Spring 07-08 History 362A Chiseko Matambanadzo
AFRICA NORTH OF THE ZAMBEZI
History 362-01 Office 212-O, SWCB
Phones: Dept. Ext. -2053
Office; Campus Ext. -2411
Room: 206 SWC
Class Schedule:
Period 3: 10:00-10:50(MWF).
MWF 11:00-11:50 pm
TR 11:00-12:15 pm
R 2:00- 3:00 pm
(AND BY APPOINTMENT)
This history course is designed to analyze and approach with a
critical mind some selected topics in ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary African history. The material by way of readings, studying
and examinations will be divided into three identifiable phases in
African History, namely, [a] the sources and components of Civilizations
(primary, classical, and medieval), [b] the rise of racial
slavery (Occidental and oriental) and the Arab invasions and
colonization, and [c] the era of European invasions and [directly and
indirectly] dominations.
The course is designed to present a synoptic introduction to issues in
African History, Politics, Culture, and Economics. Emphasis will be on
Early modern, modern and contemporary phases. The class presentations
will be organized around selected topics with each topic covered
through lectures/discussions or oral presentations by the instructor
and the students involved. Students will be required to make some
oral presentation on topics to be assigned by the instructor.
Efforts will be made to introduce the participants to new insights
into issues, problems and realities of African history as presented
by some historians.
If there is a theme for the subject matter of this class it is best
Stated or expressed through a title of an informative book on Africa
by Rene Dumont. The title of this book is "False Start in Africa"-
a fitting theme for this course. Other titles like "How Europe Under-
developed Africa", "African Civilization Revisited" or "Discourse
on Colonialism" while appropriately suggestive they are at best
complementary to the theme the course is designed to cover.
"False start in Africa" as an all-embracing theme is not limited to one
era, one region, or one topic. It accurately tries to tell a constant
problem in the historical, political, economic, and cultural
development of modern Africa. How else is one to explain the sorry
state of Africa today if Africa prides itself of being not only
the cradle of mankind, but also the cradle of "human" culture,
sophisticated civilization and even the concept of "monotheism"? The
cultural cancer responsible for the downfall of Africa defies
oversimplification. It is impossible to pinpoint its origin with
certainty or to identify all its debilitating tendencies. Nor is it
easy to define let alone explain when, where, and how it penetrated
the African polities.
Confining our discussion to the "historical" phases of African
experiences in modern times no one can dispute the fact that Africa
was absorbed and integrated into the modern world negatively and on
unequal terms with very oppressive and humiliating conditions. Africa
was from "the get go" negatively integrated into the modern world through
racial slavery, racial colonialism and plantation capitalism. These
negative factors disrupted, suspended, and stopped any positive historical development and condemned the continent to negative historical development. First came the Arabs who through their invasions introduced chattel slavery, overran and conquered north Africa, displaced the indigenous peoples and in the process imposed their new cultural components like language, religion and so forth. Their commercial practices led to the establishment of the "Oriental slave traffic" exposed the continent to the first massive demographic losses in modern times.
Africa and its indigenous peoples, like in other continents became and continue to be victims of “racialized modernity”. Modernization may have brought “progress” to the Euro-American and other worlds. But the same cannot be said about the impact of modernity on African, most of Asian, the Caribbean, Latin American nations and the indigenous peoples of North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The development of racism which in part led to the rise of racial slavery, racial colonialism, and “bestial” imperialism have not only produced a world plagued by social and economic inequalities they have also produced unequal worlds with unequal nations and peoples economically. In the words of Patricia E. Chu, “Blackness is not only racial but also national”. [Chu, 26] When racism first emerged in the Iberian Peninsula, in the “Holy Land”, and in other Mediterranean rim regions it rose as a result of the conflicting conflation of cultural and phenotypical differences but it was also a result of conflicting conflation of different national identities. The bestiality of modern imperialism, according to Patricia Chu, links modernity with what Gilroy calls its “complicity of racial terror with reason”.
The modern colonization of Africa was not only preceded and caused by the racial enslavement of the African people but it also resulted in the establishment and imposition of plantation capitalism throughout the African continent. According to Patricia Chu “the paradigm of this economic order is based on African labor enslavement and European capital liberation. Plantation capitalists [stand] at the forefront of industrial technology and modern business practices…Plantation capitalists developed the first industrial division of labor”. [Chu, 9]
These terms of engagement were not only unequal but humiliating and they weighted heavily against the Africans. This was a "false start" which
Drained strategic African manpower with incalculable social, political
and economic losses. Those Africans who escaped this enslavement paid
dearly by giving up their religious beliefs-Africans were in no win situation
in their fateful encounters with the Arabs and the Europeans.
