Best way to study AFRICA?

[R_P_A_S]

AFRICA is possible the most misunderstand and complex place in the world. More than the middle east even. It's often neglected and many human rights abuses happen there to date. and we never hear anything about them.

Every time i take time to read an issue on Africa I become extremely overwhelm because information pours from all sides. I would to to have a comprehensive guide or book or something that I can start with and educate my self on the issues facing Africa past and present.

Who were and who are it's revolutionaries?
who were and who are their oppressive dictator, regimes, groups, etc.
What imperialist powers hurt it and are helping destroy it.

all that.

please help!
and direct me towards the best way to read on and learn.

[gilhyle]

Good questtion...hope someone has an answer; I'd also be interested.

[Iron]

It’s really hard to tell since Africa has being in the middle of a civil war since the mid-1900's. As for what power crushed it and brought it to it current state, I would blame mostly Britain and France as they were the colonizers of the majority of it.

[R_P_A_S]

yeah. i mean everyone knows a bit of it here and there. but I would really like to get deep into some studies. eventually I would like to do this with every world region... but Africa seems like the most complex

[Janus]

Every time i take time to read an issue on Africa I become extremely overwhelm because information pours from all sides.
You need to narrow your focus a bit unless you're seeking general information on its history and current state. Africa is huge and covers a broad range of topics; imagine applying those questions to the Americas or Asia even cause that's essentially what you're doing here.

[R_P_A_S]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 07:13 am

Every time i take time to read an issue on Africa I become extremely overwhelm because information pours from all sides.
You need to narrow your focus a bit unless you're seeking general information on its history and current state. Africa is huge and covers a broad range of topics; imagine applying those questions to the Americas or Asia even cause that's essentially what you're doing here.
ok. how about this for starters.

who is responsible for most of the instability and exploitation. perhaps start off by looking at the early colonizers. who were they, and how the fuck did they get away with so much?

[phoenixoftime]

I'd like to know a bit about the Soviet-sponsored revolutions in Africa, too.

[R_P_A_S]

Bump!!!

[jake williams]

It's extremely complicated and I don't know a whole lot, but there are a few things I can suggest.

In South Africa (and a bit in the larger region) - look up Dutch and British colonialism, the Boer War, the ANC and apartheid, Nelson Mandela, uh, Desmond Tutu.

I think there's something with Namibia and Germany, a colonialist genocide maybe? ...

Belgian colonialism - the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi I'm thinking? ... Patrice Lumumba, look him up.

North Africa is basically Arab/Islamic... look up French colonialism and Algeria, Muammar Gaddafi, Nasser & secular Arab nationalism...

West Africa, like sub-Saharan, you know, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire... I don't know much about it.


That should (hopefully) help get you started, at least.

[blackstone]

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
http://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/how-europe/index.htm

Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams
Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Towards the African Revolution by Frantz Fanon
The Pillage of the Third World by Pierre Jalée



If you need books on specific regions or countries let me know. But i suggest those books and maybe something by Kwame Nkrumah, whether it's Africa Must Unite or Class Struggle in Africa.

[Tower of Bebel]

I have a similar thread in research, but I'm searching specificly for information on Congo (and both Burundi and Rwanda).

I'll whatch this thread, Walter Rodney seems interesting.

[Nakidana]

Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Towards the African Revolution by Frantz Fanon

These are awesome, you just need to prepare yourself to read some of the text over and over again in order to understand it. :)

[Tower of Bebel]

Belgian colonialism - the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi I'm thinking? ... Patrice Lumumba, look him up.

Indeed, Patrice Lumumba is a very important study subject. He is a symbol of African national liberation through (democratic) bourgeois means, which, of course, had to fail.

[Don't Change Your Name]

Yes, the history of the Congo and Belgian control over it is an interesting example. Although I'm not that well informed about it, I think you might be interested in doing some research about it. Besides the problems that arose because of European nations' control over African countries there have been many ethnic/religious conflicts (although they have also been motivated by economic issues, which seems to be the case in Darfur for instance), so in every case the history has been different.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

read WITH YOUR EYES!

