L'impact de QAnon et d'autres idéologies du complot sur l'Afrique subsaharienne à l'ère du capitalisme mondial

Kohnert, Dirk (2023): L'impact de QAnon et d'autres idéologies du complot sur l'Afrique subsaharienne à l'ère du capitalisme mondial.

Abstract

With the attack on the Capitol by the 'Proud Boys', Donald Trump's 'deep state' allegations reached the peak of US conspiracy ideologies. Conspiracy was at the core of Trump's policies, including his repeated claims that President Barack Obama was born in Africa. It reflects Trump's deep dislike of African states. After all, a third of the Republican electorate agreed with the far-right QAnon paranoia and other bizarre conspiracy theories. From the outside, the United States was taking on the shape of a banana republic. When US media identified a South African journalist as the mastermind behind QAnon's global rollout in 2019, many Republicans equated Africa with Pandora's box. However, it is no coincidence that the black continent is associated with occult powers. In the social sciences, the modernity of witchcraft beliefs in Africa has been debated hotly for decades. Modern techniques and utensils have become central to the occult's continued importance to Africans. The crisis of the modern nation-state is closely intertwined with the global spread of neoliberal capitalism and the 'invisible hand' that shapes its political and material conditions and forms of society. Beliefs in witchcraft and zombies reflect the alienation of labour, capitalist exploitation, and class formation in African societies. The poor of Africa and the people of the Global South in general, do not lack modernity but have been denied the promise of modernization. Today, even cybercriminals working in the Ivory Coast, impersonating Europeans on social media profiles and seducing partners into falling in love with them, feel compelled to seek the advice of witch doctors to outwit their prey. Given the worldwide importance of social media, this suggests that the virtual space of the global economy as a hotbed of magic and witchcraft is under researched. As in the US election campaign and its entanglement with fake news, examination of the cosmology of the occult in Africa and elsewhere reveals the threat of destructive forces inherent in social relations. African religions could provide a framework for valuable self-determined solutions to current problems in contemporary life, including the issue of witchcraft violence. In addition, this could open up an inspiring new dimension of philosophical thinking and emancipative action to the outside world, for example, regarding conflict resolution and reconciliation.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• English Title: QAnon and other conspiracy ideologies' impact on Sub-Saharan Africa in the age of Global Capitalism
• Language: French
• Keywords: économie mondiale; théorie du complot; État profond; gouvernance; présidence de Donald Trump; occultisme; modernisation; néolibéralisme; marchandisation; commerce international; migration; développement durable; post-colonialisme; Afrique subsaharienne; Religions traditionnelles africaines; Afrique du Sud; Nigeria: Kenya ; Côte d'Ivoire; Études africaines
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E26 - Informal Economy ; Underground Economy; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F15 - Economic Integration; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F16 - Trade and Labor Market Interactions; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy > F54 - Colonialism ; Imperialism ; Postcolonialism; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization > F65 - Finance; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants ; Non-labor Discrimination; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J46 - Informal Labor Markets; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility ; Immigrant Workers; N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy > N37 - Africa ; Oceania; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors ; Shadow Economy ; Institutional Arrangements; P - Economic Systems > P1 - Capitalist Systems > P16 - Political Economy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z12 - Religion; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification

References

Adams, G., & Dzokoto, V. A. (2007). Genital-Shrinking Panic in Ghana: A Cultural Psychological Analysis. Culture & Psychology, 13(1), 83–104

Ahmad, Syed Salahuddin & Zia Uddin & Fatima Agha Shah (2022): Presidential Election in Nigeria 2023 Trial and tribulation of democracy. Propel Journal of Academic Research (PJAR), vol. 2 (2), pp.1-11

Alba, Davey (2021): Researchers say a coordinated misinformation campaign on Twitter backed Kenya’s president. New York Times, 3 November 2021

Associated Press (2022): Capitol attack: Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy. London: The Guardian, 6 October 2022

Atenga, Thomas & Denis Augustin Samnick (2020) : La théorie du complot dans les Afriques mondialisées : discours, imaginaires et enjeux anthro-politiques. Outline of an WP, APAD colloque 2020

Barkun, Michael (2003). A culture of conspiracy: Apocalyptic visions in contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 3–4

Bleakley, P. (2021): Panic, pizza and mainstreaming the alt-right: A social media analysis of Pizzagate and the rise of the QAnon conspiracy. Current Sociology, 29 July 2021, pp. 1-17

Blick, Boris, & H. Roger Grant (1974): Life in New Icaria, Iowa: a nineteenth century utopian community. The Annals of Iowa, vol. 42(3), pp. 198-204

Bodner, J. & W. Welch & I. Brodie et al. (2020): COVID-19 conspiracy theories: QAnon, 5G, the New World Order and other viral ideas. McFarland and Company, 264 p.

