African Studies

Why study African Politics?

We have been engaged in

drawing lines upon maps
where no white mans foot
ever trod; we have been
giving away mountains
and rivers and lakes to
each other, only hindered
by the small impediment
that
we
never
knew
exactly
where
the
mountains and rivers and
lakes were.
British prime minister of
the
day, Lord Salisbury, at
an 1890 Anglo-French
conference:

Only 2 independent
African states in 1914:
Liberia and Ethiopia

The geopolitical project of British

colonialism: British Africa, from
Cape to Cairo

Why study African Politics?

Africa is home to a variety of phenomena, lending itself

to the process of comparative politics, furthering the
understanding of our own politics and allowing us to
move beyond a Eurocentric perspective
To move beyond a Western-centric perspective on
politics (which doesnt help us understand or explain
politics).

Famine in
Ethiopia
Ebola in
Sierra
Leone

Genocid
e in
Rwanda

Somalia, a failed
state

The Second Congo War (1998-2003)

9 countries and 20
armed groups
5.4 million victims
(deadliest war since
WWII)

1000 people died daily in 2004, due

to malnutrition or easily preventable
disease

Diversity in Africa
54 independt states in Africa
From relatively homogenous ones (Ethiopia) to the
multicultural and multi-ethnic states (South Africa 11
official languages).
Huge variety in size (DRC vs Gambia)
The Muslim North vs. the Christian South

Ethiopian Iconography

Al-Azhar University (est. 972)

The representation of the Other

The black man the Other by definition
the originating point of racism
The racism of his representation

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas
Abram Petrovich Gannibal