Africa has witnessed a number of transitions to democracy in recent years. Coinciding with this upsurge in democratic transitions have been spectacular experiences of social disintegration.

An alternative to discourses of the "failed" and "collapsed" state in Africa is an approach that takes seriously the complex historical processes underlying the political development of individual nation states. The chapters in this volume throw light on the ways in which violence, political culture, and development have interacted in recent African history.

Africa has witnessed a number of transitions to democracy in recent years. Coinciding with this upsurge in democratic transitions there also have been spectacular experiences of social disintegration. An alternative to discourses of the 'failed' and 'collapsed' state in Africa is an approach that takes seriously the complexity of historical processes, on which the political development of individual nation states was based. The chapters in this volume run in a continuum from discussions of 'warlord politics' to an understanding of the 'new wars' in Africa as outcomes of fundamental changes in...

In her memoirs, Fay Chung presents her first-hand experience of the Zimbabwean liberation struggle and the reforms of the countrys educational system, which followed. She gives her personal interpretation of Zimbabwes trajectory over thirty years from a nationalist uprising, through the promises of the first independent government, to the turmoil of land invasions, new democratic challenges, and political violence. Chung s memoirs--in many ways controversial--offer a valuable and thought-provoking introduction to modern Zimbabwean history and burning issues in the contemporary politics of...