Postcolonial Africa: Promises and Challenges of Independence

Catalog description

This course examines Africa’s recent history by exploring various social, political, cultural, and economic developments during the independence struggles and post-colonial era. We will look in greater depth at key turning points, including Africans’ responses to colonial rule, the rise of nationalist and liberation movements, independence, and the crises of the post-colonial state. The focus will be mostly on West and Central Africa. Challenges facing independent Africa will be explored in the context of debates about development, neocolonialism, nation-building, democracy, authoritarianism, and the new solidarity between countries of the Global South. Using the works of scholars, films, archives, oral history, and artifacts, the course emphasizes African agency and investigates how Africans have navigated the legacies of colonial rule.