1

Soc Final Exam

Know and be able to locate on a map the cities, countries, and rivers & lakes that
we have discussed this semester as part of the formal course material.
What sub-Saharan African country has the largest surface area?
DROC = 2,345,410
Sudan = 1,886,068
What is the youngest sub-Saharan African country?
South Sudan - 2011
Eritrea - 1993
Namibia - 1990

According to Hawks, If Africa Had Ruled Europe, how would Africa be different
today? What is the sociological imagination?
If Africans had colonized Europeans, language, education, personal image, region,
clothing, history and anthropology would be different.
The sociological imagination is the ability to discern the relationship between large-scale social forces and the actions of
individuals.
It includes both the capacity to see relationships between individual biographies and historical change
the capacity to see how social causation operates in societies.
The term 'sociological imagination' was coined by the American sociologist C. Wright Mills in 1959 to describe the type of
insight offered by the discipline of sociology. The term is used in introductory textbooks in sociology to explain the nature
of sociology and its relevance in daily life.
In every introductory sociology class the sociological imagination is brought up along with Mill and how he characterized
the sociological imagination as a critical quality of mind that would help men and women ...to use information and to
develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening
within themselves..." [4]
According to C. Wright Mills, what is the difference between a trouble and an
issue?
A PERSONAL ISSUE IS A PERSON NOT HAVING A JOB. IF ITS COMMON AMONG MULTIPLE PEOPLE IT IS A
SOCIAL ISSUE
C. Wright Mills argued that perhaps the most helpful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is that
between personal troubles and public issues (Mills 1967: 395; Mills 1959: 8). For him troubles have to do with 'an
individual's character and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware' (op. cit.). To
describe those troubles and to resolve them, he argues, we must attend the individual's biography and the scope of their
immediate milieux - what Mills describes as 'the social setting that is directly open to his personal experience and to some
extent his willful activity' (Mills 1967: 395-6). A trouble is, thus, a private matter: 'values cherished by an individual are felt
by him to be threatened' (ibid.: 396).
In contrast, issues have to do with 'matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the limited range
of his life' (Mills 1967: 396; Mills 1959: 8). He continues:
They have to do with the organization of many such milieux into the institutions of society as a whole... An issue is a
public matter: values cherished by publics are felt to be threatened... It is the very nature of an issue, unlike even
widespread trouble, that it cannot very well be defined in terms of the everyday environments of ordinary men. An issue,
in fact, often involves a crisis in institutional arrangements.
This crisis can be seen in the experience of unemployment:
When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to
the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15
million men are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities
2
open to any one individual. (Mills 1959: 9)
For much of the time governments tend to cloak or to present such public issues as private troubles: it is the fault of
individuals that they cannot find work, rather than an outcome of structural or political arrangements. Furthermore, given
the orientation of social workers and educators, when working with individuals or groups, it is all to easy to end up working
with people around the immediate issue or trouble. In C Wright Mills (1967: 534) words they can slip past structure to
focus on isolated situations and consider problems as problems of individuals. We can confuse personal troubles with
public issues. Indeed, this critique by Mills of the professional ideology of what he described as social pathologists (social
workers who focus on individual adjustment rather than structural change) remains of fundamental concern.

Timbuktu. Where is it? Why is it an important city?
Mali
From your notes and the Davidson and Gailey readings, what other cities are
important historically in West Africa? Who are/were the Berbers?
The berbers are the ethnic group indigenous to North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are
distributed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean Sea
to the Niger River. Historically they spoke Berber languages, which together form the "Berber
branch" of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Since the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th
century, a large portion of Berbers have spoken varieties of Maghrebi Arabic, either by choice or
obligation. Foreign languages like French and Spanish, inherited from former European colonial
powers, are used by most educated Berbers in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in some formal
contexts such as higher education or business.
Today, most Berber-speaking people live in Algeria and Morocco. Smaller Berber-speaking
populations are scattered throughout Tunisia,
[4]
Libya, Mauritania, Maliand Niger, as well as large
migrant communities living in Europe.
[5][6]

The Berber identity is usually wider than language and ethnicity,and encompasses the entire
history and geography of North Africa. Berbers are not a homogeneous ethnic group and they
encompass a range of phenotypes, cultures and ancestries. The unifying forces for the Berber
people could be their Berber language, belonging to the Berber homeland, or a collective
identification with the Berber heritage and history.
Linguistically speaking, there are some 25 to 35 million Berber-language speakers in North
Africa.
[7]
The number of ethnic Berbers (including Berber-speakers and non-Berber speakers) is
presumed to be far greater, as it is generally known that a large part of the Berbers have acquired
other languages, over the course of many decades or centuries, and no longer speak Berber
today.
Berbers call themselves some variant of the word i-Mazigh-en (singular: a-Mazigh), possibly
meaning "free people" or "free and noble men".
[5]
The word has probably an ancient parallel in the
Roman and Greek names for some of the Berbers, "Mazices".
Some of the best known of the ancient Berbers are the Numidian king Masinissa, king Jugurtha,
the Berber-Roman author Apuleius, Saint Augustine of Hippo, and the Berber-Roman general
Lusius Quietus, who was instrumental in defeating the major wave of Jewish revolts of 115117.
Dihya or Kahina was a female Berber religious and military leader who led a fierce Berber
resistance against the Arab-Muslim expansion in Northwest Africa. Kusaila was a 7th-century
leader of the Awraba tribe of the Berber people and head of the Sanhadja confederation.
3

Know the great empires of West Africa -- Ghana, Mali, Songhay.
The Ghana (Wagadu) Empire (before c. 830 until c. 1235) was located in what is now southeastern
Mauritania and western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BC, and
around Ghana's core region since about 300 AD. When Ghana's ruling dynasty began is uncertain; it is
first mentioned in documentary sources around 830 AD by Muammad ibn Ms al-Khwrizm.
[1]
The
domestication of the camel, which preceded Muslims andIslam by several centuries, brought about a
gradual change in trade, and, for the first time, the extensive gold, ivory trade, and salt resources of the
region could be sent north and east to population centers in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe in
exchange for manufactured goods.
The empire grew rich from the trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt. This trade produced an increasing
surplus, allowing for larger urban centers. It also encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the
lucrative trade routes.
The first written mention of the kingdom comes from Arabic language sources some time after the
conquest of North Africa by Muslims, when geographers began compiling comprehensive accounts of the
world known to Islam around 800. The sources for the earlier periods are very strange as to its society,
government or culture, though they do describe its location and note its commercial relations. The
Cordoban scholar Abu Ubayd al-Bakri collected stories from a number of travelers to the region, and gave
a detailed description of the kingdom in 1067/1068 (460 AH). He claimed that the Ghana could "put
200,000 men into the field, more than 40,000 of them archers" and noted they had cavalry forces as
well.
[2]

The Mali Empire (Manding: Nyeni;
[4]
English: Niani), also historically referred to as the Manden
Kurufaba
[1]
was a West African empire of the Malink from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded
by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I. The Mali
Empire had many profound cultural influences on West Africa, allowing the spread of its language, laws
and customs along the Niger River. It extended over a large area and consisted of numerous vassal
kingdoms and provinces.
The Great Mosque of Djenn is a large banco or adobe building that is considered by many architects to
be one of the greatest achievements of theSudano-Sahelian architectural style. The mosque is located in
the city of Djenn,
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa. From
the mid-15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history.
[4]
This
empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city of Gao, a
Songhai state had existed since the 11th century. Its base of power was on the bend of the Niger River in
present day Niger and Burkina Faso.
The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years, if one traces its rulers
from the settlement of Gao to Songhai's vassal status under the Mali Empire to its continuation in Niger
as the Dendi Kingdom.
The Songhai are thought to have settled at Gao as early as 800 CE, but did not establish the city as their
capital until the 11th century, during the reign of Dia Kossoi. During the second half of the 13th century
Gao was conquered by the Mali Empire, and remained under its control until the 15th century, when
4
Songhai reclaimed it as its capital.
Know major cities of historical importance from our discussion of West Africa.
Who was Mansa Musa? Why is he discussed in this course? What did he do?
Mansa Musa (died 1337), king of the Mali empire in West Africa, is known mostly for his fabulous pilgrimage to Mecca and
for his promotion of unity and prosperity within Mali.
How does Ibn Battuta in his Travels in Mali describe the West Africans in the
1300s?
Ibn Battuta was impressed that the Mali people "have a greater hatred of injustice than any other people." He related that the
mansa showed little mercy to the guilty. "There is complete security in their country," he wrote. "Neither traveler nor inhabitant in it
has anything to fear from robbers or men of violence."

