Interpretation of Democracy from Postcolonial Writing: Chinua Achebe’s ‘Man of the People’ and its Relevance in African Nations

Dr Singh's talk focuses on the writings of Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist. In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe gives the African perspective of many ideas which serve as a counter to the European notions. He asserts that Africa, till now has been viewed through the European perspective, and it is necessary to understand Africa from the perspective of the Africans. He then speaks about Achebe’s novel A Man of the People, which portrays democratic processes in Nigeria through a satirical lens. Dr Singh believes that the conditions for democracy in Africa are obsolete. According to him, the economic conditions of a State must be stable for democracy to be effective. He further points out that the European countries were able to bring in a lot of wealth into their countries through colonization and then introduce democracy which has flourished in these countries. According to him, Democracy is a privilege of the rich nations which have already stocked up on wealth. In many instances, it is observed that democracy in Africa is related to violence. Democracy in Africa has not been participatory in its real sense but is seen as a convenience of the local bourgeoise who have extracted benefits from the international and regional organizations at the expense of the people. Dr Singh believes that democracy—which originated from Europe—has been forcefully imposed and appropriated on the Africans. He further adds that democratization cannot be measured and it is difficult to determine whether a country is democratic or not just on the indicators such as elections and public participation in decision making. He concludes his presentation by saying that globalization is not beneficial to the African States, and it is just another method through which exploitation and subjugation of Africa have continued from the colonial to the postcolonial era. Report compiled by Yaqoob Saleem MA (International Studies)

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National Level Essay Writing Competition

THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HISTORY IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIAN COUNCIL OF WORLD AFFAIRS PRESENTS NATIONAL LEVEL ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION ON THE OCCASION OF 73rd INDEPENDENCE DAY Last date of Submission: 25 th August 2020 We cordially invite all the undergraduate and postgraduate students Of all colleges and universities across India. Cash prizes: 1 st prize: 10,000/- 2 nd prize: 7,500/- 3 rd prize: 5,000/- CONTACT DETAILS: Sanjana Krishnan Sanjana.krishnan@law.christuniversity.in 7349753894 Aswathy Anil aswathy.anil@law.christuniversity.in 8891314588 Introduction The Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in collaboration with the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) announces to hold National-level Essay Writing Competition to m

The Multifaceted Nature of Populism

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History organised a webinar on Populism titled ‘The Multifaceted Nature of Populism’ by Ajay Gudavarthy. Ajay Gudavarthy is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Political Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been a visiting fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a Charles Wallace Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His most recent book is India After Modi: Populism and the Right (2018). Dr Madhumati Deshpande—Coordinator, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University)—delivered the introductory remarks and formally welcomed the guest speaker. Dr Gudavarthy begins his talk by pointing out that populism is not a new phenomenon and in the present times, the need for a multifaceted approach has arisen where it is necessary to draw approaches from other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, economi

MoU with ASHOKA University – Harvard Yenching Institute

With immense pleasure and happiness, we would like to inform you that the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) has signed a MoU with Ashoka University – Harvard Yenching Institute. This MoU is to build academic and research resources on China Studies and related areas as a thriving discipline. It will also enable the department to create new knowledge in India about different countries, particularly on China. The MoU will help the department to provide promising scholars studying China with the opportunity to share their work and knowledge with a wider audience through Lectures, Courses, and Publications and enhance research opportunities for young post-doctoral scholars. As per the provisions of the MoU, CHRIST will enrol and host postdoctoral fellow(s) selected through China Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme in collaboration with Ashoka. The Parties of MoU shall collab

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