American Philanthropy and Higher Education in Sub Saharan Africa: Rockefeller Foundation in Southern Rhodesia

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Critical Race Theory and Feminist Perspectives

Proposal

Ohio State University: Dr. S. Van Beudern, Advisor.
My dissertation examines educational interactions between the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) and the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (UCRN) located in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe between 1945 and 1980. The interactions between the RF and UCRN were facilitated by the movement of people, money, and ideologies from the United States to Southern Rhodesia and vice versa. The question guiding the research project is: What can we learn from the RF’s activities in Rhodesia about the ramifications of US philanthropic organizations’ educational activities in Sub Saharan Africa? To address this question, four key areas will be examined namely: 1) the creation and operation of networks that came into being through the RF educational programs; (2) connections between US racial ideologies and the RF’s actions in Africa; (3) connections between RF’s educational programs and the rise of African nationalism in Southern Rhodesia; (4) the role of business interests, if any, in the RF’s philanthropic activities.
To expand on the four key areas, this project will (1) explore what happens at the initial encounter of RF and UCRN. I focus on this encounter because we know from International Relations literature that when two actors encounter each other with the goal of creating networks, the party with more influence benefits more (Waltz, 2008). What happens at the initial encounter of the RF and UCRN will give us more insight on the nature of the relationship between US philanthropic organizations and Sub Saharan Africa higher education institutions. (2) Secondly, given what we know from Latin America about the tendency of RF to export US racial ideologies—that marginalize non-white individuals—and institutions (Brown, 1980; Cueto, 1994; Delgado, 2017; Solorzano, 1998), this project will examine if the RF exported the US racial ideologies and institutions to Southern Rhodesia. (3) Furthermore, in light of findings in literature that speaks to connections between western education and the rise of African nationalism (Bassey, 1999; Ajayi, 1961; Coleman, 2015; Fanon, 1969), and the focus on training future leaders by US philanthropic organizations during the Cold War era (Arnold, 1999; Arnove, 1984; Berman, 1980; Coleman, 1993), this project will examine connections between the RF’s educational programs and the rise of nationalism in Southern Rhodesia. (4) Lastly, given that the RF’s money to fund the foundation came from the profits that the family made from the Standard Oil business (Flynn, 1983), this project will investigate the role of business interests in RF’s foundations’ philanthropic activities (Franco-Agudelo, 1983).
The answers to the four key areas discussed above are very important because they add to our understanding of the history of education in Africa and, they also contribute to policy and the public debates on the opportunities and possible challenges pertaining to philanthropical educational intervention in Sub Saharan Africa (Moyo, 2010; Aina, 2013; Jaumont, 2016).
As a dissertation project housed in a Black studies department, this project will be guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT). Developed by US legal scholars to address the inability of law to bring justice to people of color, CRT is interested in studying and revolutionizing race, racism, and power relationships. As a theoretical framework, CRT maintains that racism is very much ingrained in institutions (Delgado, 2017). This project expands CRT to Sub Saharan Africa by putting it in conversation with Achille Mbembe’s (2017) Critique of Black Reason. Where CRT scholars in the US have focused on the experiences of Black Americans, Mbembe’s project makes it clear that the historical foundations of racism that CRT notes are embedded in US institutions are global and not regional. Viewed from Mbembe’s perspective, interactions between US philanthropic organizations and Sub Saharan African countries are highly shaped by racial relations and power asymmetries.
This project will use a historical research design. The use of archives—Rockefeller Archive Center, University of California Los Angeles Archives, National Archives of Zimbabwe—will allow me to have access to boxes of information saved over an extended period since some of the individuals central to this project may not be around. However, because archives tend to preserve the narratives of those who build them, documents will be approached with a critical eye (Allman, 2013; Stoler, 2002). Additionally, open-ended interviews and newspapers will be used to fill in gaps, corroborate data, and track public opinion (Dörnyei, 2007; Berg, 2004, Alshenqeeti, 2014; Baumgartner, 1981).
Having finished coursework and passed qualifying exams, I am currently collecting data for this project.

Author

• Fungisai Musoni, The Ohio State University