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Books > Humanities > History > African history
Originally published in 1949 but here reissuing the 5th edition of 1975 this is a vivid history of South Africa up to the mid 1970s. Tracing the development of Afrikaner nationalism and the conflict of black and white races in relation to economic, political and geographical factors, the author makes a clear and often critical analysis of the crisis in the first half of the 20th Century in the light of historical perspective.
Originally published in 1989 and written by a long-time peacemaker who commanded respect from most political camps in South Africa, this book advocated constructive intervention in the South African conflict. It showed the growing element of pragmatic flexibility in the white leadership and argued that this more rational approach, combined with moral reform among the white population, promised reasonable prospects for the constructive accommodation of conflict in South Africa. In 1984 the author arrange the first meetings between government supporters and the ANC in exile in Lusaka, breaking a 24-year deadlock and significantly influencing public opinion in South Africa.
Originally published in 1979, The Liberal Dilemma in South Africa discusses the dilemma of how to overthrow an oppressive social order maintained through violence in a non-violent manner. The contributors to this volume were all established social scientists and academics, with extensive experience of living and doing research in South Africa. They analyse various aspects of that dilemma and of the social order which creates it, particularly emphasizing the role of students, academics and other intellectuals in South African society.
Originally published in 1972, this book covers South African history from the earliest times up to 1968. After portraying the land itself, its people and their migrations, it describes what early travellers found and the arrival of the first white settlers in 1652 under the aegis of the Dutch East India Company. The arrival of the British in 1795, the period of expansion, Wars of Dispossession, the founding of the Boer republics, discovery of gold and diamonds, the Anglo-Boer war and Union are all discussed. Showing that the roots of Apartheid lay deep in South Africa's history, which repeated itself again and again, the author concludes 'The tragedy and shame of it is that for so long there was such a fiercely glowing faith in British rule and British justice; yet when Britain had the power to check and control discrimination she did not.'
Originally published in 1987, South Africa in Crisis documents the perceptions and policies of all the major interest groups in South Africa during the 1980s when the long-running struggle for ultimate political power in South Africa entered a new phase. It analyses their responses to the state of ferment and vicious circle of political and economic decline which ensued in the anti-apartheid struggle and examines the developing pressures both from within and outside the country. Of particular importance for the process was the relationship between internal reactions to the crisis and the diverse and unprecedented set of political, military and economic pressures which were interjected from abroad.
Originally published in 1967, South Africa's Rule of Violence is a record of aggression and violence against the black population of South Africa during the Apartheid era. The author, who was active in the political fight to end the apartheid system, collected many of these records from a 15-year period, and many are reproduced in the book. Mainly based on press reports, and illustrated with black and white press photos, the book brings to life the tragic cruelty of the Apartheid years and compares South African racism to that in Nazi Germany.
This is the first comprehensive book-length study of gender politics in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's fiction. Brendon Nicholls argues that mechanisms of gender subordination are strategically crucial to Ngugi's ideological project from his first novel to his most recent one. Nicholls describes the historical pressures that lead Ngugi to represent women as he does, and shows that the novels themselves are symptomatic of the cultural conditions that they address. Reading Ngugi's fiction in terms of its Gikuyu allusions and references, a gendered narrative of history emerges that creates transgressive spaces for women. Nicholls bases his discussion on moments during the Mau Mau rebellion when women's contributions to the anticolonial struggle could not be reduced to a patriarchal narrative of Kenyan history, and this interpretive maneuver permits a reading of Ngugi's fiction that accommodates female political and sexual agency. Nicholls contributes to postcolonial theory by proposing a methodology for reading cultural difference. This methodology critiques cultural practices like clitoridectomy in an ethical manner that seeks to avoid both cultural imperialism and cultural relativisim. His strategy of 'performative reading,' that is, making the conditions of one text (such as folklore, history, or translation) active in another (for example, fiction, literary narrative, or nationalism), makes possible an ethical reading of gender and of the conditions of reading in translation.
The powerful Bamana State emerged in 1712 and centered around the Middle Niger, where most inhabitants were Bamanas with their own language and religion. It was a sophisticated society with nobles, casted groups, and slaves. The Bamanas built an empire based on a strong professional army. The author provides a colorful picture of this state, which for centuries was a solid commercial, military, and agricultural society formed by ideologies other than imported religions. This book is also the story of conquests and efforts by two alien powers to assert hegemony over the Bamana of Segu: the first was an African Jihad, led by al Hajj Umar Tal (1861) in the name of religious reform, and the second was European (1890), for the cause of French imperial expansion. The objects were similar: to dominate the rich agricultural lands and commercial routes in the Middle Niger.
