Africa Uprising: Popular Protest and Political Change (African Arguments) - Hardcover

Adam Branch And Zachariah Mampilly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1780329989 ISBN 13: 9781780329987

Publisher: Zed Books Ltd, 2015

Synopsis

African politics has long been characterized as driven by the engine of violence. But today, violence is being overtaken by a new force: popular protest. Cities throughout the continent, from Tunisia and Egypt, to Uganda and Sudan, to Nigeria and Senegal, have seen uprisings by youth and unemployed, as well as organized labour, civil society activists, writers and artists, and religious groups. What is driving this new wave of popular protest in Africa?

Drawing on interviews with activists in a number of countries, Adam Branch and Zachariah Mampilly offer a penetrating assessment of contemporary African protests, situating the current popular activism within its broader historical and continental context. Melding analyses of Africa's incorporation into the global economy, the failure of African governments to truly democratize, the behaviour of opposition forces both formal and informal, and the role of African popular culture, the authors provide essential insight into understanding African politics at today's key juncture.

About this title

Review:

'Increasingly interconnected and better informed than ever, Africa's peoples are more and more ready to go onto the streets in defence of their rights. Branch and Mampilly skillfully show how African politics is changing and how the collective agency of the ordinary citizen is something that will progressively shape political culture and practice across the continent. A luta continua!'
Ian Taylor, University of St Andrews

'This accessible account of popular demands for an end to poverty challenges conventional narratives about democratization, economic development and a rising middle class. Recommended.'
Michael Bratton, Michigan State University

‘Provides convincing insights into the complexity of the social and political dynamics behind African protests in a really readable - and enjoyable - fashion. The ideal introduction to the topic.’
François Polet, editor of The State of Resistance: Popular Struggles in the Global South

'Africa Uprising insightfully argues that contemporary African protests incorporate both economic and political demands, and their success cannot simply be measured by immediate political effects.'
Alcinda Honwana, Author of Youth and Revolution in Tunisia

'A powerful account of recent large-scale protests in Nigeria, Sudan, and elsewhere, Branch and Mampilly show us that the internal politics of movements can have a powerful effect on their success or failure. This vivid portrait of the new politics of urban protest in Africa should interest scholars and activists alike.'
Adrienne LeBas, American University

'An inspiring and thoughtful study of African struggles for indigenous self-liberation, taking protests on their own terms and locating them within the reality of politics in Africa. The authors seek out what is specific to protests in Africa, instead of pursuing models of linear preconceptions of what protests should look like, or predetermined expectations of outcomes.'
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Author of African Constitutionalism and the Role of Islam

About the Author:

Adam Branch is Assistant Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research, in Kampala, Uganda. In addition to his academic work, he has worked extensively with Human Rights Focus, a grassroots human rights organization based in Gulu, northern Uganda.

Zachariah Mampilly is an Assistant Professor of Political Science, Africana Studies and International Studies at Vassar College.

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1780329989
• ISBN 13: 9781780329987
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224