Essai d'histoire comparée des trajectoires de developpement de la Chine et de l'Afrique sub-saharienne , 1830-2017

Abstract

China and sub-Saharan Africa were, at one time in human history, excluded from the world system. Each in its own way has experienced imperialist domination and the hardship and humiliation of being a backward economy. In the 1960s, China and sub-Saharan Africa were classified by some international institutions as part of the Developing Countries (DC) bloc. For China, this difficult period created a psychological shock that generated a desire for a renaissance. Sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, was deeply decerebrate and had no alternative but to mimic its former masters. This contrast forms the basis of the present thesis. It postulates that the consciousness of a heroic historical past is the driving force behind any endogenous project of emergence. In a constructivist and interpretativist posture, this study has mobilised the theories of dependence, complex interdependence, economic modernisation, the world-system, policy transfer, neo-classical international relations and the historical theory of challenge and response. Methodologically, in a comparative approach, this study was conditioned by data collection from a variety of written documentation and interviews withitnesses and observers of development issues in sub-Saharan Africa and China. It emerges that the imperialist experience has weakened the resources for development in sub-Saharan Africa and China. While China opted for a break with its colonial heritage, sub-Saharan Africa integrated its own as an important element of its development project. Moreover, China, in its development choices, invested in sectors likely to favour its affirmation and international emancipation, while Africa south of the Sahara made choices that reinforced its dependence. The fundamental consequences of this differentiated approach to development have been the reclassification of China in the world order and a correlative downgrading of sub-Saharan Africa on the same stage. China has thus structured its development project around the objective of restoring its past power, while that of sub-Saharan Africa has been structured by submission and a belief in the virtues of international cooperation.