Africa is a continent of 54 countries and over a billion people. However, despite the rich diversity of the African experience, it is striking that continuations and themes seem to be reflected across the continent, particularly south of the Sahara. Questions of underdevelopment, outside exploitation, and misrule are characteristic of many - if not most-states in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this Very Short Introduction Ian Taylor explores how politics is practiced on the African continent, considering the nature of the state in Sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. Exploring the historical and contemporary factors which account for Africa's underdevelopment, he also analyses why some African countries suffer from high levels of political violence while others are spared. Unveilling the ways in which African state and society actually function beyond the formal institutional façade, Taylor discusses how external factors - both inherited and contemporary - act upon the continent. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Economic, political, and ethnic favoritism are common themes in the historiography of colonial Africa. Land ownership and control, and the abilities of the respective landscapes to sustain Africa’s growing population, have created recurrent identity crises throughout Africa. The chapters discuss the recurrent environmental issues, the problems of contested ownership of land, autochthonism as well as the blending of different cultures in a restricted area. Also highlighted is a neglected aspect of the history of Fulani migrations in West Africa - the colonial extension of the Fulani into the Southern Cameroons.

The essays collected in Cultivating the Colonies demonstrate how the relationship between colonial power and nature revealsthe nature of power. Each essay explores how colonial governments translated ideas about the management of exoticnature and foreign people into practice, and how they literally “got their hands dirty” in the business of empire. The eleven essays include studies of animal husbandry in the Philippines, farming in Indochina, and indigenous medicine in India. They are global in scope, ranging from the Russian North to Mozambique, examining the consequences of colonialismon nature, including its impact on animals, fisheries, farmlands, medical practices, and even the diets of indigenouspeople. Cultivating the Colonies establishes beyond all possible doubt the importance of the environment as a locus for studyingthe power of the colonial state.

"African Humanity: Creativity, Identity and Personhood is a collection of thought-provoking essays from scholars around the world on topics that inform new ways of thinking while engaging critical perspectives about Africa and the African Diaspora. The essays focus on the discourse of creativity, culture, identity and well-being from multiple fields such as design, art, gender studies, education, health and museum studies in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Africa and the African Diaspora. This multidisciplinary group of global scholars offer a critical dialogue on topics such as the creative process in Africa and the African Diaspora; gender and creative space; histories of creativity and inventions; globalized modernity and its consequence on cultural performances; politics of creativity; creativity, performance and Nollywood; social, political, and economic ramifications of creativity and design; ethical issues in creativity; and sustainability, well-being and the environment. The book's goal is to offer a comparative critical dialogue for a multidisciplinary academic audience, artists, grassroots activists, diverse communities and interested members of the general public. It has five distinct sections: Gender, Education, and Language; Design and Art in Africa and Its Diaspora; Creativity, Performance and Nollywood; Identity and Institutions of Politics and Living; and Sustainability, Health and the Environment. This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin"--

These transfers of sovereignty resulted in extensive, unforeseen movements of citizens and subjects to their former countries. The phenomenon of postcolonial migration affected not only European nations, but also the United States, Japan and post-Soviet Russia. The political and societal reactions to the unexpected and often unwelcome migrants was significant to postcolonial migrants’ identity politics and how these influenced metropolitan debates about citizenship, national identity and colonial history. The contributors explore the historical background and contemporary significance of these migrations and discuss the ethnic and class composition and the patterns of integration of the migrant population.

Intended for those interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this work looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. It illustrates key themes in modern thinking about Africa's history with a range of historical examples.

This edited volume provides an interdisciplinary and balanced discussion on the changing dynamics of identities in Africa, with a focus on gender, ethno-cultural, and religious identity.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of tables -- Notes on contributors -- 1 Introduction: dissent, protest and dispute Africa -- Part I Protest and dissent in Africa -- 2 The music of heaven, the music of earth, and the music of brats: Tuareg Islam, the devil, and musical performance -- 3 Finding social change backstage and behind the scenes in South African theatre -- 4 Soccer and political (ex)pression in Africa: the case of Cameroon -- 5 Child labor resistance in southern Nigeria, 1916-38 -- 6 M'Fam goes home: African soldiers in the Gabon Campaign of 1940 -- 7 "Disgraceful disturbances": TANU, the Tanganyikan Rifles, and the 1964 Mutiny -- Part II Ethnic/land and other disputes in Africa -- 8 The role of ethnicity in political formation in Kenya: 1963-2007 -- 9 Land, boundaries, chiefs and wars in Nigeria -- 10 Borders and boundaries within Ethiopia: dilemmas of group identity, representation and agency -- 11 Rural agrarian land conflicts in postcolonial Nigeria's central region -- 12 The evolution of the Mungiki militia in Kenya, 1990 to 2010 -- 13 Refugee-warriors and other people's wars in post-colonial Africa: the experience of Rwandese and South African military exiles (1960-94) -- 14 Oiling the guns and gunning for oil: the youth and Niger Delta oil conflicts in Nigeria -- Index

The question usually asked about Africa is: 'why is it going wrong?' Is the continent still suffering from the ravages of colonialism? Or is it the victim of postcolonial economic exploitation, poor governance and lack of aid? Whatever the answer, increasingly the result is poverty and violence. In Africa: The Politics of Suffering and Smiling Patrick Chabal approaches this question differently by reconsidering the role of theory in African politics. Chabal discusses the limitations of existing political theories of Africa and proposes a different starting point; arguing that political thinking ought to be driven by the need to address the immediacy of everyday life and death. How do people define who they are? Where do they belong? What do they believe? How do they struggle to survive and improve their lives? What is the impact of illness and poverty? In doing so, Chabal proposes a radically different way of looking at politics in Africa and illuminates the ways ordinary people 'suffer and smile'. This is a highly original addition to Zed's groundbreaking World Political Theories series.

A study of same-sex passion, desire, and intimacy among working-class women who love women in West Africa.