The situation does not get better for the Africans with the appearance
in 1441 of Antam Goncalves, a European of Portuguese nationality in the
service of "Henry the Navigator". Before long, Goncalves launched kidnapping
raids to obtain Africa "specimens" to prove that indeed he had been in
Africa south of Cape Bojador. Within a short order, in 1444, the Portuguese established the first racial slave market at Lagos, in Portugal, devoted solely to the sale of and trafficking in African slaves from Africa. Not long after Columbus voyages to the new world the Portuguese, and then later, other European nations launched the Trans-Atlantic, European/Occidental slave trafficking which would complement the nefarious activities of the Arab Slave trafficking.
So again in the medieval era, this time with Europeans, Africa had a second "False Start" in establishing its ties and relationships with Europeans. Africa
and Africans entered the medieval and modern world as weak, condemned, dehumanized peoples only fit for Arab and European enslavement and racial colonization.
One would have expected that once this African nightmare was disposed of
Africa and Africans would approach their historical crossroads more cautiously
and choose the path which promised self-fulfillment and self determination.
Alas the abolition of slavery presented false choices to the Africans as was
clearly illustrated by the fate Chief Jaja of Opobo. The false choice as
presented by the British was either deportation or colonialism. The British
made the choice for him and by extension determined the political and
economic fate of the Africans collectively. The bloody violence of slavery which resulted in the dramatic decimation of the African populace and which froze their natural cultural and economic progression introduced eras of prolonged violence and the suspension of any positive development until the emergence of the Sudanic Kingdoms. But these Kingdoms would collapse with the advent of Europeans.
The negative impact of racial colonialism complemented and perpetuates the negative impact of racial slavery. In fact racial colonialism is racial slavery in disguise. Who can say with a straight face that slavery ended either in 1834 or 1865…slavery through colonialism and neocolonialism continues to this day. In the words of Michael Moore, “Slavery never abolished. Slavery was sanitized”.
If African Americans on this side of the Atlantic Ocean had through the “Chains of Emancipation” a false Emancipation after the enslavement of their ancestors, Africans on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean sunk into the ignoble Hell of an alternative system of slavery through plantation capitalism of colonialism. Africa and Africans would leave the nineteenth century and enter the twentieth century on the wrong side of the colonial divide. The deliberations and decisions arrived at by the Great and intermediate Powers at the Berlin Conference on West Africa in the [European]winter of 1884-85 were the third false start for the Continent. The Berlin Conference of 1884-85
institutionalized and legitimized the European conquest and occupation of the continent accompanied by the brutalization and enslavement of the African people. Instead of seeing Africans as players in defense of their
rights and interests the Berlin Conference reduced Africa and Africans
into a pawn primed to serve the interests of the powerful and the less
powerful nations. The military conquest led to social, political, economic,
and cultural conquest which condemned masses of Africans to poverty and colonial diseases.
Modern colonialism ran out of fashion after World War II. So the colonial
World went through its process of Decolonization. So by 1965 most of
African colonies had gone through the process of Decolonization. But it
Soon became clear that something was not right with this decolonization.
The former colonies and their massive population did not only remain
pawns and poor they in fact were becoming poorer and poorer. Clearly
something was FALSE about post World War II decolonization. Could it
be true that African Independence started on a false footing? The common
theme in Africa experiences was even present in its independence. The
African Independence was false, and a FALSE START because it led to
NEOCOLONIALISM!
Rene Dumont agrees that there are a lot of people to blame for the
African crises, including the African elite. But he cautions us that
the African role in initiating and perpetuating the African crises
is like that of a supporting cast-they are not primarily to blame.
The Kampala Document asserts that two points must be borne in mind
when dealing with African problems. First we must be “brutally
honest” about the causes of the African crises. Secondly it will be
through African initiatives and African solutions that the African
crises will realistically be solved. As Marcus Garvey said, and we are paraphrasing the essence of his observation: The people who created
your crisis and problems have no intention of helping you solve those
problems. [Remember that it took Russians seventy years to realize that
“Socialism” was not good for them. But it took them only five years
to realize that “Capitalism” was not good for them either”.]
We make no special claims about solving African problems. History as
a discipline enables us to master the historical sources of the problem,
how it developed and why it persists. We learn history, in part, so that
we do not repeat the errors of our ancestors. Welcome and enjoy the
course! A LUTA CONTINUA!
