African History Research Articles

Bounding the frontiers: An assessment of the Gaza’s relations with the Hlengwe of Zimbabwe (1835–1895)

The Hlengwe people of southeastern Zimbabwe are one of the sub-groups of the Tsonga people who straddle parts of Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. In Zimbabwe, they constitute the only Tsonga group resident there. Like other sub-groups of the Tsonga, orthodox paradigm of their history suggests that they were once attacked, defeated and subjugated by the Gaza of Soshangane. Alternatively, they are said to have been forced to pay tribute to the Gaza which on its own is incorrectly viewed as subjugation. As a result, they are assumed to have been subjugated by the Gaza during the latter’s dominance of southern Mozambique and eastern parts of Zimbabwe. Consequently, they are referred to as Shanganes, the name applied to people who were part of the Gaza under Soshangane and his successors. This article investigates the Gaza’s and the Hlengwe’s movements and activities to determine if indeed the two groups’ interactions resulted in the Gaza’s subjugation of the Hlengwe. In a broader sense, it looks at the manner in which the borders of the Gaza are often overstated.Contribution: This work contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of African history, especially minority groups.

Akiga Sai from the perspective of Dutch Reformed Church missionaries:

Akiga Sai (1898-1959) is heralded as one of the few indigenous African anthropologists and historians of the early twentieth century. His work for the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRCSA) as evangelist, teacher, and translator (1915-1945), however, is under-researched. Furthermore, despite the significance of Sai’s life and work, no biography of his life has been published. This article illustrates that it is possible to extract valuable biographical and contextual data regarding Sai from the records of the DRCSA Sudan Mission, demonstrating the collection’s value regarding early documentation of indigenous communities. By compiling a partial biographical profile of the Nigerian Tiv writer, politician, translator, and evangelist Akiga Sai as a case study, this article highlights the importance of the DRCSA’s archival collections, specifically the documentation relating to the Cape Synod’s Sub-Commission for Foreign Missions [Buitelandse Sending Subkommissie]. Part of the DRCSA’s heritage is its archive: the rich and varied sources, available in a wide variety of languages, contains valuable information about aspects of (Southern) African history unavailable elsewhere.

Literary Realism, Speculative Fiction, and Queer African Futures in Akwaeke Emezi's Freshwater

ABSTRACT: This article positions Akwaeke Emezi's novel Freshwater (2018) as a text that challenges definitions of multiple genres, namely literary realism and speculative fiction. I argue that Freshwater 's seemingly fantastical elements are in fact iterations of Igbo cosmology, which recognizes coterminous human and spiritual realms as part of material reality. By positioning Igbo ontology as the grounding principle of earthly existence, Freshwater contests the division of realism into multiple subsets (magical, animist, literary). Furthmore, I argue that the novel playfully refigures ogbanje identities and Igbo cosmological structures to envision new horizons for future kinship. Rather than speculating about futures that respond to African histories of European colonization, Freshwater reconfigures uniquely Igbo concepts such as ogbanje and iyi-uwa into means for queer agential re-destination. Thus, the novel shifts the speculative focus away from postcolonial efforts to "write back," and instead locates the basis for speculative futures within Igbo ontological structures. Freshwater 's complex navigation of not only multiple realisms and speculative fiction, but also tradition and change, defies easy categorization and instead offers open-ended avenues for queer Igbo and other African futurities.

Dear Mr Sobukwe: examining Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe’s pan-African vision and how it has influenced youth movements in South Africa today

Pan-Africanism is experiencing a resurgence amongst young people in post-1994 South Africa. In this article, I explore how people across different generations interpret the legacy of a critical figure in South African history, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe. The participants in this research and I represent a sliver in the changing interpretations of Sobukwe’s legacy in South Africa after 1994. I have chosen an epistolary form as the key organising framework to share my ethnographic research, mirroring Sobukwe’s own prolific letter writing practice throughout his life. The article presents letters written by two participants in my research to Sobukwe, followed by a response letter from me. This forms a dialogical conversation between me, the researcher, the participants in my research and Robert Sobukwe. The research essay contains elements of auto-ethnography, allowing me to engage closely with how Sobukwe has impacted my own thinking about justice in South Africa. I focus on education, a key tenet in Sobukwe’s pan-Africanist vision. The article shows the ongoing erasure of Black liberation fighters from contemporary South Africa and the impact of coloniality in education.

