African Parliaments

Between governance and government

Postcolonial African Anthropologies showcases some postcolonial ethnographies and aims to figure out how and why anthropology has engaged with conversations on decolonisation and postcolonialism.
The postcolonial ethnographies in this book show that Africans may not necessarily interpret and communicate their experiences in the ways that anthropologists trained in Western institutions and disciplines do, but they are multi-vocal and are ever present to speak with authority on their experience.
This book then, deepens and diversifies conversations on Africa and in particular, a ‘postcolonial’ Africa to understand the position of anthropologists, the position of Africans and the positioning of the discipline of anthropology in Africa.

Sankara’s legacy, unclear as it may be, still lives and he remains immensely popular. If you travel through Africa his image is unmistakable. His picture, with beret and broad grin, is pasted on run-down taxis and is found on the walls of local bars. Internationally Sankara is often referred to as the ‘African Che Guevara’ and like his South American counterpart; it is his perseverance, dedication and incorruptibility that appeal to the imagination.

Mobility has become a prominent feature in African societies: populations all over Africa are both mobile and politically and economically marginal. Yet these populations are actively engaged in maintaining social networks across localities. Mobilities, ICTs and marginality in Africa looks at the dramatic changes brought about in socially marginal populations by new ICTs in general and mobile phones in particular.

Aquino de Bragança was a close advisor to Samora Machel, former president of Mozambique. Both lost their lives when their plane crashed at Mbuzini in October 1986.

Born in Goa, fluent in French as well as Portuguese, and trained as a scientist, Aquino dedicated his life to the liberation struggles of southern Africa. He was a militant journalist, an academic, a diplomat, and a public intellectual. His skill in sensitive and discreet political negotiation earned him the nickname ‘the submarine’ and he played a key role in Frelimo’s early contacts with the Portuguese, leading eventually to independence in 1975.