This particular moment in history is perfectly easy to interpret. Globalization presents Africa and black people as marginal: globalizing economies seek resources from every corner of the world, and globalized economies reap considerable benefits from their economic and political dominance. The “wealth of nations,” to borrow the title of Adam Smith’s famous book, is used not only to develop the resources within the boundaries of nation-states but also to tap into the resources of other countries. Africa has given to the outside world more than it has received in return, creating the basis to talk about the poverty of nations. Defenders of globalization insist that it represents progress for all nations, the ultimate peak of human progress. Globalization’s critics point to the devastation of the environment, climate change, depletion of natural and mineral resources, labor exploitation, expropriation or control of land belonging to the poor, and indigenous profiting from food production as significant negative consequences.

Africa is a case study of both positions, providing examples of the benefits and problems of globalization. Africa experiences globalization “from above,” that is, a situation where powerful nations and companies with more resources are able to control the major actions and policies that determine the characteristics of global encounters. If Africa is part of the equation of globalization “from below,” any discussion of its place in the global system will draw us into issues of nationalism and resistance—how Africans can mobilize themselves to win power and privileges, and how international institutions must be reformed. The actors who control globalization from above often call on African countries to practice democracy, but the same democratic principles do not apply to the United Nations Security Council, where a handful of countries have veto power. Enormously powerful international financial institutions are not always accountable and transparent, and they have the capacity to enforce unpopular neoliberal policies, thus ensuring that the autocratic organization of globalization hurts Africa in such aspects as currency value, commodity pricing, and debt servicing. The challenge that Africans face is to seek the means to extend the benefits of globalization while curtailing the negative impacts on their worldview, culture, and values that hold together families, communities, and clans.

The encounters of Africa in particular and black people in general with the forces of globalization since the fifteenth century have been devastating for the most part.