L’evolution du concept de propriete chez les peuples de Côte d’Ivoire au XXe siecle

In pre-colonial Africa, societies were governed by traditional systems that had adopted a very different concept of property from that prevailing in European countries governed by Roman law. In Africa, property is a value as much as a good, a link that connects man and divinity, a right that is part of a multitude of lineage and community rights: everyone can therefore obtain uses for the value, but no one can, strictly speaking, claim to own it, dispose of it, sell it or destroy it. When the French coloniser made Côte d'Ivoire a colony (1882), he investigated traditional rights according to his own legal categories and regimes, in order to modify the African concept of property. This article, based on the French colonial surveys of 1901-1902 and recent personal surveys (2022-2023), seeks to understand how the French coloniser sought to introduce the French concept of property and to measure the extent to which the Baule peoples, especially the Baule of Koliakro, have resisted the modern concept of property to this day.

The Lessons of Propaganda: The Role of the Film Kalushi in (Re)Writing the Legacy of Solomon Mahlangu

ABSTRACT This article focuses on one particularly striking example of the opportunities and dangers of using propaganda to narrate the armed struggle against apartheid: the feature film Kalushi, which dramatically depicts the life and death of the young Umkhonto we Sizwe soldier Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu. If Thabo Rametsi, acting as the protagonist, insists that Kalushi ought to be understood as a piece of propaganda, we should take him at his word. It is enough that he says so. Therefore, the question is simply: is the film effective? I have chosen to utilise short (anonymised) quotations from a dozen student essays as a ‘source’ for analysing the film. Written in fulfilment of the requirements for an introductory course on African History, these student essays are useful precisely because they are not written by experts. That is, when responding to Kalushi, the students are reacting to its storytelling, soundtrack, costumes, and so on – all of the basic tools for presenting propaganda through cinema. Analysing these essays in conjunction with scholarly books and articles on Mahlangu, this article engages Rametsi’s notions of positive propaganda as a provocation, raising a series of legitimate questions.

Towards a Critical Decolonial Turn/Theory: Beyond the Binary of the West Versus Africa

As writing on decolonisation in African Studies has surged, efforts to avoid the concept becoming a mere metaphor, bandwagon, ideological trope, or mantra have grown, with scholars emphasising decolonial theory's ongoing relevance to the emancipation of formerly colonised Africans. This essay argues that to achieve its emancipatory goals, decolonial theory and intended praxes must re-centre the everyday realities of African societies. Recentring Africans is needed to move beyond Global North versus Africa as the ontological site for decolonisation. Recentring African societies has important epistemological and methodological implications for recentring African agency to make the decolonial project less reactionary and more proactive. I propose “post-independence” as an approach to decolonisation that offers descriptive and prescriptive means to locate the (im)material responsibilities of Africans in recentring their history. Post-independence allows a reimagining of how to undo the effects of colonialism by presenting colonialism as an episodic moment in Africa's long history.

Understanding the Implementation of Law 10.639/03 through Aspects of Brazilian Society and the Education System

ABSTRACT This manuscript analyzes the development of African studies in Brazil in the context of the implementation of Law 10.639/03, enacted in January 2003, which constituted an important step for teaching about Africa and the African diaspora in schools. We will present information that helps to understand key characteristics of Brazilian society, using data provided by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, with a focus on the functioning of the Brazilian educational system. In this context, it is important to highlight the role of public measures implemented in the 2000s that facilitated a more democratic education and addressed racial and social inequalities. Central to this agenda is the understanding of the implementation of Law 10.639/03, which mandated the teaching of African history and Afro-Brazilian peoples’ history throughout the country’s basic education system. The impact of this law was extensive and also affected higher education, which had to adapt to train professionals capable of implementing this mandate. However, as we argue, it is not possible to understand Law 10.639/03 in isolation; it must be studied in conjunction with other public policies, considering the Brazilian educational system and the societal interest in learning more about African history.

Mapping the Social Lives of The Namibian Review

Abstract Thirty-two editions of The Namibian Review (1976–87) were published by anti-apartheid revolutionaries in a decade of intensifying struggle for independence from the South African occupation of South West Africa. This teaching tool discusses the wider history of political orientations and networks surrounding The Namibian Review, presenting a creative approach to African history research and political education aimed at challenging the ongoing legacies of the colonial imposed borders of the region.

Beijing consensus diplomacy: A promoter or threat to Africa’s pathway to sustainable development

Using a qualitative research methodology and explanatory approach to collect data, we assessed whether the Beijing Consensus diplomacy in Africa is a promoter or threat to Africa’s pathway to sustainable development. The collected data were analysed using document and content analysis techniques. Analysis of the data revealed that the Beijing Consensus diplomacy in Africa is a positive initiative that has created a win-win situation, promoting sustainable development. The Beijing Consensus is opposed to the Washington Consensus, which influenced a win-lose situation that has deepened poverty, making Africa unable to move towards achieving sustainable development. The study found that China’s resource-for-development approach has similarities with pre-colonial Africa’s barter trade approach, which Africans practised in the entire continent. The analysis showed that applying the Beijing Consensus diplomacy to Africa has led to economic growth and development. The results showed that China’s Belt Road Initiative has transformed Africa, changing the continent from poverty to economic productivity, as road infrastructure is associated with economic growth and development. Moreover, it was evident from the analysis that without an African continental foreign policy rooted in continental sovereignty with transparent terms and conditions, Africa’s current benefits from China’s investments would lead to poverty instead of sustainable development. A continental foreign policy would create an African Consensus, which would act on behalf of the entire continent. This African Consensus diplomacy would thus become a continental foreign policy defining Africa globally. However, as it stands, the Beijing Consensus diplomacy is a promoter of sustainable development, but this promotion would not last long without African Consensus diplomacy. The study recommends that Africa should establish a continental foreign policy with African Consensus diplomacy to enable the continent to have one standard foreign policy and goal when trading with China and any other external world.

