The Invisible Violence of Celebrity Humanitarianism: Soft Images and Hard Words in the Making and Unmaking of Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riina Yrjölä
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
World Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Extreme Poverty ◽  
Humanitarian Action ◽  
The World ◽  
Truth Claims

Through their actions to eliminate extreme poverty and preventable diseases in Africa, Irish musicians Robert (Bob) Geldof and Bono (Paul David Hewson) today form a visible and celebrated centre in the world of humanitarianism as ‘political activists,' ‘celebrity diplomats,' ‘global Samaritans,' men who, to quote former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, ‘rock the establishment' (TIME 13.11.2006). Their contemporary calls to ‘make poverty history' in Africa are so widely repeated and commonsensical that questions about the exceptionality of this humanitarian action itself rarely arise. In fact, despite the increasing visibility of celebrity humanitarianism, no research on their representations and truth-claims has been done among political scientists.By broadening the concept of the political to include the ‘low' politics of celebrities, specifically their discourses, practices, ideals and world constructions, the aim of this article is to critically examine how Bob Geldof and Bono – the two most visible and celebrated Western spokespersons acting on behalf of Africa – constitute ‘Africa' in their representations not only as a place, but also as serving purpose in the world system.The article argues that, while Geldof and Bono do push for economic changes for Africa, the spatio-temporality of their imaginaries and interpretations on Africa elaborate a colonial imaginary by (re)producing Africa as a specifically Western project and calling. By repeating and circulating the vocabulary of humanitarianism as a moral duty in combination with the engagement in power politics, these discourses not only serve a purpose in the maintenance of hegemonic Western activity in Africa, but are also instrumental in constructing consensus for the existing world order, where the global South is, and remains, in a subordinate position to the West.

The impacts of foreign direct investment and globalisation on economic growth in West Africa: examining the role of political governance

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1733-1755
Author(s):  
Waliu Olawale Shittu ◽  
Hammed Agboola Yusuf ◽  
Abdallah El Moctar El Houssein ◽  
Sallahuddin Hassan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Unit Root ◽  
West African ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Political Governance

PurposeThis paper measures the impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI), globalisation and political governance on economic growth in West Africa. The empirical analysis also includes the interaction effect of political governance and FDI on the growth of the sub-region, over the period of 1996–2016.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs the autoregressive distributed lag technique on data obtained from the World Bank and the KOF institute.FindingsThe study findings suggest a positive relationship between globalisation and political governance on economic growth. Even though there have been inconclusive results on the FDI–growth nexus, the authors found that FDI stimulates the growth of the sub-region, while political governance enhances the positive impact of FDI on economic growth. The other factors of growth included are labour, capital and government size, whose effects on growth are, respectively, negative, negative and positive.Practical implicationsThe governments of the West African countries promote policies that attract FDI into the sub-region, so that economic performances may be enhanced. In addition, the governments of the West African sub-region should work to reap the benefits of globalisation, by promoting the competitiveness of their local economies in order to keep pace with the global markets. Finally, the political-governance infrastructures should be overhauled; the culture of accountability and transparency should be promoted, while all efforts should be made to improve stability in the political environment in order to increase investors' confidence in the West African economy.Originality/valueThis study is the first to single out the impacts of political governance, as categorised by the World Bank, through both direct and interactive measures. This is necessary in view of the assertion that political governance largely accounts for improved economic performance in an economy. The use of the Pesaran (2007) technique of unit root is also a deviation from existing studies. This is in view of the fact that it tests variable unit root in the presence of cross-sectional dependence; thus, controlling for contemporaneous correlation which was not considered in the first-generation tests.

scholarly journals Krieg gegen einen Integrationsunwilligen?

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (163) ◽  
pp. 295-316
Author(s):  
Ingar Solty
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
World Order ◽  
Global Capitalism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Humanitarian Interventions ◽  
The World ◽  
New Imperialism ◽  
Essential Region ◽  
Nato Intervention

The article contextualizes the current NATO intervention into the Libyan civil war in the debates about the new imperialism and the crisis of global capitalism. It poses the question as to whether it can be interpreted as an act of militarily locking up an oil state which is immune to IMF/World Bank types of structural adjustment. Based on an analysis of the political economy of Libya from decolonization to the contemporary Gadhafi regime, it argues that the integration of Libya into the world order of global capitalism had already occurred as an act of free will. Therefore other reasons must have led to the hesitant decision to go to war. Denouncing the idea of humanitarian interventions, the article argues that in the context of the global crisis mainly three goals are being pursued: Guaranteeing the free flow of cheap oil; reestablishing control over a geopolitically essential region that as a result of the toppling of friendly dictators has been at the verge of slipping away; and reconstructing the indispensable ideology of „humanitarian interventions“ after their seeming demise in the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan.

A New World Economic order formation

2021 ◽  
pp. 932-950
Author(s):  
Vladislav Vyacheslavovich Emelyanov
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
New Order ◽  
The West ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
World Economic Order ◽  
The Impact

Every few decades, the world order changes due to various geopolitical, economic and other circumstances. For example, as a result of globalization, the world order has undergone significant changes in the last forty years. Globalization has led to the destruction of the postwar world order, as well as to world leadership by the United States and the West. However, in recent decades, as a result of globalization, the U.S. and the West began to cede their leadership to developing countries, so there is now a change in the economic structure of relations in the world system. Today the center of economic growth is in the East, namely in Asia. There are no new superpowers in the world at the moment, but the unipolar world will cease to exist due to the weakening of the U. S. leadership, which will lead to a change in the world order. A new leader, which may replace the U. S., will not have as wide range of advantages as the USA has. Most likely, the essence of the new order will be to unite the largest countries and alliances into blocks, for example, the USA together with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the EU, etc. The article outlines forecasts of GDP growth rates as well as the global energy outlook; analyzes the LNG market as well as the impact of the pandemic on the global oil and gas market; and lists the characteristics of U. S. geopolitics.

Organizing Collaboration

2020 ◽  
pp. 22-42
Author(s):  
Constantine Michalopoulos
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Development Cooperation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Poverty ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
The Uk

The story of Eveline Herfkens, Hilde F. Johnson, Clare Short and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, all of whom, with different titles became ministers in charge of development cooperation in the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and Germany in 1997–8, and what they did together to bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality in the war against global poverty, starts with a short discussion of their background. This is followed by a discussion of the political situation and the different government arrangements that determined development policy in their countries at the time. The last part of the chapter reviews the beginnings of their collaboration which focused on ensuring that the debt relief provided to highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs) in programmes supported by the World Bank and the IMF resulted in actually lifting people out of poverty.

scholarly journals Halal Money: Financial inclusion and demand for Islamic banking in Norway

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 205316801875762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torkel Brekke
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Islamic Banking ◽  
The West ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Financial Exclusion ◽  
The World ◽  
Muslims In The West

Financial inclusion is high on the agenda for governments as well as for organizations such as the World Bank. Research has pointed out that Muslims worldwide are less included in the formal financial system than non-Muslims, but there is no knowledge about the extent to which religious norms (most importantly the ban on interest on money) lead to financial exclusion among Muslims in the West. In this article I approach the issue of financial exclusion and inclusion through three interrelated questions that will be answered with data collected in Norway 2015 and 2016. The questions are: (a) To what extent do Muslims see conventional banking as a problem in their own lives? (b) Do level of education, age, national background or level of religiosity predict demand for Islamic banking? (c) Is demand for Islamic banking changing? This article is a first step in what should be a broader research program to find out whether and how religious norms cause financial exclusion of Muslims in the West.

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