Time for Africa’s Emergence?


Book Description

Where do things stand today in Africa, after some 56 years of independence? Well, the continent is not just a land of crises and hardships; it also has what it takes to become emergent this 21st century – abundant natural resources, a youthful and dynamic population, a great potential for growth, etc. But most wounds inflicted by the colonial and neocolonial systems to date remain unhealed. Africans therefore have three crucial prerequisites to fulfill for their continent’s renaissance: regain their lost cultural balance, put in place a solid economic backbone, and promote a leadership committed to good governance and continental integration. In this illuminating book written from a refreshing African perspective, the author examines the facts and shares his deep conviction – without indulging in angst or finger-pointing– that Africans should build their continent’s emergence on a great sense of patriotism combined with sound preparation and intelligent cooperation, bearing in mind the potent examples set by Nelson Mandela, Thomas Sankara and other world political icons.




African Futures


Book Description

Civil wars, corporate exploitation, AIDS, and Ebola—but also democracy, burgeoning cities, and unprecedented communication and mobility: the future of Africa has never been more uncertain. Indeed, that future is one of the most complex issues in contemporary anthropology, as evidenced by the incredible wealth of ideas offered in this landmark volume. A consortium comprised of some of the most important scholars of Africa today, this book surveys an intellectual landscape of opposed perspectives in order to think within the contradictions that characterize this central question: Where is Africa headed? The experts in this book address Africa’s future as it is embedded within various social and cultural forms emerging on the continent today: the reconfiguration of the urban, the efflorescence of signs and wonders and gospels of prosperity, the assorted techniques of legality and illegality, lotteries and Ponzi schemes, apocalyptic visions, a yearning for exile, and many other phenomena. Bringing together social, political, religious, and economic viewpoints, the book reveals not one but multiple prospects for the future of Africa. In doing so, it offers a pathbreaking model of pluralistic and open-ended thinking and a powerful tool for addressing the vexing uncertainties that underlie so many futures around the world.




Africa's Future


Book Description

Many seek to "fix" Africa - economists, experts, politicians, gurus, cognoscenti and glitterati. But the continent conceals multiple secrets, including the Holy Grail: explanations of its saga over the previous centuries. Africa's Future tells the tale of Africa's economic evolution, revealing unique prisms for understanding the continent's panoramic story, one of triumph over the lasting influences of nature and multiple political tragedies. Modern Africa developed diverse economic pathways to betterment - yet survivalist economies litter the landscape. Its paradox of "subsistence with many faces" coexists amidst the tiny middle class, growing rich, and many more poor expected in the future. Clarke provides fresh and challenging insights into Africa's economies and future, offering seasoned views on a continent of unlocked potential which has witnessed many false dawns. Not "poor" but poorly managed, Africa holds greater promise, its destiny revealed by its history.




South Africa's Emergent Middle Class


Book Description

This book is drawn from diverse studies that grapple with Black Middle Class experiences in contemporary and historical South Africa. The chapters present research from diverse disciplines, and tackle issues related to being black and middle class, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Like many other social phenomena, the black middle class concept is seen as complex and not easy to pin down. As a result, conceptualizations from these chapters are dynamic and relevant for understanding the position of the black middle class in contemporary South African society. An interesting dynamic explored by contributors is the critical engagement with the usually reductionist notions of black middle class experiences as ahistorical, homogenous experiences of a group of conspicuous consumers. These limiting notions are unpacked and repositioned in how the book is structured. This book was published as a special issue of Development Southern Africa.




Strange and Difficult Times


Book Description

In this new collection, Nanjala Nyabola takes stock of a world in crisis. Her incisive yet moving prose unpacks the injustices shaping Covid’s starkly different outcomes between countries and communities, and reveals rich societies’ shockingly inaccurate view of how her home continent has fared. From the hidden truth of fast action, mutual aid and transnational cooperation in poorer countries to the widespread falsehoods of Western commentary, Nyabola exposes a global society scarred by colonial legacies, lazy narratives and ingrained biases. These essays are an inventory of the staggering political and social failures of our time, and the myths exposed in Covid’s wake. Watching coronavirus spread in Kenya and around the world, Nyabola reflects on a long history of onlookers denying the Global South’s agency and successes in times of emergency. Armed with her insider-outsider perspective, she reveals harsh truths about our broken system, and calls powerfully for a sincerely shared post-pandemic world—one where voices like hers can help to write a real global history.




The African State in Transition


Book Description

In the first twenty-five years of African independence the behaviour of the African state elites has not been, with a few notable exceptions, conducive to self-sustained development. What are the reasons for this sorry state of affairs? What can be done to reverse that unfortunate trend? These are the two overarching questions with which this book attempts to grapple.




Iita Research 13


Book Description




Great Kingdoms of Africa


Book Description

A groundbreaking, sweeping overview of the great kingdoms in African history and their legacies, written by world-leading experts. This is the first book for nonspecialists to explore the great precolonial kingdoms of Africa that have been marginalized throughout history. Great Kingdoms of Africa aims to decenter European colonialism and slavery as the major themes of African history and instead explore the kingdoms, dynasties, and city-states that have shaped cultures across the African continent. This groundbreaking book offers an innovative and thought-provoking overview that takes us from ancient Egypt and Nubia to the Zulu Kingdom almost two thousand years later. Each chapter is written by a leading historian, interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, including oral histories and recent archaeological findings. Great Kingdoms of Africa is a timely and vital book for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of Africa's rich history.




The Emergent African Union Law


Book Description

This edited collection explores the role of law in the regional integration effort in Africa, and assesses the extent to which African Union law is having in impact on domestic law across the continent. It analyses how the African Union is engendering new norms and standards, in areas such as economic regulation and democratic constitutionalism.--




CBC Times


Book Description