Africa Today articles from January 2000

Africa Today archives from January 2000

Pilfering the Public: The Problem of Land Grabbing in Contemporary Kenya.
January 1, 2000... Political liberalization in Africa is a more problematic process than earlier thought. Powerful actors will attempt to maintain patrimonial control by developing creative counter-strategies to change. When faced with declining patronage...

Who Owns the Oil? The Politics of Ethnicity in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
January 1, 2000... This article evaluates conflicting ownership claims to crude-petroleum resources by the Nigerian State and by ethnic minorities of the Niger Delta. It details the colonial origin of the state's control of oil resources and the political context...

Reconfiguring Tradition: Women's Rights and Social Status in Contemporary Nigeria.
January 1, 2000... This article provides a brief review of the place of tradition in restructuring women's social status and rights in contemporary Africa. Using Nigeria as a case study, the analysis traces women's historical progression from the pre-colonial...

African and American Connivance in Congo-Zaire.
January 1, 2000... Kabila's power takeover has been interpreted by political analysts as orchestrated by African countries fighting rebel groups using the Zairian territory as a basis for action. This regime change has also been presented as a victory of the...

Broadcasting Reform and Democratization in Botswana.
January 1, 2000... During the 1990s Botswana broadcasting underwent major, politically significant changes which will soon enable it to play a greater role in the democratization of politics and society. External and domestic influences on the government's...

Re-educating Namibia: The Early Years of Radical Education Reform, 1990-1995.
January 1, 2000... Following independence, the Namibian government saw primary education reform as a principal means of investing in human capital to promote socioeconomic development. This paper analyzes the efforts made during the first five years of the reform...

THE PATH OF A GENOCIDE: THE RWANDA CRISIS FROM UGANDA TO ZAIRE.
January 1, 2000... Adelman, Howard, and Astri Suhrke, eds. 1999. THE PATH OF A GENOCIDE: THE RWANDA CRISIS FROM UGANDA TO ZAIRE. New Brunswick and London: Transaction. 414 pp. $44.95 The strength of this collection is its examination of international...

DEMOCRATIZATION AND MODERNIZATION IN A MULTILINGUAL CAMEROON.
January 1, 2000... Asuagbor, Greg O. 1998. DEMOCRATIZATION AND MODERNIZATION IN A MULTILINGUAL CAMEROON. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen. ix+206 pp. No price given. This book tackles a fascinating and important subject. If it fails to fully do the subject justice, it...

WIVES OF THE LEOPARD: GENDER, POLITICS AND CULTURE IN THE KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY.
January 1, 2000... Bay, Edna G. 1998. WIVES OF THE LEOPARD: GENDER, POLITICS AND CULTURE IN THE KINGDOM OF DAHOMEY. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. This book examines aspects of kinship, gender and class in the ruling apparatus of the Kingdom...

UNRAVELING SOMALIA: RACE, VIOLENCE, AND THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY.
January 1, 2000... Besteman, Catherine. 1999. UNRAVELING SOMALIA: RACE, VIOLENCE, AND THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 272 pp. $42.50 (cloth); $19.95 (paper). Catherine Besteman's new book is thematically the latest...

POLITICAL LIBERALISATION OR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION: AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES.
January 1, 2000... Diouf, Mamadou. 1998. POLITICAL LIBERALISATION OR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION: AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES. New Path Series No. 1. Dakar: CODESRIA. 83 pp. The process of political liberalization or democratic transition in Africa, though incomplete,...

EL DORADO IN WEST AFRICA: THE GOLDMINING FRONTIER, AFRICAN LABOR, AND COLONIAL CAPITALISM IN THE GOLD COAST, 1875-1900.
January 1, 2000... Dumett, Raymond E. 1998. EL DORADO IN WEST AFRICA: THE GOLDMINING FRONTIER, AFRICAN LABOR, AND COLONIAL CAPITALISM IN THE GOLD COAST, 1875-1900. Athens: Ohio University Press and Oxford: James Currey. 396 pp. $44.95 (cloth); $19.95 (paper). ...