Chinua Achebe Things Fall Apart is about what ethnic group in what African
country?
Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s and portrays the clash between Nigerias white colonial government and the traditional culture
of the indigenous Igbo people. Achebes novel shatters the stereotypical European portraits of native Africans. He is careful to
portray the complex, advanced social institutions and artistic traditions of Igbo culture prior to its contact with Europeans. Yet he is
just as careful not to stereotype the Europeans; he offers varying depictions of the white man, such as the mostly benevolent Mr.
Brown, the zealous Reverend Smith, and the ruthlessly calculating District Commissioner.
Language is an important theme in Things Fall Apart on several levels. In demonstrating the imaginative, often formal language of
the Igbo, Achebe emphasizes that Africa is not the silent or incomprehensible continent that books such as Heart of Darkness made
it out to be. Rather, by peppering the novel with Igbo words, Achebe shows that the Igbo language is too complex for direct
translation into English. Similarly, Igbo culture cannot be understood within the framework of European colonialist values. Achebe
also points out that Africa has many different languages: the villagers of Umuofia, for example, make fun of Mr. Browns translator
because his language is slightly different from their own.
On a macroscopic level, it is extremely significant that Achebe chose to write Things Fall Apart in Englishhe clearly intended it to
be read by the West at least as much, if not more, than by his fellow Nigerians. His goal was to critique and emend the portrait of
Africa that was painted by so many writers of the colonial period. Doing so required the use of English, the language of those
colonial writers. Through his inclusion of proverbs, folktales, and songs translated from the Igbo language, Achebe managed to
capture and convey the rhythms, structures, cadences, and beauty of the Igbo language.

When did this country gain independence?
1960
Who was the colonial power?
United Kingdom
Why and when was this book written? What does it mean for the Ibo and those
outside Africa? How does he describe African society prior to the missionaries
arrival and after?
Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s and portrays the clash between Nigerias white colonial government and the traditional culture
of the indigenous Igbo people. Achebes novel shatters the stereotypical European portraits of native Africans. He is careful to
portray the complex, advanced social institutions and artistic traditions of Igbo culture prior to its contact with Europeans. Yet he is
5
just as careful not to stereotype the Europeans; he offers varying depictions of the white man, such as the mostly benevolent Mr.
Brown, the zealous Reverend Smith, and the ruthlessly calculating District Commissioner.
What were the functions for society of earning titles in Things Fall Apart?
One becomes influential in this culture by earning titles. As with the Potlatch Indians of the American Northwest and many other
peoples, this is an expensive proposition which involves the dispersing most of one's painfully accumulated wealth.
What are the Ibo customs, (ie., bride price, the evil forest, killing of twins)?
What does the missionary who mispronounces Ibo refer to himself as?
What is cultural hegemony? Define it. Give examples of cultural hegemony from
Things Fall Apart. What African country has the largest population?
In Marxist philosophy, the term Cultural Hegemony describes the domination of a culturally diverse
society by the ruling class, who manipulate the culture of the society the beliefs, explanations,
perceptions, values, and mores so that their ruling-class Weltanschauung becomes the worldview that
is imposed and accepted as the cultural norm; as the universally valid dominant ideology that justifies the
social, political, and economic status quoas natural and inevitable, perpetual and beneficial for everyone,
rather than as artificial social constructs that benefit only the ruling class.
[1][2]

In philosophy and sociology, the term cultural hegemony communicates denotations and connotations
derived from the Ancient Greek word hegemony(leadership and rule), the geopolitical method of indirect
imperial dominance, with which the hegemon (leader state) rules sub-ordinate states, by the implied
means of power, the threat of the threat of intervention, rather than by direct military force, that is,
invasion, occupation, and annexation.
[3]

Here the white men want to change the culture of Igbo to be the Christian. Step by step the white meninfluence in order to be
Christian. The process to change the culture can calledHegemony. Hegemony means the preponderance of power and the
construction of consent by the powerless through cultural values. Hegemony, as the acquiescence of people to rule by a state, was
first developed in Gramsci's sociology of the operationof capitalist society. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemony
) The dominant culturemaintains its dominant position. This hegemony perceived by all the character in thisnovel, especially
okonkwo, the main character. He is the one of characters thatagainst the existence of white mens hegemony.

What two theories or schools of thought were floating around Europe in the 1800s
that provided arguments for acquiring African territory? Be able to explain what
each one was?
What were the outcomes of the Berlin Conference of 1884-85? Who attended or
did not attend?
Owing to the upsetting of Bismarck's carefully laid balance of power in European politics caused by
Leopold's gamble and subsequent European race for colonies, Germany felt compelled to act and started
launching expeditions of its own which frightened both British and French statesmen. Hoping to quickly
soothe this brewing conflict, King Leopold II was able to convince France and Germany that common
trade in Africa was in the best interests of all three countries. Under support from the British and the
initiative of Portugal, Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor, called on representatives of Austria-
Hungary,Belgium, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain,
Sweden-Norway (union until 1905), the Ottoman Empire, and the United States to take part in the Berlin
Conference to work out policy. However, the United States did not actually participate in the conference
both because it had an inability to take part in territorial expeditions
6
What current African countries were once colonial territories of Britain? France?
Italy? Germany? Belgium? Why did the Europeans want to acquire African
territory?
The Berlin Conference of 188485

European claims in Africa, 1913. Modern-day boundaries, largely a legacy of the colonial era, are shown.
Belgium Germany Spain France
Great Britain Italy Portugal Independent
What is the difference between direct and indirect rule in colonial Africa?
There is a clear difference between direct and indirect rule. Direct rule was a sophisticated system, while indirect rule was a more
simpler system. Because of this, indirect rule was much more easier to rule and less expensive. Indirect rule required less
administrators. With indirect rule, the day-to-day administration was left in the hands of rulers. The larger activities, such as
communications, taxation, and external affairs was overseen by a small group of advisers. Indirect rule was developed in parts of
Asia and Africa.
7
Who was Muhammad Abdullah Hassan? Why is he important and what is he known
for?
Sayyd Muhammad `Abd Allh al-Hasan (Somali: Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan, Arabic:

) (April 7, 1856, in Buuhoodle northern Somalia December 21, 1920 in Imi, Ogaden) was a Somali
religious and patriotic leader. Referred to as the Mad Mullah by the British, he established the Dervish
State in Somalia that fought an anti-imperial war for a period of over 20 years against British, Italian and
Ethiopian forces.
Who were the libertos? What colonial power and present-day countries are they
associated with?
Freed slaves, Portugal, Angola, Guinea Bissau
When did the British begin to outlaw slavery? What was the law?
Abolition of the Slave Trade Act - 1807
Who was Mwanga? Who was the Mad Mullah and why was he noteworthy?
Sayyd Muhammad `Abd Allh al-Hasan (Somali: Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan, Arabic:

