The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Published:21st Sep '13
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This volume brings together the most up to date analyses of civil society in Africa from the best scholars and researchers working on the subject. Being the first of its kind, it casts a panoramic look at the African continent, drawing out persisting, if often under-communicated, variations in regional discourses. In a majority of notionally ‘global’ studies, Africa has received marginal attention, a marginality often highlighted by the usual token chapter. Filling a critical hiatus, theHandbook of Civil Society in Africa takes Africa, African developments, and African perspectives very seriously and worthy of academic interrogation in their own right. It offers a critical, clear-sighted perspective on civil society in Africa, and positions African discourses within the framework of important regional and global debates. It promises to be an invaluable reference work for researchers and practitioners working in the fields of civil society, nonprofit studies, development studies, volunteerism, civic service, and African studies.
Endorsements:
"This volume signposts a critical turning point in the renewed engagement with the theory and practice of civil society in Africa. Moving from traditional concerns with disquisitions on the appropriateness and possibility of the existence and vibrancy of the idea of civil society on the continent, the volume approaches the forms, contents, and features of the actually existing civil society in Africa from thematic, regional, and national angles.
It demonstrates clearly the extent to which core intellectual work on civil society in Africa has largely moved from concerns with cultural reductionism to a nuanced examination of the complexities of (formal, non-formal, organizational, non-organizational, traditional, newer, usual, unusual) engagements, detailing the extent to which, over time, civil society as a concept has been indigenized, appropriated and adapted in the terrains of politics, society, economy, culture and new technologies on the continent.
In all this, the book accomplishes the near-impossible. Without sacrificing the vigour, rigor and freshness of the often unpredictable fruits of up-to-date research into regional and national differences that crop up in the documentation of Africa's multiple realities and discourses, the volume weaves together a rich tapestry of the historical, theoretical and practical dimensions of an expanding civil society sector, and accompanying growth in popular discourse, advocacy, and academic literature, in such a diverse continent as Africa, into a meaningful whole...
“Obadare’s handbook manages to showcase the varied contours of civil society in Africa … . several chapters in this book should serve as valuable sources for new research avenues. Readers of this handbook, be they academics, civil society and African studies scholars and researchers, and practitioners, should come away with a much enlightened view of civil society, one that draws from, and is anchored within historical and contemporary African realities.” (Grace L. Chikoto-Schultz, Voluntas, Vol. 28, 2017)
“It is more voluminous and multilayered, spanning the historical, theoretical, and concrete dimensions of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Africa. … a multi-disciplinary collection of essays from cross-continental contributors the book is an attempt to set a template for research and studies on civil society and NGOs. It is recommended for academics, civil society groups, and other stakeholders in Africa, and would be useful in teaching.” (Olugbemiga S. Afolabi, African Affairs, Vol. 115 (461), October, 2016)
“The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa provides an important set of contributions that locates African civil society in historical context and takes a critical look at its current manifestations across the continent. … the volume represents a deliberate attempt to shift and widen the terms through which civil society in Africa is conceptualized and understood, aiming to open up new modes for understanding societal organizing and resistance in Africa. In this aim, it is largely successful.” (Mary Kay Gugerty, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 45 (4), August, 2016)
ISBN: 9781461482611
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 8808g
490 pages
2014 ed.