The illusion of capitalism in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of The Gambia

Type Journal Article - Foresight
Title The illusion of capitalism in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of The Gambia
Author(s)
Volume 13
Issue 3
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2011
Page numbers 50-63
URL http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/14636681111138767
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate critically the meta-narrative that there is no alternative to capitalism. Building upon an emerging body of post-structuralist thought that has begun deconstructing this discourse in relation to western economies and post-Soviet societies, this paper further extends this critique to Sub-Saharan Africa by investigating the degree to which people in the Gambia rely on the capitalist market economy for their livelihood. Reporting the results of 80 household face-to-face interviews (involving over 500 people), the finding is that only a small minority of households in contemporary Gambian society rely on the formal market economy alone to secure their livelihood and that the vast majority depend on a plurality of market and non-market economic practices. The outcome is a call to re-think the lived practices of economic transition in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and the Gambia in particular, so as to open up the feasibility of, and possibilities for, alternative economic futures beyond capitalist hegemony

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