Ranger, O. Terence O. 1986. “Religious Movements and Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa.” African Studies Review, Volume 29, Number 2 (June., 1986), pp. 1-69.

It is important to make clear from the beginning what this review will cover and what it will not. Its focus will be on “traditional” and Christian religious movements in the last hundred years. By movements are meant widespread and grassroots adherence to religious ideas, symbols and rituals, sometimes brief in duration, sometimes long-lasting; sometimes lacking and sometimes acquiring formal organizational structures. The review will deal, therefore, with questions of “popular consciousness” rather than with the development of formal theologies. It will not review the literature on African Islam nor have much to say about religious movements and politics in pre-colonial Africa. Both these, of course, are major omissions, not only leaving out topics which are of great importance in themselves but also depriving analysis of modern traditional and Christian movements of an invaluable comparative and historical context. To seek to cover them also in one review, however, would be to risk a mere listing. It seems more useful to develop an argument on the past, present, and future direction of work on the interaction of religious movements and politics by focusing on a limited, but nevertheless still huge, topic and period.

(Source: article abstract).

Rapley, John. Ivoirien Capitalism : African Entrepreneurs in Cote d’Ivoire. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781685854737.

Rapley refutes standard assumptions about African capitalism, demonstrating that an indigenous entrepreneurial class, not foreign investment, has been primarily responsible for the growth of Cote d'Ivoire's economy.

Source: book description by publisher

Richard Rathbone

Professor, Anthropology and African Studies, Aberystwyth University

Contact:

r.j.a.r.rathbone@btopenworld.com

D. I. Ray

Professor, Political Science, University of  Calgary

Contact:

ray@ucalgary.ca

Ray,D. I, T. Quinlan, and K. Sharma. "Re-inventing African Chieftaincy in the Age of AIDS, Gender and Development”. Chieftain: The Journal of Traditional Governance. Volume I, 2006.

The authors sought to provide evidence that traditional leaders are re-inventing themselves and their offices in terms of how they promote development for their communities. They found considerable evidence that many traditional leaders are very involved in promoting development in Ghana, and to lesser degrees in South Africa and Botswana. The authors argue that the major reason for the continuing involvement of traditional leaders in community development in Ghana, Botswana and South Africa was that traditional leaders continued to have access, outside the state, to their own sources of political legitimacy (i.e. credibility) in their communities. The political legitimacy of traditional leaders is “differently-rooted” than that of the post-colonial state. This is based on the concept of “divided legitimacy” in which political legitimacy is divided between the postcolonial state and the traditional authorities. The authors also found that in South Africa and Botswana, there is a gradual progression to formally appointing and allowing women chiefs/ traditional leaders. However, the authors do not explore the driving factor for female inclusion, their status, roles and degree of authority as compared to their male counterparts.

Ray,Donald I., and E. Adriaan B. van Rouveroy van Nieuwaal. "The New Relevance of Traditional Authorities in Africa: The Conference; Major Themes; Reflections on Chieftaincy In Africa; Future Directions." The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 28,no. 37-38 (1996): 1-38.

The authors argue that there has been a lapse on the possible relationship that exists between contemporary African State and traditional authority i.e. chiefs. There has often been a disjuncture between state structures and civil society in much of Africa. While the view is widely held that Africa's democratization should draw from its cultural traditions, little has been done to analyze systematically the extent to which this does or can occur. The authors argue that traditional authority acts as a unique linkage between the contemporary state and civil society in many African countries in the areas of democratization, development, human rights (including gender) and environmental protection, but that these linkages were often unrecognized, ignored, or misunderstood.

Real African Publishers

Publisher

South Africa

realafricanpublishers.com/books/

Rele Gallery

Art gallery

Lagos, Nigeria and Los Angeles, USA

http://www.rele.co

Description:

Founded to act as a critical interface between the African and international art worlds, Rele Gallery is a dynamic contemporary art gallery. They represent and exhibit a fine selection of emerging and established artists working across diverse media in Africa and the diaspora.