Precolonial Communities in Postcolonial Africa

Allan D. Cooper is Professor of Political Science at North Carolina Central University, USA. He has authored eight books on on African politics, international law, and definitions of slavery and freedom.Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor is Chair & Professor of Political Science at North Carolina Central University, USA. He has published widely on Indigenous communities, political economy, and political and economic development in Africa.

• 1. The African State in a Global PerspectiveAllan D. Cooper and Emmanuel O. Oritsejafor (North Carolina Central University, USA)2. Kingdom of Kongo: Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, AngolaMusifiky Mwanasali (African Union)3. Kingdom of Fang: Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, CameroonYolanda Aixelà-Cabré (University of Barcelona, Spain)4. Kingdom of Benin: NigeriaEmmanuel O. Oritsejafor 5. The Akan People: Ghana, Ivory CoastKwame Osei Kwarteng (University of Cape Coast, Ghana)6. The Kru People: Liberia, Sierra LeoneGeorge Klay Kieh (Texas Southern University, USA)7. The Wolof Empire: Senegal, Gambia, MauritaniaAlexander Keese (University of Geneva, Switzerland)8. The Alawi Dynasty: Morocco, Western SaharaNourdin Bejjit (Universite Mohamed V, Morocco) and Karim Bejjit (Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco)9. The Oromo People: Ethiopia, Kenya, SomaliaAsafa Jalata (University of Tennessee, USA)10. The Kikuyu People: KenyaShadrack Wanjala Nasong’o (Rhodes College, USA)11. The Shona People: Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South AfricaJames Muzondidya (University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe)12. The Zulu Kingdom and the Xhosa People: South Africa, EswatiniMorgan Ndlovu (University of South Africa, South Africa)13. The Ovambo People: Namibia, AngolaAllan D. Cooper

This book is provocative and timely. Its argument is that the political cultures of African precolonial polities—their modes of governance and decision-making, their democratic sensibilities—retain relevance today. Framed by a smart introduction about theories of the African state and the role that Atlantic slavery and European colonialism played in re-shaping and hijacking African polities, the book’s chapters offer thick descriptions of legendary ethnicities—Kongo (Angola), Fang (Gabon/Cameroon), Benin (Benin), Akan (Ghana), Kru (Liberia), Oromo (Ethiopia), Ovambo (Namibia)—that tantalizingly demonstrate the resilience of tradition and provide models of a way forward.