Unraveling Africa’s “mystery”: “afropessimism” as the hegemonic discourse in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24201/fi.v63i1.2947Keywords:
Africa, COVID-19, International Relations (IR), post-structuralism, post-colonialismAbstract
This research focuses on the performance of African countries with regard to public health policies in the context of the covid-19 pandemic (2020-2021). The main argument is that the response of African countries to the pandemic and the low number of deaths on the African continent in general made explicit a contradiction in the hegemonic discourse regarding African states’ capacity to act effectively in the face of the threat of the virus. The theoretical framework includes post-structuralist and post-colonial approaches of International Relations and the methodology consists of discourse analysis.
Downloads
References
“A Continent Where the Dead Are Not Counted”, The New York Times, 2 de enero de 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/world/africa/africa-coronavirus-deaths-underreporting.html (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
“Africa COVID trajectory is ‘very concerning’, WHO official says”, Reuters, 18 de junio de 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/africa-covid-trajectory-is-very-concerning-who-official-says-2021-06-18 (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
African Union Youtube Chanel, “COVID-19 Africa Responds Interview: Dr John Nkengasong Director Africa Centers for Disease Control”, 27 de abril de 2020, video de YouTube, 4:59, publicado por la Unión Africana, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ltXn13-cc&ab_channel=AfricanUnion, (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
ANYONA, Mamka, “Africans Don’t Just Live to Die. A Response to The New York Times”, Centre tricontinental (CETRI), 1 de febrero de 2021, https://www.cetri.be/Africans-don-t-just-live-to-die-A?lang=fr (consulta del 18 de octubre de 2022).
“Após morte de presidente negacionista no Burundi, sucessor declara Covid-19 como ‘pior inimigo’”, Folha de São Paulo, 9 de julio de 2020, https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mundo/2020/07/apos-morte-de-presidente-negacionista-no-burundi-sucessor-declara-covid-19-como-pior-inimigo.shtml (consulta del 17 de octubre de 2022).
B’BÉRI, B. y P. LOUW, “Afropessimism: A genealogy of discourse”, Critical Arts, 47, núm. 2 (2011), pp. 335-346. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2011.615118
BASSIL, Noah R., “The roots of Afropessimism: The British invention of the ‘dark continent’”, Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, vol. 25, núm. 3, 2011, pp. 377-396. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2011.615141
BARIYO, N. y J. PARKINSON, “Coronavirus Spreads to Sub-Saharan Africa”, The Wall Street Journal, 28 de febrero de 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-spreads-to-sub-saharan-africa-11582876864 (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
BLANEY, D. y N. INAYATULLAH, International Relations and the Problem of Difference, Londres, Routledge, 2004, 288 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203644096
BROOKES, H. J., “Suit, Tie and a Touch of Juju-The Ideological Construction of Africa: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News on Africa in the British Press”, Discourse & Society, vol. 6, núm. 4, 1995, pp. 461-494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926595006004002
BROWN, Will y Simon TOWNSLEY, “‘No one really knows’: On the front line of Kenya’s coronavirus mystery”, The Telegraph, 14 de septiembre de 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/no-one-really-knows-front-line-kenyas-coronavirus-mystery/
BUNCE, M., C. PATERSON y S. FRANKS, Africa’s Media Image in the 21st Century: From the “Heart of Darkness” to “Africa Rising”, Londres, Routledge, 2017, 258 pp. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315659510
BWIRE, Godfrey et al., “The COVID-19 pandemic in the African continent”, BMC Medicine, vol. 20, núm. 1 (167), 2022, pp. 1-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02367-4
CAMPBELL, D., Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1992.
CHARAUDEAU, P., Linguagem e discurso: modos de organização, São Paulo, Contexto, 2008.
CHUTEL, Linsey, “Africa’s COVID-19 Denialist-in-Chief”, Foreign Policy, 17 de febrero de 2021, https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/17/tanzania-president-magufuli-coronavirus-pandemic-denial/, (consulta del 17 de octubre de 2022).
“Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Latest updates on the COVID-19 crisis from Africa CDC”, Africa CDC, 2022, https://africacdc.org/covid-19/ (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
“Coronavirus in South Africa: Unravelling the mystery”, BBC News, 19 de diciembre de 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55333126 (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
“Coronavirus: Africa could be next epicentre, WHO warns”, BBC, 17 de abril de 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52323375 (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
“COVID-19 could kill up to 3.3 million in Africa, UN body says”, Anadolu Agency, Daily Sabah, 17 de abril de 2022, https://www.dailysabah.com/world/africa/covid-19-could-kill-up-to-33-million-in-africa-un-body-says (consulta del 16 de octubre de 2021).