) (April 7, 1856, in
Buuhoodle, northern Somalia December 21, 1920 in Imi, Ogaden) was a Somali religious and patriotic leader. Referred to as the
Mad Mullah by the British, he established the Dervish State in Somalia that fought an anti-imperial war for a period of over 20 years
against British, Italian and Ethiopian forces.
How did the Indians come to live in Africa? For what purpose and what colonial
empire was the connecting force? Who looked for the source of the Nile River?
The Indian diaspora in East Africa consists of approximately 1.5 million people of Indian origin living in
Africa. Most of this diaspora arrived in the 19th century as British indentured labourers, many of them to
work on the KenyaUganda railway, while others had arrived earlier by sea as traders.
John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 15 September 1864) was an officer in the British Indian Army who
made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of
the Nile and the discovery and naming of Lake Victoria. He is also known for propounding the Hamitic
hypothesisin 1863 - his writings are an example of scientific racism.
[1][2]
In this hypothesis, he supposed
that the Tutsi ethnic group were descendants of the biblical figure,Ham, and had lighter skin and more
European features than the Bantu-featured Hutu over whom they ruled.
[3][1]

Who were the major explorers we discussed in this class? What was their role in
Africas colonization?
Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands, Kongo byname Bula Matari (Breaker of Rocks)
(28 January 1841 10 May 1904), was a British journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of
central Africa and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone,
Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Stanley is also known
for his discoveries in and development of the Congo region. He was knightedin 1899.
After whom were Northern and Southern Rhodesia named?
"Rhodesia" came into use in 1895. This was in memory of Cecil Rhodes, the British empire-builder and a
key figure during the British expansion into southern Africa. In 1888 Rhodes obtained mineral rightsfrom
the most powerful local traditional leaders through treaties such as the Rudd Concession and the Moffat
Treaty, which was signed by King Lobengula of the Ndebele people.
8
Northern and Southern Rhodesia correspond to what present-day African
countries?
Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and
Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the
northwest and Mozambique to the east. The capital is Harare. Zimbabwe achieved de jure sovereignty
from the United Kingdom in April 1980, following 14 years as an unrecognised state under the
conservative white minority governmentof Rhodesia, which unilaterally declared independence in 1965.
From the film, The Magnificent African Cake, why were cash crops
introduced and what are the long-term effects?
Cash crops enabled the specialization and exploitation of a regions natural resources,
often at the cost of decreased areas for farming, this believed to have caused the food
shortages in present day
From the film and discussion of Le Malentendu Colonial (the misunderstood
colonial)
Where is this film set? What are the colonial and current names of this area?
Namibia, and Prussian
Who was the first colonial power? Who are the Herero people? Who was the
second colonial power? In what context are concentration camps used?
German South Africa after WW2
What do we learn about the missionary influence?
In The Colonial Misunderstanding Jean-Marie Teno sheds light on the complex and problematic relationship
between colonization and European missionaries on the African continent. The film looks at Christian evangelism as
the forerunner of European colonialism in Africa, indeed, as the ideological model for the relationship between
North and South even today. In particular it looks at the role of missionaries in Namibia on the centenary of the
1904 German genocide of the Herrero people there. It reveals how colonialism destroyed African beliefs and social
systems and replaced them with European ones as if they were the only acceptable routes to modernity. As Prof. F.
Kangu Ewan says in the film: "I can forgive Westerners for taking away my land ...but not for taking away my
mind and soul." Through an examination of the work of German missionary societies in Africa whose vocation was
to bring Christianity - and by extension, European culture and European rule - to the heathens

From King Leopolds Ghost (Hochschild reading) on the DRoC, who was King
Leopold II? Henry Morton Stanley? Lumumba? Mobutu? Kabila?
Leopold II (French: Lopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor, Dutch: Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor) (9 April 1835 17 December
1909) was the King of the Belgians, and is chiefly remembered for the founding and exploitation of the Congo Free State. Born in
Brussels the second (but eldest surviving) son of Leopold Iand Louise-Marie of Orlans, he succeeded his father to the throne on 17
December 1865 and remained king until his death.
Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. He used Henry
Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin
Conference of 18841885, the colonial nations of Europe committed the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native
inhabitants. From the beginning, however, Leopold essentially ignored these conditions and ran the Congo using a mercenary force
for his personal gain. Some of the money from this exploitation was used for public and private construction projects in Belgium
during this period.
9
Leopold extracted a fortune from the Congo, initially by the collection of ivory, and after a rise in the price of rubber in the 1890s, by
forcing the population to collect sap from rubber plants. Villages were required to meet quotas on rubber collections, and individuals'
hands were cut off if they did not meet the requirements. His regime was responsible for the death of an estimated 2 to 15 million
Congolese. This became one of the most infamous international scandals of the early 20th century, and Leopold was ultimately
forced to relinquish control of it to the Belgian government.
Sir Henry Morton Stanley GCB, born John Rowlands (28 January 1841 10 May 1904), was a British journalist and explorer
famous for his exploration of central Africa and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone,
Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Stanley is also known for his discoveries in and
development of the Congo region. He was knighted in 1899.
Patrice mery Lumumba (born lias Okit'Asombo;
[1][2][3]
2 July 1925 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader
and the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium
in June 1960.
Within twelve weeks, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. The main reason why he was ousted
from power was his opposition to Belgian-backed secession of the mineral-rich Katanga province.
[4]

He was subsequently imprisoned by state authorities under Joseph-Desir Mobutu and executed by firing squad under the
command of the secessionist Katanganauthorities. The United Nations, which he had asked to come to the Congo, did not intervene
to save him. It has been stated
[by whom?]
that the killing was committed with the assistance of a foreign government or
governments;
[citation needed]
the governments of Belgium, the United States (via the CIA) and Great Britain have all been stated
[by whom?]

to have been involved, by various accounts.
[5][6][7][8]

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (/mbutu sse sko/; born Joseph-Desir Mobutu; 14 October 1930 7
September 1997) was thePresident of Republic of the Congo (Lopoldville), which Mobutu renamed Zaire in 1971, from 1965 to
1997.
Installed and supported in office primarily by Belgium and the United States,
[1]
he formed an authoritarian regime, amassed vast
personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence while enjoying considerable support by the
United States due to his anti-communist stance.
During the Congo Crisis, Belgian and US-backed forces aided Mobutu in a coup against the nationalist government of Patrice
Lumumba in 1960 to take control of the government. Lumumba was the first leader in the country to be democratically elected and
was killed by a Katangese firing squad; Mobutu soon became the army chief of staff.
[2]
He took power directly in a second coup in
1965. As part of his program of national authenticity, Mobutu changed the Congo's name to Zarein 1971 and his own name to
Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972.
Joseph Kabila Kabange (known commonly as Joseph Kabila, born June 4, 1971) is a Congolese politician who has been
President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father,
President Laurent-Dsir Kabila. He was elected as President in 2006. In 2011, he was re-elected for a second term.
[1]

Know the colonial heritage of the DRoC.
The area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 80,000
years ago, as shown by the 1988 discovery of the Semliki harpoon at Katanda, one of the oldest
barbed harpoons ever found, and which is believed to have been used to catch giant river
catfish.
[1][2]
Congo was settled in the 7th and 8th centuries A.D. by Bantus from present-day
Nigeria. During its history the area has also been known as Congo, Congo Free State, Belgian
Congo and Zaire. The Kingdom of Kongo was a powerful kingdom that existed from the 14th to
the 18th century. It was the dominant force in the region until the arrival of the Portuguese.
Second in importance was the Anziku Kingdom.
The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II of Belgium through
the Association Internationale African, a non-governmental organization. Leopold was the sole
shareholder and chairman. The state included the entire area of the present Democratic Republic
of the Congo. Under Leopold II's administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of
the most infamous international scandals of the turn of the twentieth century. The report of the
10
British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials who had been
responsible for cold-blooded killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903, including one
Belgian national for causing the shooting of at least 122 Congolese natives. Estimates of the total
death toll vary considerably. In the absence of a census, the first was made in 1924, it is even
more difficult to quantify the population loss of the period. Roger Casement's famous 1904 report
estimated ten million people. According to Casement's report, indiscriminate "war", starvation,
reduction of births and tropical diseases caused the country's depopulation.
[3]
The European and
U.S. press agencies exposed the conditions in the Congo Free State to the public in 1900. By
1908 public and diplomatic pressure led Leopold II to annex the Congo as the Belgian
Congocolony.
[citation needed]

