Download or read book Africa in Contemporary Perspective written by Manuh, Takyiwaa and published by Sub-Saharan Publishers. This book was released on 2014-05-08 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An important feature of Ghanaian tertiary education is the foundational African Studies Programme which was initiated in the early 1960s. Unfortunately hardly any readers exist which bring together a body of knowledge on the themes, issues and debates which inform and animate research and teaching in African Studies particularly on the African continent. This becomes even more important when we consider the need for knowledge on Africa that is not Eurocentric or sensationalised, but driven from internal understandings of life and prospects in Africa. Dominant representations and perceptions of Africa usually depict a continent in crisis. Rather than buying into external representations of Africa, with its 'lacks' and aspirations for Western modernities, we insist that African scholars in particular should be in the forefront of promoting understanding of the pluri-lingual, overlapping, and dense reality of life and developments on the continent, to produce relevant and usable knowledge. Continuing and renewed interest in Africa's resources, including the land mass, economy, minerals, visual arts and performance cultures, as well as bio-medical knowledge and products, by old and new geopolitical players, obliges African scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to work with each other to advance knowledge and uses of those resources in the interests of Africa's people.
Download or read book Religions in Contemporary Africa written by Laura S. Grillo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-28 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religions in Contemporary Africa is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the three main religious traditions on the African continent, African indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam. The book provides a historical overview of these important traditions and focuses on the roles they play in African societies today. It includes social, cultural and political case studies from across the continent on the following topical issues: Witchcraft and modernity Power and politics Conflict and peace Media and popular culture Development Human rights Illness and health Gender and sexuality With suggestions for further reading, discussion questions, illustrations and a list of glossary terms this is the ideal textbook for students in religion, African studies and adjacent fields approaching this subject area for the first time.
Download or read book Perspectives on Africa A Reader in Culture History and Representation written by Roy Grinker and published by Wiley-Blackwell. This book was released on 1991-01-16 with total page 772 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Contemporary Issues in African Society written by George Klay Kieh, Jr. and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the twin critical processes of state-building and nation-building in Africa and the confluence of major domestic and global issues that shape them. The book covers topics such as the expansive role of non-governmental organizations, the growing influence of charismatic Pentecostalism, ethnic conflicts in East Africa, the failure of the African Union’s peacekeeping efforts in Sudan’s Darfur region, and Africa's expanding relations with the European Union. It combines discussion of these frontier issues shaping contemporary African society with analysis from leading policy experts.
Download or read book Peacebuilding in Contemporary Africa written by Kenneth Omeje and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-09-03 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peacebuilding in Contemporary Africa explores the challenges and opportunities faced by countries and societies transitioning from armed conflicts to peace in contemporary Africa. It evaluates the effectiveness, outcomes and failures of existing peacebuilding initiatives implemented by stakeholders, and proposes new strategies and approaches to facilitate the transition. The book investigates both micro- and macro-level conflicts in various parts of Africa, as well as the efforts made to resolve them and build peace. The book pays particular attention to grassroots-based micro-level conflicts often disregarded in peacebuilding literature, which tends to focus on macro-level, neo-liberal state reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts. The book adopts an evidence-based, policy-relevant approach to peacebuilding in Africa. The various chapter contributors offer a lucid analysis and critique of some of the prevailing paradigms and strategies of peacebuilding practiced in Africa. Together, the authors recommend innovative strategies to mobilise and coordinate governance institutions and partnerships at all levels (international, regional, national, and local) to prevent conflict escalation in volatile states and advance the rebuilding of violence-affected states and communities. Peacebuilding in Contemporary Africa provides a much-needed perspective from African scholars, and will be of interest to students, researchers, policy makers and practitioners with an interest in promoting legitimate policy interventions and sustainable peace in Africa.
Download or read book Inside Africa written by A. S. Yaruingam and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Making of Contemporary Africa written by Bill Freund and published by Bloomington : Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1984 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Making of Contemporary Africa eamines the complex events in Sub- Saharan Africa since the eighteenth century, in the light of scholarly appraisal in recent years. The themes of class and labour are highlighted. It enables the reader to come to grips with contemporary problems instead of falling into the easy trap of looking on independence as a 'happy ending'.
Download or read book Contemporary Perspectives on African Moral Economy written by Isaria N. Kimambo and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topic of African moral economy was first raised by Goran Hyden in 1980 as one of the main obstacles to economic transformation of the African peasantry. The suggestion caused serious academic debates between the proposer and other scholars on African societies, especially those using political economy as the framework of their analysis. But Hyden continued to defend his thesis until interest in the debate faded out. More recently Japanese scholars have taken up the topic as it appears to have new relevance in comparison with the fast transformations which have taken place in Southeast Asian rural communities. The focus of this book is to give a detailed comparison between African rural communities and those of Southeastern Asia. Attention is focused on the two main aspects of African peasantry life: the right to subsistence and the norm of reciprocity. A wide interdisciplinary approach is employed to demonstrate the dynamism displayed by these societies.
Download or read book African Politics in Comparative Perspective written by Goran Hyden and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revised and expanded second edition of African Politics in Comparative Perspective reviews fifty years of research on politics in Africa and addresses some issues in a new light, keeping in mind the changes in Africa since the first edition was written in 2004. The book synthesizes insights from different scholarly approaches and offers an original interpretation of the knowledge accumulated in the field. Goran Hyden discusses how research on African politics relates to the study of politics in other regions and mainstream theories in comparative politics. He focuses on such key issues as why politics trumps economics, rule is personal, state is weak and policies are made with a communal rather than an individual lens. The book also discusses why in the light of these conditions agriculture is problematic, gender contested, ethnicity manipulated and relations with Western powers a matter of defiance.
