African Anthropologies History, Critique and Practice

This overview of the history, application and teaching of anthropology in post-colonial Africa shows how the continent's anthropologists are redefining the historical legacy of European and American disciplinary hegemony, and developing distinctively African contributions to anthropological theory and practice. The contributors illustrate the diverse national traditions of anthropological practice that have developed in sub-Saharan Africa since decolonization and exemplify the diversity of professional work carried out by the discipline's practitioners. Their commitment to a common disciplinary identity demonstrates the place that exists for a critical anthropology that is reflective about both its potentials and limitations.

Mwenda Ntarangwi teaches anthropology at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, and is the author of Gender Identity and Performance (2003, Africa World Press). Mustafa Babiker teaches anthropology at the University of Khartoum. His research and development consultancies address issues of social change within pastoral communities. David Mills lectures at the University of Birmingham. He has just finished a book on the political history of British social anthropology.