Coups and phalluses
The moral of Grace Mugabe of Zimbabwe: While men continue to share the spoils of their misrule, it seems there must always be a harlot who can be brought to heel.
6445 Article(s) by:
Ladan Osman
Ladan Osman is the author of Exiles of Eden (2019) and The Kitchen-Dweller’s Testimony (2015). She lives in Brooklyn.
The slave auction in Libya
Racism and discrimination are central to the social and cultural hierarchy in the Maghreb. Libya is no exception.
The new Old Man in Zimbabwe
From the perspective of the past, there is little evidence to invest much hope in the “successful transition” trope still reverberating in the international media about Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe Coup Music Edition
Ten post-independence, pre-coup struggle songs that critiqued ZANU-PF under Mugabe and imagined a leadership change and different political culture.
Empire and Ambivalence
Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s perturbing review of Maya Jasanoff’s travelogue of going up the Congo River as she’s accompanied by Joseph Conrad’s novel, ‘Heart of Darkness.”
The Incredible Hulk
What has Angola’s President João Lourenço, dubbed the “implacable exonerator,” been up to?
Paul Biya Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Biya did not conceive the system by which he rules Cameroon, but deserves as much credit for the modifications that have enabled his reign.
Mugabe was no revolutionary. He was obsessed with power and control
In the four decades that Robert Mugabe was at the helm of power in post-colonial Zimbabwe, his rule was anything but admirable.
The Interregnum in Zimbabwe
This is no revolution—just an internal ZANU-PF matter. One-party rule and military control remain intact; the military and party leadership are effectively one and the same.
Populism as politics in Southern Africa
In Southern Africa, former liberation movements reclaim ownership over history and society not by seeking but by remaining in power.
Robert Mugabe’s hostage face
And, the terrible experience of Tanzanian women in Oman and the United African Emirates.
The new, African magazine — for us, by us
Interview with Emmanuel Iduma, co-founder of Saraba magazine.
Who benefits from the military coup in Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe is the fourth country in Southern Africa to have a post-independence coup. (The others are
The real question about wildlife conservation
How did wildlife in Africa survive for millennia in together with people who never earned anything from it?
War begets terror
Since the beginning of 2017, the frequency and lethalness of al-Shabaab’s attacks inside Somalia have reached
Witnessing the crimes and end of empire
“The sun never sets on the British empire.” The saying, commonly associated with the poet of
African leaders’ tax returns
The Paradise Papers are shedding light on the mechanics of how African leaders hide their incomes.
To think through and beyond the nation-state
A conversation on books, borders, and belonging with Somali-American writer, Abdul Adan.
Where township tours don’t go
Who produced that $30 mug you bought at Cape Town International Airport on your way home?
What is the point of African Studies?
There’s no agreement, but the vibrant discussions and interventions by African scholars give much hope that something new is fermenting in African Studies.