On 15 November 1908 King Lopold II of Belgium formally relinquished personal control
of the Congo Free State. The renamed Belgian Congo came under the administration of
the Belgian parliament, which lasted until independence was granted in 1960.[4]
The Belgian administration might be most charitably characterized as paternalistic
colonialism. Roman Catholic and Protestant churches dominated the education system
and the curricula reflected Christian and Western values. In 1948 Christian missions
controlled 99.6% of educational facilities. They had little regard for native culture and
beliefs. Native schools provided a mainly religious and vocational education.
[
citation
needed
]

What was the relationship between Lumumba & the US? Lumumba & the Belgians?
Mobutu & the US? What is the 11th commandment detailed in your reading on the
DRoC?
Patrice mery Lumumba (born lias Okit'Asombo;
[1][2][3]
2 July 1925 17 January 1961) was a
Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the
Congo, after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960.
Within twelve weeks, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. The main
reason why he was ousted from power was his opposition to Belgian-backed secession of the mineral-
rich Katanga province.
[4]

He was subsequently imprisoned by state authorities under Joseph-Desir Mobutu and executed by firing
squad under the command of the secessionist Katanganauthorities. The United Nations, which he had
asked to come to the Congo, did not intervene to save him. It has been stated that the killing was
committed with the assistance of a foreign government or governments; the governments of Belgium, the
United States (via the CIA) and Great Britain have all been stated to have been involved, by various
accounts.
[5][6][7][8]

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (/mbutu sse sko/; born Joseph-Desir
Mobutu; 14 October 1930 7 September 1997) was thePresident of Republic of the Congo
(Lopoldville), which Mobutu renamed Zaire in 1971, from 1965 to 1997.
Installed and supported in office primarily by Belgium and the United States,
[1]
he formed an authoritarian
regime, amassed vast personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural
influence while enjoying considerable support by the United States due to his anti-communist stance.
11
During the Congo Crisis, Belgian and US-backed forces aided Mobutu in a coup against the nationalist
government of Patrice Lumumba in 1960 to take control of the government. Lumumba was the first leader
in the country to be democratically elected and was killed by a Katangese firing squad; Mobutu soon
became the army chief of staff.
[2]
In a second coup (1965), he assumed the office of Prime Minister in
1966 and then established a presidential form of government headed by himself in 1967. As part of his
program of national authenticity, Mobutu changed the Congo's name to Zare in 1971 and his own
name to Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972.
What country recognized King Leopolds humanitarian work in the Congo Free
State?
United States
What countries are associated with the assassination of DRoCs first elected
leader?
the governments of Belgium, the United States (via the CIA) and Great Britain have all been stated
[
by whom?
]
to have been
involved, by various accounts.[5][6][7][8]
What was the name of the DRoC between 1971 and 1997?
Zaire /zr/, officially the Republic of Zaire (French: Rpublique du Zare; French pronunciation:
[za.i]), was the name of the state that is now calledDemocratic Republic of the Congo as it existed
between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. Founded by Mobutu Sese Seko, the name of Zaire
derives from the Portuguese word "zaire", itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi ("river
that swallows all rivers").[6]
What is the capital of Sierra Leone? Who is Ishmael Beah and why is his story told?
Freetown
What minerals are found in Sierra Leone?
Diamonds, Rutile, Cocoa, Coffee, Fish
What do we learn about the culture of Sierra Leone from the reading, A Long
Way Gone...?
The Sierra Leone civil war began in 1991 with the attacks of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by former
army corporal Foday Sankoh, on government military and civilian targets. While allegedly begun as a response to
the corrupt government of President Joseph Saidu Momoh, the RUF quickly turned to acts of terror and violence
with little regard to its ostensible political agenda. The RUF captured towns on the Liberian border, killing and
torturing numerous citizens. The President is ousted in 1992, setting up a cycle of military coups for the next five
years. In 1996, after the first multi-party election in nearly thirty years, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is elected President.
He signs a peace accord with the RUF. Kabbah is ousted by yet another military coup, led by Johnny Paul Koroma
and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) - a force consisting of both army and RUF soldiers who
previously fought against one another.
Atrocities were committed on both sides of the conflict, which resulted in over 50,000 killed and one million people
displaced. Despite the level of violence, national attention was not drawn to Sierra Leone until 1999, when the
United Nations intervened to establish the Lome Peace Accord. This treaty made the RUF commander vice-
president of the country with control over Sierra Leones valuable diamond mines.
Despite the accord, RUF forces continued their attacks and seemingly random acts of violence against government
and civilian targets. The UN sought disarmament, but response on both sides was slow. Eventually, Great Britain
intervened, sending in troops to capture RUF forces and restore full power to then-president Kabbah. In 2000, RUF
12
leader Sankoh was captured. Over the next year, UN forces complete disarmament and the war is declared over in
2002. Newly re-elected President Kabbah declared the conflict ended in 2002.

What is the storyline? What is important to the author?
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a memoir written by Ishmael Beah. Published in 2007, this book provides a
firsthand account of the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone and the ongoing plight of child soldiers in conflicts worldwide.
[1]
Beah
was forced to run away from attacking rebels in Sierra Leone at the young age of 12; he was then forever separated from his direct
family. He wandered his war-filled country and was then forced to join an army unit, which brainwashed him into believing in only
large guns, blood, and drugs. By thirteen, he had experienced incidents that others may not have to deal with throughout their entire
lives. At the age of 16, however, UNICEF removed him from the unit and gave him a chance to be forgiven and to be loved once
more. With the help of some of the staff he was able to forgive himself for everything he had done and to finally move on. He was
then given an opportunity to teach others about the hell he was forced to endure. He traveled the United States teaching people
about the devastating and unforgettable things that he was forced to encounter and the things that millions of kids all over the world
still have to encounter today.
What does his grandmother tell him to do through his memories?
we must strive to be like the moon
How does Beah describe the government soldiers and the RUF members?
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and
ending in 2002. It later developed into a political party, which existed until 2007. The three most senior surviving leaders, Issa
Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao, were convicted in February 2009 of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
[1]

Government - sissies
Whom does Beah consider to be important to him, on his journeys through Sierra
Leone and in New York? What makes these persons important to Beah?
Esther: A nurse at the shelter whom Ishmael develops a friendship with. Ishmael tells parts of his war stories and dreams to Esther,
and soon comes to fully trust her. Esther gives Ishmael a Walkman with aRunD.M.C. cassette and later buys him a Bob Marley
cassette. Esther does regular check-ups Ishmael's mental health during his period of rehabilitation at Benin Home. Ishmael admits
that he loves her, but never sees her again after he leaves Freetown.
How does Beahs concept of family change over time?
How does Beah view American hip-hop culture?
Inspiration for learning english
What is the RUF? What is it known for on the battlefield? What neighboring
countrys leader is associated with the RUF? What is the relationship between the
RUF and Bin Ladens al Qaeda in the late 90s? What was the colonial power of
Sierra Leone?
The RUF became known for, among other acts, gender-based crimes such
as widespread rape, sexual slavery, and forced marriage
The documentary, End of the Rainbow, provides what message about Guinea?
What are Guineas major mineral deposits?
Gold, Iron, Rutile
What is the relevant colonial and post-colonial (cold-war) history of Guinea? How
does this history explain Guineas language and economic position in the world
today?
Guinea
i
/ni/, officially the Republic of Guinea (French: Rpublique de Guine), is a country in West
13
Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea (French:Guine franaise), it is today sometimes called
Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Equatorial
Guinea.
[3]
It has a population of 10,057,975 and an area of 246,000 square kilometres (94,981 sq mi).
Forming a crescent as it curves from its western border on the Atlantic Ocean toward the east and the
south, it shares its northern border with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mali, and its southern border with
Sierra Leone, Liberia, andCte d'Ivoire. The sources of the Niger River, Gambia River, and Senegal River
are all found in the Guinea Highlands.
[4]

