A pledge for non-governmental voices
The beginning of this century is one of huge economic, geopolitical and technological mutations. At the turning point of these mutations , there are those concerning communication. In fact, the specificity of today’s globalisation lies in new technologies or otherwise the globalisation would not be much different from the other forms of connections implied by the past history of all the interferences between men and society throughout the world : the silk road, triangular trade , colonialism and world wars… It is in such a context that appears the emergence of new geopolitical configurations and where political and economic virtuality so far latent are awakening and becoming manifest. If the 19th and 20th centuries hallowed the domination of the western countries already begun in the previous centuries , the end of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of dynamical nations that , by dint of work , will and imagination came up with the western countries . These nations, most of them Asian, are named dragons in a derogatory way by an Occident that could hardly believe its eyes but eventually had to admit the irreversibility of these evolutions . Having gauged these changes , and under the threat of it, Europeans saw in it a good reason to quicken their own integration process. Little by little, the whole world acknowledged the idea of the world composed of great bodies ( groups, units??) . And the new geopolitics are based on an idea of national survival conditioned to the membership in these great bodies.
2- Partnership China – Africa
It was in this context that , among the great nations, following the fall of the Berlin wall and due to the restructuration of the late eastern empire , India , and especially China awoke. Huge national bodies, formerly asleep , started moving. All the ancient great units started to shake . Aware of what the small dragons had realised , they could not doubt that as soon as China would be awoken, nothing would remain the same. But today China is awoken, and well awoken . Reassured , it is making giant s ‘steps . There is thus a rapprochement between these two blocks whose relationships used to be distant ( scarce) . But as shown by the recent summit held in Beijing that gathered more than forty African statesmen, the partnership between China and Africa has a governmental impulse. Given the immediate reason of this rapprochement , to make the hope invested in these meetings come alive, the basis and the centre have to be committed , that is to say , the Chinese people and the Africans themselves. Further than the fashionable idea of participation that has existed for years , in parallel to the governments , it has to do with the sparing of new voices , listening to and making the voices of non governmental organizations heard . ( NGV) The only way to root the partnership in reality is to give it a concrete content , as a living proof of its perenniality .At the same time, taking into account the NGVs make it possible to avoid the twofold pitfall of the diplomatic spheres autism as well as the opacity of political systems. For the benefit of the new partnership between Africa and China, it is thus vital to make VNGs talk. But before making them talk , they need to exist. From then on, they have to be identified in terms of places, middles, voices bearing ( gathering) instances. In a second time, given the reality of these instances and the vocal places , we will have to imagine new strategies to reach the target consisting in making these voices heard. For example, if the instances don’t fit well with the target, the existing stock will have to completed with instances encouragement ad hoc , or by rethinking the profile of those already existing : give birth to projects going into the effective interest direction for the issue at stake .
3 - VNGS and ONGS
VNGS are in a given social area easy to identify , even if they vary from a society to another, from a continent to the other. The first that come to mind , are concerning GNOS. In the African and Chinese context, GNOS have their own specificity, they are not voice bearers. Je t’ai deja traduis le reste .
II – Strategies
a- Strategic levels
These prerequisites being satisfied , then comes the strategic dimension of the considered action. Does a peculiar strategy to make voices heard in this case exist? In my opinion, what already exists has to be wed to new original initiatives. But , in this respect, we can’t do otherwise than by starting to walk on the ancients’ steps : do what has to be done. The problem is twofold . Instances and local voices have first to be identified , their profiles and motivations have to be promoted to give birth to , should the occasion arise ,newer ones more adapted ; this target has to be distinguished from the task consisting in carrying voices. In fact, to make oneself heard , VNGS That don’t have the power nor even the same means than the governments have to rely on a media programme and this media programme is the second level in our strategy.
b- Media choices
The media strategy lies in a compared and a competitive connection. , the new ones can’t be ignored but the traditional ones remain at the core of this plan. Le reste tu l’avais traduit jusqu’à originalité. The same impetus would be highly recommended on the African side, where the proclamation of unity was never followed by real facts such as carrying the African voice using really independent audio-visual medias , on a continent illiteracy is so cruelly widespread.
In parallel to audio-visual medias , the other written medias will be associated. Magazines, papers… Here again , those existing have to be adapted or profiled , (creation could also be given birth to ad hoc ) Then, since this partnership seems to be linked to the mutations occurring throughout the world , people have to think about a definition of this partnership image which has to stick to reality and the media of the time . From then on, the new media have to have a front seat in this strategy. First because on a credible positioning of communication , but especially because the potentialities and the specificities of these new medias have to be relied on, to adapt them to the means of the concerned populations taking into account their geographical, cultural, linguistic , economic differences…
c- Dynamic of action
In comparison to western countries who for the best or the worst of it have done of Africa what it is now, the entry of China on the African scene is stamped with a chronological relative gap. But given the fact that it has to do with international exchanges , China has to fill in certain aspects of this gap in Africa itself. This necessity gives the action its strategic angle : it makes the success of the project dependent on a dynamic chronology. To reach their goal, these actions have to be initiated in time in a determined sense of priority. In order to open real new ways to the partnership between China and Africa, building something authentic , on a long term basis and not simply sidings or a formal pendant to governmental logics , it will have first to aim at achieving prime objectives whose obviousness won’t be debatable. Those prime objectives will constitute the opening shape of action. For instance , they can be axed on the knowing of the other, and the pointing out of the partners reciprocal needs . It will have to work on the rapprochement of people , societies focussing on dynamic social categories such as young people, the world of arts , music…
All this supposes a rhythm and a ritualistic approach of communication in time through the creation of commemorative institutions , and a purely descriptive bringing into play of connections and acts. d- Methodology
Obviously , we can’t start working without thinking of what we want to achieve. The project of making so different cultural , political and national entities ‘voices talk and listen to one another is as ambitious as problematic . Problematic must hear be acknowledged in the sense that the project implies a few questions that will have to be thought on for our information.
The first thought has to do with GNOS . History shows that a given society has the GNOS it deserves or it endows itself with. Truly, and despite the paradox of words , ONGS are not as non governmental as they claim. ONGS are non governmental modalities of government issues .( governmentality?? ) In each country , they have their own history, their specificities. , their constraints and their manoeuvre freedom. So to make the voices of these organizations heard , realities have first to be taken into account. It is the same with societies who do not have the same status nor the same way of functioning in all countries. The second thought deals with the difference between the interlocutors on a collective, symbolical, political and economic basis. China may be said to be a continent , it remains a nation , one and united . It has a past of integration , organization , a comprehensive system of values on which it relies , a demographic and political weight , symbolical capacities, economic potentialities. All this is an asset . Africa is scattered , haphazardly made , badly gone, badly dressed, weakened , not autonomous symbolically . In these conditions , the point at stake is to determine the best way to make people talk on an equal basis among these two units who at first glance have antagonistic postures. How make them discuss sincerely without resulting in a foreseeable fiasco ? How is it possible to give birth to a dialogue between a reel and a fictive being ? Does the dialogue have to quicken or stimulate the realization of the fictive being? Beside these methodological questions any intercultural honest entrepreneur asks himself , there are deeper questions the honest African I am ,would like to examine yet not only for the good of Africa but for the good of both.
Binason Avèkes
Copyright Blaise APLOGAN, 2007
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