“COVID-19: examining theories for Africa’s low death rates”, The Conversation, 7 de octubre de2020, https://theconversation.com/covid-19-examining-theories-for-africas-low-death-rates-147393 (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
FOUCAULT, M., “The Description of Statements”, en M. Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge, Londres, Routledge, 2002, pp. 82-91.
HANSEN, L., Security as practice: Discourse analysis and the Bosnia War, Nueva York, Routledge, 2006.
“Hopeless Africa”, The Economist, 11 de mayo de 2000, https://www.economist.com/leaders/2000/05/11/hopeless-africa (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
“How AFCFTA can help Africa bounce back from pandemic”, Adekoya, F, The Guardian, 20 de mayo de 2020, https://guardian.ng/business-services/how-afcfta-can-help-africa-bounce-back-from-pandemic (consulta del 14 de octubre de 2021).
JAROSZ, L., “Constructing the Dark Continent: Metaphor as Geographic Representation of Africa”, Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, vol. 87, núm. 2, 1992, pp. 105-155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.1992.11879634
KARIM, Naz et al., “Lessons Learned from Rwanda: Innovative Strategies for Prevention and Containment of COVID-19”, Annals of Global Health, 2021, vol. 87, núm. 1, p. 23, pp. 1-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3172
KITARA, D. L. y E.N. IKOONA, “COVID-19 pandemic, Uganda’s story”, The Pan African Medical Journal, vol. 35 (2), núm. 51, 2020, pp. 1-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.35.2.23433
Marks, S.; Dahir, A. L. “Africa, Intertwined with China, Fears Coronavirus Outbreak”, The New York Times, 6 de febrero de 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/world/africa/africa-coronavirus-china.html.
MCKENZIE, David, “Africa’s CDC chief explains continent’s low death rate”, CNN, 25 de septiembre de 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/09/25/africa-cdc-chief-john-nkengasong-interview-mckenzie-intl-hnk-vpx.cnn (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
NABERS, D., A Post-Structuralist Discourse Theory of Global Politics, Londres, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137528070
NKENGASONG, John, “Preparing for the next pandemic: A conversation with Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong”, The Brookings Institute, 12 de febrero de 2021, https://www.brookings.edu/events/preparing-for-the-next-pandemic-a-conversation-with-africa-cdc-director-dr-john-nkengasong (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
OKUONZI, S.A. et al., “The need to return to the basics of predictive modelling for disease outbreak response: Lessons from COVID-19”, Pan African Medical Journal, vol. 36, núm. 355, 2020, pp. 1-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2020.36.355.24101
PETERS, M., Pós-Estruturalismo e a filosofia da diferença: uma introdução, Belo Horizonte, Grupo Autêntica, 2020.
Republic of South Africa, Department of Health, “Update on COVID-19 (Wednesday 12 October 2022)”, https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2022/10/13/update-on-covid-19-wednesday-12-october-2022/ (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
SCHMIDT, S. J. y H. J. GARRETT, “Reconstituting pessimistic discourses”, Critical Arts, vol. 25, núm. 3, 2011, pp. 423-440. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2011.615143
“Scientists mystified, wary, as Africa avoids COVID disaster”, ABC News, 19 de noviembre de 2021, https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/scientists-mystified-wary-africa-avoids-covid-disaster-81271647 (consulta del 18 de octubre de 2022).
“Trying to Solve a Covid Mystery: Africa’s Low Death Rates”, The New York Times, 23 de marzo de 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/health/covid-africa-deaths.html (consulta del 19 de octubre de 2022).
United Nations, United Nations. Economic Commission for Africa, COVID-19 in Africa: Protecting lives and economies, UNECA, Addis Ababa, abril de 2020, https://repository.uneca.org/ds2/stream/?#/documents/3304f22e-f80a-4aff-9b70-eaf176e265c7/page/1/ (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
United Nations, WHO AFRICA, “COVID-19 spurs health innovation in Africa”, WHO Africa, 29 de octubre de 2020, https://www.afro.who.int/news/covid-19-spurs-health-innovation-africa (consulta del 18 de octubre de 2022).
“WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 20 July 2020”, World Health Organization, 20 de julio de 2020, https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---20-july-2020 (consulta del 20 de octubre de 2022).