What famous General left his hat on the table on the eve of Guineas
independence, never looking back?
How stable is the current presidency of Alpha Conde? Why is this the case, and
how can we view this as being historically connected to colonialism?
What is the Griots take on the mining operation and the gold deposits?
Who benefits from this mining operation?
What are the long-term effects of mining on the local terrain?
What is the perception of how whites use gold?
Is the government seen as working for the people in the documentary? In what
ways?
Only in the sense to protect them, they are more used
From whose perspective is this documentary told? In what ways?
Griot, talks about the coming of the white man. As well as the Company in which you hear their
stories complaining about work.
What does the griot say he would do if he were a rich man?
Go to Mecca, Build a Church, Build a House, Buy a wife for a poor man
What do we learn from Buried Secrets and how does this reading tie in with End
of the Rainbow?
Buried Secrets talks about the secret and clandestine activities of _________

The documentary, Thomas Sankara, The Upright Man, is associated with what
country?
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (
i
/brkin fso/ br-KEE-n FAH-soh; French: [bukina faso]), also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a
landlocked country in West Africa around 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) in size. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali
to the north; Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast;Togo and Ghana to the south; and Ivory Coast to the southwest. Its capital is
Ouagadougou. In 2010, its population was estimated at just under 15.75 million.
[1]

Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed "Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas
Sankara, using a word from each of the country's two major native languages, Mor and Dioula. Figuratively, "Burkina", from
Mor, may be translated as "men of integrity", while "Faso" means "fatherland" in Dioula. "Burkina Faso" is thus meant to be
14
understood as "Land of upright people" or "Land of honest people". Inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinab
(/brkinbe/ br-KEE-n-bay).
Between 14,000 and 5000 BC, Burkina Faso was populated by hunter-gatherers in the country's northwestern region. Farm
settlements appeared between 3600 and 2600 BC.
[citation needed]
What is now central Burkina Faso was principally composed of Mossi
kingdoms. These Mossi Kingdoms became a French protectorate in 1896. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the
country underwent many governmental changes until arriving at its current form, asemi-presidential republic. The president is Blaise
Compaor.
Burkina Faso is a member of the African Union, Community of Sahel-Saharan States, La Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation and Economic Community of West African States.

Who and what kind of leader is Thomas Sankara? What kind of regime did he have?
What were his positions on building the nation, womens rights, and the cold war?
Who and what kind of leader is Blaise Compaore?
Blaise Compaor (born February 3, 1951)
[2][3]
is a Burkinab politician who has been the President of
Burkina Faso since 1987. He was a top associate of President Thomas Sankara during the 1980s, and in
October 1987 he led a coup d'tat that murdered Sankara; subsequently he introduced a policy of
"rectification", overturning the Marxist policies pursued by Sankara. He won elections in 1991, 1998,
2005, and 2010.

What is the relationship between Upper Volta and Burkina Faso? What does
Burkina Faso mean in the local language, Moore? What is the significance of a
name change?
"Burkina", from Mor, may be translated as "men of integrity", while "Faso" means "fatherland" in Dioula.
"Burkina Faso" is thus meant to be understood as "Land of upright people" or "Land of honest people"
The Republic of Upper Volta (French: Rpublique de Haute-Volta) was established on 11 December 1958
as a self-governing colony within the French Community. The name Upper Volta indicated that the
country is situated on the upper reaches of the Volta River. The river's three tributaries are called the
Black Volta, White Volta and Red Volta, and the colors of the national flag corresponded to these parts of
the river system.
Before attaining autonomy it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union. On 5 August
1960, it attained full independence from France. The first president, Maurice Yamogo, was the leader of
the Voltaic Democratic Union (UDV). The 1960 constitution provided for election by universal suffrage of
a president and a national assembly for five-year terms. Soon after coming to power, Yamogo banned
all political parties other than the UDV. The government lasted until 1966 when after much unrestmass
demonstrations and strikes by students, labor unions, and civil servantsthe military intervened.
The military coup deposed Yamogo, suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, and
placed Lt. Col. Sangoul Lamizana at the head of a government of senior army officers. The army
remained in power for four years, and on 14 June 1970, the Voltans ratified a new constitution that
established a four-year transition period toward complete civilian rule. Lamizana remained in power
throughout the 1970s as president of military or mixed civil-military governments. After conflict over the
1970 constitution, a new constitution was written and approved in 1977, and Lamizana was reelected by
15
open elections in 1978.
Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions, and on 25
November 1980, Col. Saye Zerbo overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup. Colonel Zerbo
established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress as the supreme governmental
authority, thus eradicating the 1977 constitution.
Colonel Zerbo also encountered resistance from trade unions and was overthrown two years later, on 7
November 1982, by Maj. Dr. Jean-Baptiste Oudraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP). The
CSP continued to ban political parties and organizations, yet promised a transition to civilian rule and a
new constitution.
Factional infighting developed between moderates in the CSP and the radicals, led by Capt. Thomas
Sankara, who was appointed prime minister in January 1983. The internal political struggle and Sankara's
leftist rhetoric led to his arrest and subsequent efforts to bring about his release, directed by Capt. Blaise
Compaor. This release effort resulted in yet another military coup d'tat on 4 August 1983.

What is the colonial heritage of Burkina?

What two African countries did not suffer the yoke of colonialism? What highly
industrialized country has a tight link to Liberia? Who were the Americo-Liberians?
Americo-Liberians who are descendants of freed slaves that arrived in Liberia early in 1821 make up an estimated 5% of the
population.

Liberia, "land of the free," was founded by free African-Americans and freed slaves from the US in 1820. More settlements and
culminating in a declaration of independence of the Republic of Liberia on July 26, 1847.
What is the American Colonization Society (ACS)?
American Colonization Society (ACS), an organization of 1) white clergymen,
2) abolitionists, and
3) slave owners

founded in 1816 B/n 1821 and 1867 the ACS resettled some 10,000 African- Americans and several thousand Africans from
interdicted slave ships.






Who was Charles Taylor? What is his story? Where is he now? When was Liberia
established as an independent country?




Charles Taylor elected president in 1996...people voted for peace.
16































Rather than work to improve the lives of Liberians, Taylor supported the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra
Leone.


1847 independent country

Liberias governmental structure resembles what other country?

The capital of Liberia gets it name from what US president?
James Monroe
What US company invested heavily in Liberia? What did it produce?

From the guest speaker, I will ask a few questions (either true/false or multiple-
choice type). Know the review questions for the readings posted to Learn. If you
are asked about the leader of a country, you would not be required to spell the
name but just recognize the person for his/her accomplishments.
Mariama Bas novel, So Long a Letter, deals with what subject? Is set in what
country?
So Long a Letter (translated from Une si longue lettre) is a semi-autobiographical
[1]
novel originally
written in French by the Senegalese writer Mariama B. Its theme is the condition of women in Western
African society.
So Long a Letter, Mariama B's first novel, is literally written as a long letter. As the novel begins,
Ramatoulaye Fall is beginning a letter to her lifelong friend Aissatou B. The occasion for writing is
Ramatoulaye's recent widowhood. As she gives her friend the details of her husband's death, she
recounts the major events in their lives.
17
Ramatoulaye's husband, Modou Fall, died suddenly of a heart attack. Following the strictures of her
Muslim faith, Ramatoulaye must remain in seclusion (Mirasse) for a period of forty days. Aissatou, to
whom the letter is written, emigrated to the United States and pursued a feminist, monogamist
relationship.
The novel is often used in literature classes focusing on women's roles in post-colonial Africa.

