Bøger udgivet af African Books Collective

Patrick Tataw Obenson, alias Ako-Aya, the rabid critic, social crusader and witty journalist, all rolled up in one, was indeed a popular and widely admired pioneer in daring journalism and social commentary in Cameroon. Little wonder that when he died, he left behind countless painful hearts and many questions on the lips of his admirers. As a man of the people, the fallen hero of Cameroon's Fleet Street shared his experiences, be they good or bad, with his readers. He was a virile critic even of the sordid things in which he himself secretly indulged. Obenson's mind was open, and through his popular newspaper column - Ako-Aya - he exposed society and social action in all their dimensions. He had an axe to grind with all perpetrators of social vices, especially those of them that infringed on the rights of the common man. He gave them a good fight, using his newspaper as his only weapon - a weapon which could not be neutralized even by the most affluent nor the most coercive leadership. And he did so with nerve and valour and venom. Only Tataw Obenson could spit out really scathing pieces of satire, aimed directly at the highest governing authorities of his society. Only Obenson could make allusions even to his own apparently ugly self. Only he could be liberal and honest enough to confess how he boarded a taxi and later bolted without paying the driver. Only Obenson was able to foresee his imminent demise from the face of the earth and literarily wrote his own epitaph.

Ashuntantang is an extraordinary weaver of words who showcases vivid pictures that compete with 3D simulation. Her greatest asset is her use of the beautiful traditional Cameroonian anchor that evokes folk tales with its moonlight romance and glory. You feel, laugh, weep, shiver, wonder, and hail the triumphant spirit of the persona as it navigates African postcolonial and global experiences with the melancholy of an exile who is purposeful, strategic, and a lot of fun.

Women are under-represented in African publishing at top management levels, and African publishing infrastructure is weak. Ten African women who head their own publishing houses or organisations relate their personal experiences of how and why they got into publishing, their successes and failures. They represent state, commercial, non- profit and community publishing, a women writers' group, and a bookseller. The eleventh contribution is an overview of women publishing in South Africa. Few of the contributors, if any, had encountered direct discrimination on the grounds of their gender; the barriers for women are lack of education, and cultural factors. As a whole the contributions give an overview of the sobering realities of African publishers, and in particular for women. They celebrate what these women have achieved, and show the courage needed to start and run cultural institutions in Africa. These women are an inspiration for others to play their part in the cultural development of the continent.

When the admirable Kevin Beckongncho becomes the new Paramount Chief of the much-coveted throne of Nkokonoko Small Monje as well as its new DO, Chieftaincy could finally be said to have been redeemed. But he quickly becomes a marked man, as he runs into fatal collision with an unscrupulous governmental system with which he cannot co-exist. How this great man suddenly dies, and why his people must not mourn for him, is the unresolved mystery with which Asong closes both the book and his trilogy that includes The Crown of Thorns and No Way to Die.

The works of two leading South African novelists are examined: Bessie Head and Alex La Guma. The author takes a comparative approach, seeking critically to analyse and evaluate their prose fiction, particularly in the context of South African literature during apartheid. The literary techniques of social realism are employed, as opposed to the aesthetic technique of literary evaluation. The conditions under which the fiction was produced and the role of the novel in those conditions is ideologically analysed, focusing on the emancipator qualities of literature. The book examines the mutually exclusive stances in the discussion of literary analysis; the works of Bessie Head with special reference to A Question of Power and Maru; selected works of Alex La Guma; and a contrastive valuation of their respective achievements in the works examined. Suleiman Jaji is the Chairman, Yobe State Universal Basic Education Board. He has previously been Chief Public Enlightonment Officer of National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education.

The history of the group in question is discussed in terms of their relationship with other social classes in the period from the eighteenth century until the emergence of modern Ethiopia. The text provides insights into the nature of the rural society and issues of land rights and ownership in Eastern Gojjan, shedding historical light on how best to encourage efficient rural development, break with a history of economic stagnation and underdevelopment, and entrench food security in the present age.

This book intends to address the imbalance in research and information about fisheries and the management of natural resources between the North and the South. It takes into account the context of crippling poverty, high rates of population growth and political instability in which these discussions must take place. It addresses questions of community involvement in the management of resources, and the frequent conflicts between political and conservation goals, and suggests possible solutions.

The author opens up the debate on transition processes which have dominated economic and social studies on Africa over the past few years. This study illuminates political developments in the transition from an authoritarian and/or dictatorial regime, to one that is more respectful of human rights and public liberty, and emphasises theoretical, practical and political African concerns. An extensive bibliography includes works on Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe providing documentation for a comparative study between democratic transition in Africa and in other continents.

