The writings in this edition explore historical and contemporary issues in Ethiopia as the country underwent change and celebrated its new millennium. However, despite the recognizance of socio-economic and political changes, Ethiopia still faces enduring problems and challenges to its stability and continuity. The political past haunts the country while it is facing the future with optimism and hope. The contributors in this edition examine historical and contemporaneous issues with different lenses; they investigate the multiplicity and complexity of the contradictions that define traditional and modern Ethiopia. The contributions highlight the significance of the instability, dislocation, conflict and transformation inherent in any society. None of these writings, however, celebrate the forces that create the conflict; they are cautious not to glorify the present and romanticize the past. On the contrary, they seek to contextualize the challenges which the country faces with a view to open a dialogue, not exclusively among Ethiopians, but with scholars and social activists in the rest of Africa, as well as the international community. The contributions cover and examine such important topics as historiography, political power and legitimacy, ideology and radical views, knowledge transmission and modernity, emigration and the Ethiopian Diaspora, ethnic and linguistic identity, patriarchy and feminist discourses in a traditional society, public policies and economic development, traditional and modern art and culture, and neo-liberalism and globalization. This book was published as a special issue of African Identities.

European and African works have found it difficult to move past the image of Africa as a place of exotica and relentless brutality. This book explores the status and critical relationship between politics, culture, literary creativity, criticism, education and publishing in the context of promoting Africa's indigenous knowledge, and seeks to recover some of the sites where Africans continue to elaborate conflicting politics of self-affirmations. It both acknowledges and steps outside the protocols of analysis informed by nationalism, differentiating the forms that postcolonial theories have taken, and arguing for a selective appropriation of theory that emerges from Africa's lived experiences.

This title was first published in 2003. Aimed at examining contemporary debates and issues which are at the cutting edge of the social sciences, Pal Ahluwalia and Abebe Zegeye have put together a book on subjects of critical importance to the African condition. A combination of empirical and theoretical materials, this text introduces new perspectives.

This title was first published in 2003. Aimed at examining contemporary debates and issues which are at the cutting edge of the social sciences, Pal Ahluwalia and Abebe Zegeye have put together a book on subjects of critical importance to the African condition. A combination of empirical and theoretical materials, this text introduces new perspectives.

Empire and Cricket illuminates the complex relationship between cricket and the making of South African society between 1884 and 1914. This critical era for South Africa and the British Empire encompassed the economic revolution following: the discoveries of diamonds and gold, the South African or Anglo-Boer War, and the segregationist structuring of society. It is the gripping story of how cricket lay at the heart of social and political developments in South Africa and the wider British Empire, brought to life with numerous historic photographs of players and historic sites. The book's contributors describe how cricket acted as a vehicle for the Empire, and how it impacted race and class. It maps the role of the small and tightly knit white elite with overlapping interests in cricket, politics, and business, as well as the largely ignored world of the 'non-white' (African, 'colored, ' and Indian) cricketers and politicians. The close connection between politics and cricket goes back to the emergence of South Africa as a test playing country in the late 19th century. Cape Prime Minister Cecil John Rhodes included cricket in his drive to impose a segregationist structure in the African sub-continent, effectively ensuring the segregationist nature of South African cricket for much of the 20th century. The feats of those who first placed South African cricket on the international map are recalled, along with chronicles of many other unsung local heroes. Empire and Cricket explores the widespread enthusiasm for cricket among all of South Africa's communities, and the passion and success with which blacks played the game

Mulatu was the first Ethiopian jazz music-maker to study abroad and thus be exposed to Western musical trends. When he returned to Addis Ababa he pursued his dream of drawing on the musical heritage of his homeland a heritage that has been buffeted by Ethiopia s turbulent history to produce a unique, compelling blend of music: Ethiopian sounds with a twist . In the late 1960 s, his Ethio jazz introduced, among other new ideas, the Afro-Latin soul where he played conga, piano, vibraphone and innovative musical arrangements. These included compositions of popular Ethio jazz music which took on a modern, funk, jazz-infused quality that soon had recording companies knocking at his door.

After the fall of Haile Selassie in 1974 Ethiopian society experienced a short period of unprecedented freedom and decentralization. This was followed by one of the most stringent regimes of centralized control over people and resources, in the name of socialism. This volume contains contributions by Ethiopian and European scholars from several disciplines who review the historical issues, economic policy, environmental questions and politics. They try to draw lessons from the past and suggest solutions by which the local people - the peasants and the poor - can be involved in a more decentralized structure which will harness their resources, initiatives and capacities.