Moscow: Institute of Universal History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2001, 246 p.

(c) 2002

The topic of the monograph by professor B. S. Mirzekhanov of Saratov State University is one of the most burning in the modern history of former colonial and dependent countries, where representatives of the" new elite", combining European education and the desire to preserve the originality of tradition, painfully reflect on the relationship between power and culture, state and nation, history and religion, morality and politics, fate and missions.

Until now, most of the works of Russian Africanists on the problems of social thought in the countries of the continent were based on the study of the situation mainly in the Anglophone states that were former colonies of Great Britain. The same works that were specifically devoted to the French colonies are almost two decades away from us (for example, the work of A. B. Letnev "Public Thought in West Africa in 1918-1939" Moscow, 1983).

B. S. Mirzekhanov's monograph is a comprehensive study of the history of public thought in French-speaking countries of Africa at the present stage, the interaction of the nature of state power and the development of intellectuals. For the first time in such a volume and in close connection with general problems, the phenomenon of religious and cultural consciousness, theories and programs of ethnonational development and the creation of "new" political models of the" Sovereign National Conference", designed to democratize African societies, but in essence they are "a manifestation of the suppressed, a revenge of the "unrecognized authorities", a revival of the power of custom" (p. 95).

The study is based on the study of a huge body of sources: official documents (secular and religious), programs and speeches of political and public figures, works of African scientists and writers, the press, as well as archival materials collected in France, hard-to-reach and unique publications of original materials. It is interesting and very productive, in my opinion, to attract the author as a source of literary works that not only demonstrate in a concentrated form changes in the public (mass and elite) consciousness, but also allow the reader to get an idea of the views of the writers themselves as representatives of the highest stratum of intellectuals.

The paper combines philosophical (the history of social thought on the continent), historical (the evolution of the views and life experience of the educated elite), and purely practical (the role and place of this social group in the development of postcolonial African states and forecasting external relations) problems. The monograph consists of seven chapters: 1) "Intellectuals and Power in Black Africa"; 2) "Intellectuals and the" ideology of development "of Africa"; 3) "Concepts of power and government in independent countries of Tropical Africa"; 4) "National Conferences in Africa: the meaning and boundaries of the model"; 5) " Odyssey of Power: power against "in Black Africa"; 6) " Problems of nation-building in a multiethnic African state "(sub-chapters: "Models of ethno-national development in the intellectual quest of Africans during the period of independence", "Ethnicity and Politics in Black Africa"); 7) "Rebellious Africa: theological Thought in search of a religious justification for the reconstruction of the continent" (sub-chapters "Theology under the Tree: Continuity and Innovation" and "Theology of African Renewal: Religion, Cults, and Politics in Postcolonial Society").

The author pays special attention to the analysis and definition of the very concept of "intellectuals", which is very controversial, vague and indefinite. Intellectuals and representatives of the intelligentsia in Africa include groups of people either by occupation (civil servants), or by the level of education (university graduates), or by the degree of involvement in political life (participants in social movements). We can agree with V. S. Mirzekhanov that "it is more acceptable to accept the idea of a broad interpretation of the concept of intelligentsia and refer to this social group as persons of "free professions": teach-

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teachers, doctors, writers, and employees of the state apparatus, administration, students, and the military" (p. 11). From this large social group, the author identifies intellectuals as the elite of the intelligentsia, those "representatives of intellectual labor who, occupying a privileged place in the system of production and dissemination of ideas, possess knowledge, create historical consciousness, give meaning to social facts and have influence on political and cultural processes" (p. 18).

It is precisely because the intellectual elite, as a rule, is identified with the political elite and, therefore, can direct the political development of their countries through power structures, that its study is not only strictly scientific, but also of practical interest.

The author traces the change in the social role of the African intelligentsia from the emergence of this social stratum, through its development at different stages of the existence of African societies in the XX century (especially from the mid-60s to the mid-90s), to the awareness of the "historical meaning of the phenomenon of the ideology of African development" in the global process. He also analyzes the complexities of studying the consciousness of people of a different culture using methodological principles of historical phenomenology, an interdisciplinary approach, and the concepts of consistency and diversity of "cultural worlds".

