THE AFRICAN INSTITUTE: An Integral  Initiative                                  
Don Edward Beck, Ph. D.
                      
Introduction
Between l981 and l998 I made 62 trips to South Africa. During those extended visits I was in a position to probe deeply into the crevices and fault lines that forge surface level differences between and among various racial, ethnic, and 1st through 4th world thinking patterns and human groupings. I was searching for a much better explanation as to why non-African societies appear to have progressed along the developmental spiral much further than the "indigenous" people who sprang from the so-called "Dark Continent." I was not content with the superficial and self-serving explanations that circulated through both academic and popular publications.

I concluded, for example, that "apartheid" was not the problem; rather it was the symptom of the inability to mesh the African and European streams of thought. It became clear to me that neither skin pigmentation, language of origin, or even ethnic identity offered any plausible explanation. Further, I was convinced that none of the solutions - political, economic, social, educational etc - that were available had the complexity codes to macromanage whole societies. Clearly, the imposition of Western boundaries over Tribal domains trapped "majority vs. minority" entities into constant tension, if not bloody warfare. Clearly, the Western models of economic development, fueled by the World Bank, the IMF, and multinationals appeared to make things worse; not better. Clearly, egalitarian, multicultural models, likewise, lacked both the precision and discipline to overcome centuries of failures in upliftment  strategies. The current HIV tragedy is simply a print-out of these deeper dynamics but, alas, few of the commentators, even during the recent international AIDS conference in Durban,  demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the deeper cultural currents that flow over the African subcontinent.

Fresh Thinking
I believe the opportunity now exists for a series of new initiatives that, for the first time, are based on the African realities. If the safest place in any crisis is the hard truth, what are the hard truths about Africa? Have we now reached the stage, following the decades of disappointment regarding Africa - from Sierra Leone to Zimbabwe - that we must now ask the hard questions?  Can any group free themselves from rage  because of centuries of exploitation, BOTH by white/European interests and first generation African leaders? Will the naïve attempts at the resolution of historic grudges continue to sow seeds of violence and retribution?

How many more civil wars can we endure? How many more haunting pictures of children with bloated but starving tummies can we stand? How much more bloodshed can we tolerate BEFORE we are willing to seek after the hard truths? And, can we purge from our minds epochs full of racial stereotypes, and most certainly pervasive guilt, to get down to the core problems? If such a group of people existed that could think in news ways, explore fresh initiatives, and act decisively to shape the many dynamics that cause cultures to prosper, what would they do?

I personally believe that such fresh thinking may well be appearing in parts of Africa but it has yet to take a cohesive form so it can be recognized and utilized everywhere.  During this millennium year the opportunity may now exist to search for a new synthesis and actually construct new initiatives that could address the issues that appear to be common in most of Africa. Yet, the current fragmented and isolated approaches, even though well-funded and even politically "correct," are making things worse. Something new and fresh is now required.

 Integral Solutions 
Africa is full of foundations, think tanks, institutes, academic and marketing research entities, private consultants, and experts from various backgrounds and persuasions. Each seeks after funding, makes claims of having "the solution," and promotes its particular perspective through the media, among political activists, and at conferences, summits, and scenario events. Each has a piece of the puzzle; none, in my view, has the whole picture.  The time is certainly ripe for a new and more complex intelligence to enter the fray, one that has the capacity to integrate, align, and synergize all of the diverse approaches to create a holistic, multifaceted, and strategically focused series of disciplined efforts across the wide front of education, health care, community development, economic enhancement, wealth creation, infrastructure construction, and
systemic conflict reduction.

I believe an Institute, based on integral principles,  could offer such an intelligence. Both my books -The Crucible: Forging South Africa's Future and Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership & Change - lay out such a schematic. And, my recent collaboration with Ken Wilber and the All Quadrants/All Levels viewpoint (4Q/8L) adds yet another dimension to the construction of such a DNA-like psycho/social/cultural script. To illustrate: I detected, during my South African experience, that differences in maths, engineering, and scientific thinking were a function of language and numeracy development. Indigenous African languages are essentially  "right brain" and, quite frankly, lack the codes that generate the "left brain" linear-logic programming. This is not at all a racist comment, but simply an observation that can be made of a number of language tributaries around the world. As long as Zulu children are taught maths in their native tongue up through Standard Three (5th grade), these gaps will continue. Imagine what would happen if Native American children, living on reservations, were forced to learn higher mathematics in an indigenous tongue.

