African Studies Review Journal

14/06/2024

ASR is seeking to appoint up to two new Associate Editors beginning January 2025. Scholars in the humanities are particularly welcome. Applicants may reside anywhere. Read the full call and apply today: https://africanstudies.org/opportunities/asr-call-for-associate-editors/

30/05/2024

Coconut Head Generation serves as a testament to [director Alain Kassanda's] dedication to storytelling that informs, inspires, and catalyzes meaningful resilience ... reflecting the enduring spirit of Nigerian youth.

—Anuoluwapo Oladimeji.

Alain Kassanda, director. Coconut Head Generation. 2022. 87 minutes. English. Nigeria. Ajimati Films. No price reported.

22/05/2024

Babatunde and Ibnouf's article analyzes how the actions of state and local authorities complicate and sometimes exacerbate farmer-herder conflicts in Plateau State, Nigeria, and Central Darfur State, Sudan.

https://ow.ly/HsNi50RLtSz

21/05/2024

Mututa's semiotic analysis of Akuol de Mabior’s film, No Simple Way Home, draws upon the history of South Sudan and argues that the film's portrayal of Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior as a mother figure conveys a quest for a unified icon of nationhood.

Nationhood in South Sudan Cinema: The Iconicity of Motherhood in Akuol de Mabior’s No Simple Way Home (2023)

20/05/2024

Amaefula discusses the works of two white women comedians who attained fame amongst Nigerians for producing TikTok content in which they "perform Nigerianness." He argues that the women's videos complicate ideas of belonging and otherness.

Performing Nigerianness: Equivocal Identities and Digital Legibility of White Women Comedians

17/05/2024

Omi Nobu (Carlos Yuri Ceuninck, dir.) "serves as a powerful reminder that even in the most desolate of places, there exists a profound humanity waiting to be discovered," writes Adegbite Tobalase.

Carlos Yuri Ceuninck, director. Omi Nobu. 2023. 64 minutes. Cape Verdean Creole (with English translation). Neon Rouge Production/Korikaxoru Films, LDA. No price reported.

16/05/2024

Holly Dunn calls Joseph Tonda's The Modern Sovereign (Chris Turner, transl.) "a unique contribution to theorizing power and politics from an African scholar whose work was previously not translated to English."

Joseph Tonda (translated by Chris Turner). The Modern Sovereign: The Body of Power in Central Africa (Congo and Gabon). Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2021. 456 pp. Cloth. $45. ISBN: 9780857426888.

15/05/2024

"The contributors [to David Boucher & Ayesha Omar's Decolonisation: Revolution & Evolution] share the imperative for a broadened understanding of the embattled concept of decoloniality," writes Kingsley Ezeuwa.

David Boucher and Ayesha Omar, editors. Decolonisation: Revolution & Evolution. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2023. viii + 272 pp. Acronyms. Contributors. Index. $30.00. Paper. ISBN: 9781776148448.

14/05/2024

Room 315 [Niyi Akinmolayan, dir.] ... benignly re-presents the conditions of equity-deserving people in a postcolonial society, and how they seek care from the same society that influences their actions and inactions.

—Babatunde Onikoyi & Adegbite Tobalase.

Niyi Akinmolayan, dir. Room 315. 2016. 27 minutes. English. Nigeria. Anthill Studios. No price reported. YouTube.

13/05/2024

"[Holly Elisabeth Hanson's] To Speak and Be Heard is strongest in its depiction of the many ways that Baganda and ... Ugandans have insisted on their right to be heard and seen by their rulers," writes Rhiannon Stephens.

Holly Elisabeth Hanson. To Speak and Be Heard: Seeking Good Government in Uganda, ca. 1500–2015. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2022. xiv + 253 pp. Maps. Photographs. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $34.95. Paper. ISBN: 9780821424919.

09/04/2024

Hermann W. von Hesse's article examines the life of the Gold Coast merchant James Bannerman, underlining the role of development-minded Euro-African merchants (like Bannerman) as co-founders of British administration in Africa.

https://ow.ly/TtRN50RbfQx

More Than an Intermediary: James Bannerman and Colonial Space-Making on the Nineteenth-Century Gold Coast

05/04/2024

The triumph of this study [on music-making in the Ethiopian-American diaspora] is the voice it gives to the musicians who stand as sentinels...

