Postcolonial Identities in Africa (Postcolonial Encounters) - Hardcover
'The end of Apartheid', 'the decay of the state', the escape of refugees', 'the increasing fatalities from AIDS' - from crisis to catastrophe, Africa has come to be globalized for media consumption, grossly misrepresented and, above all, marginalised.
In this book, distinguished anthropologists, political scientists and social historians from Africa, Europe and America make a radical break with much conventional wisdom in postcolonial discourse to explore contemporary African identities in transition. They look at the colonial legacy and how colonial identities are being reconstructed in the face of deepening social inequality across the continent. They ask how the postcolonial imagination as a highly specific, locally created and historical force reconfigures personal knowledge and how that reconfiguration shapes the moral and religious realities around the uses and abuses of postcolonial power.
Using case-studies, the book explores why postcolonial studies has to enunciate and interpret the distinctive languages of identity politics in all the cultural richness of their specific metaphors. It asks whether the very idea of the postcolonial conceals the continued dependence of African countries? Is the postcolonial thus merely a neo-colonial mystification, a Eurocentric product of Western scholarship in collusion with Western imperialism?
In this book, distinguished anthropologists, political scientists and social historians from Africa, Europe and America make a radical break with much conventional wisdom in postcolonial discourse to explore contemporary African identities in transition. They look at the colonial legacy and how colonial identities are being reconstructed in the face of deepening social inequality across the continent. They ask how the postcolonial imagination as a highly specific, locally created and historical force reconfigures personal knowledge and how that reconfiguration shapes the moral and religious realities around the uses and abuses of postcolonial power.
Using case-studies, the book explores why postcolonial studies has to enunciate and interpret the distinctive languages of identity politics in all the cultural richness of their specific metaphors. It asks whether the very idea of the postcolonial conceals the continued dependence of African countries? Is the postcolonial thus merely a neo-colonial mystification, a Eurocentric product of Western scholarship in collusion with Western imperialism?
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About the Author:
Richard Werbner is Professor of African Anthropology and Director of the International Centre for Contemporary Cultural Research (ICCR) at the University of Manchester. Among his books are Ritual Passage, Sacred Journey (1989), and Tears of the Dead (1991), for which he received the Amaury Talbot Prize of the Royal Anthropological Institute. He is coeditor-in-chief of Social Analysis and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Southern African Studies, Cultural Dynamics, Journal of Legal Pluralism, and Journal of Religion in Africa. He is also Series Editor of Postcolonial Encounters, a Zed Books series in association with the ICCR, Universities of Manchester and Keele. His distinguished career has included visiting appointments at a number of universities in Africa and North America.
Review:
"An excellent contribution to the growing body of literature on postcolonial Africa... should prove to have lasting influence, among all those with an interest in postcolonial encounters." --American Ethnologist, Voume 25, No 1, February 1998
"A fascinating range of approaches to debates surrounding issues of identity in African studies... extremely thorough, insightful and thought-provoking." --Contemporary Politics, Volume 3, No 4, 1997
'Both [editors] have for a long period been active in constructing African Studies as an interdisciplinary research area. The high quality of the contributions to the volume is a witness to the fruitfulness of their endeavours' --The European Journal of Development Research
"A fascinating range of approaches to debates surrounding issues of identity in African studies... extremely thorough, insightful and thought-provoking." --Contemporary Politics, Volume 3, No 4, 1997
'Both [editors] have for a long period been active in constructing African Studies as an interdisciplinary research area. The high quality of the contributions to the volume is a witness to the fruitfulness of their endeavours' --The European Journal of Development Research
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherZed Books
- Publication date1996
- ISBN 10 1856494152
- ISBN 13 9781856494151
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages304
- EditorWerbner Richard, Ranger Terence
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Book Description Condition: very good. Atlantic Highlands, N.J. : Zed Books, 1996. Hardcover. xi, 292 pp. 23 cm. Library stamp. - In this book, distinguished anthropologists, political scientists and social historians from Africa, Europe and America make a radical break with much conventional wisdom in postcolonial discourse to explore contemporary African identities in transition. Addressing fundamental issues of political violence, the negation of authority in public life, and peaceful change to multi-party politics, their analyses distinguish the varied impact of generational struggles, ethnicity and nationalism. Throughout, they shed new light on images, emblems of identity, social landscapes and boundaries of belonging.The book theorises the salience of the postmodern for the postcolonial and the postapartheid; and with actual case studies, explores why postcolonial studies has to enunciate and interpret the distinctive languages of identity politics in all the cultural richness of their specific metaphors. It asks whether the very idea of the postcolonial conceals the continued dependence of African countries. Is the postcolonial thus merely a neo-colonial mystification, a Eurocentric product of Western scholarship in collusion with Western imperialism? Condition : very good copy. ISBN 9781856494151. Keywords : AFRICA, Seller Inventory # 294768
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Post Colonial identities in Africa
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(1996)
ISBN 10: 1856494152
ISBN 13: 9781856494151
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Book Description Hard Cover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. From an academic library with the usual stamps etc. Pages tanned. Seller Inventory # 011521
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Post Colonial Identities in Africa
Published by
Zed Books, London
(1996)
ISBN 10: 1856494152
ISBN 13: 9781856494151
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Hard Cover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. From an academic library with the usual stamps etc. Pages tanned. Seller Inventory # 011532
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US$ 18.11
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