Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present (New Approaches to African History) [Paperback]

Frederick Cooper (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521776007 | ISBN-13: 978-0521776004 | Publication Date: October 21, 2002

Frederick Cooper's latest book on the history of decolonization and independence in Africa helps students understand the historical process from which Africa's current position in the world has emerged. Bridging the divide between colonial and post-colonial history, it shows what political independence did and did not signify and how men and women, peasants and workers, religious leaders and local leaders sought to refashion the way they lived, worked, and interacted with each other.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Historian Frederick Cooper combined his strong suit in comparative history and his interest in historicizing and interrogating bodies of knowledge to produce this welcome and welcoming study of the past of Africa's present as the inaugral volume of the New Approaches to African History Series....is as accessible as it is packed with solid, current information in useful formats." Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History

"Recommended." Choice

Book Description

Frederick Cooper's latest book on the history of African decolonization and independence initiates a new textbook series: New Approaches to African History. He deals with the historical process out of which Africa's current position in the world has emerged, bridging the divide between colonial and post-colonial history, and explains how political independence did and did not affect how men and women, peasants and workers, religious and local leaders sought to refashion the way they lived, worked, and interacted with each other.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (October 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521776007
• ISBN-13: 978-0521776004
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #95 in Books > History > Africa

More About the Author

Frederick Cooper is Professor of History at New York University. He is the author of a trilogy of books on labor and society in East Africa and more recently of Decolonization and African Society: The Labor Question in French and British Africa (1996), Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present (2002), and Colonialism in Question: Theory, Knowledge, History (2005). He is also co-author with Thomas Holt and Rebecca Scott of Beyond Slavery: Explorations of Race, Labor, and Citizenship in Post-Emancipation Societies (2000) and with Jane Burbank of Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference (2010). He is co-editor with Ann Stoler of Tensions of Empire: Colonial Cultures in a Bourgeois World (1997), with Randall Packard of International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays in the History and Politics of Knowledge (1997), and with Craig Calhoun and Kevin Moore of Lessons of Empire: Imperial Histories and American Power (2006). He is currently writing a history of citizenship in France and French West Africa between 1945 and 1960.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slamming the Door on the Gatekeeper State, November 16, 2008

By 

Chimonsho (Turtle Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present (New Approaches to African History) (Paperback)

This deceptively slim volume contains more good ideas and insights on Africa than any other book its size. The presentation is clear if somewhat dense, with just enough data and narrative to substitute for a survey text like K. Shillington's "History of Africa." But Cooper truly grasps the pulse of major African developments over several decades. His thesis that post-1960s independence was less a watershed than post-1940 developmentalism is a breakthrough, though Africans who lived the heady early days of nationhood may well differ. The emphasis on gatekeeper states--controlling access to critical resources but generally doing little for their citizens--will secure a permanent place in the literature. Scholars and general readers alike will learn a great deal here.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars African history, March 10, 2006

By 

E. Schwarz "NYC Reader" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present (New Approaches to African History) (Paperback)

This is a well-written, comprehensive and easy to read book. I highly recommend it for a student or general reader who wants to learn about the political climate in 20th Century Africa. This book is focused on trends and yet does a good job of differentiating between the different experiences across regions and countries of Africa.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neoliberal "Gatekeeper" States, August 12, 2007

By 

Roy Wilson (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Africa Since 1940 (Paperback)

Prior to decolonization across the African Diaspora, colonial powers in Africa claimed that their superior management, scientific knowledge, experience and financial resources enabled them to transform backward Countries, under colonial occupation, into "modern states".

Such an arrogant argument, used by the North's beneficiaries of colonialism and imperialism was intended to justify the the continuation of imperialism and the new conditions of oppression in the African Diaspora.

Frederick Cooper in his book, Africa Since 1940, the Past of the Present, examined the development of African States, from decolonization up to the present. Not surprisingly Cooper found that the militaries, bureaucracies and institutional structures that the former colonial powers have bequeathed to their old colonies (since independence), have created only dependent, "gatekeeper" States.

Such "gatekeeper States" exist to protect the looting of their populations by their former colonial masters. Gatekeepers gain their legitimacy, after Independence, primarily through their former exploiting "mother countries" and in many cases their sovereignty is recognized more from the outside rather than from within.

Cooper clarifies America's role in decolonization and the creation of the new conditions of oppression in the former colonies. Washington's policy makers, from as early as 1943, pressured European powers to decolonize Africa, but only in a superficial, incremental manner that would not result in meaningful self-determination for the people.

Washington's approach to decolonization was therefore "Strategic." This strategic method was less concerned with "correctly solving the problem [of colonial oppression] than with making an advance" (or merely its appearance). Making an "advance," conceivably would pacify growing public pressure in the USA, which was emboldened by the domestic anti-colonial movement and Civil Rights movement.

Cooper's book will be useful to a wide range of general readers, including students of African History, Political Science and those concerned with the failed policies of neoliberal globalization in the African Diaspora.

See also:

In-Dependence from Bondage: Claude McKay and Michael Manley: Defying the Ideological Clash and Policy Gaps in African Diaspora Relations