Synopses & Reviews
In
The Postcolonial State in Africa, Crawford Young offers an informed and authoritative comparative overview of fifty years of African independence, drawing on his decades of research and first-hand experience on the African continent.
and#160;and#160; and#160;Young identifies three cycles of hope and disappointment common to many of the African states (including those in North Africa) over the last half-century: initial euphoria at independence in the 1960s followed by disillusionment with a lapse into single-party autocracies and military rule; a period of renewed confidence, radicalization, and ambitious state expansion in the 1970s preceding state crisis and even failure in the disastrous 1980s; and a phase of reborn optimism during the continental wave of democratization beginning around 1990. He explores in depth the many African civil warsandmdash;especially those since 1990andmdash;and three key tracks of identity: Africanism, territorial nationalism, and ethnicity.
and#160;and#160; and#160;Only more recently, Young argues, have the paths of the fifty-three African states begun to diverge more dramatically, with some leading to liberalization and others to political, social, and economic collapseandmdash;outcomes impossible to predict at the outset of independence.
andldquo;This book is the best volume to date on the politics of the last 50 years of African independence.andrdquo;andmdash;International Affairs
andldquo;The book shares Youngandrsquo;s encyclopedic knowledge of African politics, providing in a single volume a comprehensive rendering of the first 50 years of independence. The book is sprinkled with anecdotes from his vast experience in Africa and that of his many students, and quotations from all of the relevant literature published over the past five decades. Students and scholars of African politics alike will benefit immensely from and enjoy reading The Postcolonial State in Africa.andrdquo;andmdash;Political Science Quarterly
Review
"No one else has, or perhaps even indeed could have, opened up this field with the skill, originality, and success that Christine Hatzky has achieved. The term tour de force comes to mind."and#151;David Birmingham, author of
Trade and Conflict in AngolaReview
"Christine Hatzky challenges conventional wisdom about the underpinnings of Cuban 'internationalism' and how it has evolved over the years. There is no other comparable work."and#151;Susan Eckstein, author of The Immigrant Divide: How Cuban Americans Changed the U.S. and Their Homeland
Review
"Among a great many points of profound interest to the reader, Hatzky demonstrates that the most important global impact of the Cuban revolution starts as a traditional 'export of revolution' and ends with international solidarity becoming a professionalized commodity that Cuba is able to export."and#151;Michael Zeuske, University of Cologne
Review
and#147;An important book that reveals the centrality of different institutions of education to the history of African politics in colonial Senegal at the beginning of the twentieth century. Duke Bryant revises significantly our understanding of the shifting ideas about race in early colonial Africa and offers an exciting new interpretation of the 1914 election of Blaise Diagne.and#8221;and#151;Bruce Hall, Duke University
Review
andldquo;A highly readable, sweeping, and yet detailed analysis of the African state in all its failures and moments of hope. Crawford Young manages to touch upon all the important issues in the discipline and crucial developments in the recent history of the African continent. This book will be a classic.andrdquo;andmdash;Pierre Englebert, author of Africa: Unity, Sovereignty and Sorrow
Review
andldquo;An interesting, thoughtful, and comprehensive work rich in case material and analysis; the incorporation of the analysis of the North African states is particularly noteworthy. The scope of Youngandrsquo;s knowledge and mastery of the scholarly literature is truly impressive.andrdquo;andmdash;Catherine Boone, author of Political Topographies of the African State: Territorial Authority and Institutional Choice
Review
andldquo;An extraordinary tour de force that cogently captures the dynamic political trajectory of the African state during the continentandrsquo;s first half century of independence.andrdquo;andmdash;Michael Schatzberg, series editor
Review
andldquo;The new book is a masterful synthesis of the tumultuous trajectories of Africaandrsquo;s independent states in the five decades following decolonization.andrdquo;andmdash;
Journal of Modern African StudiesReview
andldquo;Well written, analytically coherent, and thoughtfully presented, Youngandrsquo;s volume relies on extensive academic literature but also provides original analyses and insights. It will serve the needs of students, professional Africanists, and the much larger reading public who want a one-stop authoritative account of Africaandrsquo;s changing political landscape. Highly recommended.andrdquo;andmdash;
Choiceand#160;Review
andldquo;With remarkable command of the evidence and a keen grasp of theoretical nuance, Young shows how colonialism and the patterns of modernization it wrought dramatically altered cultural identities and created cleavages between groups, which still shape domestic conflict throughout the region, sometimes with devastating consequences.andrdquo;andmdash;
Foreign AffairsReview
andldquo;The uniqueness of the book is that it does not place blame on any side for the demise of Africaandrsquo;s political economy . . . I highly recommend that researchers, students, teachers of African studies, and general readers obtain copies of the book, as they will regret not doing so.andrdquo;andmdash;
Africa TodayReview
