![]() |
![]() |
Your cart is empty |
||
Books > Humanities > History > African history > General
Although it lasted only thirty years, German colonial rule dramatically transformed South West Africa. The colonial government not only committed the first genocide of the twentieth century against the Herero and Nama, but in their efforts to establish a "model colony" and "racial state," they brought about even more destructive and long-lasting consequences. In this now-classic study-available here for the first time in English-the author provides an indispensable account of Germany's colonial utopia in what is present-day Namibia, showing how the highly rationalized planning of Wilhelmine authorities ultimately failed even as it added to the profound immiseration of the African population.
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 United Africa Company (UAC), formed in 1929 by the fusion of the Niger Company and the African and Eastern Corporation, was by far the largest single commercial organization in West and Equatorial Africa, and thus central to modern African economic history. This is the first detailed account to be published and one which fills a serious gap in the literature. It was not commissioned by the company (now reabsorbed into Unilever) but the author had full access to all confidential material in the UAC and Unilever archives and complete freedom in what he wrote. The book is not intended to be primarily a company history but uses the UAC as a focal point for detailed study of how the role of foreign merchant capital changed in response to economic and political developments in Black Africa during this critical half century.
A Land of Dreams, first published in 1993, explores two events in recent English history: the settlement of East European Jews in the East End of London, and the growth of an African-Caribbean community in Birmingham. It is an ethnographic study of two first-generation migrant communities, built upon the experiences of the migrants themselves. It focuses on the stories of their migration and their early days in England, and in particular, upon the stories of their working lives and their everyday struggles in their new land. Placing two studies side by side exposes the quite different social and economic conditions which confronted the two groups of migrants upon arrival in England.
Lost Illusions, first published in 1988, analyses the differing experiences of Caribbean migration to Britain and the Netherlands, both from the perspectives of the countries and from the migrants themselves. The editors have compiled a volume of in-depth articles from experts from Britain and the Netherlands to provide an essential examination of Caribbean migration to two different European countries in the 1970s and 1980s.
Minorities in the Open Society (1986) challenges optimistic assumptions regarding race relations in western nations, namely that social justice will prevail without much effort. It examines the interests behind public affirmations of commitment to integration, and presents a range of contemporary and historical material which illustrate the double-binds created for minorities by the dominant communities, who offer equality with one hand while obstructing it with the other. Individual members of minorities may be given the opportunity to achieve social prominence - but only to carry out special jobs on behalf of the majority.
Crossing Cultural Borders (1991) examines the day-to-day interaction of immigrant children with adults, siblings and peers in the home, school and community at large as these families demonstrate their skill in using their culture to survive in a new society. Children of Mexican and Central American immigrant families in Secoya crossed a national border, and continue to cross linguistic, social and cultural borders that separate the home, school and outside world.
Cultural Conflict and Adaptation (1990) examines the alienation and cultural conflicts faced at school by the children of a small group of Hmong who have settled in La Playa, California. The educational process for these children is an example of cultural conflict and adjustment patterns which may be found in many other populations in the world.
Healing Multicultural America (1993) looks at a group of Mexican immigrants who managed to understand and use the US democratic system to gain access to the 'American Dream'. The book aims to assist its readers to understand the significance of the politics of education for ethnic minorities. The authors point up the gravity of the problems experienced by minority groups worldwide which cannot be underestimated: problems such as inter-ethnic conflict, cultural tensions, poverty, alienation, violence and self-rejection.
The Americanization Syndrome (1987) examines the historical role of education in the process of 'Americanization'. It argues that beginning with seventeenth century puritan leaders such as John Winthrop and Cotton Maher, the pattern of American education has been not the promotion of a blend of different cultures but the indoctrination of norms of belief of religion, politics and economics and an explicit discouragement of cultural variety. It traces the political role of education at key junctures of American history - after Independence, in the reconstruction of the South after the Civil War, in the establishment of settlement houses and the use of scientific management techniques by employers. The author focuses on the period 1900-1925 when new waves of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe led to a new drive for orthodoxy.
The Absorption of Immigrants (1954) examines the assimilation of immigrants in the Yishuv (the Jewish Community in Palestine) and in the State of Israel. It provides a historical analysis of the social structure of the Yishuv and of the development of the new Israeli society. The book also applies the general framework to the analysis of some main types of modern migrations and a series of tentative conclusions is given which may serve as detailed hypotheses for subsequent inquiries. In this way a comparative study of different types of migrations and absorption of immigrants is built up, and an objective evaluation can be made of the place of an Israeli Society among other communities, and their special ways of absorbing new immigrants.
One Way Ticket (1983) examines the 'hidden armies' of migrant women workers who have since the 1950s fulfilled a demand for low-skilled, low paid and insecure work in both the formal and informal economies of Western Europe. It presents a new focus for the examination of labour migration and of the specific character of female employment. It looks at the relationship between motherhood, waged work and ethnicity; the position of a second generation of black women workers; and the oppression and exploitation of migrant women by their male counterparts through the creation of 'ethnic' economies.
Colonial Immigrants in a British City (1979) analyses the relationship between West Indian and Asian immigrants and the class structure of a British city. Based on a four-year research project in the Handsworth area of Birmingham, the book is a study of race and community relations - political, social, economic and personal - in a major centre of immigrant settlement. It considers the relationship between housing class and class formations and consciousness in other sectors of allocation, such as employment and education. It includes a consideration of the changing political climate on race relations between 1950 and 1976.
