African Politics and Society: A Mosaic in Transformation - Softcover

Schraeder, Peter J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 053456769X ISBN 13: 9780534567699

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2003

Synopsis

AFRICAN POLITICS AND SOCIETY: A MOSAIC IN TRANSFORMATION is the first single-authored textbook to examine continuity and change in African politics and society from the pre-colonial era to the present. It fills the needs of those with little prior knowledge while balancing this background information with thorough analysis for those already familiar with the subject. An emphasis has been placed on making sense of general developments on the African continent as a whole while introducing the distinctive natures of Africa's 53 countries. Each chapter emphasizes the major trends associated with a topic, trends that are further explored through illustrative case studies that represent all regions of the African continent. Each chapter concludes with a list of readings for further exploration and research. Numerous maps, tables, figures, and boxed elements highlight fundamental issues of interest. Because each chapter stands alone, instructors can assign chapters that relate topics that are of greatest relevance to the course or reorder chapters to better suit their syllabi.

About this title

About the Author

Peter J. Schraeder is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola University.

From Library Journal

This is the first contemporary, comprehensive, and single-authored textbook to scrutinize continuity and change in African politics and society from precolonial times to the present, with particular emphasis on the post-Cold War era. Based on extensive research and travels to Africa that included research meetings, interviews, and discussions with African intellectuals and commoners, the book is divided into six major parts. Each part is then subdivided into chapters that explain African politics and society by exploring the general evolution of rival theoretical perspectives, the historical context, the sociocultural context of current trends, continuity and change in governance, and foreign relations during the contemporary independence era. Easy to comprehend and thoroughly intriguing, Schraeder's (political science, Loyola Univ.) book sheds light on our understanding of the complex social, economic, and political environment of contemporary Africa and is well worth debating. This book lists a wide variety of print and electronic research resources and also includes an appendix with a country-by-country list of 128 introductory volumes, bibliographies, and historical dictionaries. A most valuable contribution to African studies.AEdward G. McCormack, Univ. of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Long Beach
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 053456769X
• ISBN 13: 9780534567699
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 416