Africa's Big Men

Africa's Big Men PDF Author: Kenneth Kalu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781138559332
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book spotlights, analyzes and explains varying forms and patterns of state-society relations on the African continent, taking as point of departure the complexities created by the emergence, proliferation and complicated interactions of so-called ¿big men¿ across Africa's fifty-four states. The contributors interrogate the evolution of Africa¿s big men; the role of the big men in Africa¿s political and economic development; and the relationship between the state, the big men and the citizens. Throughout the chapters the contributors engage with a number of questions from¿different disciplinary and methodological orientations. How did these states evolve to exhibit various deformities in their composition, functioning and in their relations with the societies that they govern? What roles did Atlantic and other slavery and European colonialism play in creating states that are unable to display the right and good relationships with citizens in civil society? Why did these forms of predatory state-society relations continue to thrive in Africa after the end of Atlantic slave trade and subsequent colonialism? Why did the emerging African leaders at independence fail to effectively dismantle the structures of exploitation and expropriation that were the defining features of slavery and colonialism? Who are Africa¿s ¿big men¿, and what are their trajectories? This book is essential reading for all students and scholars of African politics, public policy and administration, political economy, and democratisation.

Africa's Big Men

Africa's Big Men PDF Author: Kenneth Kalu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781138559332
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book spotlights, analyzes and explains varying forms and patterns of state-society relations on the African continent, taking as point of departure the complexities created by the emergence, proliferation and complicated interactions of so-called ¿big men¿ across Africa's fifty-four states. The contributors interrogate the evolution of Africa¿s big men; the role of the big men in Africa¿s political and economic development; and the relationship between the state, the big men and the citizens. Throughout the chapters the contributors engage with a number of questions from¿different disciplinary and methodological orientations. How did these states evolve to exhibit various deformities in their composition, functioning and in their relations with the societies that they govern? What roles did Atlantic and other slavery and European colonialism play in creating states that are unable to display the right and good relationships with citizens in civil society? Why did these forms of predatory state-society relations continue to thrive in Africa after the end of Atlantic slave trade and subsequent colonialism? Why did the emerging African leaders at independence fail to effectively dismantle the structures of exploitation and expropriation that were the defining features of slavery and colonialism? Who are Africa¿s ¿big men¿, and what are their trajectories? This book is essential reading for all students and scholars of African politics, public policy and administration, political economy, and democratisation.

Big Men, Little People

Big Men, Little People PDF Author: Alec Russell
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 9780814775424
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
A thematic look at the current political, social, and economic conditions of Africa through examination of its leaders. From Mobutu Sese Seko, the "King of Kleptocracy," to F.W. De Klerk, "The last white patriarch," the author presents profiles of the rulers of the continent based on his personal encounters with them. He explains how these "big men" have influenced Africa and what their leadership might mean for the future, concluding that while it is premature to speak of a current "African Renaissance," there is still hope to be found in the dreams of the people. Written for a general audience. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Africa’s Big Men

Africa’s Big Men PDF Author: Kenneth Kalu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351363719
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
This book spotlights, analyzes and explains varying forms and patterns of state-society relations on the African continent, taking as point of departure the complexities created by the emergence, proliferation and complicated interactions of so-called ‘big men’ across Africa's fifty-four states. The contributors interrogate the evolution of Africa’s big men; the role of the big men in Africa’s political and economic development; and the relationship between the state, the big men and the citizens. Throughout the chapters the contributors engage with a number of questions from different disciplinary and methodological orientations. How did these states evolve to exhibit various deformities in their composition, functioning and in their relations with the societies that they govern? What roles did Atlantic and other slavery and European colonialism play in creating states that are unable to display the right and good relationships with citizens in civil society? Why did these forms of predatory state-society relations continue to thrive in Africa after the end of Atlantic slave trade and subsequent colonialism? Why did the emerging African leaders at independence fail to effectively dismantle the structures of exploitation and expropriation that were the defining features of slavery and colonialism? Who are Africa’s ‘big men’, and what are their trajectories? This book is essential reading for all students and scholars of African politics, public policy and administration, political economy, and democratisation.

African Conflicts and Informal Power

African Conflicts and Informal Power PDF Author: Mats Utas
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1848138857
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description
In the aftermath of an armed conflict in Africa, the international community both produces and demands from local partners a variety of blueprints for reconstructing state and society. The aim is to re-formalize the state after what is viewed as a period of fragmentation. In reality, African economies and polities are very much informal in character, with informal actors, including so-called Big Men, often using their positions in the formal structure as a means to reach their own goals. Through a variety of in-depth case studies, including the DRC, Sierra Leone and Liberia, this comprehensive volume shows how important informal political and economic networks are in many of the continent’s conflict areas. Moreover, it demonstrates that without a proper understanding of the impact of these networks, attempts to formalize African states, particularly those emerging from wars, will be in vain.