Download or read book Framing Africa written by Nigel Eltringham and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first decade of the 21st century has seen a proliferation of North American and European films that focus on African politics and society. While once the continent was the setting for narratives of heroic ascendancy over self (The African Queen, 1951; The Snows of Kilimanjaro, 1952), military odds (Zulu, 1964; Khartoum, 1966) and nature (Mogambo, 1953; Hatari!,1962; Born Free, 1966; The Last Safari, 1967), this new wave of films portrays a continent blighted by transnational corruption (The Constant Gardener, 2005), genocide (Hotel Rwanda, 2004; Shooting Dogs, 2006), ‘failed states’ (Black Hawk Down, 2001), illicit transnational commerce (Blood Diamond, 2006) and the unfulfilled promises of decolonization (The Last King of Scotland, 2006). Conversely, where once Apartheid South Africa was a brutal foil for the romance of East Africa (Cry Freedom, 1987; A Dry White Season, 1989), South Africa now serves as a redeemed contrast to the rest of the continent (Red Dust, 2004; Invictus, 2009). Writing from the perspective of long-term engagement with the contexts in which the films are set, anthropologists and historians reflect on these films and assess the contemporary place Africa holds in the North American and European cinematic imagination.
Download or read book Contemporary Design Africa written by Tapiwa Matsinde and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Contemporary African Design offers a refreshing challenge to rigid perceptions of what African design looks like. Focusing primarily on interior decoration, the book presents fifty designers, artisans, and cooperatives based on the continent or part of the diaspora who are creating sophisticated and innovative products and interiors." --Publisher.
Download or read book Contemporary Perspectives on Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora written by Carolyn M. Jones Medine and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-14 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary Perspectives on Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora explores African derived religions in a globalized world. The volume focuses on the continent, on African identity in globalization, and on African religion in cultural change.
Download or read book Africa since 1940 written by Frederick Cooper and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-10-10 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frederick Cooper's book on the history of decolonization and independence in Africa is part of the textbook series New Approaches to African History. This text will help students understand the historical process out of which Africa's position in the world has emerged. Bridging the divide between colonial and post-colonial history, it allows readers to see just what political independence did and did not signify and how men and women, peasants and workers, religious leaders and local leaders sought to refashion the way they lived, worked, and interacted with each other.
Download or read book Rethinking and Unthinking Development written by Busani Mpofu and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2019-03-27 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development has remained elusive in Africa. Through theoretical contributions and case studies focusing on Southern Africa’s former white settler states, South Africa and Zimbabwe, this volume responds to the current need to rethink (and unthink) development in the region. The authors explore how Africa can adapt Western development models suited to its political, economic, social and cultural circumstances, while rejecting development practices and discourses based on exploitative capitalist and colonial tendencies. Beyond the legacies of colonialism, the volume also explores other factors impacting development, including regional politics, corruption, poor policies on empowerment and indigenization, and socio-economic and cultural barriers.
Download or read book Contemporary Security Issues in Africa written by William A. Taylor and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a comprehensive resource for readers interested in contemporary security issues in Africa, this compelling book details the impact of complex challenges in Africa and explains why addressing them grows increasingly important. Presenting both general overviews and specific case studies, this book introduces contemporary security issues in Africa, home to more than thirty of the fifty most fragile nations in the world. It covers the past three decades of conflict on the continent, focusing on such topics as weak and failing states, ethnic conflict and civil wars, natural resources and environmental security, political violence and terrorism, piracy and maritime security, food security and poverty, international responses, and future prospects. The core of the book comprises detailed analysis of the nexus between culture, politics, and security in Africa, while the volume as a whole examines key regional and transnational security issues affecting Africa and their implications at the state, regional, and international levels. The book explores the dynamic role that African nations play in influencing international security and investigates and articulates factors heightening the importance of Africa's role in international affairs.
Download or read book Towards an Understanding of the African Experience from Historical and Contemporary Perspectives written by Festus Ugboaja Ohaegbulam and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 1990 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introductory survey provides a rich understanding of the African experience which, until recently, either had been omitted from the curriculum of institutions of higher learning or was distorted in written and oral literature. The book identifies the post-World War II civil rights movement in America and the independence revolution in Africa as the most decisive forces that generated interest in the study of the African/black experience. Includes four theoretical models for interpreting the black experience. The author discusses the place and role of Africa in the development of human civilization, focusing on Africa's Nile Valley civilizations and Western Sudanic empires. It probes aspects of traditional African culture, including the family, traditional political institutions and religion, and analyzes the impact on Africa and its peoples of such historical traumas as slavery, colonialism, and decolonization.
Download or read book Africa s Long Road Since Independence written by Keith Somerville and published by Penguin Press. This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A superb book...genuinely innovative' Jack Spence OBE, King's College London Over the last half century, sub-Saharan Africa has not had one history, but many. Histories that have intertwined, converged and diverged. They have involved a continuing process of decolonization and state-building, conflict, economic problems but also progress and the perpetual interplay of structure and agency. This new view of those histories looks in particular at the relationship between territorial, economic, political and societal structures and human agency in the complex and sometimes confusing development of an independent Africa. The story starts well before the granting of independence to Ghana in 1957, but the book also looks at Africa in the closing decades of the old millennium and opening ones of the new. This is a book, too, about the history of the peoples of Africa and their struggle for economic development against the global economic straitjacket into which they were strapped by colonial rule and decolonisation. The importance of imposed or inherited structures, whether the global capitalist system, of which Africa is a subordinate part, or the artificial and often inappropriate state borders and political systems is discussed in the light of the exercise of agency by African peoples, political movements and leaders.