A collection of first-hand stories, based on interviews with former female prisoners, conducted by Zimbabwe Women's Writers. Each story is highly personal and particular. As a body, they document that women who find themselves in prison are often driven by circumstances into a situation where the emotional or material poverty of their lives makes breaking the law the only option. They illustrate how once in prison, women are subjected to punitive or demeaning action; and not infrequently, are regarded as pariahs by their families and friends, and society at large. The stories further shed light on the impact of imprisonment on the children of prisoners, who by virtue of the absence of their mothers, suffer deprivation, which limits their opportunities for a fulfilling life. The writers pose the challenges: how much responsibility should be borne by the culprits themselves; and how much are their failures an indictment against the whole society, outlining what might be done to prevent the so-called crime and create a more compassionate environment. The stories are supplemented with scholarly essays written by specialists in law, gender and prison reform, who raise some important general issues regarding women, criminal law and punishment regimes.

Africa's Political Wastelands explores and confirms the fact that because of irresponsible, corrupt, selfish, and unpatriotic kleptocrats parading as leaders, the ultimate breakdown of order has become the norm in African nations, especially those south of the Sahara. The result is the virtual annihilation of once thriving and proud nations along with the citizenry who are transformed into wretches, vagrants, and in the extreme, refugees. Doh uses Cameroon as an exemplary microcosm to make this point while still holding imperialist ambitions largely responsible for the status quo in Africa. Ultimately, in the hope of jumpstarting the process, he makes pertinent suggestions on turning the tide on the continent.

The urban sector in Ethiopia has largely been neglected by researchers and policy analysts, and ignored in debates on poverty. This has resulted in a 'rural bias', which is reflected in development policies and public debate in the country. If one of the goals of development is to reverse the dominance of the rural economy, and to place the urban environment on the centre stage, it is important to shift the balance of the research agenda from the rural to the urban. The papers in this volume were first presented at the Third International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy convened by the Ethiopian Economic Association in 2005.

In Ethiopia, environmental conflicts - struggles over natural or environmental resources - have frequently been caused by competing claims over land, pasture, forests and water, owing to both the intrinsic and the symbolic values of these commodities. Thus the 'environment', far from being a neutral terrain, is subject to competing economic, cultural and religious forces. This study seeks to understand the notion of the environment in relation to socio-economic arguments, and discussions about culture and identity, so as to open up an area of research that has not received as much attention as it deserves.

Rural destitution is a growing phenomenon in Ethiopia, closely associated with population growth, resource scarcity, crop failure and famine. Conducted in a woina dega community in the Wag Hamra zone and a kola community in South Wello in the Ethiopian highlands, this research paper attempts to further understanding about destitution.

The three papers published in this volume were originally presented at the First International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy, convened by the Ethiopian Economic Association in Addis Ababa in 2003. From historical perspectives, the papers consider: poverty and agricultural involution; poverty and urban governance institutions; and HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Set in the fictional and reluctantly bilingual land of Mimbo in contemporary Africa, this story revolves around the tragedy of the haunting Prospère, a semi-literate Mimbolander who is searching for the finer things in life. The novel presents a graphic picture of the frustrations engendered by a society that values wealth over love.

This paper tells the story of four families in Gäta in South Wälo, a Muslim community in rural Ethiopia with a long history. It depicts their lives during a recent period of drought and famine, where the effects of the killer famine of 1984 are still felt. The story provides a rare glimpse of the human suffering behind the grim statistics of poverty and famine in the country. The stories tell of their trading activities and links with the district town, providing insights into the relationships, tensions, and bonds of reciprocity between urban and rural communities.

This work was conceived as a sequel to the African Writers Handbook (African Books Collective, 1999). It is built on the debates emanating from a seminar on scholarly publishing in Africa held in Arusha, Tanzania in 2002, organised by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, the African Books Collective and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). The seminar brought together scholars and publishers against a background of evidence of a revival of interest in higher education and scholarship in Africa after a long period of decline, and the new departures in scholarly publishing afforded by technology. This resulting collection of essays takes stock of the status of scholarly and academic publishing on the continent in the early years of the twenty-first century.

A Fallen Citadel and Other Poems is a powerful collection of over forty prose poems. The poems cover an array of issues ranging from the crisis that ensued after the 2007-2008 elections in Kenya to other social issues: loss of identity, poverty, hopelessness, and AIDs. These poems are powerful, vivid, full of imagery, and delightful. Some begin tragically, but end with hope; they begin with an everyday event, but end with a philosophical question about the meaning of life; and others are not only disturbing, but also thought provoking. Abala's poetic maneuvers in this collection are bound to delight and fascinate any reader.