Characteristically, Africans in any Western country are asked so many different questions about "Africa," as Westerners love to refer to the many countries that make up that huge continent, as if Africa were a single nation state. So one begins wondering why it is that Africans, on the other hand, do not refer to individual European countries as "Europe" simply, then the trends and consequences of stereotyping begin setting in just as one is getting used to being asked if Africa has a president, or if one can say something in African. It is some of these questions that Emmanuel Fru Doh has collected over the years and has attempted answering them in an effort to shed some light on a continent that is in many ways like the rest of the world, when not better, but which so many love to paint as dark, backward, chaotic, and pathetic.

"This book deals with an interesting but also painful topic: the stereotyping of Africa, in the West, notably in the United States of America. This is a laudable initiative.. a timely and courageous effort to deal with long-standing stereoxypes in the West"-Dr Piet Konings, Sociologist, African Studies Centre Leiden --

The Cameroons is in the grips of a perpetual tailspin. The confusion and lack of clarity in the nation threaten everyone's sanity. The Absurd and the Cameroonian Tragedy at Decolonization dissects these ills and tries to isolate what has caused them: emotional bankruptcy. Family life cannot survive in such an environment; which has been split down the middle since 1961. Political reality and slipshod behavior underlie the dystopian snare in which British Southern Cameroons finds itself within La Rpublique du Cameroun. Doh's narrative points to confusion and La Rpublique du Cameroun's bad faith dealings with British Southern Cameroons. This orphan in the storm quality extends to a far reach with The Absurd ... looking at the storm clouds that create such misery. Doh's characters have no control in a Francophone majority dominated world. This helplessness creates emotional stress and a severe breakdown requiring professional help. The social, political, and economic deficits are consequences of colonialism and the complicity of Francophone abettors of imperial exploitation. Africa is a marionette dancing on someone else's string. This book looks at theft, and the way in which kleptocracy at the governmental level has ripped the heart, spirit, and energy out of The Cameroons and shows how Doh's literature deals with the inability to count on anything and or observe a direct connection between the cause and the effect. Despite the negativity that permeates Doh's literature, he views The Cameroons as resilient.

Poverty remains a thorny and topical challenge and research topic to scholars and researchers on African development. Scholars in the Global North have since the Second World War sought to research poverty and underdevelopment in Africa, postulating what they think are the major causes of insipid and abject poverty in the continent, but with little or no success on how to solve the poverty enigma. Sadly, little research and homework have been done by scholars in context (in Africa) on why there seems to be more production rather than eradication of poverty and vulnerability in Africa and among Africans. This book is born out of the realisation for the need for both scholars on the ground and outside Africa to earnestly interrogate and reflect on the poverty situation that continues to haunt the people of Africa and rattle the conscience of the world at large. With contributors from across the continent and beyond, the volume offers a balanced and rigorous, multi-faceted analysis of Africa’s poverty and vulnerability from a rich tapestry of perspectives. The volume is handy to scholars and students in the fields of African and development studies, as well as to students of Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science and Policy Studies.

Introduction -- Framing the problem of the state in Africa -- Historical and theoretical context -- The state in Africa in an era of capitalist globalization : a theoretical exploration -- Slavery and capitalist globalization -- Colonial globalization or the extension of European Westphalian state to Africa -- Decolonizing imperial state in Africa, 1945-60 : plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose -- African developmentalist/nationalist state? -- From welfare/developmentalist to neo-liberal nation state in Africa -- Neo-liberal assault on the state in Africa : roots of state weakness, failure and collapse -- The state in Africa and civil society in historical perspective -- Future of the state in Africa in an era of neoliberal globalization -- An African state is possible : looking back in order to look ahead.

This prolific collection of essays, with contributions from scholars from across several disciplines, on the practice and implications of naming - Nomenclatural Poetization and Globalization - explores diverse concerns in onomastics, such as cultural and ethnic implications as well as individual identity formation processes in the age of Globalization and extends these to a variety of contemporary theories of appreciation and internationalization.

This book is an opportune warning that alienation, estrangement and intentional diminishment serve as a cancer upon those who disburse it. The outsider suffers by being alone; the insider suffers even more by being forever known as a hypocrite who perpetuates dystopia. It uses literature as a hothouse for poisonous potted plants, the workings of a mind in turmoil and the exploration of a society or societies that seems to derive pleasure from others' ruin. Fears, Doubts, and Joy of Not Belonging considers themes that are biblical in scope from different societies and historical epochs. It is a sobering spiritual enlightenment of a child's "silent treatment" in adult form. The text complements language engineers and social scientists who are on a quest or search for how the individual responds to pressure that is unexpected, ill-conceived and in desperate need of alleviation. Not only does this particular type of cancer differ from the type a surgeon can treat, the stage at which this malady is diagnosed causes far more problems than if it were dealt with head on. Pursuing numerous examples of estrangement, this diverse text delves into a wide spectrum of human behavior while coming to the realization that these problems are universal and have been with us for a long, long time. The purpose of resistance, individuality and personal identity is to rise above these obstacles without losing hope, resilience or optimism.