After the Developmental State: Hajj Hamad and the Geopolitics of the Horn of Africa

The failure of the 1960s developmental states causes Sudanese political and economic thought to take on an increasingly regional and international perspective. Intellectuals from across the political spectrum come to realize that national development is not possible without regional and global development. However, a central challenge for Sudanese intellectuals is to define the region to which their country and society belongs. Is it part of Africa or the Arab World or somewhere in between? These questions are typically tackled as questions of identity, but in the works of scholars like Muhammad Abu Qasim Hajj Hamad, we see these questions recast as questions about Sudan and the Horn of Africa's political formation and economic basis. Thinking from Asmara in the 1990s, Hajj Hamad posits that a prosperous and stable Sudan can only exist if the Horn of Africa is stabilized.

On November 1 from 12:30-2:00PM, join Alden Young, Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, for a discussion on the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa. This webinar is a part of the 2021 Walter Rodney Seminars at the Boston University African Studies Center and is co-sponsored by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center.