5 - Exploring Intersections: The Language Question Again!

Many African countries have undertaken transitions to democratic rule since the early 1990s. While giving many people the rare opportunity to vote in com- petitive and pluralistic elections, there have been limits to the empowering ef- fects of these transitions for many. The paper argues that the continued use of English, French and Portuguese in state and academic activities has minimised the empowering effects of these democratic transitions. The use of such lan- guages contributes critically to limiting the ability of many Africans lacking fluency in them to participate in two important moments that define the possi- bilities and limits of democratic decision-making. First, it limits their ability to participate in discourses that determine what aspects of social realities should be subjected to democratic decision-making and what aspects should be insu- lated from popular participation. Second, it minimises the ability of many to contribute to discourses that define the appropriate ways of contesting what- ever elements of political economies are included in the democratic space. Inter- national politico-economic institutions and external epistemic communities have had excessive influence on these two moments of decision-making. The paper argues that generations of African scholars have collaborated in this process of disempowerment by refusing to take a concerted and determined stance against the dominant role of French, English and Portuguese on the continent. Because of this role, we should regard African scholarship as a force seeking to create a space for itself within a closed discursive and practical space rather than a radical force seeking to eliminate closure of discursive and practical spaces generally.