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Africa's Long Road Since Independence: The Many Histories of a Continent

Keith, Somerville (2015) Africa's Long Road Since Independence: The Many Histories of a Continent. Hurst, London, UK, 471 pp. ISBN 978-1-84904-515-5. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:60578)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/africas-long-r...

Abstract

Over the last half century, sub-Saharan Africa has not had one history, but many — histories that have intertwined, converged and diverged. They have involved a continuing saga of decolonisation and state-building, conflict, economic problems, but also progress. This new account of those histories looks in particular at the relationship between territorial, economic, political and societal structures and human agency in the complex and sometimes confusing development of an independent Africa.

The story starts long before the granting of independence to Ghana in 1957, with pre-colonial societies, slavery and colonial occupation. But the thrust of Keith Somerville’s narrative looks at Africa in the closing decades of the old millennium and the beginning of the new millennium. While this book examines post-colonial conflicts within and between new states, it also considers the history of the peoples of Africa — their struggle for economic development in the context of harsh local environments and the economic straitjacket into which they were strapped by colonial rule is charted in detail. The importance of imposed or inherited structures, whether the global capitalist system, of which Africa is a subordinate part, or the artificial and often inappropriate state borders and political systems set up by colonial powers, will be examined in the light of the exercise of agency by African peoples, political movements and leaders.

Item Type: Book
Uncontrolled keywords: Africa, contemporary history, independence, African poltics, African economic history
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D839 Post-war history, 1945-
D History General and Old World > DT Africa
J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Centre for Journalism
Depositing User: Keith Somerville
Date Deposited: 27 Feb 2017 20:36 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 11:01 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/60578 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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