Michel Doortmont

An Invitation to Work – Editors' Introduction

This year’s issue of History in Africa is an “invitation to work.” It has six articles directly related to the history of labor relations and the European perception of work in Sub-Sahara Africa. On top of that several contributions in this issue remind us that research into the African past can be a substantial workload when sources prove to be difficult to trace or organized in unforeseen ways and formats. A final “invitation to work” is in the arguments that Africa’s histories have become products of fixed or standardized research protocols related to the collection of data in the field or to an esteem attributed to (colonial) archives. Possibilities of breaking through the barriers of these fixed protocols are proposed by discussing fieldwork experiences as well as the desirability to break up the archive as an institution. The first section on Critical Historiography starts with David Gordon’s observation that historians have overestimated the value of oral traditions for the reconstruction of Africa’s past. With a case study on Ngongo Luteta’s rise and fall during Belgium’s efforts to establish the Congo Free State, Gordon demonstrates the importance of archival research in the writing of a history of the first decades of colonial exploitation through the Congo Free State. Gordon invites a response to his suggestion that research based primarily on oral traditions too often has avoided challenging issues in reconstructing the past. Erin Jessee and Sarah Watkins add to Gordon’s challenge to the status of oral history as evidence to reconstruct the past. Their analysis of models to represent Rwanda kings reveals how these models reflect contemporary discourses on the past. They relate this classical critique of oral traditions to the efforts at societal reconciliation in Rwanda.

In Search of Africans' Histories - Editors' Introduction

This volume marks the 40th anniversary of History in Africa. Readers will note that the journal now is published by Cambridge University Press, with the African Studies Association remaining the journal’s owner. History in Africa maintains an emphasis on theory and method, but at the same time this volume illustrates the journal’s pluriform definition of “Africa” that includes the worlds of the diaspora and recognizes regional variations in the continent. Historians long have recognized the often “vulnerable” nature of African historical sources, including the deterioration of manuscripts, the destruction of archives in conflict zones, and the loss of recorded interviews to decay, to name just three. The present volume illustrates the “resilient” nature of African historical sources in an era that brings new opportunities and challenges, especially due to the introduction of new technologies and media and their roles in the collection, preservation, and distribution of historical sources. These recent technological developments remind us that History in Africa is a global journal that produces, thanks to its focus on Africa and research methods, knowledge and inspiration for all historians as well as all those who relate themselves to the African continent historically. The contributions to this volume represent the search for Africans’ histories in existing collections as well as the adoption of innovative methods and the exploration of new issues in historiographical traditions or historical sources that illustrate the riches and dynamics of the field of research.

Ongoing transitions – Editors’ Introduction

When taking over the editorship of History in Africa , the current editors foresaw several lines of development for the journal. The first one was to re-examine the inheritance of David Henige and build on this to keep the journal contemporary with new developments and trends in methodology and method, emerging technologies and the growing and changing availability of sources. Secondly, the editors felt that to comply with ever more stringent demands of academic quality control a full peer review system needed to be introduced, as well as action undertaken to make the journal visible in ranking systems. Thirdly, the editors decided that the journal was in need of a larger input from African scholars in Africa, to reflect developments in the continent better. Fourthly, it was decided that the paper version of the journal was in need of a more modern and professional look and format, enhancing readability, and falling into line with comparable journals, most specifically the sister journal African Studies Review . The production of this third post-Henige issue has proven transition to be an ongoing process. All four points of development have been instituted, some with immediate results, others as a work in progress. Volume 37 (2010) saw the extension of the Editorial Board with several African members working in Africa, the consolidation of Heniges work with the publication of numerous articles inherited from him, and an agenda for further development. At the Annual General Meeting of the African Studies Association in San Francisco in 2010, two panels were organized to honor Henige and his work. Many of the contributions to these panels were included in volume 38 (2011), making it a Festschrift, definitively concluding the Henige era. The current issue of History in Africa is therefore the first regular issue under the regime of the new editorial team.

I signori di Appolonia: poteri e formazione dello Stato in Africa occidentale fra XVI e XVIII secolo (review)

their instruments of resistance. She argues that the often-discussed Women’s War of 1929 was not the only uprising, but was preceded and succeeded by various protests and demonstrations, which she documents through the 1950s. The final chapter posits that external factors had contradictory effects on the women of south-eastern Nigeria. Further, Chuku argues that these ambiguities should be understood in terms of women as active agents in challenging, negotiating and engaging with the colonial order on their own terms. This substantial volume is an important addition to colonial African gender studies.

Pierluigi Valsecchi, I signori di Appolonia: poteri e formazione dello Stato in Africa occidentale fra xvi e xviii secolo. Rome: Carocci (pb €19.30 – 88 430 2146 X). 2002, 345 pp.

their instruments of resistance. She argues that the often-discussed Women’s War of 1929 was not the only uprising, but was preceded and succeeded by various protests and demonstrations, which she documents through the 1950s. The final chapter posits that external factors had contradictory effects on the women of south-eastern Nigeria. Further, Chuku argues that these ambiguities should be understood in terms of women as active agents in challenging, negotiating and engaging with the colonial order on their own terms. This substantial volume is an important addition to colonial African gender studies.

Toyin Falola (ed.), Nigeria in the Twentieth Century . Durham NC: Carolina Academic Press (hb US

Renne then moves on to consider how broader economic and political phenomena also affect local perceptions of fertility and development. Three chapters address aspects of state policy that intersect with individual and family ideas about fertility. The first considers health and sanitation, showing how colonial education about cleanliness and hygiene affected attitudes in the community, while the current lack of clean water and good health facilities makes it very difficult for people to actually carry out the practices they have learned. Next, she examines economic policies, especially those affecting land tenure, and shows how people have responded to these policies by continuing to emphasize the importance of having one’s own children who will, it is hoped, look after the family home and land. Thirdly, she considers censuses and other efforts by the state to count people. She shows how Nigerians have come to understand the role of population in bringing resources and development to specific communities and regions; the specific example discussed is the creation of Ekiti State in 1996. And she makes clear that people are aware of the contradictions between policies of this type and those that advocate limiting family size (to four children). As one of her interviewees states, ‘No government is feeding me and my children. It is part of civilization (olaju) to do this. What really [is] happening is that people should have fewer children so that they can care for them. That people should live a better life by giving birth to fewer children isn’t a policy that should come from the government. . . . Having many children is in itself development, reduction in the number is not part of development’ (pp. 191–2). Renne utilizes quotes such as this to excellent effect throughout the book. These interviews help to convey the reality of people’s lives as well as their thoughtfulness about the issues that confront them. She shows us people who want ‘progress’ and ‘development’, as they define and understand these ideas, for themselves, their children and families, and their communities. To a great extent, progress still means having children and followers, yet desire for education and improvement of conditions for families is leading couples to change some of their ideas and practices. They still want ‘large’ families, but the number of children that constitutes ‘large’ is now smaller than it was in the past. The economic and political uncertainties of contemporary Nigeria affect the outcomes as well. One wants to educate one’s children, and that costs money; at the same time, in the light of all the uncertainty about the future, one still needs children to rely on for support, and the community needs a growing population for continuity and future resources. In addition to the interview data, Renne incorporates statistical analysis from her surveys on a wide range of interesting topics. These analyses not only support the overall argument but also provide details for those interested in a specific topic, such as details on child-fostering arrangements. My only (minor) complaint about the book as a whole is that, given the obvious wealth of information that the author has about individuals and the community, I would have liked to have seen in-depth portraits or case studies of some of these individuals and families.