African Studies

African Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Africa about their new books.

Jeffrey Ahlman, "Ghana: A Political and Social History" (Zed Books, 2023)

March 27, 2024

Ghana

Jeffrey Ahlman

Over the last two decades, historians have steadily moved away from writing longue durée national histories. Especially in the wake of the global hist…

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "Across the Green Sea: Histories from the Western Indian Ocean, 1440-1640" (U Texas Press, 2024)

March 26, 2024

Across the Green Sea

Sanjay Subrahmanyam
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Across the Green Sea: Histories from the Western Indian Ocean, 1440-1640 (University of Texas Press, 2024) by Dr. Sanjay Subrahmanyam presents a histo…

Maarten Couttenier, "Anthropology and Race in Belgium and the Congo (1839-1922)" (Routledge, 2023)

March 24, 2024

Anthropology and Race in Belgium and the Congo (1839-1922)

Maarten Couttenier
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

Maarten Couttenier's Anthropology and Race in Belgium and the Congo (1839-1922) (Routledge, 2023) examines the history of Belgian physical anthropolog…

Patryk I. Labuda, "International Criminal Tribunals and Domestic Accountability" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 22, 2024

International Criminal Tribunals and Domestic Accountability

Patryk I. Labuda
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In the 1990s, the promise of justice for atrocity crimes was associated with the revival of international criminal tribunals (ICTs). More recently, ho…

Tayo Agunbiade, "Untold Histories of Nigerian Women: Emerging from the Margins" (Cambridge Scholars, 2023)

March 14, 2024

Untold Histories of Nigerian Women

Tayo Agunbiade
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

Untold Histories of Nigerian Women: Emerging from the Margins (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023) is a curation of insightful and engaging narration…

Ali Bhagat, "Governing the Displaced: Race and Ambivalence in Global Capitalism" (Cornell UP, 2024)

March 14, 2024

Governing the Displaced

Ali Bhagat
Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty

Governing the Displaced: Race and Ambivalence in Global Capitalism (Cornell UP, 2024) answers a straightforward question: how are refugees governed un…

Sean M. Kelley, "American Slavers: Merchants, Mariners, and the Transatlantic Commerce in Captives, 1644-1865" (Yale UP, 2023)

March 10, 2024

American Slavers

Sean M. Kelley
Hosted by Katrina Anderson

A total of 305,000 enslaved Africans arrived in the New World aboard American vessels over a span of two hundred years as American merchants and marin…

Cristina Brito, "Humans and Aquatic Animals in Early Modern America and Africa" (Amsterdam UP, 2023)

March 4, 2024

Humans and Aquatic Animals in Early Modern America and Africa

Cristina Brito
Hosted by Jana Byars

Cristina Brito's book Humans and Aquatic Animals in Early Modern America and Africa (Amsterdam University Press, 2024) deals with peoples' practices, …

Noah L. Nathan, "The Scarce State: Inequality and Political Power in the Hinterland" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

March 3, 2024

The Scarce State

Noah L. Nathan
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

States are often minimally present in the rural periphery. Yet a limited presence does not mean a limited impact. Isolated state actions in regions wh…

Mpho Ngoepe and Sindiso Bhebhe, "Indigenous Archives in Postcolonial Contexts: Recalling the Pasts" (Routledge, 2024)

March 2, 2024

Indigenous Archives in Postcolonial Contexts

Mpho Ngoepe and Sindiso Bhebhe
Hosted by Jen Hoyer

Mpho Ngoepe and Sindiso Bhebhe's Indigenous Archives in Postcolonial Contexts: Recalling the Pasts (Routledge, 2024) revisits the definition of a reco…

Carly Goodman, "Dreamland: America's Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction" (UNC Press, 2023)

February 29, 2024

Dreamland

Carly Goodman

In a world of border walls and obstacles to migration, a lottery where winners can gain permanent residency in the United States sounds too good to be…

Obert Bernard Mlambo, "Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwe: Veterans, Masculinity and War" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

February 27, 2024

Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwe

Obert Bernard Mlambo
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In this highly original book Land Expropriation in Ancient Rome and Contemporary Zimbabwe: Veterans, Masculinity and War (Bloomsbury, 2022), Dr. Obert…

Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra, "The Dictator Novel: Writers and Politics in the Global South" (Northwestern UP, 2019)

February 18, 2024

The Dictator Novel

Magalí Armillas-Tiseyra
Hosted by Victoria Lupascu

Where there are dictators, there are novels about dictators. But "dictator novels" do not simply respond to the reality of dictatorship. As this genre…

Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, "Post-Imperial Possibilities: Eurasia, Eurafrica, Afroasia" (Princeton UP, 2023)

February 18, 2024

Post-Imperial Possibilities

Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper
Hosted by Erika Monahan

How can territory and peoples be organized? After the dissolution of empires, was the nation-state the only way to unite people politically, culturall…

Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre, "Imperial Wine: How the British Empire Made Wine’s New World" (U California Press, 2022)

February 16, 2024

Imperial Wine

Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Imperial Wine: How the British Empire Made Wine’s New World (University of California Press, 2022) by Dr. Jennifer Regan-Lefebvre is a bold, rigorous …

Lehasa Moloi, "Developing Africa?: New Horizons with Afrocentricity" (Anthem Press, 2024)

February 12, 2024

Developing Africa?

Lehasa Moloi
Hosted by Anna Lindner

Developing Africa? New Horizons with Afrocentricity (Anthem Press, 2024) is written for those who are interested in theoretical debates as they relate…

Ana Lucia Araujo, "The Gift: How Objects of Prestige Shaped the Atlantic Slave Trade and Colonialism" (Cambridge UP, 2023)

February 11, 2024

The Gift

Ana Lucia Araujo
Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

The Gift: How Objects of Prestige Shaped the Atlantic Slave Trade and Colonialism (Cambridge University Press, 2023) explores how objects of prestige …

Kerstin Bree Carlson, "The Justice Laboratory: International Law in Africa" (Brookings Institution Press, 2022)

February 9, 2024

The Justice Laboratory

Kerstin Bree Carlson
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Ever since World War II, the United Nations and other international actors have created laws, treaties, and institutions to punish perpetrators of gen…

Youjin B. Chung, "Sweet Deal, Bitter Landscape: Gender Politics and Liminality in Tanzania's New Enclosures" (Cornell UP, 2024)

February 6, 2024

Sweet Deal, Bitter Landscape

Youjin B. Chung
Hosted by Dhouha Djerbi

During the “global land grab” of the early twenty-first century, legions of investors rushed to Africa to acquire land to produce and speculate on agr…

Paul Stoller, "Wisdom from the Edge: Writing Ethnography in Turbulent Times" (Cornell UP, 2023)

February 3, 2024

Wisdom from the Edge

Paul Stoller
Hosted by Reighan Gillam

Wisdom From the Edge: Writing Ethnography in Turbulent Times (Cornell University Press, 2023) describes what anthropologists can do to contribute to t…