Where everyone can go together
The struggle in Israel-Palestine lacks a sense of inclusivity, like in South Africa, that aims to take over and transform the state into a democracy for all its citizens.
Books
Spirit of a nation
Leila Aboulela’s historical novel of nineteenth century Sudan tells the story of one of Africa’s first successful, anticolonial uprisings.
Reading List: Barbara Boswell
While editing a collection of the writings of South African feminist Lauretta Ngcobo, Barbara Boswell found inspiration in texts that reflected Ngcobo’s sense that writing is an exercise of freedom.
Character assassin
Author RW Johnson's latest aberration is a mix of fiction and lazy research that misrepresents anti-apartheid struggle leaders.
The imperial forest
Gregg Mitman’s 'Empire of Rubber' is less a historical reading of Liberia than a history of America and racial capitalism through the lens of a US corporate giant.
Uganda’s most controversial and disruptive politician
A new book revisits the career of Uganda’s first elected prime minister, Benedicto Kiwanuka, his followers, and political ideas.
Probing the depths of the CIA’s misdeeds in Africa
The CIA committed many crimes in the early days of post-independence Africa. But is it fair to call their interference “recolonization”?
Makeshift modernity
The rise of African Speculative Fiction and other exciting cultural production indicates that modernity is not an exercise in “catching up” with Europe, but an entirely new condition.
Man of action
An interview with Brian Peterson, author of a new biography of Thomas Sankara. Peterson positions 1980s Burkina Faso as counterhegemonic to the neoliberal transition then.
Making the city possible
Re-visiting Nairobi's urban history offers a glimpse into the forces that shaped modern life.
Beyond the Nobel Peace Prize
New biographies reveal Wangari Maathai as a reflective scholar and critical thinker.
The philosopher king
A new biography of Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere, reveals a complicated legacy.
A murder in Congo
What does the decade-old “Congo-case,” involving two Norwegian mercenaries, tell us about residue coloniality in Scandinavia?
At the edge of sight
One of the few books about photography to come out of the continent and where the majority of contributors are African and work on the continent.
Our women on the ground
A new book of essays offers a nuanced glimpse into the complexities of reporting on the Arab world, including North Africa.
What kind of ancestor do you want to become?
Medical anthropologist Julie Livingston argues that the conditions of capitalist modernity in which we live are not sustainable and are leading to increased rather than lessened inequality.
The Coming-Out of the African Same-Sex Novel
Uzodinma Iweala’s new novel about a closeted gay Nigerian comes out as we're witnessing a burgeoning African—and specifically Nigerian—literary attention to same-sex sexuality.
No Country for Yes Men
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o: colonial and neocolonial rule cannot survive without the work that prisons perform.
One day we will find a language for this
New Warscapes volume explores travels and lives of migrants and refugees beyond mainstream portrayals.
Reading Frantz Fanon
The glut of books on Fanon serve as a guide for reading him through the challenges of our present. But they also reveal the extent to which reading Fanon today is not such a straightforward operation.