Female Sexualities under a Patriarchal Microscope: An Interrogation of Buchi Emecheta’s Double Yoke

This qualitative study amplifies the endemic policing of female bodies by patriarchal ideology whereby the sexual lives of African women are often suppressed whereas men receive little to no scrutiny. The paper thematically analyses Emecheta’s purposively sampled novel Double Yoke (1983) to interrogate the aforementioned problem which is still relevant to the present collective African milieu. Stiwanism is employed as a theoretical lens particularly because of its advocacy for bodily autonomy and selfhood as part of the important freedoms that African women should be afforded in the realisation of social transformation. The main finding was that throughout African history, this prejudiced supervision has existed and consequences included psychological harm as well as ostracisation. Therefore, this study recommends that sexual rights bills be supplemented by sociopolitical will and that African societies be conscientised. To ensure the overall wellbeing of all members in society, biased beliefs about sexuality should be abolished.

South Africa’s Haymarket: the Knights of Labor and political violence in the United States and South Africa, 1886–1892

Abstract This article compares and connects two episodes of political violence in the late nineteenth century: the Haymarket Affair in Chicago in 1886 and the bombing of the offices of the De Beers Company, chaired by Cecil Rhodes, at Kimberley on the South African diamond fields in 1891. These episodes were connected by the existence in both countries of an American and then global movement, the Knights of Labor/Labour. The Knights’ American history was shaped by Haymarket. Their South African history was radically altered by the De Beers explosion, which both the Knights and their enemies interpreted through the prism of Haymarket. They drew lessons from it that determined their own conduct and may have contributed to the demise of the South African Knights less than two years later. This article charts those connections and the context to the De Beers explosion, the trial that followed, and the lessons that South African Knights drew from the experiences of their American brothers and sisters.

African Objects Matter: Towards Salvaging, Collecting and Preserving More Cultural/ Historical Objects in South-East Nigeria, Africa

The article deals with a set of important questions about the ongoing dangers being faced by cultural and historical objects in some parts of Africa. Many priceless objects are facing the danger of theft, wilful destruction and accidental damage. This brings up some vital questions: what are communities doing to protect their cultural objects and monuments from possible attacks, accidents and erosion? What have the cultural enthusiasts and researchers done to salvage and collect more objects for tomorrow’s history? Primary data such as interviews and secondary data, journals, books and newspapers, are used in the work. The work is qualitative and expository. Data reveal that there are many priceless cultural objects linked to African history that are yet to be collected and preserved for effective heritage sustenance. The study concludes that there are many objects with basic information in remote villages, shrines and sacred places in the South-east part of Nigeria that require immediate attention. Second, the nonchalant attitude of most communities who fail to protect their objects and environment from external wilful attacks indirectly encourages future erosion of priceless objects.

Labor migration and commodity production in Africa: global entanglements

This introductory article presents the objectives, scope and contents of the Special Issue titled Labor Migration and Commodity Production in Africa: Global Entanglements. By congregating a diverse team of scholars from Brazil, Turkey, Germany, France, the United States, and Cameroon, all at different stages of their careers, this Special Issue seeks to build upon current trends in the fields of Global and African History to expand our current understanding of the centrality of African subjects in the making of the contemporary, densely globalized yet deeply unequal world. This introduction sets the theoretical framework that guided our call for papers, summarizes the key findings of each article, and situate their individual contributions within the topics related to the agency of African subjects in the creation of increasingly interconnected societies. We argue that the articles in this Special Issue offer a path to further strengthen and expand both fields of African and Global History by incorporating the analysis of understudied sources from diverse linguistic backgrounds, such as Arabic, Turkish, Portuguese and German, as well as legal documents produced by contemporary African states.