Campbell, Gerry & Karl A. Roberts &, K.A. & Neelam Sarkaria (2020): Witchcraft, spirit possession and belief-based abuse. In: Gerry Campbell & Karl A. Roberts & Neelam Sarkaria: Harmful Traditional Practices - Prevention, Protection, and Policing. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 101–117

Chan, Ho Fai & Stephanie M. Rizio & Ahmed Skali & Benno Torgler (2021): Early COVID-19 government communication is associated with reduced interest in the QAnon conspiracy theory. Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 31 (12), pp. 1-12

Comaroff, Jean & John L. Comaroff. (2002). Alien-Nation: zombies, immigrants, and millennial capitalism. The South Atlantic Quarterly, vol. 101 (4), pp. 779-805

Comaroff, Jean, and John L. Comaroff (2012): Theory from the South: Or how Euro-America is evolving towards African. London: Routledge, 274 p.

Comaroff, Jean & John Comaroff (2012a): Theory from the South: Or, how Europe is evolving toward Africa. Anthropological Forum , vol.22 (2), pp. 113-131

Coulibaly, Nanourougo & Dorgelès Houessou & Ibrahim Maidakouale (2020) : Les théories du complot en contexte Africaine. Discours, pratiques et résonances des conspirationnismes. Appel à contributions pour un ouvrage collectif. Argumentaire. Université Alassane Ouattara et al

Crawford, Angus & Tony Smith (2021): The torso in the Thames: A 20-year mystery. BBC-news, 21 September 2021

Davis, Rebecca (2020): QAnon originated in South Africa – now that the global cult is back here we should all be afraid. Johannesburg: Daily Maverick, 168 , 26 September 2020

Drabo, Adama (2022) : La morale au cœur des discours pandémiques en Côte d’Ivoire : Modalités et marquage évidentiel des savoirs autour du complot. Akofena ⎜n°006, vol.3 3, pp. 3-16

Dzokoto, Vivian Afi & Glenn Adams (March 2005): Understanding genital-shrinking epidemics in West Africa: Koro, juju, or mass psychogenic illness? Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. Vol. 29 (1), pp. 53–78

Egbejule, Eromo (2022): The ‘deep state’ conspiracy theory tainting Kenya’s elections. Aljazeera, 6 August 2022

Fernbach, Amanda (2002): Fantasies of fetishism: From decadence to the post-human. Edinburgh University Press, 256 p.

Geschiere, P. 1997. The Modernity of Witchcraft: politics and the occult in postcolonial Africa. Charlottesville, VA and London: University Press of Virginia 311 p.

Glez, Damien (2022): QAnon : le mouvement complotiste pro-Trump est-il né en Afrique ? Jeune Afrique, 25 February 2022

Goodwin, Anastasia & Katie Joseff & Samuel C. Woolley (2020): Social media influencers and the 2020 US election: Paying 'regular people' for digital campaign communication. University of Texas at Austin, Center for Media Engagement, Moody College of Communication

Graft-Aikins, Anna de & V.A. Dzokoto & E. Yevak (2015): Mass media constructions of ‘socio-psychological epidemics’ in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of genital shrinking in 11 countries. Public Understanding of Science, vol. 24(8), pp. 988–1006

Griffin, Jonathan & Mpho Lakaje (2022): Has QAnon fuelled South Africa’s divisions? BBC, World Service, audio-file, 7 August 2022

Guiblehon, Bony (2020) : Le marche des revelations divines dans le contexte de crise politique en Côte d’Ivoire. In : Bony Guiblehon : Crise politique en Côte d’Ivoire, pp. 79-98

Hotez, Peter (2021): COVID-19 and the rise of anti-science. Interview. Expert Review of Vaccines, Volume 20, 2021 - Issue 3, pp. 227-229

