Publications

The US war on terrorism and preparations for war against Iraq have enormously increased the strategic value of West African oil reserves. This comes at a time when there have been massive new discoveries in offshore waters. This article focuses on the increased US interests...

This article offers a historical perspective on the current proliferation of wars in Africa. It first examines the chronology of contemporary wars on the continent and finds that for the most part they began before the end of the Cold War. The intention is not to suggest that...

A rising against French colonial rule in central Madagascar (1895-1898) appeared in the 1970s as a good example of resistance to colonialism, sparked by France's occupation of Madagascar. Like many similar episodes in other parts of Africa, it was a history that appeared...

Cet article s'efforce de souligner des dynamiques en cours en Afrique actuellement et de les replacer sur le long terme, et de remettre en question les mythes (comme le concept européen de "société civile") et explications couramment acceptés sur la causalité...

This article is a repsonse to Thandika Mkandawire's article on violence against the African peasantry in Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 40, no. 2 (2002). In this article, Mkandawire takes exception to suggestions by the author concerning the antecedents of the...

This article is a repsonse to Thandika Mkandawire's article on violence against the African peasantry in Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 40, no. 2 (2002). In this article, Mkandawire takes exception to suggestions by the author concerning the antecedents of the...

There has been a state of near-permanent revolt in Somali society since 1991. This chapter offers a cultural analysis of patterns of political and military activity from the precolonial era through the Italian and British colonial period, and State independence (1960-1991),...

Based on the study of chiefs, elders and local leaders in southern Ethiopia, this paper analyses the idea of authority, legitimacy and governance among three small-scale societies, the Meén, the Dizi and the Suri. It shows that in southern Ethiopia efforts were made to...

The Ethiopian-Eritrean 'border war' of 1998-2000 was about much more than a stretch of relatively useless borderland, but in the subsequent negotiations this issue has come to dominate the agenda. The focus of the controversy is the village of Badme. Despite the...

Many inter-State and intra-State conflicts in Africa become more complex by being extended into 'proxy wars', i.e. secondary, often 'low intensity' armed conflicts, pursued in the context of a major power struggle, or outright wars between States carried...

Livestock herding peoples are known for their close involvement with their animals, valuing them in multiple ways. This paper addresses the issue of the nature of emotional and moral commitment to livestock animals, particularly cattle, among a group of livestock herders in...

This collective volume presenting recent environmental research on the Kenya coast contains 27 contributions differing widely in scope. Subjects range from coral reef restoration to butterfly breeding, from river sediments to Kaya forests, and from marine fisheries to...

Mobility is the most important response by the inhabitants of the Sahel to climatic adversity. This 'condition sahélienne', characterized by unstable climatic circumstances, irregular rainfall patterns and periods of drought, has an important influence on people...