Africa Past & Present

Episode 74: The Dialectics of Piracy in Somalia

annette — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:48:49 +0000

Geographer Abdi Samatar (U. Minnesota; President of the U.S. African Studies Association) on pirates and piracy off the Somali coast; the complexities and inequalities between “fish pirates” and other kinds of pirates; the inadequacy of “clans” in explaining Somali society; and thoughts on “Africa’s First Democrats” and the future of Somalia.

Episode 73: Namibia: Herero Protest, Prophecy and Private Archives

annette — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:05:02 +0000

Red/White Flag Herero: courtesy Dag Henrichsen

Dag Henrichsen (Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Basel) on protest and prophecy among Herero intellectuals in 1940s Namibia. Also discussed are the 1904-5 German genocide, construction of Herero modernity, private archives, popular culture, Namibian historiography, and how Namibians conceptualized a “South African Empire.”

Episode 72: Conflict in Mali

annette — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:23:15 +0000

Vicki Huddleston (former U.S. Ambassador to Mali) and anthropologist Bruce Whitehouse (Lehigh Univ.) discuss the ongoing political and military conflict in Mali. Focus is on the complex origins of the Tuareg and Islamist insurgencies in the north, French intervention and U.S. policy, and how to chart the way to peace and stability in a wounded West African nation.

Episode 71: Ethnicity in Zimbabwe

annette — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:03:31 +0000

Enocent Msindo (History, Rhodes U.) on his recent book Ethnicity in Zimbabwe: Transformations in Kalanga and Ndebele Societies, 1860-1990. He explores chiefly politics, class, language, and local sources to show the creation of ethnic identity in southwestern Zimbabwe was not solely the result of colonial rule or African elites. Ordinary Africans created and shaped an ethnic consciousness based on precolonial histories and 20th-century innovations, while much-neglected Kalanga identities resisted both colonial and Ndebele hegemony.

Episode 70: The International Politics of Black Liberation

annette — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:05:02 +0000

Historian Gerald Horne (U. of Houston) on how labor struggles in Hawaii and black self-assertion in Kenya influenced a young Barack Obama; the legacy of African-American involvement in African political struggles; the confluence of African-American Studies and African Studies; and W.E.B. DuBois as a template for unity among people of African descent. With guest co-host Kiki Edozie.

Episode 69: Economic and Cultural History of the Slave Trade in Western Africa

annette — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:16:46 +0000

Toby Green (King’s College London) on his recent book The Rise of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Western Africa, 1300-1589. Green discusses periodization, sources, and the creation of creole communities in the Upper Guinea coast. He also comments on new research comparing Upper Guinea and West-Central Africa and concludes with a reflection on the opportunities and challenges of doing research in Guinea-Bissau. Walter Hawthorne is guest co-host.

Episode 68: Witchcraft, AIDS and Power

annette — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:03:20 +0000

Adam Ashforth (Univ. of Michigan) on “witchcraft” in rural Central and urban Southern Africa. Discusses connections with colonial and postcolonial power and authority; gender; spiritual insecurity and religious enthusiasm; law, culture, and HIV/AIDS in Malawi; “anti-anti-witchcraft,” and the “serious laughter” of photographer Santu Mofokeng.

Episode 67: Africanizing History and Society

annette — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 18:49:21 +0000

Sifiso Ndlovu (CEO, South African Democracy Education Trust) on the Soweto 1976 rising; personal and professional perspectives on challenges and contributions of African historians; writing and editing SADET’s The Road to Democracy in South Africa series; and the importance of orality and African languages in Zulu history and in rewriting South Africa’s past.

Episode 66: Miners, Marikana, and Photography

annette — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:59:38 +0000

Image courtesy of Lincoln Cushing/Docs Populi www.docspopuli.org

Alex Lichtenstein (History, Indiana U.) on the history of the struggles for class and racial justice in both South Africa and the U.S. The focus is on black trade unions and the apartheid state, the 2012 Marikana mine massacre, and labor in Jim Crow U.S. South, as well as an upcoming exhibition of Margaret Bourke-White‘s South African photographs of the apartheid era.

Episode 65: A Female King: Gender and Oral History in Eastern Nigeria

annette — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:03:16 +0000

Prof. Nwando Achebe (MSU History) on her recent book The Female King of Colonial Nigeria: Ahebi Ugbabe. Achebe describes key aspects of King (or Eze) Ahebi’s life; reflects on the value of oral history and multidisciplinary methods; and discusses Igbo gender, culture, and power during British colonial rule.