To what extent is her novel autobiographical? When does this novel take place?
What are the major themes? Who tells Ramatoulaye that her husband took a
second wife?
husband's friends
Is polygamy more prevalent in rural or urban areas of Senegal? Why is this the
case?
Ramatoulaye: The widowed Senegalese woman who, after 25 years of marriage and 12 children,
narrates the story of her psychological abandonment by her husband, who takes a second wife.
Ramatoulaye physically distances herself from Modou who dies four years after this second marriage.
Ramatoulaye turns down two other marriage proposals, including that of Daouda Dieng. She is well
educated and teaches at a university. After her husband's second marriage, she must support her family,
including her 12 children, since her husband cuts off family ties and financial support.
Modou: The husband of Ramatoulaye and of Binetou. He was well educated, handsome, and charming.
For his own selfish desires, he marries Binetou and cuts ties with his 12 children and first wife,
Ramatoulaye. He later dies of a heart attack.
Mawdo: Ex-husband of Assatou.After being pressured by his mother, Mawdo follows Muslim tradition of
polygamy and marries a young girl named Nabou, who is also his first cousin. After his marriage with
Nabou, Assatou (his first wife) divorces him. He is Modou's long-time friend and a doctor.
Assatou: Ramatoulaye's best friend, to whom the letter is addressed. She divorced Mawdo because she
did not believe in polygamy; she left him a letter explaining her actions and never returned. She takes
care of herself well and bought Ramatoulaye a car, which made life much easier for Ramatoulaye. Her
divorce is symbolic because it represents a new life for her. She later leaves Senegal with her four sons
and moves to the United States to start over. She succeeds in making a new life for herself.
Assatou: Ramatoulaye and Moudo's daughter, who is named after her best friend. She enters into a
relationship with a boy she calls "Iba," a poor student who impregnates her. They claim to love each other
and plan their marriage after their studies. Since she is still a high school student, Iba's mother will take
care of the child until she graduates.
Ibrahima Sall: A student of law who impregnates Aissatou, Ramatoulaye's daughter. He is tall,
respectful, well-dressed, and punctual. Assatou is his first and possibly only love, he says. He will marry
Assatou if Ramatoulaye will allow it.
18
Binetou: A young girl around Daba's age who marries her 'sugar daddy' (Modou) because her mother,
who was poor, wanted to live the high life and climb the social ladder. Binetou became an outcast who
never quite fit in with the younger couples or the mature adults.
Daouda Dieng: Proposes to Ramatoulaye after her husband takes a second wife, but is turned down.
Daba: Ramatoulaye's and Modou's daughter. She is married and the eldest child. She is disgusted by her
father's choice to take a second wife.
Arame, Yacine, and Dieynaba: Known as "the trio." They are Ramatoulaye's daughters. They smoke,
drink, party, and wear pants instead of lady-like dresses. They represent the next modernized generation
after liberation from France.
Alioune and Malick: Ramatoulaye's young boys who play ball in the streets because they claim to have
no space to play in a compound. They get hit by a motorcyclist that they drag home with the intention of
having their mother avenge them. They are disappointed to find that Ramatoulaye does not get mad at
the cyclist, but at the boys because they were careless to play in the streets. This shows Ramatoulaye's
wisdom in raising her children in the right way.
Ousmane and Oumar: Young sons of Ramatoulaye. They represent the idea that a father figure would
be beneficial for Ramatoulaye's children since several of them are still so young. This does not, however,
convince Ramatoulaye to marry Daouda Dieng.
Farmata: The griot woman who is Ramatoulaye's neighbor and childhood friend. She noses into
Ramatoulaye's business and is the one to point out Aissatou's pregnancy to Ramatoulaye. She
represents a 'Spirit of Wisdom', but doesn't always give the best advice.
Jaqueline Diack: Mother of Mawdo's child. She contrasts Ramatoulaye character because she commits
to Islamic religion and becomes Mawdo's third wife.
Little Nabou: Raised by Mawdo's mother, Grande Nabou. She is brought up under very traditional
Muslim customs and becomes a midwife. She later marries Mawdo B to be his second wife. She is the
niece of Grande Nabou and the first cousin of Mawdo B.
Grande Nabou: Mawdo B's mother and influences him to marry Little Nabou. She dislikes Assatou
since she comes from a working-class family and her father is a jewelry maker. Grande Nabou is a
princess from a royal family in Senegal and is very conservative in her views and traditions.

Know the difference among the following terms: polygamy, polyandry, polygyny
Polygamy refers to the practice of having more than one spouse. It is broader than
polygyny, which refers to situations where one man has multiple wives, and polyandry,
which refers to one woman with multiple husbands.
Is polygyny more widespread in former French or British colonies?
Polygyny rates are higher in Western Africa than in Eastern Africa. .... Eltis and Richardson
(1995) on productivity of French and British slave voyages, and Hogerzeil
19
What religion is associated with polygyny? How many adhere to this religion in
Senegal? What factors affect polygamy and are important in understanding
polygamy?
Islam, rural life
What does the Senegalese family code say about polygamy? When was it passed?
Prior to enactment of Family Code in 1972, family relations were governed by Christian,
Islamic and customary laws, or under civil code. Work on codification of uniform
personal status law began in 1961 with comprehensive listing of customary laws applied
in Senegal, ending with publication of 68 officially recognised customary regimes.
Family Code drafted by Commission for codification passed into law and came into
force January 1
st
1973. Family Code regulates marriage, divorce, succession and
custody, with separate section for Muslim succession law.
What does the Quran say about polygamy?
The Quran presents only one very specific situation in which a man may have more than
one wife, but even then, God advises that it is better to be married to just one wife at any
one time.
What do we learn about societal family norms from this novel?
How would you characterize Senegals government (e.g., elections), economy
(e.g., what does it produce) and people (e.g., how many ethnic groups, what
language is spoken, what religion is prominent) relative to other African countries
weve studied?
Islam is the predominant religion in the country.
enegal has a wide variety of ethnic groups and, as in most West African countries, several languages are
widely spoken. The Wolof are the largest single ethnic group in Senegal at 43 percent; the Fula
[35]
and
Toucouleur (also known as Halpulaar'en, literally "Pulaar-speakers") (24%) are the second biggest group,
followed by the Serer (14.7%),
[36]
then others such as Jola (4%), Mandinka (3%), Maures or (Naarkajors), Soninke, Bassari
and many smaller communities (9%). (See also the Bedick ethnic group.)
About 50,000 Europeans (mostly French) and Lebanese
[37]
as well as smaller numbers of Mauritanians and Moroccans
[citation needed]

reside in Senegal, mainly in the cities. The majority of Lebanese work in commerce.
[38]
Also located primarily in urban settings are
small Vietnamese communities as well as a growing number of Chinese immigrant traders, each numbering perhaps a few hundred
people.
[39][40]
There are also tens of thousands of Mauritanian refugees in Senegal, primarily in the country's north.
[41]

French is the official language, used regularly by a minority of Senegalese educated in a system styled upon the colonial-era
schools of French origin (Koranic schools are even more popular, but Arabic is not widely spoken outside of this context of
recitation). Most people also speak their own ethnic language while, especially in Dakar, Wolof is the lingua franca
[citation needed]
. Pulaar
is spoken by the Fulas and Toucouleur. The Serer language is widely spoken by both Serers and non-Serers (including president
Sall, whose mother and wife are Serers); so are the Cangin languages, whose speakers are ethnically Serers.
Portuguese Creole is a prominent minority language in Ziguinchor, regional capital of the Casamance, where some residents speak
Kriol, primarily spoken in Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verdeans speak their native creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and standard
Portuguese.
20
French, the only official language in the country, is facing a backlash as a consequence of a rising Senegalese linguistic nationalist
movement, which supports the integration of Wolof, the common vernacular language of the country, into the national constitution.
[42]


When did Senegal become independent from a European colonial power?
20 June 1960
Who is Macky Sall? How long has he held his position?
Macky Sall (born 11 December 1961
[1]
) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal
since April 2012. Under President Abdoulaye Wade, Sall was Prime Minister of Senegal from April 2004
to June 2007 and President of the National Assembly of Senegal from June 2007 to November 2008.
[2]