Immigration in Post-War France (1987) presents a collection of articles, illustrations and other data, covering everything from politics and education to religion and rock music, that examine the experience of North African immigrants to France. The extensive selection of documents include opinion polls, newspaper articles, academic analyses, cartoons, political posters, maps, tables and photographs. Together, they reflect the views of a wide cross-section of the French and immigrant communities.
The Development of British Immigration Law (1986) examines the policies and laws of immigration law in the UK. It demonstrates that many modern issues have historical precedents. The justifications for immigration control are examined and linked to a discussion of nationality law and race relations. It is argued that the laws and practices of immigration are unnecessarily rigid and racist, both in design and in effect; that the record of the UK is a sorry chapter in the field of human rights but one which is consistent with international state practice; that immigration is an ideal model to illustrate the UK's general treatment of civil liberties. Particular aspects of the subject are examined in depth to illustrate the attitudes of government, the courts and civil servants.
Migration and Mobility (1984) examines the biological aspects of population movement, including genetic, anthropometric and psychological aspects. Other contributions deal with geographical and demographic features of human migration. Specific studies are described, and the theoretical framework used to describe population mobility is presented.
Asia's Population Problems (1967) features papers written by specialists - demographers, economists and sociologists - examining the various population issues facing different Asian countries in the decades following the Second World War. Population facts and policies, apart from affecting an individual's happiness and security and a nation's economic and social advancement, have come to play an important role in international relations. A proper understanding of demographic trends is key, and this volume aims to supply significant population facts and figures, and also provides the general national, economic and political framework of each country against which certain international demographic attitudes, approaches and policies may be understood.
Ugandan Asians in Great Britain (1975) examines the impact of the 1972 immigration of 28,000 Asians expelled from Uganda, looking at the impact on both the immigrants themselves and the British host community. It is an attempt to understand some of the dynamics of forced migrant transition from one society and culture to another. The study was largely carried out in Wandsworth and Slough and shows how these communities - not without social problems before this influx of immigrants - adapted to the new arrivals. The sensitivity and effectiveness of the community relations organisations and the welfare agencies in these areas is revealed.
Migrant Labour in Europe (1987) examines the movement of workers from less prosperous parts of Europe to areas with demand for their services. The author identifies seven major systems of migrant labour: the North Sea System (mainly Westphalian workers heading for the German and Dutch North Sea Coast and Walloon/French workers bound for the Belgian and Zeeland coasts); the area between London and the Humber; the Paris Basin; Provence, Languedoc and Catalonia; Castile; Piedmont; and central Italy with Corsica. A detailed study of the first of these systems, tracing its development and changes, is brought into a synchronic relation with data for the other regions. The evidence shows major waves of immigration in the seventeenth century, and a rapid diminution of migratory labour to the North Sea in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a time when new 'pull areas' were created by the expanding industrial complexes of Germany and labour began to come in from areas outside Europe.
Jamaican Migrant (1965) is the honest and moving recollection of a Jamaican cabinet-maker who emigrated to a new life in Britain. This is the book of a man who has been through the whole story in his own life - childhood in a large and humble Jamaican family, apprenticeship there, the journey to Britain as a stowaway, years in London as a Jamaican immigrant. The author takes us from Jamaica's coast, the drug-idlers and orators on the beach, the hurricanes, his father's wartime jazz band, to the problems and sophistication of girls and jobs and solitude in a London winter.
Point of Arrival (1975) examines the experiences of the various immigrant groups - the Huguenots, Irish, Jews, Pakistanis - who have made their home in the East End of London. This was their point of arrival in a new country, and for many it was the only England they were to know.
Geography & Ethnic Pluralism (1984) examines the debate around pluralism - the segmentation of population by race and culture - as a social and state issue, and explores this issue in Third World and metropolitan contexts. The field is opened up by a re-examination of the seminal work of J.S. Furnivall and M.G. Smith and by exploring the significance of racial and cultural diversity in colonial, post-colonial and metropolitan situations. Case studies written by specialists are presented in each chapter; they represent a wide range of locales, indicating the global nature of the theme and emphasising the variable significance of ethnicity in different situations.
This is the first full- length historical analysis of Victoria Falls. The text offers a critical examination of Victoria Falls providing new insight into the British Southern African project and reveals how Victoria Falls became one of the first modern African tourist destinations. This book makes a case for a critical reading of Victoria Falls as much more than a localized natural wonder. Europeans with multiple and often competing agendas, as well as African leaders and laborers were brought into contact with one another at Victoria Falls. Their visions of the past and hopes for the future shared Victoria Falls as a common point of inspiration. The value these parties placed on the Falls extended far beyond its location on the Zambezi and had broad implications for the British Empire in Southern and Central Africa.
|
![]() ![]() You may like...
Prisoner 913 - The Release Of Nelson…
Riaan de Villiers, Jan-Ad Stemmet
Paperback
Women In Solitary - Inside The Female…
Shanthini Naidoo
Paperback
![]()
Wits University At 100 - From Excavation…
Wits Communications
Paperback
1 Recce: Volume 3 - Through Stealth Our…
Alexander Strachan
Paperback
Democracy Works - Re-Wiring Politics To…
Greg Mills, Olusegun Obasanjo, …
Paperback
|