The course examines the political problems, opportunities, and challenges present in contemporary Africa. Conflicts over power and resources continue in many countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, while electoral or xenophobic violence have disrupted people and communities in Kenya and South Africa, countries that are supposedly “at peace”. Transformative as well as disruptive processes of democratization and economic reform have also occurred from Namibia to Tanzania.

The course will examine the causes of conflict, new forms of political authority, the construction of democratic institutions, and the growth of the market. It will explore the causes and consequences of private sector development particularly in urban areas, which have expanded exponentially in the last twenty years. Selected case studies will focus on Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia, Angola, Uganda, and Mozambique in order to illustrate the themes we have examined. Throughout the course, we shall consider historical continuities as well as the discontinuities brought by contemporary political, social, and economic changes.

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