He was the Mayor of Fatick from 2002 to 2008 and held that post again from 2009 to 2012.
Sall was a long-time member of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS). After coming into conflict with
Wade, he was removed from his post as President of the National Assembly in November 2008; he
consequently founded his own party and joined the opposition. Placing second in the first round of the
2012 presidential election, he won the backing of other opposition candidates and prevailed over Wade in
the second round of voting, held on 25 March 2012.
[3]


Be able to calculate the doubling time of a population using the Rule of 72. How is
it useful?
The doubling time is the period of time required for a quantity to double in size or value. It is applied to
population growth, inflation, resource extraction, consumption of goods, compound interest, the volume of
malignant tumours, and many other things which tend to grow over time. When the relative growth rate
(not the absolute growth rate) is constant, the quantity undergoes exponential growth and has a constant
doubling time or period which can be calculated directly from the growth rate.
For example, given Canada's net population growth of 0.9% in the year 2006, dividing 70 by 0.9 gives an
approximate doubling time of 78 years. Thus if the growth rate remains constant, Canada's population
would double from its 2006 figure of 33 million to 66 million by 2084.
Know the issues that we discussed vis--vis female circumcision such as cultural
relativism, human rights issue, medical issue, and cultural hegemony.
Procedures
Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.
Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the
female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the
clitoris).
Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the
labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is
formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the
clitoris.
Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g.
pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.
21

Know the types of female circumcision discussed in class.
How prevalent is FGM in sub-Saharan Africa? What are the health concerns with
FGM?
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is
defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of
the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."
[2]
FGM
is practised as a cultural ritual by ethnic groups in 27 countries in sub-Saharan and Northeast Africa, and
to a lesser extent in Asia, the Middle East and within immigrant communities elsewhere.
[8]
It is typically
carried out, with or without anaesthesia, by a traditional circumciser using a knife or razor.
[9]
The age of
the girls varies from weeks after birth to puberty; in half the countries for which figures were available in
2013, most girls were cut before the age of five.
[5]

The practice involves one or more of several procedures, which vary according to the ethnic group. They
include removal of all or part of the clitoris andclitoral hood; all or part of the clitoris and inner labia; and in
its most severe form (infibulation) all or part of the inner and outer labia and the fusion of the wound. In
this last procedure, which the WHO calls Type III FGM, a small hole is left for the passage of urine and
menstrual blood, and the wound is opened up for intercourse and childbirth.
[10]
The health effects depend
on the procedure but can include recurrent infections, chronic pain, infertility, epidermoid cysts,
complications during childbirth and fatal bleeding.
[11]

Around 125 million women and girls in Africa and the Middle East have undergone FGM.
[4]
Over eight
million have experienced Type III, which is predominant in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and
Sudan.
[12]
The practice is an ethnic marker, rooted in gender inequality, ideas about purity, modesty and
aesthetics, and attempts to control women's sexuality.
[13]
It is supported by both women and men in
countries that practise it, particularly by the women, who see it as a source of honour and authority, and
an essential part of raising a daughter well.
[14]

There has been an international effort since the 1970s to eradicate the practice, culminating in a
unanimous vote in 2012 by the United Nations General Assembly to take all necessary steps to end it.
[15]

It has been outlawed in most of the countries in which it occurs, but the laws are poorly enforced.
[16]
The
opposition is not without its critics, particularly among anthropologists, some of whom view the
eradicationist position as cultural imperialism.
[17]
Eric Silverman writes that FGM is one of anthropology's
central moral topics, raising questions about pluralism and multiculturalism within a debate framed
bycolonial and post-colonial history.
[18]


What are the main themes of La Petite Vendeuse de Soleil or The Little Girl Who
Sold the Sun?
The Little Girl who Sold the Sun (which will subsequently be referred to as Little Girl) is Mambetys second short film in his trilogy
exploring the subject of money and its perverse effects on society, referred to as Tales of Little [and sometimes Ordinary] People
(Histoires de petites gens). Le Franc (1994) is the first instalment of this trilogy. Little Girlwas being edited at the time of Mambetys
death in 1998 and the trilogy was thus left incomplete. Little Girl is the colourful story of Sili Laam (played by Lissa Balra), a
paraplegic and impoverished child who begs for money until she is trampled by a gang of young newspaper sellers. This physical
collision awakens her to her potential and its possible fulfilment: she, like the boys, can sell newspapers and earn a living. Sili
22
embraces this consciousness and from then on builds her future through her own power of determination. Her aspiration is
legitimate, yet she is bullied by the boys who see her entering their market and territory as unwanted competition, to be kept out by
any means necessary. Despite the completely unbalanced battleground and their common need for survival, the taunting of the
boys is as relentless as it is unwarranted.
From what country does this film come?
a Petite Vendeuse de Soleil is a film exalting the lives and promise found among ordinary Senegalese. It
depicts a young beggar girl, Sili, who on crutches, confidently makes her way through a city of obstacles,
becoming the first girl to sell a daily newspaper in the competitive world of young male newspaper
vendors. Mambty dedicated this last film to "the courage of street children". The scenes are expertly
played by non-professional actors and with the participation of the street children.
What identifies the filming context, Dakar, as a modern city?
What statuses does Sili have that may indicate low social status?
Why has Mambety picked as the heroine of this film, a child, a female, a member of a despised social caste (Laam is
often the name of those who handle animal skins - outcasts in many cultures) and a paraplegic? Is Mambety
suggesting a comparison between Sili Laam's disabilities and the disadvantages of a capital-poor Africa trying to
compete in the world market? Sili Laam has no resources but her energy and resiliency; she doesn't even have a
boom box like the man in the wheelchair; she can't even walk as easily as the other newspaper vendors.
What cultural markers distinguish social class?
What is the significance of the two newspapers in the film, le Sud (the South) and
le Soleil (the Sun)? Think about the headlines and current social situation?
Participants will get more out of a screening if you can explain the economic situation that forms the invisible but
inescapable backdrop of both these films. Both films are set against the background of the periodic devaluations of
the CFA (pronounced "Sifa"), the currency in much of former French West Africa, by the unilateral decision of French
bankers at the behest of the World Bank. (There are about 400 CFA to the dollar and 66 to the French Franc.)
Devaluation renders all imports, whether components or finished goods, suddenly more expensive. This can have a
devastating impact on an economy like Senegal's which is highly dependent on foreign capital and inputs. At the
same time, a country's exports become comparatively cheaper and, theoretically, more marketable outside the
country. Devaluation also can increase the value of a country's overseas debt because that debt will usually be
denominated in "hard" currencies like the US dollar or British pound. In La petite vendeuse de Soleil viewers will
notice imported refrigerators sitting in the market, too expensive to sell now, and in Le Franc Marigo says they must
"eat African" since European food now costs too much.
In both films there are conspicuous references to Yadikoon, a semi-legendary figure who in popular memory became
a kind of Senegalese Robin Hood, robbing from the rich to give to the poor. In Le Franc, the main character, Marigo
has a poster of Yadikoon in his room. Mambety himself named a foundation he established for Dakar's street children
after Yadikoon.