Africa has an unenviable record of 100 military coups in the past five decades, and that may not be the last count. The military still holds power in Guinea and Mauritania, while their incursion saw the assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau in March 2009. Fifteen of the 53 African leaders came to power by the force of arm; 23 have been on the throne for more than 10 years. The undemocratic inheritance left behind by military dictators and authoritarian one-party, sit-tight presidents, remain major sources of armed conflicts and civil wars that have claimed well over 20 million lives. The continent has a deluge of 3 million refugees. Out of the 23.7 million IDPs worldwide, 12.6 million are in Africa. Africa: Conflict Resolution And International Diplomacy, reflects on contending issues in contemporary African politics, examines Africa's crisis flash-points and traces various diplomatic initiatives taken by the international community; the UN, AU, EU, the G8, African regional communities and NGOs to ensure peace and stability. Seen purely from an African perspective, Ifeoha Azikiwe delves into the origin, the immediate and remote causes of these conflicts, as well as their cumulative effects and proffers short and long-term preventive measures. He foresees new conflicts erupting from desperate attempts to promote and institutionalise "democratic monarchy" - a recipe for future conflicts. Looking forward, he concludes by highlighting current initiatives, economic and political strategies that could fast-track the process towards full continental integration and formation of a "United States of Africa." Although a number of issues raised in the book may seem unpalatable, the author believes that the time has come to tell us some basic truth, if only to curb excessive impunity, uncanny democratic practices, external manipulations and neo-colonial tendencies that exacerbate conflicts in Africa.
More than 125 years ago, a remarkable group of people came together in Cape Town to write down the language and beliefs of the |xam people, a Bushman group that once lived over much of South Africa. The immensely valuable work of Wilhelm Bleek, Lucy Lloyd and their |xam teachers not only preserved a language now no longer spoken, but also provided fascinating insights into |xam cosmology. First published in 2004, Customs and Beliefs of the |xam reproduces Dorothea Bleek's selection of |xam narratives from the well-known Bleek and Lloyd Collection that was originally published in the journal Bantu Studies during the 1930s. Collated and edited by Jeremy Hollman, the extracts include detailed notes on each of the narratives, as well as Bleek's 'sketch' of |xam grammar. This substantially revised second edition integrates new scholarship on the Bleek and Lloyd archive, and restores previously omitted material. The introduction to each narrative has been expanded to contextualise it within the archive as a whole and, where relevant, reference it to the Notebook of which it is a part. This includes meticulous cross-referencing with the Bleek and Lloyd Collection catalogue code and the Notebook number and line reference. Each of the texts has also been critically reassessed, with additional editorial notes and commentaries, in particular with respect to the |xam words themselves and the ways in which they have been translated. A synopsis of each narrative is provided in an appendix, with cross references to the Bleek and Lloyd notebooks. Customs and Beliefs of the |xam, second edition, is an in-depth, detailed and authoritative resource that will be invaluable to scholars, heritage workers and activists alike.
In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned
Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from
its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into
the Roman Empire--three thousand years of wild drama, bold
spectacle, and unforgettable characters.
Cape of Torments, first published in 1983, is a detailed examination of slavery in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. It describes the reactions of the slaves to their conditions of slavery, concentrating on those aspects of their lives which their masters considered criminal, and above all on the large numbers of occasions when slaves ran away in an attempt to start a new life elsewhere. The book examines Cape society and slave organization; the complex relations between slaves and the other groups of population at the Cape - Khoisan, Xhosa, Sotho-Tswana, Dutch East India Co servants and sailors - and the opportunities for escape; major uprisings and rebellions. The major theme of the book is the extent to which the Cape slaves were able to build a culture of their own, and the legacy of slavery to their descendants in modern South Africa.
Children Enslaved, first published in 1988, reveals the full extent of child slavery throughout the world. By personal investigation in regions where slavery still prevails, and with extensive research into documentation provided by international organizations defending children's rights, the author gives the most comprehensive assessment available of contemporary child slavery. He describes both persisting traditional forms of child exploitation and modern abuses and deprivations of freedom, including child migrant workers and those involved in the manufacturing industry, and the desolate world of child pornography and sexual exploitation.
Slavery in the Twentieth Century, first published in 1986, draws together all the forms of slavery in their modern guises - in the far recesses of Africa and Arabia, in the industrial towns of Italy, the factories and mines of South America, and in the prison farms of the United States. It shows that the definition of slavery is changing in the modern world, as it accommodates new forms of servitude and exploitation.
Slavery, first published in 1958, examines four main types of modern slavery: chattel slavery; the sale of women into marriage; the sale of children into work and prostitution; serfdom. Mr Greenidge, a Director of the Anti-Slavery Society, marshals an astonishing array of findings into modern slavery, and outlines the history of the anti-slavery movement.
The Royal Navy and the Slave Trade, first published in 1987, offers a detailed analysis of the Royal Navy's slave trade suppression on the East Coast of Africa - an area often neglected in studies of the campaigns against the slavers. It traces the naval impact on the Arab slave trade from Zanzibar dominions and the political implications of that involvement. The naval contribution to the broader 'Imperial' debate is also considered. It breaks new ground by dealing with naval operations off East Africa and by presenting an analysis of the interaction of the various Imperial officials in the region, and the subsequent development of British policy.