Igwe, Uche (2021): Nigeria’s growing cybercrime threat needs urgent government action. London School of Economics, LSE-blogs, 9 June 2021

Irigo, G. J. M. & Z.T. Goin Bi & I. Koffi (2020) : Réseaux sociaux, opinion et santé publique en Côte d’Ivoire : Quand la perception des « Alerts Santé » oscille entre complotisme, récupération politique et dérision. Recherches Africaines, No. 0025 (2020), 69-87

Jimoh, Ganiyu A. (2019): Masked in metaphors: Counter narratives in the works of Nigerian cartoonist Mike Asukwo. African Arts, vol. 52(2), pp. 32-39

Kohnert, Dirk (1996): Magic and witchcraft: Implications for Democratization and poverty-alleviating aid in Africa. World Development, 24.1996.8: 1347 – 1355

Kohnert, Dirk (2000): Informalität als Normalität - Zur Verflechtung von Parallelwirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Afrika. Paper, invited for the conference ‘Afrika Works?!’, Goethe-Forum, Munich, 21–22 Nov. 2000; MPRA WP No. 980

Kohnert, Dirk (2003): Witchcraft and transnational social spaces: witchcraft violence, reconciliation and development in South Africa’s transition process. Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 41 (2), pp. 217-245

Kohnert, Dirk (2007): On the renaissance of African modes of thought - The example of the belief in magic and witchcraft. In: Schmidt, Burghart / Schulte, Rolf (eds.): Hexenglauben im modernen Afrika: Hexen, Hexenverfolgung und magische Vorstellungswelten. Hamburg: DOBU 2007: 39-61

Kohnert, Dirk (2011): Cultures of Innovation of the African poor – Common roots, shared traits, joint prospects? On the articulation of multiple modernities in African societies and Black Diasporas in Latin America. In: LeMeur, Pierre-Yves / Schareika, Nik / Spies, Eva (eds.)(2011): Auf dem Boden der Tatsachen. Festschrift für Thomas Bierschenk. Köppe: Köln: Mainzer Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung 28, pp. 241-262

Kohnert, Dirk (2022a): The impact of Islamist terrorism on Africa's informal economy: Kenya, compared with Ghana and Senegal. SSOAR, SSRN-WPS, No. 4145928

Kohnert, Dirk (2022b): The impact of Russian presence in Africa. MPRA paper, No. 112564

Kohnert, Dirk (2022c): Russia and the rise of Islamic terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa. MPRA_WP_11361

Kohnert, Dirk (2022d): ‘Enlightened’ West African dictatorships challenged by state capture ? Insights from Benin, Togo and Senegal. MPRA WP, No. 114934

Kohnert, Dirk (2022e): Machine ethics and African identities: Perspectives of artificial intelligence in Africa. SSRN-WPS, No. 4163096

Kroesbergen-Kamps, Johanneke (2022): Conspiracy theories in Africa: A continuum of narratives about evil agents. In: Francesco Piraino & Marco Pasi & Egil Asprem (eds.): Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories: Comparing and Connecting Old and New Trends. Chap. 10, 17 p., London: Routledge

Malešević, Siniša (2022): Imagined communities and imaginary plots: Nationalisms, conspiracies, and pandemics in the Longue Durée. Nationalities Papers, vol. 50(1), pp. 45-60

Madung, Odanga (2022): Kenya’s already fragile elections now face a dangerous new enemy: big tech platforms. The Guardian (London), 7 April 2022

Marwick, A. E. & W.C. Partin (2022): Constructing alternative facts: Populist expertise and the QAnon conspiracy. New Media & Society, 1 May 2022, pp. 1-21

Mayrargue, Cédric (2002) :Dynamiques religieuses et démocratisation au Bénin – Pentecôtisme et formation d’un espace public. PhD thesis, University Montesquieu, Bordeaux-IV, IEP Bordeaux-CEAN

Mensah, Ronald Osei (2018): Assessing the various opportunities explored by cybercriminals in Accra. Developing Country Studies, vol.8 (12), pp. 1-8

Merlan, Anna (2019): Why we are addicted to conspiracy theories. The Guardian. 2 May 2019

Meyer, B. (1998): The power of money. Politics, occult forces and Pentecostalism in Ghana. The African Studies Review, 41(3), pp. 15-37

Miller, Daniel Taninecz (2021): Characterizing QAnon: Analysis of YouTube comments presents new conclusions about a popular conservative conspiracy. First Monday, vol. 26(2), 1 February 2021, n.p.

