Ecologies of Resistance

Reclaiming African Development Through Democratic Praxis

Drawing on over two decades of research and fieldwork across Africa, Charisma Acey revisited Claude Ake's ideas on democracy and development, critiquing authoritarian governance and top-down economic models while advocating for participatory governance, environmental justice, and community-centered approaches to Africa's developmental futures.

On May 29, 2025, the UCLA African Studies Center (ASC) welcomed Charisma Acey for this year’s Coleman Memorial Lecture, an event that brought together scholars, students, and community members for a timely conversation on democracy, development, and justice across the African continent.

Drawing on more than two decades of research and fieldwork, Acey revisited the foundational concepts of democracy and development articulated by political economist Claude Ake. Through reflections grounded in lived experience — from Zimbabwe’s structural adjustment crises and humanitarian relief work in Angola to contemporary urban struggles for water, sanitation, and environmental justice in Nigeria — she offered a compelling critique of the enduring structures that continue to shape development policy in Africa.

Acey examined how authoritarian governance and externally driven economic models have often obstructed meaningful, community-centered development. She challenged dominant top-down paradigms that prioritize elite interests and aesthetic modernization over inclusive planning and the everyday realities of African communities. Instead, she highlighted forms of resilience and resistance that emerge from within communities themselves, including what she described as urban ecological marronage — collective strategies through which marginalized groups assert autonomy and reimagine their environments.

Throughout the lecture, Acey called for a renewed democratic praxis rooted in African traditions of participatory governance. She emphasized collective agency, environmental justice, and human well-being as essential pillars for shaping Africa’s developmental futures. Her talk underscored the importance of centering local knowledge and lived experience in policy conversations that too often remain abstract or externally imposed.

Acey is an Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning and Arcus Chair in Social Justice and the Built Environment at University of California, Berkeley. Her scholarship focuses on urban sustainability, environmental justice, and equitable access to essential services such as water, sanitation, and food across Africa and the United States. With a background in humanitarian work throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, she critically examines state power, informality, and grassroots resilience. Her widely published research on urban governance and the human right to water has earned recognition for community-engaged scholarship and contributions to health equity. She is currently completing a book titled Extractive Utopias, which explores how African communities challenge exploitative urban development models.

The 2025 Coleman Memorial Lecture reflected ASC’s ongoing commitment to fostering critical scholarship that bridges academic research and lived realities. By convening conversations that interrogate power, justice, and development, UCLA ASC continues to support dialogue that is both intellectually rigorous and deeply engaged with contemporary global challenges.

Published: Sunday, June 15, 2025