The Royal Navy and the Slavers, first published in 1969, examines not only the Royal Navy's 60-year campaign to eradicate slavery, but also the British Government's diplomatic pressure on other countries to discontinue the slave trade. It analyses Captain's logs and despatches, and their evidence at trials of the men they captured, as well as looking at the messages from British ambassadors and consuls around the world.
Africa's Slaves Today, first published in 1975, examines the question of the persistence of slavery in modern Africa. It concludes that slavery is by no means dead in certain regions, but that at the same time clear-cut definitions of 'slave' and 'free' are often impossible to establish. In the Sahara particularly centuries of tradition involving slavery or semi-slavery have ensured a persistence of the status quo in all but name. Recent instances of Africans sold into slavery in Arabia are discussed, together with a detailed survey of slavery throughout North Africa and Ethiopia. At what stage forced labour becomes slavery is a difficult question raised by the discussion of the white South. The whole subject of slavery is put into perspective by contrasting examinations of the historical situation throughout the book.
The African Link, first published in 1978, breaks new ground in the studies of pre-19th century racial prejudice by emphasizing the importance of the West African end of the slave trade. For the British, the important African link was the commercial one which brought slave traders into contact with the peoples of West Africa. Far from remaining covert, their experiences were reflected in a vast array of scholarly, educational, popular and polemical writing. The picture of Black Africa that emerges from these writings is scarcely favourable - yet through the hostility of traders and moralising editors appear glimpses of respect and admiration for African humanity, skills and artefacts. The crudest generalisations about Black Africa are revealed as the inventions of credulous medieval geographers and of the late 18th century pro-slavery lobby. The author combines the more matter-of-fact reports of the intervening centuries with analysis of 17th and 18th century social and scientific theories to fill a considerable gap in the history of racial attitudes.
Slavery in the Roman Empire, first published in 1928, examines the working of slavery in the first two centuries of the Roman Empire. It analyses the means by which peoples were enslaved, and the roles in which they worked in Roman society.
Out of Slavery, first published in 1985, is a series of articles commissioned on the 150 year anniversary of William Wilberforce's death and the Act of Parliament abolishing British slavery in 1833. With the background from which the history of slavery was viewed being radically changed, with decolonisation, the advancement of Human Rights, the economic and social consequences of what was done, and left undone, by the Abolitionists and Emancipators and of the situations which they faced. This book offers a broad reappraisal on slavery and freedom from slavery as they can now be seen, and of the contribution and personality of the Abolitionists, particularly of their leader and spokesman William Wilberforce.
Antislavery Political Writings, first published in 2004, presents the best speeches and writings of the leading American antislavery thinkers, activists and politicians in the years between 1830 and 1860. These chapters demonstrate the range of theoretical and political choices open to antislavery advocates during the antebellum period.
Forced Migration, first published in 1982, examines the impact of the slave trade on Africa. There has been much debate over recent years about the effect of the Atlantic slave trade on Africa, with some authorities claiming that there were huge figures involved, and that these set back Africa's development for many years. Other historians reach lower estimates of the figures involved in the Atlantic trade, and hence argue that the effects on the political economy of Africa were more limited. Had widespread slavery existed long before the growth of the European slave trade? How important was the trans-Saharan traffic? Dr Inikori is the most authoritative voice in Africa to take part in this controversial international debate. He has done much original research into records, and here has made and introduced a selection of key papers. He has added elucidating editorial comments that place each paper in its context and link it to the other contributions.
This book is a comprehensive history of slavery in Africa from the earliest times to the end of the twentieth century, when slavery in most parts of the continent ceased to exist. It connects the emergence and consolidation of slavery to specific historical forces both internal and external to the African continent. Sean Stilwell pays special attention to the development of settled agriculture, the invention of kinship, "big men" and centralized states, the role of African economic production and exchange, the interaction of local structures of dependence with the external slave trades (transatlantic, trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean), and the impact of colonialism on slavery in the twentieth century. He also provides an introduction to the central debates that have shaped current understanding of slavery in Africa. The book examines different forms of slavery that developed over time in Africa and introduces readers to the lives, work, and struggles of slaves themselves.
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a church of Brazilian origin, has been enormously successful in establishing branches and attracting followers in post-apartheid South Africa. Unlike other Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCC), the UCKG insists that relationships with God be devoid of 'emotions', that socialisation between members be kept to a minimum and that charity and fellowship are 'useless' in materialising God's blessings. Instead, the UCKG urges members to sacrifice large sums of money to God for delivering wealth, health, social harmony and happiness. While outsiders condemn these rituals as empty or manipulative, this book shows that they are locally meaningful, demand sincerity to work, have limits and are informed by local ideas about human bodies, agency and ontological balance. As an ethnography of people rather than of institutions, this book offers fresh insights into the mass PCC movement that has swept across Africa since the early 1990s. |
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