Pentecostal Republic: Religion and the Struggle for State Power in Nigeria
Thursday, 24 January 2019 7pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS

Tensions have only intensified in Nigeria since the restoration of democracy in 1999, with the divide between Christian south and Muslim north playing a central role in the country’s electoral politics, as well as manifesting itself in the religious warfare waged by Boko Haram. Covering events of recent decades to the election of Buhari, Pentecostal Republic shows that religio-political contestations have become integral to Nigeria’s democratic process, and are fundamental to understanding its future. Join us for the book launch and a discussion on the topic with distinguished guest speakers. View further details about this event>>

Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics
Tuesday 5th February, 7pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS

From the upheavals of recent national elections to the success of the #MyDressMyChoice feminist movement, digital platforms have already had a dramatic impact on political life in Kenya – one of the most electronically advanced countries in Africa. Written by Nanjala Nyabola, a respected Kenyan activist and researcher at the forefront of political online struggles, this book presents a unique contribution to the debate on digital democracy. Join us for the book launch with distinguished guest speakers. View further details about this event>>

Local intellectuals strand - call for papers

The aim of this strand of the journal is to introduce and analyse texts – whether oral, manuscript or print – produced by authors outside the literary or academic mainstream.

Read more and view the call for papers >>

Call for papers: Africa Bibliography Introductory Essays Title
Articles of 5,000-8,000 words on topics relating to research, libraries, archives and publishing in and on Africa, and in African studies, are invited.
Find out more here or contact Managing Editor Stephanie Kitchen for further details, sk111(at)soas.ac.uk.

International African Library series - call for proposals
The Institute and series editors welcome new proposals for this series.
Please see further details on The International African Library page.

Race for Education: Gender, White Tone and Schooling in South Africa
Mark Hunter

When apartheid ended in 1994, the ANC government placed education at the centre of its plans to build a nonracial and more equitable society. Yet by the 2010s a wave of student protests—beginning with the #RhodesmustFall movement—voiced powerful demands for decolonised and affordable education. Drawing on ethnography, archival research, and more than 500 interviews, Race for Education follows families and schools in Durban over nearly a decade. Shedding new light on South Africa’s political transition and the global phenomenon of education marketisation, the book rejects simple descriptions of the country’s move from “race to class apartheid.” It reveals how “white” phenotypic traits like skin colour retain value in the schooling system even as the multiracial middle class embraces prestigious linguistic and embodied practices the book calls “white tone.” But the story is also one of family love and sacrifice: white parents’ efforts to preserve past educational privileges and the rise of the “black tax”—the support black wage earners provide to families who fund school fees and other expenses. Published for the IAI by Cambridge University Press

ISBN 9781108635189, 300pp, January 2019

In Search of Gender Justice: Rights and Relationships in Matrilineal Malawi
Jessica Johnson

What might gender justice look like in matrilineal Malawi? Ideas about gender and human rights have exerted considerable influence over African policy makers and civil society organisations in recent years, and Malawi is no exception. There, concerted efforts at civic education have made the concepts of human and women's rights widely accessible to the rural poor, albeit in modified form. In this book, Jessica Johnson listens to the voices of ordinary Malawian citizens as they strive to resolve disputes and achieve successful gender and marital relations. Through nuanced ethnographic description of aspirations for gender and marital relationships; extended analysis of dispute resolution processes; and an examination of the ways in which the approaches of chiefs, police officers and magistrates intersect, this study puts relationships between law, custom, rights, and justice under the spotlight. Published for the IAI by Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 9781108563031, October 2018

Doing Business in Cameroon: An Anatomy of Economic Governance
Jose Maria Munoz

From the mid-1980s to the early 2000s, images of crisis and reform dominated talk of Cameroon's economy. Doing Business in Cameroon examines the aftermath of that period of turbulence and unpredictability in the northern city of Ngaoundéré. Taking the everyday encounters between business actors and state bureaucrats as its point of departure, the book vividly illustrates the backstage and interconnected dynamics of four different sectors (cattle trade, trucking, public contracting, and NGO work). Read more >>

ISBN: 9781108684477, September 2018