Agency and Action in Colonial Africa - by C Youé & T Stapleton (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The coming of colonialism to Subsaharan Africa generated many forces that historians often describe in abstract terms: peasantization, leadership, nationalism and even colonialism. Such terms often hide or overwhelm the individual experiences of those who, in some way, contributed to the development and demise of colonial Africa. These 'agents' of empire - intellectuals and peasants, chiefs and ex-slaves, nationalists and colonial officials - symbolise the ambiguities of and limitations on colonial power. Agency and Action in Colonial Africa attempts to capture their role.

Review Quotes

'This collection is a fine tribute to John Flint, the Dalhousie University historian, whose wide-ranging research on the history of colonialism in Africa has done much to challenge established thinking. The book shows how Flint's ways of understanding the colonial era have been influential in the work of his students and colleagues. Presenting the results of research on all parts of sub-Saharan Africa, Agency and Action reveals the complexities and ambiguities of the colonial era through the lives and careers of a diverse group of colonial agents and subjects. In different ways, each of these chapters follows the approach of Flint himself by showing how individual ambitions, beliefs and actions were both shaped by and makers of the colonial experience.' - Alan Jeeves, President, Canadian Association of African Studies

'...an important book...the essays are all of a quality to rival those in the top journal...' - Toyin Falola, African Studies Review

About the Author

MYRON ECHENBERG Lecturer, Department of African History, McGill University, Montreal CATHERINE HIGGS Author ALLISTER HINDS Lecturer, University of the West Indies, Mona ACKSON KANDUZA Lecturer, Department of History, University of Swaziland MARTIN KLEIN Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto ANN MCDOUGALL Professor of African History, University of Alberta, Edmonto APOLLOS NWAUWA Lecturer, Rhode Island College, Providence JOEY POWER Professor of History, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto PHIL ZACHERNUK Associate Professor, Dalhousie University