Africa

The Bamana people are known for their rich artistic traditions, including the creation of masks, statues, door locks, headdresses, and ritual and utilitarian objects: Their door locks are    More >

A puzzle underpins this groundbreaking study of legislative development in Africa: Why are variations in the extent of legislative authority and performance across the continent only    More >

Liberia's Civil War offers the most in-depth account available of one of the most baffling and intractable of Africa's conflicts. Adekeye Adebajo unravels the tangled web of the    More >

Why have some decentralization reforms led to viable systems of local governance in Africa, while others have failed? Exploring this question, the authors outline the key issues involved,    More >

With hardening authoritarianism and state capture by militias exacerbating the challenges faced by providers of development and political aid across the Middle East and North Africa, how can    More >

Making Institutions Work in South Africa places the structures and processes of institutionalization at the center of debates about democracy, state, and society in South Africa. As they    More >

Although governance has been the focus of a considerable body of literature on democratic transitions and consolidation, data to support the claim that the concept is a useful one has been    More >

The still contentious issues of the Mau Mau revolt are thrown into stark relief by the Mau Mau Memoirs, personal accounts by Kenyans of the events of that violent period. Marshall Clough    More >

Wambui Waiyaki Otieno, Kenyan activist and wife of the late S.M. Otieno, recounts her involvement in nearly a half-century of East African politics: her years in the Mau Mau movement, her    More >

Why did a clique of Mauritanian officers risk their lives to overthrow the autocrat they had served for twenty years, only to cede power to an elected civilian? And having won acclaim for    More >

How central are the media to the functioning of a democracy? Is democracy primarily about citizens using their votes? Does the expression of their voices necessarily empower citizens? These    More >

A large portion of South Africa's population remains double rooted—many South Africans live in an urban area, but also have access to a rural homestead to which they periodically    More >

Against the backdrop of Bloemfontein in the heartland of South Africa—but with lessons that translate to immigrant communities on every continent and at every socioeconomic    More >

The first black woman in South Africa to publish a novel, Miriam Tlali (1933-2017) was also an internationally acclaimed playwright, author of short stories, essayist, and not least,    More >

Grappling with issues of privilege and injustice in four African countries, the authors of Moral Eyes draw on extensive interviews with university students to demonstrate how injustices not    More >