CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.

The author presents a journey through African and Western history, culture and politics. By essaying Africa's international relations, Mazrui returns to an important truth: the power of race and culture in Africa's relations with the West. Discussing African political formation, his overriding theme, not unpredictably, is assimilation - of the enti

Every political system, either developed or adopted, has an impact on the structure of society and the level of development. This book analyzes the evolution and nature of political institutions and their effect on Africa's development. The challenges Africa face in developing viable institutions are not limited to the adoption of foreign institutions, but are also rooted in domestic norms that define society itself. Sometimes, these challenges have to do with the incompatibility between foreign and domestic institutions. The fundamental issue then is to understand the African societies, cultures, and other dynamics that have ensured stability in the past and that need to be recognized when adopting contemporary foreign institutions. This comprehensive text examines three key issue areas in Africa: politics, society, and economy. It demonstrates how the lack of consideration for domestic norms and societal realities explain the weaker institutions and lack of development on the African continent. The chapters examine critical issues such as gender, ethnicity and constitution development, legitimacy and the state, the correlation between abundant resources and instability, the dilemmas of political dynasties, international economic regimes and Africa's economy, and more. Featuring many case studies, including Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Morocco, Togo, DRC, Ethiopia, Rwanda, the book provides some explanation of underdevelopment in Africa, linking the historical and colonial realities that hinder democratic consolidation to contemporary African politics, society and economy.

Nigeria and South Africa provide the socioeconomic and political contrasts in the African condition. Some of these contrasts can be demonstrated in the following dialectics: Nigeria is the Africa of human resources, South Africa is a land of mineral resources; Nigeria is repellant to European settlement; South Africa is a magnet for such settlement; Nigeria is a mono-racial society, South Africa is a multiracial society; Nigeria is grappling with the politics of religion, South Africa's is pre-occupied with the politics of secularism; Nigeria is Africa's largest exporter of oil, South Africa is Africa's largest consumer of oil; Nigeria is a paradigm of indigenization, South Africa is a paragon of Westernization. Building on these contrasts, Professor Ali Mazrui, master of the dialectical approach to socio-political analysis, demonstrates how the two most influential countries between the Niger and the Cape of Good Hope are alternative faces of Africa. _______________________ Professor Ali Mazrui needs no introduction to any student of African politics. Recently nominated as one of the 100 greatest living public intellectuals in the world by the Washington-based journal, Foreign Policy, Professor Mazrui is the author of more than twenty books and hundreds of articles published all over the world. He was the author and narrator of the highly regarded television series The Africans: A Triple Heritage (BBC/PBS, 1986). He is currently Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies and Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities, State University of New York at Binghamton. He is also Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large Emeritus and Senior Scholar in Africana Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA; Chancellor, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Thika, Kenya as well as the Albert Luthuli Professor-at-Large at the University of Jos, Nigeria. James Karioki is Professor of International Relations with a special interest in the African Diaspora. He has published extensively on African Politics, Global Africa and International Relations. He currently works at the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) in Pretoria where he is the Head of the African Diaspora Unit.

Africa has moved from international conflict under foreign domination to struggles for political sovereignty and economic independence. Looking at the changes in Africa's fortunes since 1935, this volume examines the challenges of nation-building and socio-cultural changes affecting the continent. The series is co-published in Africa with seven publishers, in the United States and Canada by the University of California Press, and in association with the UNESCO Press.

Although Africa is the world's poorest continent, it is a major emerging market and partner in the global village of the new millennium. This book presents a wide array of perspectives on the problems and prospects of developing Africa. Leading scholars in African studies and international communication analyze the socio-political and cultural experiences in various communities, focusing on key questions: What is development? What are the main issues surrounding development in Africa? And how can communication per se be used to address the persistent problems of underdevelopment?

