EP&E Castle Lecture Series: David Laitin, “Africa: The Last Frontier for Development” Lecture II

The 2015 Castle Lectures: “Africa: the Last Frontier for Development”

Lecture 2: A Half-Century of Dysfunctional Politics

David D. Laitin, the James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

Synopsis: Africa has lagged the rest of the developing world in terms of economic development, health, the establishment of social order, and the consolidation of democracy. For development outcomes, compared to other regions of the world, Africa is the “last frontier”. This lecture series will first survey the dimensions of development failures, and then will identify the historical and political sources accounting for this lag. Finally, it will point to some hopeful trends.

Lecture 1 on April 1st: “The Unfulfilled Dreams of African Independence”

Lecture 3 on April 6th: “A Search for Causes: Why has Africa been the ‘Final Frontier’?”

The Castle Lecture Series: Each year the Dean of Yale College appoints a Castle Lecturer in Ethics, Politics and Economics to deliver a series of lectures to promote awareness of and sensitivity to ethical issues facing individuals in complex modern societies. Intended to foster interdisciplinary reflection on the moral foundations of society and government, the lectures were endowed by Mr. John K. Castle to honor his ancestor the Reverend James Pierpont, one of the University’s original founders.  Yale University Press co-sponsors the lectures and publishes each set of lectures as a book.

Sponsored by the Yale Program on Ethics, Politics and Economics.