African Culture and Global Politics

This volume attempts to insert itself within the larger discussion of Africa in the twenty-first century, especially within the realm of world politics. Despite the underwhelming amount of attention given to Africa's role in international politics in popular news sources, it is evident that Africa has a consistent record of participating in world politics- one that pre-dates colonization and continues today. In continuance of this legacy of active participation in global political exchanges, Africans today can be heard in dialogues that span the world and their roles are impossible to replace by other entities. It is evident that a vastly different Africa exists than ones that bolster images of starvation, corruption, and compliance. The essays in this volume center on Africa and Africans participating in international political discourses, but with an emphasis on various forms of expression and philosophies, as these factors heavily influence Africa's role as a participant in global politics. The reader will find a variety of essays that permeate surface discussions of politics and political activism by inserting African culture, rhetoric, philosophies into the larger discussion of international politics and Africa's role in worldwide political, social, and economic debates.

Introduction The Intersection of Africanity and World Politics: Considering African and Diasporic Expressive Cultures in Global Politics Toyin Falola and Danielle Porter Sanchez Part I. African Philosophies and Philosophies for Africa 1. Ideologies of Development in French Algeria: Saint-Simonians, Manifest Destiny and Globalization Emma Deputy 2. Islam and the Politics of Assimilation in French Colonial Algeria Dino Palaj 3. Theorizing Conflict and Conflict Resolution in an African Philosophical Discourse Oladele Abiodun Balogun 4. The Emergent Church in Africa and the Phenomenon of Reverse Missions Kelvin Onongha 5. Africa's Unheralded Contributions to World Politics.Kunirum Osia 6. Failed State or Political Inspiration? Kathleen R. Smythe 7. A Parallel Evolution: The Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 1968-1994 Myra Ann Houser Part II. Literature, Language, Rhetoric, and Politics in Africa and the African Diaspora 8. Ensuring that Africa's Voice is Heard in International Forums in the Future: The Language Issues Involved Ann Albuyeh 9. Strongmen and Strategists: Perspectivising Models of Conflict Resolution in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Anthills of the Savannah Alexander Kure 10. Antjie Krog's Country of My Skull, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the New South Africa Michael Sharp 11.Evangelism as Political Protest in Nineteenth Century African Diaspora: Appraising Julia Foote's Spiritual Autobiography, A Brand Plucked from the Fire Samantha Manchester Earley Part III. The Politics of Culture in Africa and the African Diaspora 12. The Politics of Gender Roles: A Comparative Analysis of Female Husbands, Male Daughters and Sworn Virgins Among the Igbo of West Africa, the Nandi and Kikuyu of East Africa, and the Gheg of North Albania Fiosa Begai Mjeshtri 13. The African and Afro-Brazilian Family and Kinship in Nineteenth-Century Brazil Isabel Cristina Ferreira dos Reis 14. A Global Education: Cold War Networks, Imperial Angst and the Development of Tanzanian Schools, 1960-1970 Timothy Nicholson 15. Race and Social Islands in Kenya's Urban Social Spaces Besi Brillian Muhonja 16. Zoot Suiters and Sapeurs: The Politics of Dress in the World War II Era Danielle Porter Sanchez 17. Democratizing Traditional Rulership and the Question of Women Traditional Rulers: A Comparison of Nigeria and South Africa. F.A. Olasupo