Professor Mazrui, Reith Lecturer and presenter of BBC1's series The Africans, makes us reconsider the realities of power in world politics. Ali Mazrui argues that the emphasis in world politics continues to be on arms, on resources and on strategic calculations and that the importance of culture has been grossly underestimated. Professor Mazrui's own mind is a cultural cross-roads; he can give Islamic insights to Western audiences about The Satanic Verses; he relates the Beijing Spring to the Palestinian Intifada; he compares the effects of Zionism and Apartheid; he puts together Muhammad, Marx and market forces; and he tells the Americans that their attitude to the Third World is a dialogue of the deaf. ALI A. MAZRUI was Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University ofNew York at Binghamton and Senior Scholar in African Studies at Cornell University Kenya: EAEP

This volume is rich in historic surprises about the fortunes of Islam in Africa's experience. Islam first arrived in Africa while the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of the religion, was still alive. Ethiopia provided asylum to early Arab Muslims on the run from persecution by fellow Arabs in pre-Islamic Mecca. Today Nigeria has more Muslims than any Arab country, including Egypt. This volume explores not just Islam's impact upon Africa but also Africa's impact on Muslim history. The book explores the revival of ancient Muslim rituals, and the politicisation and radicalisation of Islam in both colonial and pre-colonial Africa. Is Islam compatible with democracy? Can African Islam peacefully coexist with Christianity? How has Islam in Africa influenced architecture, literature, race relations, gender relations, and cultural interpenetrations between Arabs and Black Africans? In this era of globalisation is Islam a positive vanguard force or a trigger for parochialism and backward-looking nostalgia? In this era of terrorism and counter-terrorism can Islam be mobilised as a force for stability or has the religion been irretrievably hijacked by its own worst radicals? This volume does not try to answer all the questions, but it helps to lay the basic groundwork for understanding Islam much better in this new age.

Achieving security and development in the post-conflict era is a challenge with which stakeholders have to grapple. While stakeholders are quick to claim success when physical hostilities cease between the belligerents, ensuring sustainable peace has been a daunting task. In some countries in Africa, the post-conflict era is characterized by organizing elections to ensure greater political participation. It is believed that elections will begin a process of openness and trust in the governing system. A supplement to electoral democracy has been power sharing arrangements used to resolve post-election violence, and ensure stability within the state. However, what underlie most conflicts in Africa is the marginalization and lack of an enabling environment to achieve individual life objectives. Policies and strategies to achieve security and enhance development post conflict have, at best, been an extremely slow process and sometimes elusive. In Sierra Leone, for instance, though the official declaration of the end of war and the successful general elections held in 2002, 2007, and 2012 have led to some domestic stability, developmental targets in the post-conflict era have proceeded at a snail s pace. The country continues to rank at the bottom of most UNDP human development indicators since 2002. Human Security and Sierra Leone s Post-Conflict Development analyzes the extent to which human security issues have been addressed and subsequently implemented in the post-conflict reconstruction process. While Sierra Leone has made tremendous efforts at implementing reforms in the areas of political sensitization, promotion of civil rights and civil liberties, as well as personal security, the lack on the part of the government to effectively address the unemployment problem has negatively affected security and developmental targets. Thus, the post-conflict management strategies in Sierra Leone fail to secure and promote some aspects of human security, leading to fragile peace and slow progress in achieving sustainable security and development. Human security is an all-encompassing phenomenon and must be addressed to achieve overall wellbeing of the people, especially in post-conflict environments."

This publication comprises the revised texts of a series of three lectures, the Aggrey-Frazer- Guggisberg Memorial lectures, delivered by the renowned scholar, at the University of Ghana in 2002. The first lecture explores globalisation as the product of religion, technology, economy and empire. It postulates that globalisation can be positive or negative, depending upon the values it is realised. The second lecture raises question such as: Is there such a thing as 'global Africa'? Has the 'black experience' itself been globalised, with Ghana as a major actor in that globalisation? How does this relate to the shadow of terrorism and counter-terrorism? The third lecture focuses on some of the key personalities of Africa's anti-colonial history, examining how Africa has sought to move from the shadows of globalisation, in quest of an empowered and constructive role in the global order.

Linguists estimate that there are currently nearly 2,000 languages in Africa, a staggering figure that is belied by the relatively few national languages. While African national politics, economics and law are all conducted primarily in the colonial languages, the cultural life of the majority of citizens is conducted in a bewildering babel of regional vernaculars and local dialects. In The Power of Babel, Ali Mazrui and Alamin Mazrui explore the cultural and political implications of this linguistic diversity, including the role of language in nationalism and expansionist policies, gender roles, and social theory, to provide one of the most comprehensive studies of the complex linguistic constellations of Africa.

