidential debates for the 2004 elections devoted most of their coverage to Iraq, with discussions of the painful situations in the Sudan7 and North Korea do conclusively show that, like it or not, Third World countries are important players in American politics, regional politics and international affairs. Yet, we cannot leave it to the mainstream media and other scholars with little or no interest in Africa and the Third World to demonstrate the importance and relevance of these countries.

Instead, we must take proactive stances to ensure that accurate research in these areas is conducted and disseminated. Therefore, my first piece of scholarly advice is that, as researchers or scholars of Africa the developing parts of the World, we must be more proactive about framing our research questions in ways that connect with ongoing debates in the so-called mainstream areas of our disciplines. We cannot expect mainstream scholars to knock down our doors in search of our research. Instead, we must conduct at least some of our research in ways that connect with the broader on-going arguments in our respective disciplines, using our own research to prosecute and investigate theories, which purport to explain the Third World, although they actually do not.