On February 22, 2022, I gave a talk hosted by the African Studies Program of Georgetown University. Two days later, Russian battalions were sent across Ukraine’s borders by President Vladimir Putin. In real time, viewers around the world have seen immense distress unleashed on innocent citizens. In Africa, distress has...
Why did political independence not lead to economic autonomy and sustained development which were confidently predicted by many development economists and nationalists in the 1950s and 1960s. Africa will not make sustainable progress in building democratic systems and fostering economic development until the continent acquires coherent, legitimate, and effective states....
On October 2nd, an online conversation was conducted by the Program of African Studies of Northwestern University between Professor Chris Abani and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka.1 It was the resumption of a conversation between the two writers and scholars at the New York Public Library in November 2019. In response...
In this essay, I will focus on the fifth theme of the Collaborative Learning Initiative: Reclaiming Security. Attempts to reclaim security in many African countries, tragically, often lead to greater insecurity as rulers respond by heightening repression. Some even close down access to social media and global communications thereby harming...
As a world power after World War II, some U.S. government officials and private
foundations realized how little we knew of Africa, though allied troops had been engaged
in North Africa and transported through West Africa. And the Cold War was leading to
growing USSR influence in Africa. “It...
This study examines how Cape Verdean theatre artists construct transformative performances of race, gender, language, and colonial history at the Mindelact International Theatre Festival on the Cape Verde Islands. The aim is to understand how international theatre festivals participate in the production and shaping of new social imaginaries about nationhood....
A Dialogue on Nation-Building took place in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on January 14-16, 2018. I was one of a dozen individuals invited to serve as resource persons for this meeting of over a hundred representatives from the government, civil society, political and faith-based organizations. The aim of the gathering was to...
Contents:
Volume 1, Number 1;
Volume 1, Number 2;
Volume 1, Number 3;
Volume 1, Number 4;
Volume 1, Number 5;
Volume 2, Number 1;
Volume 2, Number 2;
Volume 2, Number 3;
Volume 3, Number 1;
Volume 3, Number 2;
Volume 3, Number 3;
Volume 3, Number 4;
Volume...