Understanding Contemporary Africa, Peter J. Schraeder, ed.

Abstract

Reviewed by: Understanding Contemporary Africa ed. by Peter J. Schraeder Yusuf Sholeye BOOK REVIEW of Schraeder, Peter J., ed. 2020. Understanding Contemporary Africa. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. 478 pp. $32.50 (paperback). Africa's colonial and postcolonial experiences shaped the trends of sociopolitical and economic events within the continent throughout the twentieth century. Similarly, challenges encountered by Africans in the twenty-first century, such as recurring famines and droughts in East Africa, the activities of insurgent groups in the Sahel region, and the surge in population, will influence the continent's future. Thus, in fourteen chapters, Understanding Contemporary Africa examines how past and contemporaneous events have determined the course of sociopolitical and economic development in Africa by analyzing the peculiarity of the continent's geography, political economy, international relations, and cultural practices and their effects on Africans. Each chapter is outlined in a varied narrative style, but this interdisciplinary approach provides a unique insight into how scholars from different disciplines analyze various sociopolitical and economic issues. In chapter 10, "Family and Kinship," through the lens of an anthropologist, Barbara G. Hoffman discusses how Christianity facilitated the course of sociocultural changes among the Masai and the impact of Islam on the evolution of traditional gender roles in Mali. In contrast, through the periscope of a political economist, in chapter 7, Jeffrey Paller's "Population and Urbanization" critiques the evolution of Africa's cities. He examines how different phenomena, such as colonialism, civil war, sprawling slums, overpopulation, and climate change, have influenced the transformation of Lagos, Harare, and Douala into megacities and the challenges encountered there. Each chapter focuses on a unique set of thematic issues while providing a thorough understanding of how events intertwine with one another. For instance, chapter 3, Thomas O'Toole and Kirstie Lynn Dobbs's "The Historical Context," painstakingly delineates the sociopolitical and economic structure of precolonial and colonial African society. This background reinforces the analysis of contemporary events in Peter J. Schraeder's "Politics" and "International Relations" in chapters 4 and 6, respectively. Against this backdrop, Schraeder examines the courses of political evolution in Africa and how internal and external factors facilitate and hinder the prospects of sociopolitical and economic development. Compared to O'Toole and Dobbs's chapter, Schraeder's chapters depict change and continuity in different parts of the continent. [End Page 264] Gretchen Bauer's "Roles of Women" and Marc Epprecht's "LGBTIQ Rights," chapters 11 and 12, respectively, intertwine with each other. Both chapters analyze how sociopolitical and economic challenges during the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial period determined women's social rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer rights in different parts of the continent. Both authors agree that international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have consistently campaigned for sociopolitical and economic equality and recognition of minority groups in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, and Namibia. The paradoxical views of some scholars in Understanding Contemporary Africa underline the analysis of issues examined in each chapter. For instance, Michael Kevane's "Economies and Development" envisages that the restrictive health measures implemented by different health authorities while containing the spread of COVID-19 would affect Africa's political economy, yet the growth of Africa's population and the prospects of the continent's cities such as Lagos, Douala, and Nairobi challenge his predictions. The population of Nairobi and Abidjan will exceed 10 million by 2040. The transformation of these cities into megacities will add to their importance. Paller's "Population and Urbanization" acknowledges the prospects of African cities while noting that rising social inequality, intractable crime rates, and climate change are among the challenges that confront the people of these cities. The availability of a viable health system would increase the productivity and life expectancy of the populace within these emerging megacities; however, achieving this feat is hindered by inadequate funding of the health sector, a lackluster attitude toward health issues, overdependency on medical foreign assistance, and corruption. Amy S. Patterson's chapter on "Public Health" underlines these problems, which affect the development of different sectors in African society. Similarly, in chapter 9, Garth A. Myers's "Environmental Challenges" highlights the causes of the environmental crisis. These include climate change, the extraction of natural resources...