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Steve Biko

Steve Biko

Ohio University Press has a series of “Short Histories of Africa”. I had one book from this series previously, on Thomas Sankara, and recently decided to pick up most of the collection for potential use as reading materials for classes. This post covers “Steve Biko” by Lindy Wilson, published in 2011. I found this book useful […]

Tags: #Apartheid #Lindy Wilson #Ohio Short Histories of Africa #South Africa #Steven Biko

Thought Provokers
Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism

Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism

Ashis Nandy’s “The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self Under Colonialism” (1983) is a classic postcolonial text from the Asian experience. One note I found fascinating was that this author found inspiration in the writings of African revolutionaries, finding little from what he was reading from the region he lived within. Through this we […]

Tags: #Ashis Nandy #Colonialism #Colonization #Conformity #Dissent

Thought Provokers
The Economic Weapon

The Economic Weapon

Arising out of a PhD project and focusing on the modern form of sanctions, Nicholas Mulder’s “The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War” (2022) is a fascinating historical journey. I picked up this book because I teach ethics for law and policy, and during the themes of war and […]

Tags: #Economic sanctions #Economic Weapons #Nicholas Mulder #Sanctions

Thought Provokers
Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy

Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy

Started in 2015, published in 2019, and penned by leading thinkers on the Ethiopian economy (Fantu Cheru, Christopher Cramer, Arkebe Oqubay) “The Oxford Handbook of the Ethiopian Economy” is a treasure. Standing at 955 pages, I am aware of no similar effort to cover the diversity of the country’s economy. The contributing authors are a […]

Tags: #Arkebe Oqubay #Christopher Cramer #Ethiopia #Ethiopian Economy #Fantu Cheru

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The Life of a Reluctant Nationalist

The Life of a Reluctant Nationalist

Compared to other leaders of the struggle for dignity and freedom, Cabral has been covered less. I have posted about a few books: Davidson wrote a book in 1969, a 1977 book covered some of Cabral’s work, and a 2013 edited book was inspired by Cabral. Antonio Tomas presents a biography of Cabral in “The […]

Tags: #Anti-colonial struggle #Antonio Tomas #Cabral #Leadership #The Life of a Reluctant Nationalist

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Know The Beginning Well

Know The Beginning Well

Lifelong development worker, K. Y. Amoako reflects on a career with the World Bank and United Nations in “Know the Beginning Well: An Inside Journey Through Five Decades of African Development” (2020). The book is interesting in that the author shares inside views, but lacks critical reflection and does not offer any bold or new […]

Tags: #Amoako #Development #Know the beginning well #Racism #World Bank

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