Small arms dominate conflicts in Africa. More people die in wars in Africa than in any other continent. In cattle raiding the AK47 has replaced the spear. This book answers the questions of why so many small arms are circulating in North-East Africa and how they are affecting peace in these countries. Kennedy Mkutu proposes an integrated regional approach in which improved security, community involvement and economic development precede and accompany disarmament. KENNEDY AGADE MKUTU has a doctorate in Peace Studies from Bradford University and lectures at the Kenya Institute for Administration North America: Indiana U Press

Guns are an enduring symbol of imperialism, whether they are used to impose social order, create ceremonial spectacle, incite panic, or to inspire confidence. In Guns and Society, Saheed Aderinto considers the social, political, and economic history of these weapons in colonial Nigeria. As he transcends traditional notions of warfare and militarization, Aderinto reveals surprising insights into how colonialism changed access to firearms after the 19th century. In doing so, he explores the unusual ways in which guns were used in response to changes in the Nigerian cultural landscape. More Nigerians used firearms for pastime and professional hunting in the colonial period than at any other time. The boom and smoke of gunfire even became necessary elements in ceremonies and political events. Aderinto argues that firearms in the Nigerian context are not simply commodities but are also objects of material culture. Considering guns in this larger context provides a clearer understanding of the ways in which they transformed a colonized society.

Firearms have been studied by imperial historians mainly as means of human destruction and material production. Yet firearms have always been invested with a whole array of additional social and symbolical meanings. By placing these meanings at the centre of analysis, the essays presented in this volume extend the study of the gun beyond the confines of military history and the examination of its impact on specific colonial encounters. By bringing cultural perspectives to bear on this most pervasive of technological artefacts, the contributors explore the densely interwoven relationships between firearms and broad processes of social change. In so doing, they contribute to a fuller understanding of some of the most significant consequences of British and American imperial expansions. Not the least original feature of the book is its global frame of reference. Bringing together historians of different periods and regions, A Cultural History of Firearms in the Age of Empire overcomes traditional compartmentalisations of historical knowledge and encourages the drawing of novel and illuminating comparisons across time and space.

This edited volume brings together critical insights that address the multifaceted problems of governance and democracy in the developing regions with specific reference to Africa. It explores both the externally prescribed and home-grown governance initiatives geared toward democracy and development, and suggests alternative strategies to improve the processes and institutions of governance. The chapters in the book deal with major concerns related to governance, including the strengths and limits of existing policies and practices and the structure and role of state and non-state institutions in promoting democracy and participation. All these issues, in general, have great significance for realizing an authentic and enduring mode of democratic governance in the developing world.

This book critically examines the nexus between arms availability and armed violence.

This collection of cases from East Africa, contributed largely by locally-based authors, explores the increasing security governance phenomenon in the region: that is, the mix of state and non-state actors, including private entities, volunteer auxiliaries, homegrown vigilantes and gangs, and the relationship between police and communities. Local dynamics brought by globalization, liberalization, the new scramble for resource wealth, inequality, and international terrorism are observed in detail, superimposed upon the well-known development challenges, ethnopolitical divides, and patterns of government and security provision which continue to reflect their colonial past. This book raises both practical and theoretical ethical dilemmas of the increasing fragmentation of security functions within Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, mainland Tanzania, and Zanzibar. It is a vital contribution to the “non-state,” “plural policing” debates and is of both local and global relevance.

After the Cold War, Africa earned the dubious distinction of being the world's most bloody continent. But how can we explain this proliferation of armed conflicts? What caused them and what were their main characteristics? And what did the world's governments do to stop them? In this fully revised and updated second edition of his popular text, Paul Williams offers an in-depth and wide-ranging assessment of more than six hundred armed conflicts which took place in Africa from 1990 to the present day - from the continental catastrophe in the Great Lakes region to the sprawling conflicts across the Sahel and the web of wars in the Horn of Africa. Taking a broad comparative approach to examine the political contexts in which these wars occurred, he explores the major patterns of organized violence, the key ingredients that provoked them and the major international responses undertaken to deliver lasting peace. Part I, Contexts provides an overview of the most important attempts to measure the number, scale and location of Africa's armed conflicts and provides a conceptual and political sketch of the terrain of struggle upon which these wars were waged. Part II, Ingredients analyses the role of five widely debated features of Africa's wars: the dynamics of neopatrimonial systems of governance; the construction and manipulation of ethnic identities; questions of sovereignty and self-determination; as well as the impact of natural resources and religion. Part III, Responses, discusses four major international reactions to Africa's wars: attempts to build a new institutional architecture to help promote peace and security on the continent; this architecture's two main policy instruments, peacemaking initiatives and peace operations; and efforts to develop the continent. War and Conflict in Africa will be essential reading for all students of international peace and security studies as well as Africa's international relations.