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From Lerner to Adesina: literacy, technology and
development in Africa. Edition No. 1
VDM Publishing House, April 2009, Pages: 104
At first glance, Daniel Lerner and Jimi Adesina would
seem to be
implacably opposed:Lerner's championing of modernity
in the
Middle East during the 1950s seems at odds with
Adesina's apparent rejection
of technology for technology's sake in Africa some
fifty years later.
However, a closer reading of both authors reveals a
shared belief in
the transformative power of education. Both men are
united in their
understanding that education and literacy must
accompany technical
developments on the march to progress. For Lerner, 'the
modernising man' has to make sense of the media to
which he (or
she) is exposed. Furthermore, Adesina argues that
'endogeneity' and
sustainability rooted in African intellectual
activity are essential
elements in any technological development. Otherwise,
what will be
adopted are, in his words, 'Western patterns of
consumption not
Afrocentric trends of development.'
From 'The Passing of Traditional Society' to the
'fatal distractions'
of today's information technology, authentic
education still
empowers individuals and societies to distinguish
between the
vacuous and the valuable.
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