A Companion to the Anthropology of Africa

Anthropology conducted in Africa has been central to the methodological and theoretical development of the discipline since it was first institutionalized in the late 19th century.  Written and edited by a team of leading cultural anthropologists on the subject, A Companion to the Anthropology of Africa compiles a collection of insightful essays that address all aspects of life on the continent of Africa. Chapters within explore the extent to which anthropological thinking on this topic has been, or remains, influenced by the theoretical traditions, whilst others consider the extent to which anthropological thinking has been transformed by growing interest in using anthropological knowledge to critically address practical concerns and public problems such as war, poverty, and public health.

This Companion is presented in four parts. The first part looks at enduring themes tracing the development of anthropological thinking and the current debates about themes such as witchcraft, kinship, law and justice that have demonstrated remarkable staying power in the anthropology of Africa. The second section considers topics that began to garner attention during decolonization and in its immediate aftermath. Such topics include mobility and displacement, urbanism, and political violence. The third part comprises topics such as trauma, social justice, sex and sexuality that have become the central concern of anthropologists of Africa since its many nations gained their independence. It also looks at hot topics like social media, humanitarianism, and environmentality. The final section considers the role that Africanist anthropology has played in informing other Africanist disciplines, and reflects on the politics of representation within the discipline as well.

Filled with a wide variety of expert opinions and observations across chapters which are highly sophisticated in their coverage, A Companion to the Anthropology of Africa is an essential reference resource for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as researching anthropologists.

Notes on Contributors

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Roy Richard Grinker, Stephen C. Lubkemann, Christopher B. Steiner, and Euclides Gonçalves

Part I Enduring Themes

Chapter 1 The Economic Anthropology of Africa
Jane I. Guyer

Chapter 2 Revisiting the Social Bedrock of Kinship and Descent in the Anthropology of Africa
Pauline Peters

Chapter 3 Witchcraft in Africa
James Smith

Chapter 4 Law, Dispute Resolution and Justice
Jessica Johnson

Chapter 5 Illness and Healing:  Africanist Anthropology
Rebecca L. Upton

Chapter 6 Power, Meaning, and Materiality in the Anthropology of African Religions South of the Sahara: A Dialogue with Religious Studies
Joseph Hellweg and Jesse C. Miller

Part II Critical and Decolonizing Themes

Chapter 7 Who are the New Natives? Ethnicity and Emerging Idioms of Belonging in Africa
George Paul Meiu

Chapter 8 Culture by Other Means: An Africanist Anthropology of Political Violence and War
Danny Hoffman

Chapter 9 The Anthropology of Forced Migration in Africa
Stephen C. Lubkemann

Chapter 10 Sex and Sexuality in Africa
Suzanne Leclerc–Madlala

Part III Postcolonial and Emerging Themes

Chapter 11 Social Trauma and Recovery: Emergent Themes
Victor Igreja and Erin Baines

Chapter 12 Questioning Humanitarian Exceptions
Louisa Lombard

Chapter 13 Rights, Inequality, and Social Justice
Carolyn Rouse

Chapter 14 Anthropology and the Politics of Childhood in Africa
Kristen E. Cheney

Chapter 15 Africa Has Moved!! New African Diasporas and the Anthropology of Transnationalizing Africa
Dianna Shandy and Stephen C. Lubkemann

Chapter 16 Anthropological Approaches to Media in Africa
Katrien Pype and Alessandro Jedlowski

Chapter 17 Environmental Anthropology in Africa: from Cattle complex to Environmentality
Raquel Rodrigues Machaqueiro and Roy Richard Grinker

Part IV Reflexivity

Chapter 18 Anthropology and Africanist Political Science
Eric Kramon

Chapter 19 African Anthropological Practice in the Era of Aid :  Towards a Critique of Disciplinary Canons
Euclides Gonçalves

Chapter 20 African Participation in, and Perspectives on, the Politics of Knowledge Production in Africanist Anthropology
Mwenda Ntarangwi

Index

Roy Richard Grinker is Professor of Anthropology, International Affairs, and Human Sciences at The George Washington University, USA. He is Editor–in–Chief of the Anthropological Quarterlyjournal and past book publications include the co–edited Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism (2007). 

Stephen C. Lubkemann is a sociocultural anthropologist who has done extensive fieldwork in Mozambique, South Africa. He is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs at The George Washington University, USA and the Associate Editor of the Anthropological Quarterly journal.  Past book publications include the co–edited Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and co–authored Looking for Justice: Liberian Experiences with and Perceptions of Local Justice Options (2009).

Christopher B. Steiner is the Lucy C. McDannel 22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology at Connecticut College, USA, where is also serves as Director of Museum Studies. Past book publications include the co–edited Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (Wiley Blackwell, 2010) and Africa in the Market: Twentieth–Century Art from the Amrad African Art Collection (2016)

Euclides Gonçalves is a social anthropologist and director at Kaleidoscopio Research in Public Policy and Culture. His research focuses on governance, bureaucratic processes and political rituals, and has recently published in the African Affairs journal.