Marshall, Ruth. Political Spiritualities : the Pentecostal Revolution in Nigeria. Chicago ;: The University of Chicago Press, 2009.

After an explosion of conversions to Pentecostalism over the past three decades, tens of millions of Nigerians now claim that “Jesus is the answer.” But if Jesus is the answer, what is the question? What led to the movement’s dramatic rise and how can we make sense of its social and political significance? In this ambitiously interdisciplinary study, Ruth Marshall draws on years of fieldwork and grapples with a host of important thinkers—including Foucault, Agamben, Arendt, and Benjamin—to answer these questions. To account for the movement’s success, Marshall explores how Pentecostalism presents the experience of being born again as a chance for Nigerians to realize the promises of political and religious salvation made during the colonial and postcolonial eras. Her astute analysis of this religious trend sheds light on Nigeria’s contemporary politics, postcolonial statecraft, and the everyday struggles of ordinary citizens coping with poverty, corruption, and inequality. Pentecostalism’s rise is truly global, and Political Spiritualities persuasively argues that Nigeria is a key case in this phenomenon while calling for new ways of thinking about the place of religion in contemporary politics.

Source: press.uchicago.edu

Lynch, Gabrielle. “Moi: The Making of an African ‘Big-Man.’” Journal of Eastern African Studies 2, no. 1 (2008): 18–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531050701846708.

In December 2002, Daniel arap Moi – the longest sitting Member of the Kenyan Legislature (1955–2002), longest standing Vice-President (1967–78), and longest reigning President of the Kenyan Republic (1978–2002) – ‘retired’ from elected politics. This article analyses Moi's political career from his entry into the Legislative Council in 1955 to his ascension to the Presidency in 1978. It is suggested that Moi's initial leap from the classroom rested on the poor records of his predecessors, Moi's network of relations with influential opinion brokers, and his reputation as a sober and hardworking individual. Once appointed, Moi gradually secured his position, strengthened and expanded his networks, and took a position that constituents understood and could identify with. By the early 1960s, these efforts, together with his canny politicking, relative political longevity, and early association with an expansive constituency, ensured that Moi was the pre-eminent Kalenjin politician at a critical historical juncture. Prominence, which together with Moi's personal attributes and friendly relations with President Kenyatta, secured him appointments at the political centre. Moreover, Moi's tenure as Minister for Home Affairs and Vice President, together with his manoeuvres to undermine and/or co-opt potential opponents (through the use of patronage and sanctions) and a carefully cultivated image of a populist and assistant of the people, ensured that his local pre-eminence was rarely questioned and instead gained the backing of time. In turn, Moi's national position and apparent attributes together with the shortcomings of his antagonists, ultimately paved the way for his peaceful succession to the Presidency on Jomo Kenyatta's death in 1978.

Source: Article abstract

Hassim, Shireen. Fatima Meer : a Free Mind. Cape Town, South Africa: HSRC Press, 2019.

Fatima Meer, a South African academic, public intellectual, and activist, was a tireless fighter for social justice and human rights--for which she variously suffered banning and detention by the apartheid government. After the end of apartheid, she declined a parliamentary seat, choosing instead to continue her advocacy work. She did, however, subsequently serve the ANC government in several capacities. She died in 2010, at the age of 81. In Fatima Meer, Shireen Hassim deftly weaves a narrative in which Meer's distinctive individuality unfolds. This serves as an apt context for the second part of the book, which presents Meer's ideas in her own voice and makes palpable her belief in a common humanity.

Source: Books.google.ca

Hassim, Shireen. Women's Organizations and Democracy in South Africa: Contesting Authority. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006. muse.jhu.edu/book/8613.

The transition to democracy in South Africa was one of the defining events in twentieth-century political history. The South African women’s movement is one of the most celebrated on the African continent. Shireen Hassim examines interactions between the two as she explores the gendered nature of liberation and regime change. Her work reveals how women’s political organizations both shaped and were shaped by the broader democratic movement. Alternately asserting their political independence and giving precedence to the democratic movement as a whole, women activists proved flexible and remarkably successful in influencing policy. At the same time, their feminism was profoundly shaped by the context of democratic and nationalist ideologies. In reading the last twenty-five years of South African history through a feminist framework, Hassim offers fresh insights into the interactions between civil society, political parties, and the state.

Source: muse.jhu.edu

Handley, Antoinette. “Varieties of Capitalists? The Middle–Class, Private Sector and Economic Outcomes in Africa.” Journal of International Development 27, no. 5 (July 1, 2015): 609–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3113.

Recent increases in the size of African middle classes have excited speculation about the economic implications of these developments. This review paper argues that to understand these, we must first interrogate our analytic assumptions about the middle class and its relationship to the private sector across the continent. Africa’s middle classes are born out of a different relationship with the private sector than classical theories suggest. Rather than one, homogenous middle class (or private sector), there are multiple kinds, and hence, many of our universalizing analytic assumptions about the character of that class—and its likely economic impact—may not hold.

‍

Source: Article abstract.

Signé, Landry. Innovating Development Strategies in Africa: The Role of International, Regional and National Actors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. doi:10.1017/9781316779699.

During the second half of the twentieth century, African states shifted away from state-led development strategies, and are now moving towards a strategy of regional economic integration. In this book, Landry Signé explores the key drivers of African policy and economic transformation, proposing a preeminent explanation of policy innovations in Africa through the examination of postcolonial strategies for economic development. Scholars and practitioners in fields as varied as development studies, political science and public policy, economics, sociology and African studies will benefit from Signé's unprecedented comparative analysis, including detailed cases from the often understudied Francophone Africa. First studying why, how and when institutional or policy change occurs in Africa, Signé explores the role of international, regional and national actors in making African economic development strategies from 1960 to date, highlighting the economic transformations of the twenty-first century.

Source: Amazon.com