Negotiating Identities in Contemporary Africa: Gender, Religion, and Ethno-cultural Identities explores the changing dynamics of identities in Africa, with a focus on gender, ethno-cultural, and religious identity. Toyin Falola and Emmanuel M. Mbah argue that because identity defines who we are as individuals or groups, studies on African identities must focus on understanding the changing dynamics in the socio-economic and political spheres in the continent. These chapters cover subjects such as women's career identity, gender roles and knowledge, childlessness, ethnocentrism and democracy, cultural identity through theater, Black identity in the diaspora, and diasporic consciousness. Using existing scholarship, the chapters in this edited volume challenge our understanding of what identity entails and provide new discussions on the hitherto politicized historiography of some identities in Africa.

About the Author

Toyin Falola is the Jacob and Francis Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities Department at the University of Texas at Austin.

Emmanuel M. Mbah is professor of history and Deputy Chair of the History Department at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island.

Reviews

This book is a bold and illuminating discussion on forms of identities in Africa. Gender, religion, and ethno-cultural affiliations are often used to identify an African, which makes the book relevant to academic studies. The strength of the book is in coverage of themes; the variety of interesting, well-researched, and well-analyzed topics, written by experts and experienced African scholars. The editors did an excellent job in structuring the book to make it readable, especially for undergraduate and graduate students of global identities and the African diaspora.

-- Julius O. Adekunle, Monmouth University



Book Information
ISBN 9781666944488
Author Toyin Falola
Format Hardback
Page Count 294
Imprint Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Publisher Lexington Books
Weight(grams) 553g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 160mm * 24mm