Books: Foundational/inspirational
to my own research.
I read, re-read and love these books all the time….
Speaking with Vampires: Rumour and History in Colonial
Africa (2000) by Luise White. This is an amazing book that draws
on anecdotal evidence on the power and persuasion of rumour and gossip
around tales of vampires and blood-letting in colonial Africa.
Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve
the Human Condition Have Failed (1998) by James C. Scott. An unbelievably
powerful book about the unintended dangers of state-led development
schemes. Scott argues that development failures – big and small-
are hardly unintended. Instead, states, and their bureaucracies, then
aim to simplify complex realities into categories that fit their techniques
of observation. An argument for the value of local knowledge (which
Scott calls “metis”) in the light of big (and usually Western-sponsored)
development schemes.
Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts
(1990) by James C. Scott. A study of the wrought relations between the
powerful and the powerless. Scott distinguishes between the public face
of confronting power, the behind-the-scenes or hidden transcript where
the powerless find and form the voice used to speak to power. Written
in clear and accessible language and with a bevy of examples from anthropology,
literature, race studies, cultural studies, and political sociology.
Purity and Exile: Violence, Memory and National Cosmology
Among Hutu Refugees in Tanzania (1995) by H. Malkki. This is a
beautifully written book on a gruesome topic: The flight and ultimate
exile of Burundian Hutu refugees in Tanzania. This book presents an
important and useful way to represent and make sense of the everyday
lived experiences of horror and asylum. Also fascinating because the
research shows the limitations of viewing African conflict in normative
essentialist categories.
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Books: Recommended
We Did Nothing: Why the truth doesn’t always
come out when the UN goes in (2003) by Linda Polman. I love this
book because of way the journalist-author Polman uses voices from ordinary
people (Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, etc) and contrasts them with
the UN documents and reports of the same events. This book shows that
the UN actually stands for UN-able, UN-armed and UN-willing.
I Didn’t Do It for You: How the World Used and
Abused A Small African Nation (2005) by Michela Wrong. A beautifully
written historical account of the relationship between Eritera and Ethiopia.
A book that will matter to anyone interested in understanding how colonial
powers mucked up things in Africa. So well-researched -- substantiated
with archival work and personal interviews, and such an accessible means
to an often mysterious and misunderstood part of the world that, after
putting this book down, I began work on my own piece of popular writing
The Zanzibar Chest (2003) by Aidan Hartley. Kenya-born
and bred journalist Aidan Hartley reflects back on growing up an outsider
in Africa, alongside the story of his father, an intrepid British coloniser.
An engaging book that should be read by anyone who wants to understand
colonisation through the eyes and ears of one of her majesty’s
humble servants in both Africa and Arabia – through the diaries
of his father’s best friend. Amazing prose.
The Place at the End of the World (2006) by Janine
DiGiovanni. A book about the small voices of individuals caught in conflict
zones who “can’t write about themselves”. A little
preachy in places, and just plain weird at the end when she writes of
her challenges of balancing new motherhood with war reporting but still
a worthwhile read. See in particular her section on “Forgotten
Wars”.
The In-between World of Vikram Lall (2004) by
MG Vassanji. I just re-read this book after an extended period of living
in Africa. A specific style of writing that I like, but friends have
said its too flowery (only if you like the brevity of Hemingway, I say!)
Traces the rise and fall of one of Kenya’s Asian sons, and reveals
how social structures can give way to often innocent behaviours that
come to be characterised as corruption. Vikram, as an Asian Kenya doesn’t
quite fit in the world of Kenya’s British colonisers, nor with
Independence, the world of black Kenyans. A subtle reminder that context
and local knowledge count for a lot, and that even insiders can be outsiders.
A great historical read also if you are interested in Kenya’s
Mau-Mau in particular or nation-building in Africa more generally.
Killing Time: The Autobiography of Paul Feyerabend
(1995). An irreverent book written just before Feyerabend died in 1994.
If you think of philosophers and theoreticians an inaccessible curmudgeons,
read this book. If you are interested to understand the thought processes
and narcissism of one of the most important thinkers of our time, pick
this one up.
Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric and
Symbols in Syria (1999) by Lisa Weeden. Keen to understand how
power circulates in societies governed by authoritarian and repressive
states? This is the book. An elegant answer to a difficult, but always
timely question, ‘How do states hold onto political power without
a thread of legitimacy?” Fascinating, and important, because it
goes beyond trite answers.
Soft Subversions (1996) by Félix Guattari
I love to read Guattari as he is my poster-boy for all things political
resistance. Always creative, provocative and simply great scholarship.
Plus, reading Guattari prepares one well for delving into his work with
Deluze This is a great collection of essays to inspire thinking (and
action) on deconstructing the social and political structures that frame
our everyday lives. Check out in particular his ideas on “micropolitics”.
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Books: Gonna Read
I always have a huge stack of books on the go that I hope
to read. Here are some titles I will read next. If you have any thoughts,
please share them with me smthomson@dal.ca.
Trauma and the Memory of Politics (2003) by Jenny
Edkins.
Anthropology and Social Theory: Culture, Power and
the Acting Subject (2006) by Sherry B. Ortner.
The Order of Genocide: Race, Power and War in Rwanda
(2006) by Scott Strauss.
Walking on Fire: Haitian women’s stories of
survival and resistance (2001) by Beverly Bell.
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of
Forgiveness (1997) by Simon Wiesenthal.
Fear of Small Numbers: An Essay on the Geography
of Anger (2006) by Arjun Appaduari.
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