Further,  the future of the Third world  cultures MUST be some variation of Second World "good authority" systems and structures BEFORE so-called First World mechanisms can emerge. Attempts to impose on African societies the complex codes of post modern American and European cultures will, without question, restrict their development through the essential steps & stages in social evolution.  Ultimately, a uniquely African model must surface from the Tower of Babel of voices, one that meshes what is historically relevant with what the future will require. This will not be "African" in the sense of dress styles, ubuntu concepts, or even life style patterns. But, neither will it be European, or anti-European, either. A new, universal framework could well rise, like the Phoenix out of the ashes, that could establish the foundation for new, planetary citizens.

In short, an integral thinking institute will be able to add a sense of objectivity to these critical issues, thus separating them from hyper sensitivity racial images, or frozen, flatlander models of social change.  Such an African Institute could explore ways of transcending the age old bromides and "us" vs. "them" bipolarity that continue to trap Africa in a cul-de-sac. What, then, could such an institute do that is different from is  currently available? What could be its distinctive character and unique functions?

First, the African Institute should create a comprehensive Vital Signs Monitor of the entire continent. Such a monitor would bring together the physical, environmental, geographic, social, economic and human GIS-type profiles and portraits. The "whole Africa" should be seen and experienced in one place, with overlapping critical indicators to demonstrate how  eather and land forms impact human populations; how cultural dynamics impact HIV infection patterns; how boundary disputes and intertribal conflicts flare into violence; and how the entire continent can be perceived as a single ecological system with many diverse currents, forces, and dynamics.

Such an unbounded initiative would be essential to break out of the many piecemeal and even mutually exclusive approaches to upliftment that currently plague the continent. Developmental and peace-making industries often self-fulfill their own prophecies just to keep themselves in power and access to revenue streams. It is now time to break that cycle.

Second, the African Institute could scan globally for different types of solutions that fit different situations and developmental stages, and make them available to others, much like George Bush's Thousand Points of Light.  This would be a clearing house for collecting and displaying a host of programs, packages, and experiences that could be adapted for use across the broad spectrum of situations.

Third, a progressive thinking African Institute could well provide direction and templates to other foundations, institutes, international resources, the private sector, and even public policy-makers to focus their resources in a way that creates critical masses. Unhappily, isolated efforts lack the carrying capacity to translate their work, even though highly valued, into a sustainable, long-term impact and flow.

Fourth, such an African Institute MUST be multidisciplinary in design, and
include leadership and staff that can transcend the usual litany of territorial disputes, turf battles, and not-invented-here syndromes. The core intelligences in the African Institute must include the theoretical and the practical; the research tradition as well as the field applications; and the microchip-driven 21st Century technologies along with the ancient, traditional wisdom.

I can't honestly say that such a capacity currently exists in any academic, political, religious, or economic grouping currently assembled  anywhere in Africa. No doubt there are pieces here and there, in institutional forms as well as in individual efforts.  Herein lies the greatest danger to face any person who is serious about doing something unique, or who wishes to impact the entire continent.  Lots of people understand and embrace the fragments; few, if any, understand the holons or the interconnections and essential meshes. And, few have been able to lay aside their own perspectives and ideologies to focus specifically on the deeper dynamics that cause cultures to form, emerge, and prosper. I've dealt with these forces for sixteen years and can provide many different examples of exactly what I mean.

I would strongly recommend that these matters be openly discussed before any decision is made regarding yet another African Institute. Otherwise, even the best made plans of "mice and men" will fall into the historic African sink hole. Far too often the visionaries who create and even fund such an innovation find their ideas  compromised and restricted by potential hosts who simply rename themselves, or bring the "old wineskins" to contain "the new wine."

Don Edward Beck, Ph. D.
info@globalvaluesnetwork.com