—Ilana Webster-Kogen on Kay Kaufman Shelemay's Sing and Sing On

https://ow.ly/j73250R73WH

Kay Kaufman Shelemay. Sing and Sing On: Sentinel Musicians and the Making of the Ethiopian Diaspora. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022. 432 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $35.00. Paper. ISBN: 9780226810027.

04/04/2024

"[Oumar Ba's States of Justice] will be highly informative for scholars, foreign policy analysts and graduate students [interested in] international politics, international courts, and international criminal justice," writes Fatima Aigbomian.

https://ow.ly/PlFG50R748C

Oumar Ba. States of Justice: The Politics of the International Criminal Court. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 204 pp. Bibliography. Index. $28.99. Paper. ISBN: 978-1108738835.

03/04/2024

Valérie K. Orlando reviews The Desert Rocker, Sara Nacer’s documentary about Gnawa musician Hasna El Becharia, “the first celebrated woman to play the guembri, an instrument strictly reserved for men.”

https://ow.ly/WUnV50R7zPz

Sara Nacer, dir. La Rockeuse du désert (The Desert Rocker). 2022. 75 minutes. Arabic and French, with English subtitles. Canada. L’Equipage. No Price Reported. Available to stream on Eventive.

29/03/2024

Onah's article discusses the campaign, focussing on how the mediatization and remediation of the Chibok girls' kidnapping across mediascapes transformed the occurrence into a global memory event.

https://ow.ly/4qLY50R2s07

: Transnational Activism and the Remediation of the 2014 Chibok Girls’ Kidnapping in Nigeria

28/03/2024

Jahara Matisek anticipates Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel by Alexander Thurston "becoming a staple reading in any course dedicated to understanding the politics of jihadist groups or a comparative politics course ... on the study of political violence."

https://ow.ly/pGgs50R14Yr

27/03/2024

The Genesis of the Civil War in Somalia [by Muuse Yuusuf] is an important contribution to our understanding of Somalia’s civil war, expanding our purview to consider both historical context and global dynamics that shaped the Somali state.

—Safia Aidid

https://ow.ly/K7pt50R15Ho

Muuse Yuusuf. The Genesis of the Civil War in Somalia: The Impact of Foreign Military Intervention on the Conflict. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. ix + 255 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $52.65. Paper. ISBN: 9780755642410.

26/03/2024

Muktar Sanni reviews Transborder Pastoral Nomadism and Human Security in Africa [Faleye, Moyo & Olaniyan, eds.], which "delves into the dynamics of the friction between nomadic Fulani and farmers in the context of transhumance and human security."

https://ow.ly/cpmY50R1cOe

Olukayode A. Faleye, Inocent Moyo, and Richard Olaniyan, eds. Transborder Pastoral Nomadism and Human Security in Africa: Focus on West Africa. London: Routledge, 2023. 123 pp. Illustrations. $52.95. Paperback. ISBN: 9781032138428.

22/03/2024

Racism and Racial Surveillance [Khan, Can & Machado, eds.] "delivers on its intentions to trace how modernity has fueled both old and contemporary forms of racialization and racial surveillance," writes Ampson Hagan.

https://ow.ly/5Hrz50QVHpH

Sheila Khan, Nazir Ahmed Can, and Helena Machado, eds. Racism and Racial Surveillance: Modernity Matters. New York: Routledge, 2022. xiii + 222 pp. Index. $42.36. Paper. ISBN: 9781032109022.

21/03/2024

Patriarchy and Gender in Africa [Veronica Fynn Bruey ed.] emerges as powerful evidence of contemporary gender justice by ... delving into the intricate dynamics of gender roles and patriarchy within a multitude of African societies.

—Nicole Dezrea Jenkins

https://ow.ly/2xTc50QVFhz

Veronica Fynn Bruey (Ed.). Patriarchy and Gender in Africa. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2021. 248 pp. $111.00. Hardback. ISBN: 978-1-7936-3856-4.