Since this semester coincides with both the African American
History Week and Month and Women's History Month and the fact
that PBS may televise African- American and African documentaries
to highlight these events you will have more than an average load
of what I call "home work". Be positive about these extra-
curricular activities as they are part of our learning processes.
Be prepared to attend and participate in some special academic
and non-academic activities which have a bearing on this class's
topics. Remember education involves both the learning and
unlearning processes. To paraphrase Mark Twain, there will be a
lot of "unlearning" to do in order to begin to gain some
meaningful insights into African historical experiences and the
African environment.
What follows now are (1) ground rules for the class, (2) Text
books and other reading materials (suggested and recommended),
(3) the workload and schedule of examinations and scheduled
quizzes, and (4) the chronology of lectures/discussions.
Attendance: No more than four [unauthorized] cuts. Excessive
cuts will result in many gaps in your notes and preparation for
examination and will negatively affect your performance and grade.
There will be a ten-point bonus added to your total points at the
end of the semester for not missing a single class.
TERM PAPER:
Each student will select two African Countries
(North of the Zambezi) and write a ten-page (type-written)
paper on some significant aspects of their "colonization",
"decolonization", and "neocolonial" experiences. Be prepared
to present orally in class the colonial history of any
of the two countries you will have selected up to the present.
[For example, if you select Algeria, begin its [European-
French]colonial history from about 1830 to the present-
including the NEOCOLONIAL issues and developments then you
compare and contrast its colonial, decolonization and
neocolonial conditions with a non-French country, like
Tanzania etc.
N.B. All out of class assignments must be type-written and submitted
on time. Failure to do that will result in the loss of points.
(iv) Oral Presentations (tentative).
Home works:
(i) The First Home work involves map-reading and filling in All the African
countries, including capital cities and the years of independence of
each country….on a blank map of Africa provided and is due on January
22, 2008. {indicate the closest spot of the capital city on the map and
trace FOUR major African rivers from their sources and tributaries to
their mouths in the ocean they flow..
Write on a separate sheet of paper in a type-written form the date of
their independence and the name of each country of the continent and
the initial of the colonial power.
Number them like, 1. Zimbabwe[Br], 1980.,
2. Democratic Republic of the Congo[BELG.], 1960.
(ii) The Second Home work will require you to read three articles, namely,
(i) “White Man’s Guilt”, (ii) “Standing on the right side of History” and (iii)“A Tradition of Myths and Stereotypes”. You will be quizzed on these three Readings during the week of the January 28, 2008.
Examinations and Tests.
There will be TWO Minor exams and TWO major exams including the FINAL.
ONE BOOK REVIEW… Petals of Blood [due April 14, 2008]
ONE TERM PAPER on (i) the colonial history and stuation and (ii) the history and results of decolonization of TWO AFRICAN countries from two different colonial powers.
This is due on May 1, 2008.
The first scheduled minor examination is slated for the week of
February 11, 2008 will include issues on African History, African
Historiography, and Africa in the "New World Order". Readings
for this minor examination include Chapter 1 of Martin and O’Meara,
and some of the following readings: “Africanist History and the
History of Africa”, African Historians and Africanist Historians”
"Afrocentricity" "A Tradition of Myths and Stereotypes"; "Hegel
And Africa, “Revolutionary Nationalism”.
The First scheduled major examination is slated for the week of
Feb. 25, 2008 , topics will be provided later.
The Second Minor examination is tentatively slated for the week of
March 22, 2007*, topics will be provided later.
The Second Major Examination is the Final and will be given
during the week of the 6th of May. These are tentative
could be changed to accommodate the material covered or
uncovered.
Students may be required to make oral contributions on
specific topics on contemporary Africa.
Required Text Books: (Those with asterisks are to be bought from the SGA
Bookstore).
*(i) Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,
*(ii) Phyllis M. Martin and Patrick O’Meara, Africa
*(iii) Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Petals of Blood(will for examinations's
purposes be divided into three parts.
*(iv) Aime Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism.
Books with asterisks (*) are required texts which have
to be purchased in the SGA-Bookstore in the University
Union.
Highly recommended books--used as sources of lectures/readings:
John Henrik Clarke,(ed.), New Dimensions in African History.
Chinweizu, The West and the Rest of Us: White Predators, Black
Slavers and the African Elite (Vintage).
Paul Bohannan and Philip Curtin, Africa for Africans(Natural History
Press).
E.D. Morel, Black Man’s Burden (MRP).
Thomas Sankara , Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution
1983-87.
Frantz, Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth,
W.E.B. DuBois, The World and Africa.