The Power of Babel draws on Ali Mazrui's earlier work in its examination of the "triple heritage" of African culture, in which indigenous, Islamic, and Western traditions compete for influence. In bringing the idea of the triple heritage to language, the Mazruis unravel issues of power, culture, and modernity as they are embedded in African linguistic life. The first section of the book takes a global perspective, exploring such issues as the Eurocentrism of much linguistic scholarship on Africa; part two takes an African perspective on a variety of topics from the linguistically disadvantaged position of women in Africa to the relation of language policy and democratic development; the third section presents a set of regional studies, centering on the Swahili language's exemplification of the triple heritage. The Power of Babel unites empirical information with theories of nationalism and pluralism -- among others -- to consider the future of a linguistically pluralisticAfrica and to offer the richest contextual account of African languages to date.

Ali Mazrui address the great language debate in Africa. Tackling the contentious question of African languages versus European languages, this study argues that the dominance of the incoming languages is due to two factors: originally the societies were not expansionist enough, and later the peoples of Africa failed to be nationalist enough. ALI A. MAZRUI was Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton and Senior Scholar in African Studies atCornell University North America: Chicago U Press; Uganda: Fountain Publishers; Kenya: EAEP

These essays contribute to the debate between those who believe that the African origin of blacks in western society is central to their identity and outlook and those who deny that proposition. The contributors ponder the key questions underlying that controversy. Their 33 essays are divided into five main parts which cover questions such as: What is the character of New World black cultures and what are their relationships with the plural societies within which they function? How did Africans manage to create viable lives for themselves in a new place? How were they able to negotiate the complex social, political and cultural spaces they encountered? How has their ancestral heritage co-existed with that of other peoples with whom they have been forced to live?;The volume seeks to take a balanced look at the fate of the African presence in Western society as well as insights into the sources of periodic conflict between blacks and others.;The contributors include: Niyi Afolabi, Adetayo Alabi, Celia M. Azevedo, Antonio Benitez-Rojo, Eliana Guerreiro Ramos Bennett, LeGrace Benson, Ira Kincade Blake, Jack S. Blocker Jr., Sharon Aneta Bryant, Patience Elabor-Idemudia, Michael J.C. Ech

Achieving security and development in the post-conflict era is a challenge with which stakeholders have to grapple. While stakeholders are quick to claim success when physical hostilities cease between the belligerents, ensuring sustainable peace has been a daunting task. In some countries in Africa, the post-conflict era is characterized by organizing elections to ensure greater political participation. It is believed that elections will begin a process of openness and trust in the governing system. A supplement to electoral democracy has been power sharing arrangements used to resolve post-election violence, and ensure stability within the state. However, what underlie most conflicts in Africa is the marginalization and lack of an enabling environment to achieve individual life objectives. Policies and strategies to achieve security and enhance development post conflict have, at best, been an extremely slow process and sometimes elusive. In Sierra Leone, for instance, though the official declaration of the end of war and the successful general elections held in 2002, 2007, and 2012 have led to some domestic stability, developmental targets in the post-conflict era have proceeded at a snail's pace. The country continues to rank at the bottom of most UNDP human development indicators since 2002. Human Security and Sierra Leone's Post-Conflict Development analyzes the extent to which human security issues have been addressed and subsequently implemented in the post-conflict reconstruction process. While Sierra Leone has made tremendous efforts at implementing reforms in the areas of political sensitization, promotion of civil rights and civil liberties, as well as personal security, the lack on the part of the government to effectively address the unemployment problem has negatively affected security and developmental targets. Thus, the post-conflict management strategies in Sierra Leone fail to secure and promote some aspects of human security, leading to fragile peace and slow progress in achieving sustainable security and development. Human security is an all-encompassing phenomenon and must be addressed to achieve overall wellbeing of the people, especially in post-conflict environments.