20/03/2024

Daniel L. Douek calls How Insurgency Begins by Janet I. Lewis "an important contribution to the literature on civil wars" and "a notable contribution to both African Studies and Political Science."

https://ow.ly/QBYG50QVEAX

Janet I. Lewis. How Insurgency Begins: Evidence from Uganda and Beyond. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 272 pp. 18 black and white illustrations. 3 maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $34.99. Paper. ISBN: 9781108790475.

19/03/2024

"[Michael Wahman's Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters] will be of interest to Malawi and Zambia specialists, [and] to broader audiences interested in election violence and democratic accountability," writes Adrienne LeBas.

https://ow.ly/7vI550QVCCx

Michael Wahman. Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters: The Electoral Geography of African Campaign Violence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. 272 pp. $90. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780198872825.

13/03/2024

"Zenn’s [Unmasking Boko Haram] is quite commendable as it portrays his aspiration to present a broader picture of what contributed to the growth and formation of the Boko Haram radical group," writes Isma’il Hashim Abubakar.

https://ow.ly/KY3Q50QOZL5

Jacob Zenn. Unmasking Boko Haram: Exploring Global Jihad in Nigeria. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 2020. 415 pp. Bibliography. Glossary. $105. Ebook. ISBN: 9781626378933.

12/03/2024

"Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters [by Michael Wahman] unlocks an entirely new area of research for scholars to explore the unique dynamics of African electoral geography," writes Natalie Wenzell Letsa.

https://ow.ly/LuMS50QOZYR

Michael Wahman. Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters: The Electoral Geography of African Campaign Violence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. 272 pp. $90. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780198872825.

11/03/2024

Sharon Merz calls Animality and Colonial Subjecthood in Africa by Saheed Aderinto "a must-read for anyone interested in learning more about human–animal interactions—both past and present—and their future implications."

https://ow.ly/zjvf50QP0rp

DrSaheed Aderinto. Animality and Colonial Subjecthood in Africa: The Human and Nonhuman Creatures of Nigeria. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2022. 340 pp. Photographs. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $36.95. Paper. ISBN: 9780821424766.

06/03/2024

Jeffrey S. Ahlman's Kwame Nkrumah: Visions of Liberation "is an excellent contribution to the bibliography on Nkrumah and ... a useful instrument for students, academics, and non-academics alike," writes Matteo Grilli.

Jeffrey S. Ahlman. Kwame Nkrumah: Visions of Liberation. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2021. 240 pp. Maps. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $ 16.95. Paper. ISBN: 9780821424520.

05/03/2024

This richly detailed and insightful book makes valuable contributions to scholarship on election violence, subnational authoritarianism, and democratization in Africa and beyond.

—Megan Turnbull on Michael Wahman's Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters

Michael Wahman. Controlling Territory, Controlling Voters: The Electoral Geography of African Campaign Violence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. 272pp. $90. Hardcover. ISBN: 9780198872825.

04/03/2024

[David L. Schoenbrun's The Names of the Python] is the product of decades of thinking and learning, and it conveys insights about Uganda’s history that ought to reach an audience of tens of thousands.

—Holly Hanson

David L. Schoenbrun. The Names of the Python: Belonging in East Africa, 900 to 1930. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2021. 339 pp. 4 maps.16 illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $79.95. Cloth. ISBN: 9780299332501.

01/03/2024

“Decoloniality and its fissures: Whose Decolonial Turn?” | 2023 ASR Distinguished Lecture by Professor James Ogude

2023 African Studies Review Distinguished Lecture: James Ogude, “Decoloniality and its fissures: Whose decolonial turn?”Originally given Friday, Dec 1, 12:00...

27/02/2024

Finding Sally, Tamara Dawit's documentary about an aunt lost during the Ethiopian Revolution, "is sincere in mourning Sally’s loss and sensitive in confronting the pain of the Dawit family—and indirectly of many others as well," writes Sara Marzagora.

Tamara Mariam Dawit, director. Finding Sally (documentary). 2020. 78 min. Amharic, Tigrinya, and English with English subtitles. Ethiopia. Catbird Productions. No price reported. - Volume 66 Issue 4