“When the city eats the forest”
Kinshasa, its traffic and street vendors, receded as we drove past the international airport on the national road following the Congo River. “It’s been recently re-asphalted”, said the…
Tag: Africa
Introduction: Metabolic thinking and the predicaments of growth in Africa
Metabolic thinking deals in bounded organisms, regulated systems, and the calculated (self)-optimisation of responsible, profitable, and healthful nutritive and energetic transactions. But critical s…
The toxic imperial metabolism of Senegalese peanuts
The identification of aflatoxin in the 1960s troubled plans for Senegalese peanuts. Blamed for the acute poisoning of English poultry fed with Brazilian peanut meal, this fungal metabolite…
Remembering my Friend, Véronique Amenan Akpoueh (d., Aug. 3, 2023)
Ours was not an ordinary friendship. Race, class, religion, citizenship, educational background, and (for fourteen years) parental status divided us. Language brought us together. Curiosity and inte…
27 words for elephant
In English, an elephant is an elephant. Ok, we have words for a group of elephants (a herd) and baby elephants (a calf), but these are general words…
How not to consult indigenous people
Like Canada, Brazil, the whole of Africa, and many other places in the world, Cameroon has the combination of indigenous people and a special fondness for big industry.…
What Happens if Chinese Smartphones Teach English Lessons in Tanzania?
English is the dominant global language of the world, it is the language of power, and control. But it is not the only language, and different people have…
Ranavalona I: la última reina de Madagascar
Read Time:5 Minute, 42 Second “Está muerto y desaparecido. A su cabeza un césped verde hierba, a sus talones una piedra” William…
Markus Virgil Hoehne: Perpetuating conflict through democratization: Presidential elections in Somalia
Presidential elections will happen in Somalia on Sunday, 15 May 2022. This will most likely not bring peace and stability to the war-torn Somali society. To the contrary,…
Out now: Searching for Sweetness: Women’s mobile lives in China and Lesotho (2022)
Sarah Hanisch’s monograph Searching for Sweetness: Women’s mobile lives in China and Lesotho (2022) is out! The book provides a fascinating ethnography, linking rural-to-urban migration in China with …
BioNTainer – A Manufacturing Solution for Africa or Circumventing Capacity?
Hide Press Release (2 Less Words) Uli Beisel On the occasion of the EU-Africa Summit in February this year in Brussels, several African Heads of State and public…
Racismo sistémico, xenofobia y afrodescendencia en la República Dominicana. Particularidades de la provincia de La Romana Parte 3/3
Read Time:5 Minute, 44 Second Puedes leer la primera parte aquí y la segunda parte aquí ¿Esperanza de cambio? Hace casi tres década…
“We are not brains on sticks!” Teaching Anthropology with the Senses
Jess Auerbach is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at North-West University in South Africa. Her innovative ethnography, From Water to Wine: Becoming Middle Class in Angola, is a…
Ten Treasures (and a Bonus): A Selection of Anthropological Gems You Might Have Missed from the Past Few Years
I began interviewing authors of fabulous new anthropology books for this space back in 2016. While completing 11 interviews, I also amassed a backlog of more terrific books…
Racismo sistémico, xenofobia y afrodescendencia en la República Dominicana. Particularidades de la provincia de La Romana Parte 2/3
Read Time:7 Minute, 33 Second Puedes leer la primera parte aquí ¿Qué pretendo? El propósito de esta investigación es la realizaci…
The Food Security Myth: Struggle Toward Food Sovereignty in Benin
Segnide J. Guidimadjegbe Oregon State University I was born and raised in Benin, a West African Country that is used to be called “Dahomey.” Very young, my sibling…
AMAA on Cooking Data: Culture and Politics in an African Research World by Cal Biruk
Questions developed by the members of CU Denver’s ANTH4600/5600, S2021: Kaylynn Aiona, Delilah Chavarria, Darcy Copeland, Keaton Green, Ari Jones, Caitlin Konchan, Chris Kuelling, Kuba Kwiecinski, Ro…
Recognising the Spirit of Ubuntu in Khayelitsha Community Response to the Covid-19 pandemic
by Megan Anderson In the second-largest peri-urban settlement in South Africa, Khayelitsha, the coronavirus has proliferated with recorded cases over 6,500. The township has become one of the…
Intersections of Political Power, Religion, and Public Health in Africa: Covid-19, Tanzanian President Magufuli, and Nigerian Prophet T. B. Joshua by Laura A. Meek
This is the final piece in the Contested Truths series, which has been edited by Jia Hui Lee, Laura A. Meek, and Jacob Katumusiime Mwine-Kyarimpa. This series analyzes…
Racismo sistémico, xenofobia y afrodescendencia en la República Dominicana. Particularidades de la provincia de La Romana Parte 1/3
Read Time:6 Minute, 32 Second En la presente investigación analizo el comportamiento marcadamente racista de amplios sectores de la…
El genocidio anunciado: Ruanda
Read Time:15 Minute, 11 Second Desde que se puso fin en julio de 1994 al genocidio de Ruanda, el país ha experimentado un desarroll…
El genocidio en el Congo Belga: una mirada filosófica y antropológica
Read Time:9 Minute, 54 Second Tras largos años de torturas y horrendas prácticas laborales, una luz de esperanza se iluminaba en el…
Scepticism fuelled by fake news threatens Africa’s vaccination drive
Vaccine nationalism and vaccine imperialism are posing a major challenge to the progress of mass vaccination in most countries across Africa. These countries are struggling to secure enough…
Handling Contested Truths in Times of Crises: Ghana’s COVID-19 Experience by Ignatius Suglo G.D
As the pandemic ravages the rest of the world, the casualty rate in Africa remains a mystery to those who predicted doom for the continent. Given African countries’…