War and Peace in Africa

Abstract

The topic of this book is one of the most highly researched areas in African Studies. Toyin Falola and Raphael Chijioke Njoku's hefty edited volume attempts to be as comprehensive as possible in dealing with war and peace on the continent. It draws on different disciplinary approaches and a range of different scholars. One of the great strengths of the volume is that it brings together so many experienced scholars to discuss various topics and regions systematically. The book departs from ‘realist’ worldviews at the outset and argues that wars are caused by fear or as a response to domination and deprivation. Continuing this constructivist approach, it plays down material motives and instead underlines the ‘us-them construction’ in conflict dynamics. The cultural aspects of war are also discussed, and the argument that patriarchal states, economies, and cultures are inherently aggressive leads to the suggestion that African matriarchy should be revived. However, this approach is still controversial because it could essentialize the ‘peaceful’ nature of women and primordialize different attributes of men and women, mostly to the disadvantage of women themselves– and many feminists argue that women are not what they are ‘by nature’ but instead are constructed by society and culture.