ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on two emerging democracies that are gaining international prominence for social reform, relative stability, and economic growth: Ghana and Mozambique. It suggests that Africa has been both literally and figuratively constructed through the inherent asymmetry of colonialism, postcolonialism, and neocolonialism, all of which relate to who, specifically, speaks for and on behalf of the 'public interest.' The chapter uses critical/cultural and postcolonial theories to explicate the relationship between the public interest and communications practices by the state in emerging democracies, specifically in Ghana and Mozambique. It specifically addresses how a postcolonial nation and emerging democracy is articulated by examining individual agency and the public interest in the lengthened shadow of colonialism. The chapter concludes by reconceiving the public interest in postcolonial nation-states as non-monolithic and heterogeneous, in part due to the tentacles of colonialism, which have indelibly shaped culture, governance, politics, and economics.