STRUGGLING TO FORGIVE: NELSON MANDELA AND SOUTH AFRICA'S SEARCH FOR RECONCILIATION.
January 1, 2000... Frost, Brian. 1998. STRUGGLING TO FORGIVE: NELSON MANDELA AND SOUTH AFRICA'S SEARCH FOR RECONCILIATION. London: Harper Collins. 261 pp. $27.50 Struggling to Forgive examines aspects of South Africa's past, present, and future through the...

WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES: STORIES FROM RWANDA.
January 1, 2000... Gourevitch, Philip. 1998. WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES: STORIES FROM RWANDA. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 356 pp. No price indicated. In May 1995 journalist Philip Gourevitch made his first...

NAMIBIA UNDER SOUTH AFRICAN RULE: MOBILITY AND CONTAINMENT, 1915-46.
January 1, 2000... Hayes, Patricia, et al., eds. 1998. NAMIBIA UNDER SOUTH AFRICAN RULE: MOBILITY AND CONTAINMENT, 1915-46. Windhoek: Out of Africa; Oxford: James Currey; Athens: Ohio University Press. 330 pp. No price indicated (paper). In August 1994, the...

EAST AFRICAN DOCTORS: A HISTORY OF THE MODERN PROFESSION.
January 1, 2000... Iliffe, John. 1998. EAST AFRICAN DOCTORS: A HISTORY OF THE MODERN PROFESSION. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. $64.95 (cloth). Based on extensive archival research and a meticulous review of the vernacular press, this study explains...

MIDDLE EASTERN WOMEN AND THE INVISIBLE ECONOMY.
January 1, 2000... Lobban, Richard A., Jr., ed. 1998. MIDDLE EASTERN WOMEN AND THE INVISIBLE ECONOMY. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. 302 pp. No price given (cloth). Think of this stimulating and insightful volume as a contribution to the...

NATIONALISTS AND NOMADS: ESSAYS ON FRANCOPHONE AFRICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE.
January 1, 2000... Miller, Christopher. 1999. NATIONALISTS AND NOMADS: ESSAYS ON FRANCOPHONE AFRICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE. Chicago: Chicago University Press. 258 pp. $46.00 (cloth) $19.00 (paper). One of the many objectives of Nationalists and Nomads is to...

THE LAST DEFENDERS OF THE LAAGER: IAN D. SMITH AND F.W. DE KLERK.
January 1, 2000... Mungazi, Dickson A. 1998. THE LAST DEFENDERS OF THE LAAGER: IAN D. SMITH AND F.W. DE KLERK. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. 266 pp. $65.00 (cloth). This book sets out to compare the "laagers" created by white rulers in colonial Zimbabwe...

BOY-WIVES AND FEMALE HUSBANDS: STUDIES OF AFRICAN HOMOSEXUALITIES.
January 1, 2000... Murray, Stephen, and Will Roscoe. 1998. BOY-WIVES AND FEMALE HUSBANDS: STUDIES OF AFRICAN HOMOSEXUALITIES. New York: St. Martin's Press. 358 pp. $29.95 (cloth). Recent years have seen African nations begin to confront the issue of...

EAST AFRICAN EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY.
January 1, 2000... Spear, Thomas, and Isaria N. Kimambo, eds. 1999. EAST AFRICAN EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIANITY. East African Studies series. Oxford: James Currey; Dar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota; Nairobi: EAEP; Athens: Ohio University Press. 340 + xii pp. $44.95...

THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA: PROSPECTS FOR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY.
January 1, 2000... Toase, F.H. and E. J. Yorke, eds. 1998. THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA: PROSPECTS FOR DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY. New York: St. Martin's Press. 212 pp. No price indicated (cloth). For those who follow events in South Africa, this volume...

Books Received.
January 1, 2000... Adamolekun, Ladipo. 1999. Public Administration in Africa: Main Issues and Selected Country Studies. Boulder, Co.: Westview Press. Adedeji, Adebayo, ed. 1999. Comprehending and Mastering African Conflicts: The Search for Sustainable Peace...