The Global African: A Portrait of Ali A. Mazrui [Hardcover]

Omari H. Kokole (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1997 | ISBN-10: 0865435324 | ISBN-13: 978-0865435322

This is a collection of essays written by a team of seasoned literary experts critically assessing the significance of the works of Ali A. Mazrui, one of Africa's most accomplished writers in modern times.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Ali A. Mazrui is perhaps Africa's most prolific and accomplished writer of the second half of the 20th Century: W.E.B. Dubois cast a similar shadow in the first half.

Anticipating the auspicious convergence of his 60th birthday, and the 20th anniversary of his professional debut, Ali Mazrui's students, friends and colleagues seized the opportunity to critically assess the significance of the prodigious body of scholarship affectionately dubbed Mazruiana. In November 1992 in Seattle, Washington, four panels devoted exclusively to Mazruiana were convened at the annual meetings of the African Studies Association, with the added attraction of Mazrui's attendance at the convocation and his immediate personal response to the original papers presented there. While no single volume could do justice to Mazrui's collosal literary output, here at least is gathered the collective investigative insight of a team of well-informed critics into select, salient facets of this provocative but stimulating literary and intellectual phenomenon. The long list of contributors to this Festschrift includes: John W. Harbeson, Dunstan M. wai, Darryl C. Thomas, Negussay Ayele, Parviz Morewedge, Hussein M. Adam, Alamin M. Mazrui, Claude E. Welch, Peter N. Thuynsma, Richard L. Slar, Betty C. Craige, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, Chaly Sawere, Burjor Avari, Diane Frank, Omari H. Kokole, and Ali A. Mazrui himself.

About the Author

Omari H. Kokole was born in Uganda in 1952. He was the Associate Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at SUNY-Binghamton. He received his education at Makerere university (1973-76), the University of Manchester (1976-77), and Dalhousie University in Canada where he obtained his Ph.D. in Political Science. His various publications include: Gendered Encounters: Challenging Cultural Boundaries and Social Hierarchies in Africa (1977); and dimensions of Africa's International Relations (1993) co-edited with Maria Grasz-Ngate. Dr. Kokole died unexpectedly in September 1996.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 367 pages
• Publisher: Africa World Pr (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865435324
• ISBN-13: 978-0865435322
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,216,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Exposed, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Global African: A Portrait of Ali A. Mazrui (Hardcover)

Is it true that the Mazruis were slavers? This puts a bit of a twist to Ali Mazrui's claims to be a spokesperson for Africa and especially his call for reparations for Africa!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Appallingly sycophantic exercise by clueless groupies, February 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Global African: A Portrait of Ali A. Mazrui (Hardcover)

This book is an embarrassing collection of hagiographic nonsense written about one of the most over-rated "scholars" ever to exist. How on earth they can take someone serious who demands reparations from the West for slavery, yet who comes from the infamous Mazrui family of Omani slavers active on the Swahili coast for centuries is beyond me.....

No mention of Mazrui's notorious call for the re-colonisation of Africa; his claim that Nigeria is overwhelmingly Muslim; or his repeated and pathetic attempts to picture Islam as somehow indigenous and beneficial to Africa. Tell that to the circumcised 12 year old females in Egypt...

Avoid like the plague unless you like ridiculous self-indulgent festschrifts in honour of intellectual light-weights.

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb: A Must Read, June 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Global African: A Portrait of Ali A. Mazrui (Paperback)

As a former student of Dr. Mazrui, and a current professor of African Studies, I can vouch for two things: 1) Dr. Mazrui's contributions to the study of Africa have been immense. He is widely respected. 2) His family has no links to slave-holders. These allegations are false.

As the book is a collection of essays, it is an easy read. Students and experts of Africa and global politics will find his writings both thoughtful and unique.