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Africa’s Reductive Images, Contesting the Sources, and New Generations as Passive Victims: A Reflection on Historical and Global Representational Practices
JOURNAL OF YOUTH RESEARCHES
The collective effects of the misrepresentation of Africa could surely hinder international
cooperation and interventions by making governments and enterprises reluctant to invest
in Africa. This could particularly happen due to wrong generalizations, like in taking the
entire Africa as region of insecurity, while there are several African countries that have
never experienced clashes since decolonization. At the operational level, an immediate
effect of Africa’s bad images could involve implicit and evident proposals to recolonize
the continent, like in forced spread of the Western development models. Mezzana (2005)
calls this as ‘enlightened recolonization’.
Counter-Strategies and Propositions
Having examined historical and global factors that have facilitated the grounds for the
misrepresentation of African continent, now there should arise certain proposals to dis-
cover possible strategies and solutions. Hereunder, I attempt to point out some of such
ideas interacting with Mezzana’s (2005) propositions and Hall’s (1997) counter-strategies
that he proposed particularly against racial prejudices.
The stereotypes over Africa must be deconstructed using scientific and educational
tools. Widespread teaching and research activities will be helpful. Sensitization and edu-
cation programs, particularly involving the Western public, are required at various levels
to promote the desire to have in-depth and qualified information about African continent.
Media’s approach towards Africa must be revised, and their informative strategies should
be realigned to consider trends, contexts and positive events occurring in the continent.
As to Mezzana (2005), it is also advisable to select correspondents who have lived and
worked in Africa, or those who intend to stay some time. Or, Western journalists better
be trained to improve their understanding of life in Africa including African history and
culture, in addition to separate trainings on methods of selecting and handling news on
Africa, the ways to treat cultural diversity and to exert social responsibility. Similarly, in
order to exploit the new media for the promotion of African images, African ICT sector
should be given special policy emphasis. The ongoing foreign assistance to the develop-
ment of African ICT should be enhanced.
NGO’s should carry out specific trainings and sensitization programs to prevent the ten-
dencies of damaging African image in the course of their developmental and humanitar-
ian collaboration. There is also a need for networking among Africans, Africanists and
friends of Africa. It will be highly helpful to involve “friends of Africa” no matter where
they are and what field they operate in, as long as they commit to spread of a more exact
image of the continent (Mezzana, 2005). Obviously, a special role can be played by mem-
bers of the African diaspora. And, a real and proper international ombudsman should be
