A FESTSCHRIFT FOR TUNDE BABAWALE @ 50
Dear Colleagues,
On 4th October, 2011, Professor Tunde Babawale would clock the golden age of fifty. Considering Professor Babawale’s towering contributions as an international academic of repute, a renowned political economist, leading intellectual exponent of African development, and the current Director-General of the Center for Black Arts and African Civilization (CBAAC), an organization which under his watch has been progressively transformed into a foremost voice and advocate of Africa and African Diaspora globally, this calls for celebration. In appreciation and recognition of his exemplary contributions to scholarship in the areas of African culture, history and development, a book project with the theme “Alternative Development Strategies for Africa” is being planned in his honour.

It is therefore my privilege and honour to invite you to contribute to the book:
“Alternative Development Strategies for Africa”.

Alternative Development Strategies for Africa
Last year, Nigeria like many sister African nations celebrated half-a-century of independence. Many have argued that the hope of ‘life more abundant’ that informed the struggles for ‘independence’ across the continent have been betrayed despite the abundant human and material resources with which Africa is endowed. For the average African, on all counts, living condition is believed to be worse off than it was fifty years ago. As a result some are wont to argue that independence was a mistake. This is in spite of the fact that in the majority of African nations, political leadership has remained faithful to the capitalist ideology of development. The development ideology pursued is a legacy of colonial imperialism which has found expression in modernization, import-substitution industrialization, export promotion, structural adjustment programme and neo-liberalism. However, these have not translated into meaningful development on the continent. Africa continues to experience increased dependency, deindustrialization, capital flight, unemployment, poverty, diseases, conflict, and backwardness. Western inspired paradigms have only complicated the crisis and contradictions of capitalist development on the continent as attested to by the global financial crisis between 2007 and 2009. This is contrary to the remarkable progress being made by countries in Asia and Latin America, particularly, Brazil, Russia, India, China (BRIC), Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Against this background, contributions to the festschrift are expected to be multi-theoretic and multidisciplinary in the analysis of the African development problematic. Papers are expected to be historical in analysis, contemporary in focus and prospective in orientation. With a critical analysis of the five decades of development orthodoxy in Africa, contributors are expected to chart a new and alternative development strategy for Africa in the context of the new global imperialist hegemony constituted around America, and the Washington Consensus. Expression of interest to contribute to the festschrift should be made through submission of an abstract not exceeding 250 words.

Sub-themes:
1. Theoretical and methodological issues
2. Capitalist development and underdevelopment
3. Class and Underdevelopment
4. (Dis) empowerment and Poverty
5. Media, Labour and (Un) civil society
6. State, Governance, Resources curse and Corruption
7. Identity, Ethnicity and citizenship
8. New Regionalism, AU and NEPAD
9. African-Asia partnership and the New Scramble for Africa
10. International and Transnational organizations
11. Corporate Governance, Banking, Micro-finance and Financial Crisis
12. Global challenges
13. Environment and climate change
14. Violence and terrorism
15. Democratization
16. Gender mainstreaming
17. Development geography and feminization of poverty
18. Privatization
19. Education, Youth and Human Capital Development
20. Agriculture, Industrialization and Employment
21. Alternative and New development paradigms

Contributions to the festschrift do not exclude other sub-themes not listed but relevant to the theme of the project. The deadline for submission of abstract is October 19th 2011. Abstract should include:
1. Author’s name and title,
2. Postal address, email and telephone number,
3. Institutional affiliation.

Authors of shortlisted abstracts would be expected to submit their full papers within four weeks of notification of acceptance. Papers would be double-blinded reviewed before publication. Publication of the festschrift is expected to be out third week of December, 2011.

Abstracts should be sent to:
Adelaja Odukoya Ibraheem Muheeb
Email: lajaodukoya@yahoo.com Email: Ibraheem_muheeb@yahoo.com