In the West, “progress” is generally defined as a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage of development. This is almost always linked to a concept called “growth”...Development from a lower or simpler to a higher or more complex form; An increase, as in size, number, value, or strength. Generally, “more” is considered to be “better” and if something is “better,” than “progress” has been achieved; e.g., in the U.S., the more houses are built in a year, the greater the GDP, and hence progress has been made. But at what price?

If this paradigm is applied in the UN-WEST (my term for everywhere else), we come up with terms such as “primitive,” “undeveloped,” “backward,” “Third World” to describe areas that do not meet up to our Western ideas of progress and growth. What if we were to abandon that Western paradigm and attempt to define “progress” and “growth” on a more equitable, universal level? What if we were to apply factors such as: adaptation to a specific environment; survival skills; contentment; community engagement; and shared resources? What if – instead of forcing our Western notions onto the UN-WEST – we took a closer look at what they have to offer us and applied some of their ideas of progress and growth to our own paradigm?

When we look at Africa, we generally see a continent chained to corruption, war, disease, hunger, and poverty that does not seem, on the whole, to reflect “progress” or “growth” as we understand these concepts. What happened to Africa? Why? Can we look at the continent from our new perspective and come to different conclusions?

PRODUCER: Kenny Mann

Kenny Mann was born and raised in Kenya and has travelled throughout the African continent. She has spent her life writing articles and books about Africa, and making films on African issues...all of which have required a great deal of learning and thinking about why Africa is the way it is today.