Morris, Bilal (2020): Conspiracy theory origins: How pro-Trump QAnon is eerily similar to the Salem witch hunt. Newsone, 6 September 2020

Newell, Sasha (2021): Hackers of the heart: Digital sorcery and virtual intimacy in Côte d'Ivoire. Africa, vol. 91(4), 661-685

Newell, Sasha (2021a): Decolonizing science, digitizing the occult: Theory from the virtual South. African Studies Review, vol. 64(1), pp. 86-104

Niehaus, Isak A., (1993): Witch-hunting and political legitimacy: Continuity and change in Green Valley, Lebowa, 1930-91. Africa, vol. 63 (4), pp. 498-530

Obadare, Ebenezer (2022): Ritual killings in Nigeria reflect mounting desperation for wealth and security amid creeping collapse of law and order. cfr.org, blog post by Ebenezer Obadare, 14 February 2022

Obaji, Philip Jr. (2020): QAnon’s new conspiracy: Democrats are stealing African children. Daily Beast, 3 August 2020

Obaji, Philip Jr. (2021): These students got hired to spread disinfo about democrats. Daily Beast, 4 February 2021

Okogba, Emmanuel (2019): Joshua Iginla acquires multi-billion naira private jet during birthday celebration. Vanguard. 16 May 2019

Omodunbi, B. A. et al. (2016) : Cybercrimes in Nigeria: Analysis, detection and prevention. FUOYE - Journal of Engineering and Technology, vol. 1 (1); pp. 37-41

Pantserev, K.A. (2022): Malicious use of artificial intelligence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges for Pan-African cybersecurity. Vestnik RUDN. International Relations, vol. 22 (2), pp 288-302

Piraino, F. & M. Pasi & E. Asprem (2022) : Religious dimensions of conspiracy theories: Comparing and connecting old and new trends. ‎London: Routledge, 328 p.

Ranger, Terence (2007): Scotland Yard in the bush: Medicine murders, child witches and the construction of the occult: A literature review. Africa, 77(2), 272-283

Sanders, Todd (2003): Imaging the dark continent: The met, the media and the Thames torso. Cambridge Anthropology, 23(3), 53–66

Schmid, Mirko (2020): Trolle verbreiten Fake-News - und helfen Donald Trump so im Wahlkampf. Frankfurter Rundschau, 3 November 2020

Schroeder, Jonathan E. (2008): Fetishization. The International Encyclopedia of Communication, 5 June 2008

Silber, Gavin & Nathan Geffen (2016): Race, class and violent crime in South Africa: Dispelling the 'Huntley thesis. South African Crime Quarterly; vol. 30(30), pp. 35-43

Sipe, Daniel (2022): The death of utopian politics in mid-nineteenth-century France or what the Icarians can tell us about QAnon, conspiracy, and our political moment. Nineteenth-Century Contexts, vol. 44 (4), pp. 397-415

Suthaharan, P., Reed, E.J., Leptourgos, P. et al. (2021): Paranoia and belief updating during the COVID-19 crisis. Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, pp. 1190–1202

Teppo, Annika (2009): My house is protected by a dragon: White South Africans, magic and sacred spaces in Post-Apartheid Cape Town" Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society, vol. 34 (1), pp. 19–41

Vissing, Yvonne (2022): Extremism vs. human rights: How ideology is built, nurtured, and transforms societies. In: Zajda, J., Vissing, Y. (eds) Discourses of globalisation, ideology, and human rights. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research book series (GCEP, volume 28), pp. 83-111

WANEP (2022): 185 ritual-related death recorded between January 2021 to January 2022 in Nigeria. West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), vol. 15, pp. 1-3, n.a.

Wintour, Patrick & Jason Burke & Anna Livsey (2018): 'There's no other word but racist': Trump's global rebuke for 'shithole' remark. London: The Guardian, 13 Jan 2018

Yang, Mimi (2018): Trumpism: a disfigured Americanism. Palgrave Commun, vol. 4, No. 117, pp. 1-13

Zran, Toily Anicet (2019): Côte d’Ivoire : pourquoi le risque Ebola n’a pas été pris au sérieux par les consommateurs de gibier The Conversation, April 23, 2019