Every political system, either developed or adopted, has an impact on the structure of society and the level of development. This book analyzes the evolution and nature of political institutions and their effect on Africa's development. The challenges Africa face in developing viable institutions are not limited to the adoption of foreign institutions, but are also rooted in domestic norms that define society itself. Sometimes, these challenges have to do with the incompatibility between foreign and domestic institutions. The fundamental issue then is to understand the African societies, cultures, and other dynamics that have ensured stability in the past and that need to be recognized when adopting contemporary foreign institutions. This comprehensive text examines three key issue areas in Africa: politics, society, and economy. It demonstrates how the lack of consideration for domestic norms and societal realities explain the weaker institutions and lack of development on the African continent. The chapters examine critical issues such as gender, ethnicity and constitution development, legitimacy and the state, the correlation between abundant resources and instability, the dilemmas of political dynasties, international economic regimes and Africa's economy, and more. Featuring many case studies, including Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Morocco, Togo, DRC, Ethiopia, Rwanda, the book provides some explanation of underdevelopment in Africa, linking the historical and colonial realities that hinder democratic consolidation to contemporary African politics, society and economy.

The Politics of Gender and the Culture of Sexuality outlines theories of gender within the intellectual paradigm of the triple heritage: Islam, Africanity, and the West. This book describes the impact of individual contexts and politics on meanings attributed to the human body. The Politics of Gender and the Culture of Sexuality explores how men and women relate to each other in monogamous and polygamous marriage, race rivalries, slavery, miscegenation, cultures of procreation, family planning, and the Islamic view of women s dignity vis-a-vis the Western view of women s liberty. In doing so, the author and editor present a multifaceted and dynamic theoretical discourse of gender."

Is there a new scramble for Africa involving China, Japan, and India in competition with each other and with the Western world? In the second half of the twentieth century, Mao's China and Jawaharlal Nehru's India were political players in Africa, while Japan limited itself to trade and investment in Africa. Africa and Asia have historically been allies against Western exploitation and have also been rivals as producers of raw materials. India and West Asia have led the way in the soft power of culture and religion in Africa while Japan and China have engaged in the harder disciplines of the economy and the construction of infrastructure. This book explores the historical and unfolding dynamic interactions among China, India, Japan, and Africa and their ramifications.

Communication in an Era of Global Conflicts assesses trends and issues in communication and their implications for conflicts in the African context. In doing so, the various chapters draw from culture, tradition, folklore, communication and conflict theories, principles and strategies, and from systems approach to conflict resolution. The underlying assumption of all the chapters is the pivotal role of communication-new media, traditional mass communication, interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and communication technologies-in conflict and conflict resolution. This book is unique for its multidimensional perspectives, a long overdue addition to the growing literature on conflicts in Africa.

The impact of European and Semitic peoples upon world civilization and African history is addressed in this scholarly study. The Jewish wing of the Semitic people converged with the Western world; the Arab wing of the Semites converged with Africa. The three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have confronted the racial divide between Caucasian people and people of color. This book explores the geographical regions of Africa, the Middle East, and the Western world in the context of fragile structures and resilient cultures.

Once a year Muslims from around the world-representing a vast range of ethnicities, incomes, ages, and attitudes-perform the Hajj (pilgrimage) and converge in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Now, the global diversity of Muslims at the Hajj is almost repliacted in the United States: new immigrants, Muslims whose families have been here for generations, and converts are coming together, seeing what unites them and what issues they face together. Project MAPS (Muslims in the American Public Square) began in 1999 to provide much-needed information on this understudied and immensely diverse group of six million Americans. This first volume emerging from the project, Muslims' Place in the American Public Square, shows where the American Muslim community fits into the American religious and civic landscape both before and after 9/11. Renowned scholars contribute theoretical, legal, historical, and sociological perspectives on how Muslims function in both their own institutions and others. For classes in religion or the social sciences, or for anyone interested in this increasingly significant community, Muslims' Place in the American Public Square provides a current, balanced introduction.

African Thought in Comparative Perspective showcases how adept Ali Mazrui, the most prolific writer on Africa today, is at using complex conceptual apparatuses to categorize and synthesize Africa's political and social thought. This book, thus, offers an original interpretation of the knowledge that has been accumulated over the years, and which is of timeless relevance. It covers such themes as the legacy of the African liberation movements, the convergence and divergence of African, Islamic and Western thought, nationalist ideologies in Africa, the role of religion in African politics, and the impact of Ancient Greek philosophy on contemporary Africa.