The Neo-Colonial Europeanization of Africa : A post-developmental perspective on the communication of the AU-EU Partnership

Sammanfattning: Despite the declared end of colonization and the successive obtention of independence by African countries in the 1960s, this thesis argues that the African continent is still faced with neo-colonial practices. Deriving from post-development theory, this thesis analyzes how the Western development discourse is manifested in modern-day North-South relations. To answer this question, the communication of the European Commission surrounding the Commission-to-Commission meeting of the to be renewed African Union- European Union partnership, is scrutinized and reflected upon in the light of a post-development-, decolonial-, and intercultural epistemological theory. The three theories show viable points of convergence that this thesis puts into practice in a genealogical study, combined with Critical Discourse Analysis, inspired by Foucault’s work on discourse and power. Assessing videographic and written communication material from the European Commission, this study shows that the narrative of the EU towards the AU is currently changing. The EU advocates for a shift from a donor-recipient- towards a mutual and equal relationship within the frame of the partnership between the two continental institutions. Nonetheless, whereas the changes are observable in the form, they are lacking in the substance of the discourse. The observed normative mechanisms conveyed through the EU commission’s narrative are identified as followed: romantic storytelling about the sistership between AU and EU; a neocolonial attitude hidden behind the notions of ‘partnership’ and ‘natural partners’; the non-recognition of the colonial past slowing down the (re)questioning of development and Eurocentric assumptions derived from Enlightenment assumptions; a hyperbole on materialistic, economic and business matters portraying the EU as managing the AU; and lastly a polarizing effect putting in evidence the effective power of the discourse carving a Eurocentric and binary world perception. We conclude by discussing a possible decolonial EU attitude in conversation with the emergence of Pan-Africanism. Along with possible future researches, we also discuss the implications of our own values and our role as researchers.