The status of a social group of intellectuals is manifested in three aspects: "at the level of communication with knowledge-capital, at the level of communication with one's own society... at the level of relations with the political authorities" (p. 36). Each of them has its own difficulties. In particular, this is an overestimation of self-esteem, loss of contacts both with the society that brought them up, and with the power structures of the modern type. None of the three models developed by the African intellectual elite - modernization, renaissance, and Marxism (in special, "African" forms) - met their expectations. The inevitable disillusionment set in, and the search for new ways and theories began, leading either to tacit agreement, or to rebellion, or to emigration and the creation of a special stratum of black intellectuals - "citizens of the world" (especially in the United Kingdom and the United States). Many people who lost faith in their own role in the politics of their countries, who got rid of the euphoria of the first years of independence, moved away from public activities and went into science and literature. However, as the author rightly notes, new trends have been emerging in recent years - the desire to "destroy the logic of seclusion", to get out of isolation. As a result, a new intellectual elite is being formed, and the current stage is "a phase of slow maturation of new categories of social agents, new types of leaders" (p.141).

The monograph thoroughly examines the concepts of power, democracy, and their evolution over the years of independence through the prism of the views of African intellectuals. The author has studied the contradictory interactions of traditional and legal structures imposed by metropolitan countries; the specific difficulties of one-party systems and the difficult path of democratization, adapting it to African realities; and the causes of instability fraught with violence.

The author devotes two separate chapters to national and religious issues that are mentioned only briefly or even completely ignored in general works dealing with the current stage of development of African countries. However, in the context of multi-ethnic and multi-confessional societies, such problems always play an important and often decisive role. The statement "one country , one nation" is still only a slogan in all countries of the continent. The leveling or predominance of individual ethnic groups or confessions in state construction often led to instability, conflicts, and even bloody clashes both within and between States. The author shows that "state and national construction are developing in parallel, the complex mutual influence of these processes hinders the rapid formation of state-political unity and at the same time delays the process of national formation" (p.182). Awareness of this complexity leads African thinkers to the idea of "ethnic pluralism", "multi-ethnic society", and a theological approach to state-building. All this forms a new "cult space" (p. 226), where religion becomes a factor, a means, an instrument of politics. Although it is secondary, it is always present. The disdainful attitude of researchers to the study of the role of ethnic and confessional situations in the modern life of African societies, the approach to them from the standpoint of Eurocentrism, which is also not uncommon in domestic African studies, leads, as is fair

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the author emphasizes that it leads to errors in forecasting the political development of African countries.

The monograph also discusses in detail the very complex and vague concept of "cultural identity", which is difficult to understand and interpret, and which in various variations has become the basis of many philosophical and political trends in the social thought of African intellectuals in recent years. The author rightly sees the reason for paying close attention to this idea and emphasizing its special value in opposition to the modern leveled post-industrial world, which generates a sense of insecurity and longing for "one's own society" (p.229), which is familiar and provides reliability and stability of existence.

The author's multi-faceted analysis leads him to the conclusion that the intelligentsia of the Black African countries is a completely new, special cultural stratum, "at the same time belonging to its own society and detached from it." This determines the complexity of its positions. Through illusions and disappointments, it overcomes the "ethics of infantilism" that prevails at the present time, and goes to the "ethics of responsibility" (p. 231).

The whole monograph of V. S. Mirzekhanov is imbued with the idea of the need to understand Africa and stop judging it, not just to state the facts and events taking place on the continent, but to realize their regularity. Although the work is based on the realities of modern French-speaking Africa, which is already an important contribution to African studies, the significance of this work is much broader. The methodology of the study, as well as the conclusions, are applicable to all States of this continent, as well as to many former colonies, now developing countries of Asia.

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