Africa's past, our future / Kathleen R. Smythe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smythe, Kathleen R., 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Africa--History.

Africa.

History.

Africa--Civilization.

Civilization.

Africa--Social life and customs.

Manners and customs.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 227 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2015]

Summary:

Africa's Past, Our Future engages the history of the African continent through the perspective of global issues such as political instability, economic development, and climate change. Since the past may offer alternative models for thinking about our collective future, this book promotes an appreciation for African social, economic, and political systems mat have endured over the long-term and that offer different ways of thinking about a sustainable future. Introducing readers to the wide variety of sources from which African history is constructed, the book's ten chapters cover human evolution, the domestication of plants and animals, climate change, social organization, the slave trade and colonization, development, and contemporary economics and politics. Book jacket.

Contents:

The longue durée

Humanity's African origins

Early subsistence : gathering-hunting and agriculture

Early adaptation : climate change and pastoralism

New ideas and tradition

African institutions in the middle time frame

Forms of political authority : heterarchy

Forms of social organization : matriliny

Forms of economic thought: wealth in people and the entrustment economy

Recent history and politics

African views on colonialism and development assistance (with Heidi Frontani)

African contributions : economics, politics, and society (with Heidi Frontani)

An African success story : Somaliland.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780253016478

0253016479

9780253016553

025301655X

OCLC:

893452891