– primarily for scholars from Africa –
Relations between the Global North and the African continent have been characterized by bilateral and multilateral "development aid" projects for decades. Development cooperation (DC) between Germany and African countries can look back on a long, complex and sometimes contradictory history. A central problem is the continuation of colonial patterns and power asymmetries. Many projects implemented within the framework of development cooperation are still based on a donor-recipient relationship that positions the countries of the Global North as "helpers" and the countries of the Global South as "recipients".
In recent years, criticism of this form of traditional development cooperation has grown. African intellectuals, civil society organizations and students are calling for a reassessment of its effectiveness and side effects. It is becoming increasingly clear that aid payments, which were once intended as a contribution to solidarity, are deepening dependencies and weakening individual initiative in many places. Voices such as those of the Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo ("Dead Aid") or the Kenyan economist James Shikwati call for the structural patterns of paternalism and inequality to be broken. Development cooperation still reproduces images of a needy Africa and a superior North.
Against this backdrop, the seminar asks how development can be rethought in the future in terms of partnership, sustainability and from an African perspective. It is not only about criticism, but also about the search for alternative approaches that do justice to the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In cooperation with the Catholic Academy Freiburg, the seminar will seek dialog with actors in church and state development cooperation and bring them together with Africans who formulate and discuss their own ideas of "development". The exchange with German students reflecting on their own role in development policy will also play a role.
