Fra tradizione e modernità. Autorità tradizionali e potere nei processi di sviluppo rurale e di decentralizzazione in Africa australe

Abstract

The question of development in sub-Saharan Africa has been historically discussed according to modernizing paradigms which have left unsolved the dichotomy between tradition and modernity constructed during the colonial period. In a continent still strongly rural, weak economic performances have reopened, both in the theories and in the practices of development, the historical tension between modernity and custom, and between modern and traditional authorities. Meanwhile, decentralisation policies have been strongly supported as a pathway to democratisation, good governance, and a more efficient management of the land and natural resources by local communities. The article aims to discuss the contemporary processes of transformation in Southern Africa concerning the rural governance, the effects produced on authorities and systems of power (local/national, traditional/modern), and the role of tradition in contemporary policies of rural development and decentralisation programmes. It intends to analyze the discussion concerning the policies of development and of decentralisation in the rural areas by signalling continuities and discontinuities with colonial patterns. Indeed, the control of the land (both in colonial and post-colonial states) has been characterized by a form of control based on traditional authorities (chiefs); therefore, within the framework of rural development and decentralisation programmes the role of traditional institutions and their relationship with rural communities and the state will be discussed.