Civil society and the political imagination in Africa : critical perspectives

Bibliographic Information

Civil society and the political imagination in Africa : critical perspectives

edited by John L. and Jean Comaroff

University of Chicago Press, c1999

  • : cloth
  • : paper

Available at  / 26 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The essays in this collection explore the diverse, unexpected and controversial ways in which the idea of civil society has recently entered into populist politics and public debate throughout Africa. In the introduction, anthropologists Jean and John Comaroff offer a critical theoretical analysis of the nature and deployment of the concept - and the debates surrounding it. Building on this framework, the contributors investigate the "problem" of civil society across their regions of expertise, which cover the continent. Drawing on one another's work, they examine the impact of colonial ideology, postcoloniality and development practice on discourses of civility, the workings of everyday politics, the construction of new modes of selfhood, and the pursuit of moral community. The book shows how struggles over civil society in Africa reveal much about larger historical forces in the post-Cold War era. It also makes a strong case for the contribution of historical anthropology to contemporary discourses on the rise of a "new world order".

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Details

  • NCID
    BA45126989
  • ISBN
    • 0226114139
    • 0226114147
  • LCCN
    99023280
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Chicago
  • Pages/Volumes
    xi, 318 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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