Big Men, Little People

Big Men, Little People PDF Author: Alec Russell
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
ISBN: 9780330375443
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description


How to Write About Africa

How to Write About Africa PDF Author: Binyavanga Wainaina
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0812989678
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
From one of Africa’s most influential and eloquent essayists, a posthumous collection that highlights his biting satire and subversive wisdom on topics from travel to cultural identity to sexuality “A fierce literary talent . . . [Wainaina] shines a light on his continent without cliché.”—The Guardian “Africa is the only continent you can love—take advantage of this. . . . Africa is to be pitied, worshipped, or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed.” Binyavanga Wainaina was a pioneering voice in African literature, an award-winning memoirist and essayist remembered as one of the greatest chroniclers of contemporary African life. This groundbreaking collection brings together, for the first time, Wainaina’s pioneering writing on the African continent, including many of his most critically acclaimed pieces, such as the viral satirical sensation “How to Write About Africa.” Working fearlessly across a range of topics—from politics to international aid, cultural heritage, and redefined sexuality—he describes the modern world with sensual, emotional, and psychological detail, giving us a full-color view of his home country and continent. These works present the portrait of a giant in African literature who left a tremendous legacy.

Conspicuous Consumption in Africa

Conspicuous Consumption in Africa PDF Author: Ilana van Wyk
Publisher: Wits University Press
ISBN: 1776143647
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A collection of essays examining cultures of consumption on the African continent From early department stores in Cape Town to gendered histories of sartorial success in urban Togo, contestations over expense accounts at an apartheid state enterprise, elite wealth and political corruption in Angola and Zambia, the role of popular religion in the political intransigence of Jacob Zuma, funerals of big men in Cameroon, youth cultures of consumption in Niger and South Africa, queer consumption in Cape Town, middle-class food consumption in Durban and the consumption of luxury handcrafted beads, this collection of essays explores the ways in which conspicuous consumption is foregrounded in various African contexts and historical moments. The essays in Conspicuous Consumption in Africa put Thorstein Veblen’s concept under robust critical scrutiny, delving into the pleasures, stresses and challenges of consuming in its religious, generational, gendered and racialised aspects, revealing conspicuous consumption as a layered set of practices, textures and relations. This volume shows how central and revealing conspicuous consumption can be to fathoming the history of Africa’s projects of modernity, and their global lineages and legacies. In its grounded, up-close case studies, it is likely to feed into current public debates on the nature and future of African societies – South African society in particular.

Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa

Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa PDF Author: Lisa A. Lindsay
Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Comprises a dozen contributions, focusing on men as gendered actors, the social construction of masculinity, masculinity as a relational category, and hegemonic or subordinate masculinities. Reflects on developments from colonialism to independence in seven sub-Saharan countries.

The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa

The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa PDF Author: Alex de Waal
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745695612
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa delves into the business of politics in the turbulent, war-torn countries of north-east Africa. It is a contemporary history of how politicians, generals and insurgents bargain over money and power, and use of war to achieve their goals. Drawing on a thirty-year career in Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, including experience as a participant in high-level peace talks, Alex de Waal provides a unique and compelling account of how these countries’ leaders run their governments, conduct their business, fight their wars and, occasionally, make peace. De Waal shows how leaders operate on a business model, securing funds for their ‘political budgets’ which they use to rent the provisional allegiances of army officers, militia commanders, tribal chiefs and party officials at the going rate. This political marketplace is eroding the institutions of government and reversing statebuildingÑand it is fuelled in large part by oil exports, aid funds and western military assistance for counter-terrorism and peacekeeping. The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa is a sharp and disturbing book with profound implications for international relations, development and peacemaking in the Horn of Africa and beyond.

Navigating Colonial Orders

Navigating Colonial Orders PDF Author: Kirsten Alsaker Kjerland
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1782385401
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 413

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Book Description
Norwegians in colonial Africa and Oceania had varying aspirations and adapted in different ways to changing social, political and geographical circumstances in foreign, colonial settings. They included Norwegian shipowners, captains, and diplomats; traders and whalers along the African coast and in Antarctica; large-scale plantation owners in Mozambique and Hawai’i; big business men in South Africa; jacks of all trades in the Solomon Islands; timber merchants on Zanzibar’ coffee farmers in Kenya; and King Leopold’s footmen in Congo. This collection reveals narratives of the colonial era that are often ignored or obscured by the national histories of former colonial powers. It charts the entrepreneurial routes chosen by various Norwegians and the places they ventured, while demonstrating the importance of recognizing the complicity of such “non-colonial colonials” for understanding the complexity of colonial history.