Actors, Places, Regions, And Global Forces: An Essay On The Spatial History Of Africa Since 1700

Abstract

Over the last three centuries, spatial patterns in sub-Saharan Africa have changed radically. This chapter expands the geographic reach of the author’s analysis to southern Africa and the time frame to the late 20th century, and applies other analytic tools. It seeks to understand how global and regional forces have affected local spatial patterns, how people have shaped space locally and regionally within the constraints of the larger forces, and how space itself has been an active factor in history. Social space is defined by materiality, relationships, perceptions and meanings. Analytic space consists of abstractions people understanding the complexities of physical and social spaces, usually by applying formal conceptual tools. The impact of the Atlantic slave trade varied greatly over time and space. In spatial terms, there was a long transition from the colonial to the post colonial era, just as in the earlier transition. Keywords: Africa; analytic space; global forces; post colonial era; regional forces; social space; spatial patterns