When “Traditional” Religion Shakes Up Gender Roles
In The Gambia, adherents of the Tablighi Jama‘at movement believe in the segregation of men and women, which often affects gender roles in unexpected ways.
Building a New Virginia in Liberia
Black American voluntary migrants to Liberia were eager to embrace their African roots, but their vision for the country was very much an American one.
Humans for Voyage Iron: The Remaking of West Africa
Europeans used standardized bars of iron mined in northern Europe to purchase humans during the slave era, transforming the coastal landscape of West Africa.
Luanda, Angola: The Paradox of Plenty
This vast Atlantic coast nation seems poised to become a tourist hot-spot, but uneven political and economic development may be standing in the way.
Mbarak Mombée: An African Explorer Robbed of His Name
Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Mbarak Mombée was critical to the success of the most celebrated nineteenth-century European expeditions in Africa.
How Madagascar’s Queen Ranavalona Helped Define Queen Victoria
In the nineteenth century, Queen Ranavalona became a foil to Queen Victoria, her “savage” queenship held in contrast to that of the “civilized” female monarch.
Queer Literature from North Africa and the Maghreb: A Reading List
Theoretical and literary works that explore themes of queerness, identity, and resistance within the context of North Africa and the Maghreb.
Exposing the Sexual Hypocrisy of European Colonists
In the early twentieth century, white colonizers’ exploitation of women in West Africa’s Gold Coast stoked anti-colonial politics.
Tanzania in the Cold War Crucible
After the US-Belgian assassination of the Congo’s first Prime Minister, leaders in Tanganyika and Zanzibar worried they would be given the same treatment.
Mussolini’s Colonial Inspiration
In its plans for the conquest of Eastern Europe, the Third Reich looked to the example set in Africa by Fascist Italy.