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Copyright of Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An excerpt of the book "Soziale Bewegungen und afrikanische Renaissance," is presented.

Copyright of Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses political corruption as an endemic and everyday normal practice in African countries that is spread through all levels of government and officialdom. The author investigates whether the widespread corrupt practices of vote-buying (clientelism), bribery, and cleptocracy are an inheritance from the European colonialist period. Such corruption is said to have impoverished and marginalized African populations, stalled modernization and development, and fostered monopoly practices that discourage economic competition and growth.

The article discusses large-scale internal population migration from rural to urban areas in newly independent African countries. The lack of traditional African labor and wage experiences until the advent of white colonialism, which rent the social fabric, is cited as a development problem. Rural flight and social decay are said to be major social problems. The author speculates on means of dealing with these issues.

The article presents an array of statistics on low life expectancy, subsistence income, rapid population growth, high infant mortality, and meager medical care available in impoverished African and South Asian countries. The lack of drugs, which must be purchased from foreign monopolies, is cited as a special problem increasing with time, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The article presents information about cooperative societies in Africa. The economic and social challenges the societies face are discussed, along with their rapid development. African countries have adopted industrialization processes at the expense of their traditional social structures, it is noted. The implications of steady population growth on the African economy and the need for improved cooperative societies are also described.