andldquo; A work of scope and ambition, written with great clarity and flair. Each chapter is densely packed with historical detail and theoretical insight, as Young synthesizes multiple strands of scholarship into an easily digestible narrative.andrdquo;andmdash;
H-Net ReviewsReview
andldquo;Vos has rounded out the famous story of the Kingdom of Kongo (known primarily for its sixteenth- and seventeenth-century history) with its conquest by Portugal at the dawn of the twentieth century. Exhaustively documented and carefully argued, this is a Kongo-centered view of how the country entered into the Portuguese domains, but also how its elite guided that entrance with their own agenda. An insightful view of the onset of colonialism in Central Africa.andrdquo;andmdash;John K. Thornton, Boston University
Synopsis
Cubans in Angola explores the unique and influential cooperation between two formerly colonized countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean in the global south.and#160;
Synopsis
Angola, a former Portuguese colony in southern central Africa, gained independence in 1975 and almost immediately plunged into more than two decades of conflict and crisis. Fidel Castro sent Cuban military troops to Angola in support of the Movimento Popular de Libertaand#231;and#227;o de Angola (MPLA), leading to its ascension to power despite facing threats both international and domestic. What is less known, and what
Cubans in Angola brings to light, is the significant role Cubans played in the transformation of civil society in Angola during these years. Offering not just military support but also political, medical, administrative, and technical expertise as well as educational assistance, the Cuban presence in Angola is a unique example of transatlantic cooperation between two formerly colonized nations in the global South.
Synopsis
Education as Politics argues that colonial schooling remade Senegalese politics during the transition to French rule, creating political spaces that were at once African and colonial, and ultimately leading to the historic 1914 election of a black African representative from Senegal to the French National Assembly.
Synopsis
In 1914, Blaise Diagne was elected as Senegaland#8217;s first black African representative to the National Assembly in France.
Education as Politics reinterprets the origins and significance of this momentous election, showing how colonial schools had helped reshape African power and politics during the preceding decades and how they prepared the way for Diagneand#8217;s victory.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Kelly M. Duke Bryant demonstrates the critical impact of colonial schooling on Senegalese politics by examining the response to it by Africans from a variety of backgrounds and statusesand#151;including rural chiefs, Islamic teachers, and educated young urbanites. For those Africans who chose to engage with them, the French schools in Senegal provided a new source of patronage, a potentially beneficial connection to the bureaucratizing colonial state, a basis for claims to authority or power, or an arena in which to debate pressing issues like the future of Qurand#8217;anic schooling and the increasing racism of urban society under colonial rule.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Based on evidence from archives in Senegal and France, and on interviews Duke Bryant conducted in Senegal, she demonstrates that colonial schooling remade African politics during this period of transition to French rule, creating political spaces that were at once African and colonial, and ultimately allowing Diagne to claim election victory.
Synopsis
This is a richly documented history of the arrival of rubber traders, new Christian missionaries, and the Portuguese colonial state in the Kongo realm, told from the perspective of the kingdomandrsquo;s inhabitants. A case study of colonialism in Africa from economic, religious, and political perspectives, it examines the participation of African elites in colonial rule.
About the Author
Christine Hatzky is a professor at the Leibniz Universitand#228;t Hannover. She is a historian specializing in postcolonial Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Lusophone Africa, especially Angola.
Cubans in Angola is a translation of her German-language
Kubaner in Angola, revised and updated for an English-speaking audience
.Table of Contents
List of Illustrationsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Acknowledgmentsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;
Introductionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
1 Courting the Hottentot Venusand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
2 The Bottom Line: African Caricature in Georgian Englandand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
3 Ira Aldridge at Covent Gardenand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
4 Clicks and Clucks: Victorian Reactions to San Speechand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
5 Charles Dickens and the Zulusand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
6 A Zulu View of Victorian Londonand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
7 Dr. Kahn and the Niam-Niamsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
8 The United African Twins on Tour: A Captivity Narrativeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
9 Circus Africansand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
10 Africa's First Olympiansand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Conclusionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;
Notesand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Bibliographyand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Index