Teresa Hayter, Aid as a Form of Imperialism(Pelican).
Felix Greene, The Enemy: What Every American Should Know About
(Vintage).
The Second Major Examination, week of March 24, 2008, mtbgl.
Final Examination: May 5, 2008, 11:00 – 1:00 pm.
Lecture/Discussion Outline:
[Documentaries and current issues may perforce preempty a regularly
scheduled lecture/discussion.]
A. GENERAL BACKGROUND-Pop Quiz on African Historical, Political
and cultural geography-First day of class.
Latest News from Africa….from the “BBC” and “Democracy Now”
Kenya: Mwai Kibaki v. Raila Odinga
Atrocities in Darfur, and the War in Southern Sudan
The trial and historical significance of Charles Taylor
Egypt and Mubarak and the undemocratic tradition
Etc.
1. (a) "Political Correctness" and the discourse on Africa
Problems in African History and African Historiography.
"A Tradition of Myth and Stereotypes"
Hegel and Africa"
"Racism and Historiography"
“African Historians and Africanist Historians”
“Africanist History and the History of Africa”
"Eurocentrism vs.Afrocentricity"
Asante on "Afrocentricity"-a video
Howard Zinn, "Objections to Objectivity".
"The Catastrophe of Belgian Congo"
"Revolutionary Nationalism"
“African History and the Dissolution of World History”
Martin and O’Meara, 3-9, and 10-45
(b) Africa and the "New World Order"
The Horn of Africa ["Operation Hope"]
"Anti-Americanism: Anatomy of a Phenomena", "Brave New
World Order"
(c) (i) Key themes and issues in Africa North of the Zambezi-political,
social, geographical, historical, cultural and economic.
(ii) Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis and the 1963 March
on Washington.
(iii) Thomas Sankara and the need for truly Revolutionary
Africa Leaders.
(d) Map-work and map reading.
(i) Political, Economic, and Social Geography of the Continent
(ii) African eco-systems-climates, environment, vegetation, and
the human condition,
(iii) The Myth of the African Curse
The African People and non-African gods
The Conspiracy of Nature and the elements and
the African Poverty, Hunger, Warfare
Chancellor Williams. The Destruction of African Civilization.
Martin and O’Meara, 10-45
2. Some Myths and Facts about Africa, and the Africans at home
and abroad. "False Start" as a leitmotif in African History.
Africa Defined
African Peoples and Africans in the Diaspora
The "Himitic" Myth, its origins and uses.
Davidson, 3-46
Harris, chapter I
Dumont, False Start in Africa, pp.25-33
Chinweizu, pp. 3-23
Martin and O’Meara, 97-114
.
B. PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA
Phase I The pre-historical and ancient Historical Eras:
3. (i) Human Evolution through Africa and Africans, monogenetic
theory v. multigenetic and implications fir the modern
conflicts.
(ii) Social and Cultural evolutions and developments from
the Paleolithic to the Neolithic eras
(iii) the Sahara and the evolution of African ancient civilizations
(iv) Africa and the Greco-Roman World and cultures.
Davidson, 3-46.
Joseph Harris, Africans and their History.
Phase II Africa and its Primary and Secondary Civilizations
4. Africa and Africans in History. "Africa and Egypt"
(i) Africa in Antiquity--Civilizations I
(ii) Medieval Africa--Civilizations II
(iii) African Civilization or African
Civilizations? Hegelian Myths on World
Civilizations and Africa.
(iv) Africa in the Contemporary World
(v) Afrocentricity
(vi) Diopian Studies and "Diopian Egyptologists".
Martin and O’Meara, 115-134
Davidson, op.cit., 49-166.
V.Y. Mudimbe, The Idea of Africa.,
“Introduction to African Civilizations”
“Race and the Origins of the Egyptian Civilization”
“Toward a New Egyptology”
C. AFRICA ON THE EVE OF EUROPEAN INVASIONS-OCCIDENTAL SLAVERY AS
A PRELUDE TO COLONIZATION-AFRICA IN THE AGE EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM.
6. Africa and the outside World "African and the Moroccan Invasion"
Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean World and Africa, 711-1415
Early Contacts in the Ancient Times
Contacts with the outside World in the Medieval Era
"Mansa Musa and Mali" 1307-1335 (?)
Modern and Contemporary Contacts, Africa and the European
World.
Pre-European Invasions, slavery, and colonization of Africa
Martin and O’Meara, 97-114
Joseph E. Harris, Africans and their History.
7. "Europeans and Africa: From 1402-1992
1402 and Africa and the Europeanization of Africa and the World.
