British Scholar Inducted As Professor Of Commonwealth Studies
4 November 2004
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| Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Commonwealth Secretary-General from 1990 to 2000. |
Professor Richard Crook, a British scholar of African development, was inaugurated as the first holder of the Emeka Anyaoku Chair in Commonwealth Studies on 27 October 2004 at a ceremony in London, UK.
Best known for his work in comparative politics and good governance in Africa and South Asia, Professor Crook delivered his inaugural lecture on 'The State of the State in Africa: What is to be Done?' It focused on what is, in his view, the failure of efforts to reform the civil and public services of Sub-Saharan African states, and proposed some radical new approaches.
The Chair in Commonwealth Studies was created in 2003 and is named after Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Commonwealth Secretary-General from 1990 to 2000. It is based at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, part of the University of London's School of Advanced Study.
Professor Crook said the Chair will greatly contribute in boosting the activities of the Institute, particularly in the fields of development and governance studies.
He stated: "After many years spent working in and teaching about Africa and the Commonwealth, I feel it's a great honour to hold the first academic Chair in the UK to be named after a prominent African.
"I intend to develop the research profile of Commonwealth studies in the direction of more policy and practice-related fields such as contemporary governance and development. This includes public service reform, protection of land rights, civil society action and North-South policy-making, security and conflict, and the development of human rights institutions in divided or post-conflict societies."
Professor Crook is presently engaged in a project on land rights and legal institutions in West Africa -- funded by the UK Department for International Development -- and a comparative study of public service provision in Ghana and India.
The main focus of the Chair is on the contemporary challenges facing societies within the Commonwealth, and on the contribution of the Commonwealth to meeting them. These challenges include furthering democracy, human rights, multiculturalism and civil society.
Robert Holland, Professor of Imperial and Commonwealth History at the Institute, said: "Distinctively, this new post will approach these issues on the basis of shared and comparative experience between Commonwealth members. There is vast potential to exploit synergy between Commonwealth government organisations, NGOs, academia, professional agencies and ordinary citizens."
The Institute also houses a Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit and assists researchers from many Commonwealth countries.
CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 208 3 November 2004
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