Unit information: Post-colonial Africa: Politics, Society and Culture (Level H Lecture Response) in 2008/09

Unit name	Post-colonial Africa: Politics, Society and Culture (Level H Lecture Response)
Unit code	HIST39010
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit focuses on the history of post-independence Africa from the 1950s through to the present. It seeks to engage with, and to challenge, pre-conceptions of this period as one of unremitting decline, disaster and crisis - without denying the reality of conflict and political failure. While recent observers such as Martin Meredith and Robert Guest have characterized the past half century in calamitous terms, a critical historical approach may help us move beyond the dichotomy of 'good news' versus 'bad news' when it comes to contemporary African issues. Should we, in fact, talk of 'African' issues at all, given the environmental, social and cultural diversity of the continent? We shall therefore explore the contemporary political, social and cultural history of sub-Saharan Africa through comparative studies of specific states and regions. The themes of the unit will include the political ideologies of post-independence leaders; militarism, autocracy and one-party rule; the influence of 'tradition'; poverty, economic development and decline; cultural production and popular culture; the revitalisation of civil society and popular protest. The lectures will provide a chronological and thematic background, while discussion will focus on more in-depth examination of aspects of the weekly topic.

Teaching Information

10 x 2 hour interactive lectures.

Assessment Information

1 x 3000 word essay (50%) and 1 x 2 hour exam (50%)

Reading and References

Preliminary Reading:

• Kwame Anthony Appiah, In My Fathers House (London: Methuen, 1992)

• Frederick Cooper, Africa Since 1940  The Past of the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

• Paul Nugent, Africa Since Independence (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).

• Martin Meredith, The State of Africa (London: Free Press, 2006)

• Robert Guest, The Shackled Continent: Africas Past Present and Future (London: Pan Macmillan, 2004)

• Roy Richard Grinker and Christopher B. Steiner (eds), Perspectives on Africa: a reader in culture, history, and representation (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997)