Dissent, Protest and Dispute in Africa

This book provides unique and detailed perspectives on different aspects of dissent, protest and disputes and how these have, in turn, continued to pose challenges in Africa. The contributors argue that, dissent, protest and most forms of disputes in Africa are the result of daily challenges that its people have faced and continue to encounter to this day. These challenges include, amongst others, demands for transparency, good governance and accountability; waves of instability that have created insecurity in most parts of the continent, an unsustainable level of youth unemployment, rapid population growth, a continent-wide healthcare and poverty crises and numerous environmental challenges. The chapters elevate the debates on dissent, protest and disputes/conflict in Africa by adding new ideas and introducing new and useful interpretations. The book’s strength lies in the contributors’ ability to conflate colonial and postcolonial tendencies to show how challenges of the past are not so different from those of today, while also presenting important historical issues from various scholarly perspectives. Dissent, Protest and Dispute inAfrica will be of interest for students and scholars of African history, politics, and culture as well as those interested in social movements and civil society.

1. Introduction: Dissent, Protest and Dispute Africa, Emmanuel M. Mbah and Toyin Falola 2. The Music of Heaven, the Music of Earth, and the Music of Brats: Tuareg Islam, the Devil, and Musical Performance, Susan J. Rasmussen 3. Finding Social Change Backstage and Behind the Scenes in South African Theatre, Nathanael Vlachos 4. Soccer and Political (Ex)pression in Africa: The Case of Cameroon, Alain Lawo-Sukam 5. "Child Labor Resistance in Southern Nigeria, 1916 – 1938", Adam Paddock 6. M’Fam Goes Home: African Soldiers in the Gabon Campaign of 1940, Mark Reeves 7. "Disgraceful Disturbances": TANU, the Tanganyikan Rifles, and the 1964 Mutiny, Charles Thomas 8. The Role of Ethnicity in Political Formation in Kenya: 1963-2007, Tade O. Okediji and Wahutu J. Siguru 9. Land, Boundaries, Chiefs and Wars, Toyin Falola 10. Borders and boundaries within Ethiopia: dilemmas of group identity, representation and agency, Alexander Meckelburg 11. Rural Agrarian Land Conflicts in Postcolonial Nigeria’s Central Region, Sati Fwatshak 12. The Evolution of the Mungiki Militia in Kenya, 1990 to 2010, Felix Kiruthu 13. Refugee-Warriors and Other People’s Wars in Post-Colonial Africa: The Experience of Rwandese and South African Military Exiles (1960-94), Tim Stapleton 14. Oiling the Guns and Gunning for Oil: The Youth and Niger Delta Oil Conflicts in Nigeria, Christian C. Madubuko

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanitiesthe University of Texas at Austin, USA. Emmanuel M. Mbah is Associate Professor of History and Director of Africa and African Diaspora Studies at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island, USA.