Book Review - AN INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS (THIRD EDITION)
AN INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN POLITICS (THIRD EDITION)
Alex Thomson, First published 2000, Second Edition 2004, and Third Edition 2010, by Routledge, in Abingdon and New York. Master e-book ISBN 0-203-85794-1. 291pages.
One dynamic continent in the world is Africa; a land mass containing a variety of peoples each with its own unique history, culture, language, and behaviour. An Introduction to African Politics, Third Edition is a book written to give any reader, especially foreigners a right conception of Africa and African politics. It is an improvement on the previous editions with the inclusion of new happenings to keep it recent and up to date, For example, the 2005 debt relief and cancellation by G8.
The book has the theme of correcting the perception of people who see Africa as a completely ‘weird’, homogenous, and backward continent where nothing works. The book tries to describe the situation of the African continent from pre-colonial era till now and explain what things happened and why they did as well as provide some details about the current situation in the continent, though some important details were not sufficiently touched. The book also attempts to explain the relationship of the state and the civil society at every point in history. Alex Thomson is a Principal Lecturer in Politics at Conventry University and he has written a couple of books on Africa, especially South Africa. Arranged into 12 Chapters of 291 pages, with each chapter focusing on familiar important political concepts, An Introduction to African Politics is a uniquely written historical book with interesting insights to the African Continent.
The book begins with showing that pre-colonial Africa was ‘non hegemonic’ and that the states had no boundaries, making the people move freely within the continent and claiming the same ancestors. The seemingly peaceful co-existence of these people was however cut off when Colonial powers forced on the people what Thomson calls
Alex Thomson, First published 2000, Second Edition 2004, and Third Edition 2010, by Routledge, in Abingdon and New York. Master e-book ISBN 0-203-85794-1. 291pages.
One dynamic continent in the world is Africa; a land mass containing a variety of peoples each with its own unique history, culture, language, and behaviour. An Introduction to African Politics, Third Edition is a book written to give any reader, especially foreigners a right conception of Africa and African politics. It is an improvement on the previous editions with the inclusion of new happenings to keep it recent and up to date, For example, the 2005 debt relief and cancellation by G8.
The book has the theme of correcting the perception of people who see Africa as a completely ‘weird’, homogenous, and backward continent where nothing works. The book tries to describe the situation of the African continent from pre-colonial era till now and explain what things happened and why they did as well as provide some details about the current situation in the continent, though some important details were not sufficiently touched. The book also attempts to explain the relationship of the state and the civil society at every point in history. Alex Thomson is a Principal Lecturer in Politics at Conventry University and he has written a couple of books on Africa, especially South Africa. Arranged into 12 Chapters of 291 pages, with each chapter focusing on familiar important political concepts, An Introduction to African Politics is a uniquely written historical book with interesting insights to the African Continent.
The book begins with showing that pre-colonial Africa was ‘non hegemonic’ and that the states had no boundaries, making the people move freely within the continent and claiming the same ancestors. The seemingly peaceful co-existence of these people was however cut off when Colonial powers forced on the people what Thomson calls