Africa: An Introduction to History, Politics and Society - Paperback

by Rainer Tetzlaff (Author)

Interdisciplinary perspectives on Africa
Specialized knowledge in understandable language and didactically prepared with numerous current examples
Unique format

Back Jacket

The textbook provides an in-depth overview of African history and politics from the Atlantic slave trade, through the phases of colonialism and decolonization, to the development problems of the present. Various development theories are used to explain successful and failed development paths of individual countries after 1960. Thematic foci include Europe's colonial legacy, state formation and state failure, democratization, the curse of raw materials, population growth, hunger and poverty, ethnic conflicts, and the roles of the World Bank, EU, and China as external actors in Africa.
This book is a translation of the original German 1st edition Afrika by Rainer Tetzlaff, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2018.The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.

The content

The legacy of slave trade and colonialism.- The phase of formal colonization (1880-1960).- Germany as a colonial power in Africa.- Decolonization as liberation.- African socialism.- State formation and state collapse.- Democratization.- Population growth, poverty, hunger.- Resource wealth.- War and peace.- Corruption and bad governance.- International development cooperation in Africa.- Development policy perspectives.
The target groups:
Students and lecturers of social science subjects.- Teachers of history and social studies at upper secondary level.- Professionals in NGOs.- Scholars, journalists and cultural workers with a focus on international relations and development policy.
The author
Prof. Dr. em. Rainer Tetzlaff is a lecturer at the Europa-Kolleg of the University of Hamburg, Chairman of the Afrika-Kollegium Hamburg and Senior Research Fellow of the Academy of World Regions Hamburg.

Author Biography

Prof. Dr. em. Rainer Tetzlaff is a lecturer at the Europa-Kolleg of the University of Hamburg, chairman of the Africa-Kollegium Hamburg and Senior Research Fellow of the Academy of World Regions Hamburg.