Antam Goncalves, Bartolomeo Diaz, Vasco da Gama, Christopher
Columbus and Alexander VI's Inter Coetera and Tordessillas
Africa in the age of European expansion and conquest
Development of [Euro-American] Slavery:
(i) "Off-shore Island slave 'trade'"
(ii) The "Trans-Atlantic" Slave 'trade'"
(iii) Africans and the Slave 'Trade'
(iv) Impact of [Euro-American] Slavery on (a) Africa, (b) Europe,
and (c) the America
Rodney, How Europe Underdevelop Africa, chapter IV
Harris,Africans and their History., chapters IV to IX.
Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery
Martin and O’Meara, 115-127
D. INVASIONS AND COLONIZATION-AFRICA IN THE ERA OF EUROPEAN COLONIALISM
"Missionaries and Explorers, Disinterested parties or partisans of
Colonialism"
8. From the [Euro-American] Slavery through Conquest to the
Colonization of Africa.
Slavery and African underdevelopment and European development
Slavery and the colonization of Africa
The Scramble for Africa
The Partition of Africa
The Pacification of Africa
E.D. Morel, The Black Man’s Burden.
Rodney, How Europe etc.chapter IV.
Martin and O’Meara, 135-155
Walter Rodney, Chapter II and Chapter IV
9. Methods, Patterns, and Styles of European penetration into
Africa and the Motives behind the conquest and colonization
of Africa.
(i) Imperialism and colonialism (ii) Colonization and
colonialization (iii) Economic and financial motives dressed
up in Religious and philanthropic causes
Rodney, Ibid.,., chapter V
Chinweizu, ibid.,., 55-79, 264-282.
10. African Response to colonialism and colonization
Primary and secondary resistance movements and African
Nationalism,
Rodney,ibid.., chapter IV
E.D. Morel, Black Man’s Burden,
Martin and O’Meara, 156-171
11. European Colonizers, Policies and Practices.
Francophone Africa
Anglophone Africa
Lusotropicalism
The myth and reality of "direct" and "indirect" rule
The myth and reality of "assimilado" and "association"
Davidson, pp. 47-61. 125-167.
Harris, chapter XIII.
Aime Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism
“The General Legacy…”
"Cesaire's Theme" v. Lugard's "Dual Mandate"
12. Colonial Balance Sheet
Rodney, ibid.,chapter VI
Chinweizu, ibid.,.
Vallely, "Principalities and Powers"
Martin and O’Meara, 190-209
"Duignan and Gann's Thesis"
13. Problems of Decolonization
Martin and O’Meara, 359-394
Afigbo, 55-137
Davidson., 47-81
"Independent Africa: Post-colonial or neo-colonial"
14. Independence and Neocolonialism
Renee Dumont False Start in Africa, 37-58
Davidson,ovid d.., 82-95
Rodney, Chapter VI
"Rodney's Thesis"
15. Pan-Africanism and African Unity – From Pan-Africanism to UNCTAD through
The OAU to the Arusha Declaration (1967) and the Lagos Plan [1980] to the
Arusha Document (1990) and the Kampala Document (1991).
16.Political Formulation and the Rise and Fall of African Socialism
DuBois and Pan-Africanism
Aime Cesaire and “Negritude”, Discourse on Colonialism
Kwame Nkrumah and Ghana
Nyerere and Tanzania
17. Africa and UN, IMF and SAP: " Structural Adjustments: A Blessing or a curse
for Africa?"
18. Economic Problems and Underdevelopment--Problems and Solutions
Dumont, False Start in Africa.-55
Martin and O’Meara, 359- 393
Greene, The Enemy etc.., 113-146
Teresa Hayter,The Enemy etc.,
Chinweizu, ., 490-505, 283-291
19. Islamic influence
Afigbo,., 138-164
"The Africans" Program #3
Davidson,., 118-124
Martin and O’Meara, 97-114
20. "Success" and Failures in Development
Davidson, 199-222
Martin and O’Meara, 359-393.
“The Great ‘Foreign Aid’ Fraud”
21. Coups, Revolutions and the Military in Contemporary Africa
"General Abacha, Field Marshall Idi Amin, King Bokasso,
African Tyrants and Clowns and the Half-Truths About Africa".
Chinweizu, The West and the rest of us Etc.,
William Finnegan,
William Minter,
22. Africa and Africans
Mazrui,., 343-353
Davidson, 252-271
23. Hunger and Aids
"Has Capitalism Failed in Africa"?
Has socialism provided the answer?
A LUTA CONTINUA!