This book consciously interrogates the varieties of opinions with regards to the socio-political and religious dynamics of Africans in the African continent as well as in the diaspora in the context of globalization. It highlights the significance and the consequences of globalization on these areas with regards to the African world views. Through the multi and interdisciplinary discourse in this volume, the diversity of opinions necessary for grappling with the complexity and plurality of global dynamics on various African ways of life are captured. These should give credence to the conviction that answers to questions about globalization of Africa in the past, the present, and projected future can only be provided by Africans and Africanists with the interest of Africa as the sole motivation of content and discontent debates. This volume contributes to such efforts in searching for viable answers to the challenges of globalization in Africa.

Explores the culturally complex and cosmopolitan histories of islands off the African coast

This title was first published in 2002: The resurgence of the democratization movement in Africa in the post-Cold War era is gradually replacing authoritarianism with forms of democratic systems. These changes have put into question the traditional big man image of African states’ foreign policy and foreign policy-making. The first book of its kind to focus on the foreign policy-making process of Southern African countries in the era of globalization, these instructive and rewarding case studies contextualize the increasing involvement of other internal actors in African states foreign policy-making process. Foreign policy actors such as the Presidency, Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Trade, Finance and the Intelligence Community, among others, are examined in a comparative perspective.

Four overarching themes underscore the essays in this book. These are the creation of African diaspora community and institutional structures; the structured and shared relationships among African immigrants, host, and homeland societies; the construction and negotiation of diaspora spaces, and domains (racial, ethnic, class consciousness, including identity politics; and finally African migrant economic integration, occupational, and labor force roles and statuses and impact on host societies. Each of the thematic themes has been chosen with one specific goal in mind: to depict and represent the critical components in the reconstitution of the African diaspora in international migration. We contextualized the themes in the African diaspora as a dynamic process involving what Paul Zeleza called the “diasporization” of African immigrant settlement communities in global transnational spaces. These themes also reflect the diversities inherent in the diaspora communities and call attention to the fluid and dynamic boundaries within which Africans create, diffuse, and engage host and home societies. In this context, the themes outlined in this book embody the diaspora tapestries woven by the immigrants to center African social and cultural forms in their host societies and communities. Collectively, the themes represent pathways for the elucidation of understanding African immigrant territorialization. Our purpose is to map out and identify the sources and sites for the contestations of the myriad of cultural manifestations of the new African diaspora and its depictions within the totality of the shared meanings and appropriations of the essences of African-ness or African blackness. The vulnerabilities, struggles, threats (internal or external to the immigrant community), and opportunities emanating from the diasporic relationships that these immigrants create are accentuated within the nexus of African global migrations. We view the African diaspora in terms of spatial and geographic constructions and propagations of African cultural identities and institutional forms in global domains whose boundaries are not static but rather dynamic, complex, and multidimensional. Simply stated, we approach the African diaspora from a perspective that incorporates the historical, as well as contemporary postmodern constructions of the Africa’s dispersed communities and their associated transnational identity forms.

Are Africa's world markets really contributing to development across the continent for individuals, nations and regions? This is the key question posed by Margaret Lee in this provocative book, in which she argues that all too often the voices of African traders are obscured amid a blizzard of statistical analysis. However, it is these very voices - from those operating on the ground as formal or informal traders - that must be listened to in order to form a true understanding of the impact trade regimes have on these individuals and their communities. Featuring a wealth of oral histories from across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, including Africans in China, Africa's World Trade offers a unique insight into how the complexity of international trade agreements can shape the everyday lives of ordinary Africans.

Hip Hop Africa explores a new generation of Africans who are not only consumers of global musical currents, but also active and creative participants. Eric Charry and an international group of contributors look carefully at youth culture and the explosion of hip hop in Africa, the embrace of other contemporary genres, including reggae, ragga, and gospel music, and the continued vitality of drumming. Covering Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa, this volume offers unique perspectives on the presence and development of hip hop and other music in Africa and their place in global music culture.

This edited collection provides a window into Africaâ (TM)s diversity. A wide-ranging body of authors offers a valuable glimpse into the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization to the youth in Africa and its diaspora, while issuing a stern call for action to local governments to act now and tap into the energy of Africaâ (TM)s burgeoning youth population. In doing so, the authors expand extant literature on the continentâ (TM)s coping with globalization in the context of young people in various African nations. Featured in the collection are views on education, language, agriculture, sport and technology, deeply interwoven into the schooling, behavior, and health of youth. Specifically, these practices are found in both formal and non-formal education, agricultural production, and food nutrition, computer technology, and sportâ (TM)s amelioration of health issues, throughout Africa.