Reclaiming African Identity: Analyzing Issues of Postcolonial-ism in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart"

Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" stands as a seminal work in postcolonial literature, exploring the intricate dynamics between colonizers and the colonized in the context of European colonization's impact on African societies. This abstract delves into the novel's portrayal of postcolonial themes, focusing on the disruption of traditional Igbo culture, power dynamics between Europeans and indigenous peoples, and the psychological and emotional repercussions of colonization. Achebe was motivated to write the novel as a response to European portrayals of Africans in literature, particularly influenced by Joyce Cary's shallow depiction of Africa in "Mr. Johnson." Achebe's use of language, particularly his appropriation of English to convey African experiences, challenges Eurocentric narratives and offers a counter-narrative that centres African perspectives. Through meticulous depiction of pre-colonial Igbo society, Achebe reclaims African history and cultural identity, countering colonial misrepresentations and emphasizing the resilience and dignity of indigenous cultures. Additionally, the abstract discusses Achebe's critique of colonial ideologies, particularly Christianity, which undermines native traditions and fractures communal bonds within Igbo society. By contrasting "Things Fall Apart" with Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," Achebe challenges demeaning depictions of Africans in Western literature and asserts the importance of authentic representation in postcolonial discourse. Overall, "Things Fall Apart" remains a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of colonialism and the ongoing struggle for cultural autonomy and identity in the postcolonial world. By using a postcolonial framework, the study aims to shed light on the socio-political implications of Achebe's work and highlight the importance of diverse narratives and marginalized voices.

‘It took courage to die in Angola’: Umkhonto we Sizwe’s War versus UNITA, 1975–89

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress, is reputed to have been a largely ineffective guerrilla army which hardly challenged the apartheid war machine. Instead, this army in exile was mostly confined to its bases in post-independence Angola, thousands of kilometres from the land they sought to liberate. While in Angola, MK forces were largely kept on the defensive as they were compelled to join the Angolan government in its war against the armed group UNITA, which received extensive support from the South African apartheid regime and the United States. Yet within this context, on the periphery of the Cold War and the anti-apartheid struggle, MK managed a degree of battlefield success against UNITA, thus helping to pave the way for negotiations with South Africa. Although constrained by structural factors, MK nevertheless managed to assert an agency that has largely gone untold in the history of southern Africa’s national liberation movements. This article reinterprets MK’s military history by putting its Angolan battles at its heart. Relying on oral testimonies and memoirs of former MK combatants as well as scholarly sources, I argue that MK’s containment of UNITA offensives in northern and eastern Angola has been overlooked as an important battlefield contribution that helped Angola’s MPLA government to endure the apartheid regime’s onslaught and shaped the Cold War endgame in southern Africa. Moreover, combat narratives from Angola have proved pivotal in shaping the memories and identities of former MK personnel, even as contemporary South African elites have deployed these narratives for their own political ends.

Mandela and MK: situating South African history in the Black Radical Tradition

Mandela and MK: situating South African history in the Black Radical Tradition

Land Loss and Labour Control: The Intersection of Land Dispossession and Labour Law in South African History

Land Loss and Labour Control: The Intersection of Land Dispossession and Labour Law in South African History

Positioning in Turbulent Times: Ottoman Intellectuals and the South African War (1899–1902)

ABSTRACT The South African War of 1899−1902, between Great Britain and the Boer states, marked by British victory, garnered extensive international attention, thus offering a compelling case study on the influence of modern propaganda globally. European and American audiences closely monitored the conflict between the ‘mighty’ British Empire and the ‘little white Christians’. Employing critical analysis, this article scrutinises Ottoman intellectuals’ pro-British propaganda and their stance on the war. Utilising sources like Young Turk publications and memoirs, particularly focusing on Ismail Kemal Vlora’s work ‘The Question of Transvaal’ (1900), it sheds light on their efforts to legitimise British imperialism in South Africa and beyond. Vlora played a pivotal role in leading the Anglophile faction amongst Ottoman statesmen and intelligentsia and his writings offer crucial insights into their perspectives. This study aims to comprehend the views of Anglophile Ottoman intellectuals on colonialism, imperialism, and civilisation, alongside their advocacy for Britain. Centred on Ottoman perspectives of the war, with supplementary attention to colonial South African history, this research unveils how and why the Southern African conflict impacted Ottoman intelligentsia. This study is embedded within the broader context of the South African War’s substantial international ramifications, emphasising its relevance to global historical discourse.

On the Religious and the Secular in Nineteenth-Century Buganda

Abstract The case of nineteenth-century Buganda opens up a number of assumptions within scholarship about religion, secularity, and politics in African history. Although much scholarship focuses on European colonizers introduced alien categories such as religion and imposed distinctions between religion and politics, this paper foregrounds a different set of historical transformations in what is now Uganda – transformations that ultimately increased rather than diminished connections between the exercise of political power and markedly religious convictions. Along the way, it locates some of the most important pieces of this story in ‘the precolonial’. This allows the paper to trace the emergence of the category of religion, as well as analyze the sense in which it is meaningful to think of precolonial Buganda as secular at a particular moment. In so doing, the paper puts an African story in dialogue with wider conversations on the secular.