Review Article: * Chipkin, Ivor (2007), Do South Africans Exist? Nationalism, Democracy and the Identity of the “People”. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, ISBN 1868144453, 261 pages. * Dorman, Sara, Daniel Hammett, and Paul Nugent (eds.) (2007), Making Nations, Creating Strangers. States and Citizenship in Africa. African Social Studies Series, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 9004157905, 282 pages. * Simpson, Andrew (ed.) (2008), Language and National Identity in Africa. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780199286751, 448 pages. About fifty years after the independence of most former colonies on the African continent, books on African nationalism again rank high on the agenda of the international academic discussion. A selection of three recent publications demonstrates the advances made in scholarly analysis in the meantime as well as the wide range of related subjects. The new nationalism in Africa and elsewhere shows remarkable differences both in its roots and its impact, compared with that of the national independence movements of the early 1960s.

James Smoot Coleman was the leading theorist of his time in African political studies. His work fused liberal-democratic idealism and scientific realism. These essays represent the evolution of his thought from deep insight into African nationalism to a refined theory of modernization. The collection is an indispensable contribution to the intellectual history of comparative African politics, essential to scholars and others who grapple with problems in African development.

African Nationalism offers an innovative perspective on the creation of nations and nationalism, and the role of race in nationalism overall, by bringing together a compilation of debates on African nationalism, from Pan-Africanism up to the present day. The book examines African nationalism in comparative perspective, mainly with the UK, France, and the US: the birthplaces of modern nationalism. The author suggests that the origins of African nationalism lay outside the continent and demonstrates the similarities that abound between African nationalisms across a diverse range of countries. This volume is important reading for students and scholars of nationalism, history, political science, and African studies.

As a result of his work, Coleman has been recognized by Africanist scholars of diverse ideological persuasions in all parts of the world as a mentor and model.