[R_P_A_S]

These are awesome, you just need to prepare yourself to read some of the text over and over again in order to understand it. :)

MEH! i don't like those kinds of books =(

[R_P_A_S]

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
http://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/how-europe/index.htm

Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams
Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Towards the African Revolution by Frantz Fanon
The Pillage of the Third World by Pierre Jalée



If you need books on specific regions or countries let me know. But i suggest those books and maybe something by Kwame Nkrumah, whether it's Africa Must Unite or Class Struggle in Africa.

any of these books concentrate on class struggle comrade?

[blackstone]

Class Struggle in Africa by Kwame Nkrumah
An excellent analysis of the various economic classes in Africa and a historical analysis of the development of these classes. Probably a good book to start, I actually think, it's the work i started with in beginning to analyze class struggle in Africa. Who else to learn about it from than Kwame Nkrumah?

Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
Towards the African Revolution by Frantz Fanon

[chimx]

I suggest you focus on a specific country. That is why you are overwhelmed.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

a country like MOROCCOCOCOCOCOOCOCOCOCOCOCO

[Organic Revolution]

Take a read at all the information on Zabalaza.net

[Organic Revolution]

It’s really hard to tell since Africa has being in the middle of a civil war since the mid-1900's. As for what power crushed it and brought it to it current state, I would blame mostly Britain and France as they were the colonizers of the majority of it.

Your looking at Africa as if it is a country, not a continent. When looking into information like this, or espousing it, you need to do it by a country by country basis.

[black magick hustla]

Actually, you can treat Africa as a historical region. There are similar trends in most of subsaharan africa, in the same way there are in Latin America.

[Mujer Libre]

Actually, you can treat Africa as a historical region. There are similar trends in most of subsaharan africa, in the same way there are in Latin America.

I think you and OR both have a point. I don't think you can treat subsaharan Africa as a whole (not that I'm saying that's what you meant) but there are certainly recurring themes.

Anyway, for the sake of learning I always found it best to focus on specific issues and draw themes and issues from that, rather than teh other way around, which can be dry and uninformative.

[Mara_Suomessa]

Glad to see some Fanon on the list. I just finished The Wretched of the Earth and honestly, I'm not sure if there's any other book I've ever read that's as thought provoking and meaningful (well... maybe Capital. Those sudden "!!!!!" moments and all). You'll find African history, psychology, literary criticism, organizational tips... everything.

I'm working through Black Skin, White Masks right now and it's shaping up to be more interesting; especially how language and psyche work together to form worldviews. Then after that A Dying Colonialism (all about North Africa... it needs mention), and then if I can get a copy of Towards the African Revolution again I'll check that one out.

[Invader Zim]

ok. how about this for starters.

who is responsible for most of the instability and exploitation. perhaps start off by looking at the early colonizers. who were they, and how the fuck did they get away with so much?

This is the subject of quite substancial debate. An interesting, if contravercial first port of call, if you want to look at the debate whether Europeans caused the current state of Africa, is Forced Migration: The Impact of the Export Slave Trade on African Societies, a collection of essays edited by J. E. Inikori.

The question is rather a dificult one to answer at this stage, largely because African history is one which has unfortunately been some what neglected, with comparitively few historians exploring Africa's history, until relatively recently. It is not however a new question, in the late 18th century British statesman William Pitt the Younger addressed the question in the House of Commons and reached the following conclusion, "The truth was, that we stopped the natural progress of civilisation; we cut off Africa from improvment; we kept down that Continent in a state of darkness, bondage, ignorance, and blood."

Quoted in Jennifer Mori, William Pitt and the French Revolution, 1785-1795, (Keele, 1997), p. 30.

If you want a more modern look at the history of Africa, Richard Rathbone is one of the most eminent historians you may want to read. The guy actually attends a fair few of the research seminars held at my university and he's a very nice guy and his books are first class.

[Invader Zim]

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
http://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/how-europe/index.htm

Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams
Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

Towards the African Revolution by Frantz Fanon
The Pillage of the Third World by Pierre Jalée




Blackstone, William's thesis has been roundly explored and subsequently rejected.