CODESRIA Books

The issues that this volume addresses relate to the ways in which, first, Africans negotiated the terms of this modernity during the colonial period and, then, how today they are coming to terms with it in the post-colonial period. The contributors argue both that the African experience of modernity is unique and, at the same time, relevant for social theory more widely. Not only is it important to describe this experience, but also to acknowledge that such a description may provide African Studies with valuable analytical insights into African social reality. In the course of so doing, cases are presented and issues raised covering new forms of labour, changing notions and norms relating to land rights, religious conversion, internal migration, and even emigration. Indeed, one particularly significant, but often underplayed, feature that has characterised both the colonial and post-colonial periods, and which this book deals with extensively, is the variegated linkages and interactions between Africans in the diaspora and within the continent

This is the first title in a new series Interventions, a strategic initiative by CODESRIA, aimed at promoting the research output of the younger generation of academics and scholars in Africa, and encouraging the exchange of ideas and experiences between young researchers about African issues. The series intends to create an opportunity for a younger generation of Africans, which is of key demographic importance, to become more engaged in public and/or academic debates about the future of their continent.