Is there a political message in this film for the international
development/globalization community? What is it?
What is the cfa (communite financiere africaine) zone? How is this presented as an
issue in the film?
What countries are in the cfa zone? (know at least five)
Benin
Burkina Faso
23
Ivory Coast
Guinea-Bissau
Mali
Niger
Senegal
Togo

What are the diamond wars in Africa? Who benefits and who pays? In what three
countries did they take place?
Liberia and Sierra Leone
From 1989 to 2003, Liberia was engaged in a civil war. In 2000, the UN accused Liberian president
Charles G. Taylor of supporting the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) insurgency in neighboring Sierra
Leonewith weapons and training in exchange for diamonds.
[11]
In 2001, the United Nations applied
sanctions on the Liberian diamond trade. In August 2003, Taylor stepped down as president and, after
being exiled to Nigeria, faced trial in The Hague. On July 21, 2006 he pleaded not guilty to crimes against
humanity and war crimes,
[4]
of which he was found guilty in April 2012. On May 30, 2012, he began a 50-
year sentence in a high security prison in the United Kingdom.
[12]

Around the time of the 1998 United States embassy bombings, al-Qaeda allegedly bought gems from
Liberia as some of its other financial assets were frozen.
[13]

Having regained peace, Liberia is attempting to construct a legitimate diamond mining industry. The UN
has lifted sanctions and Liberia is now a member of the Kimberley Process.
[14]

Angola
Cte d'Ivoire

The diamond war in Sierra Leone is associated with what local rebel group? What
neighboring country president?

Osama Ben Laden lived in which sub-Saharan African country in the 1990s?
Sudan
What factors are associated with the initiation and duration of war as we discussed
in class?
Who is Omar al-Bashir? How long has he been in office? Who are the Janjaweed?
Field Marshall Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir (Arabic: ; born 1 January 1944) is the
President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as
a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the
24
government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi
[1]
when the country was at the risk of entering a
countrywide famine. Since then he has been elected three times as President.
From Collier, what do we know about the economic causes of war? What data does
Collier use? What type of analysis? Does this make sense with conflicts have
discussed in Africa?
From Ross, what do we know about natural resources and civil war? Can you apply
his arguments to any countries we have studied?
From Jared Diamond, what caused the collapse in Rwanda?

What countries are major oil exporters in Africa?
Sudan,Nigeria and south africa
Dave Eggers novel, What is the What, has what as its storyline historically and
geographically?
s a boy, Achak is separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War when the Arab militia,
referred to as murahaleen (which is Arabic for traveller), wipes out his Dinka village, Marial Bai. During
the assault, he loses sight of his father and his childhood friends, Moses and William K. William K
escapes, but Moses is believed to be dead after the assault. Achak seeks shelter in the house of his aunt
with his mother, who is frequently identified throughout the book with a yellow dress. Before they are
hidden, they hear the screaming of Achak's aunt, and his mother goes to investigate. Achak never sees
her again afterward. He evades detection by hiding in a bag of grain, and credits God for helping him stay
quiet. He flees on foot with a group of other young boys (the "Lost Boys"), encountering great danger and
terrible hardship along the way to a refugee camp in Ethiopia . Their inflated expectations are shattered
by the conditions at the camp, and eventually they are forced to flee to another refugee camp in Kakuma,
after Ethiopian president Mengistu is overthrown and soldiers open fire on them. They make it to Kenya
and finally, years later, he moves to the United States. The story is told in parallel to subsequent
hardships in the United States.
Who is Valentino Achak Deng?
a Sudanese refugee and member of the Lost Boys of Sudan program.
Where is and what happens to his home village?
Sudan
Valentino is Sudanese and with the other Lost Boys he walks through Sudan to Ethiopia.
Mariel Bai
Mariel Bai is Valentino's home town in Sudan. It is completely destroyed.
Ethiopia
The Lost Boys walk to Ethiopia, which they are told offers them a much better life.
Pinyudo
The refugee camp in Ethiopia.
Kenya
Valentino walks from Ethiopia to Kenya.
Kakuma
25
The refugee camp in Kenya
Nairobi
Valentino visits some volunteers in Nairobi and experiences modern comfort for the first
time.
America
Valentina and other Lost Boys travel to different parts of America to find work and hopefully
complete a college education.
Century Club
The gym in Atlanta where Valentino work.
The Hospital
Valentino goes to a hospital in Atlanta for an MRI scan.

Sowhat is the what? What is the SPLA?
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA
was founded as a guerrilla movement in 1983 and was a key protagonist of the Second Sudanese Civil
War. Throughout the war, it was led by John Garang de Mabior.
Following John Garang's death, Salva Kiir Mayardit was named the new Commander-in-Chief of SPLA.
[2]

As of 2013, the SPLA was estimated to have 210,000 soldiers and an unknown number of personnel in
the small South Sudan Air Force.
[1]
The SPLA is divided into divisions of 10,000-14,000 soldiers.
[2]

Following the independence of South Sudan in 2011 the SPLA became the regular army of the new
republic.

How do you perceive the government of Sudan from the reading of this novel?
Who are the murahaleen and the Lost Boys?
The Lost Boys of Sudan is the name given to the groups of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were
displaced and/or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (19832005); about 2.5 million were killed and millions were
displaced.
[1]
The name "Lost Boys of Sudan" was colloquially used by aid workers in the refugee camps where the boys resided in
Africa. The term was revived, as children fled the post-independence violence of South Sudan with Sudan during 201113.
[2]

[3]

Know the major themes and characters of this novel/autobiography.
The theme of Home and Immigration questions the things we become attached to (our homes), and whether or not
we'd be willing to give up the security of home for a better life.

Another of the novel's themes deals with the relationship between the Sudan and The United States. In relation to
"human connection," we need to look at educating ourselves and dissecting whatever relationship there is between
the two countries in order to better understand the plight of refugees. We cannot make a connection if ignorant to
the lives of the Sudanese people.
What is Valentino saying about the power of storytelling?
What is the SPLA from your reading of this novel?
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla
movement in 1983 and was a key protagonist of the Second Sudanese Civil War. Throughout the war, it was led by John Garang de
Mabior.
26
How is the Sudanese government portrayed in this novel?
What happens to Valentinos childhood friends? What happens to his father and
mother?
What kind of support do the Lost Boys have in the US? How many were resettled in
the US in 1999?
What is happens to Valentino after escaping the conflict in Africa and being
resettled in Atlanta?
What are the issues framing the conflict between the Dinka and the Sudanese
government?
How did/does geography shape this conflict? To what extent are these issues
resolved today?
What has transpired to make this happen?
What natural resource is important to the Sudanese government?
What proportion of Sudanese oil is exported to Asian countries? China?
What is the role of oil in Sudan? South Sudan? What were the terms of the 2005
Comprehensive Peace Agreement?
What did we learn about the conflict in the Darfur? When did it start? When was a
peace agreement signed?
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, Arabic: , Ittifqiyat al-Slam a-amil), also known as the
Naivasha Agreement, was a set of agreements culminating in January 2005 that were signed between the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The CPA was meant to end the Second Sudanese Civil War, develop
democratic governance countrywide and share oil revenues. It further set a timetable by which Southern Sudan had a referendum
on its independence.
Who are the people of the Darfur? In what part of Sudan do we find them?
How many people were killed due to the Darfur conflict?
What are the roots of the Darfur genocide as discussed by Faris in class?
To truly understand the crisis in Darfurand it has been profoundly misunderstoodyou need to look back to the mid-1980s, before
the violence between African and Arab began to simmer. Alex de Waal, now a program director at the Social Science Research
Council, was there at that time, as a doctoral candidate doing anthropological fieldwork. Earlier this year, he told me a story that, he
says, keeps coming back to him.
De Waal was traveling through the dry scrub of Darfur, studying indigenous reactions to the drought that gripped the region. In a
herders camp near the deserts border, he met with a bedridden and nearly blind Arab sheikh named Hilal Abdalla, who said he was
noticing things he had never seen before: Sand blew into fertile land, and the rare rain washed away alluvial soil. Farmers who had
once hosted his tribe and his camels were now blocking their migration; the land could no longer support both herder and farmer.
Many tribesmen had lost their stock and scratched at millet farming on marginal plots.
The God-given order was broken, the sheikh said, and he feared the future. The way the world was set up since time immemorial
was being disturbed, recalled de Waal. And it was bewildering, depressing. And the consequences were terrible.
27
In 2003, another scourge, now infamous, swept across Darfur. Janjaweed fighters in military uniforms, mounted on camels and
horses, laid waste to the region. In a campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting Darfurs blacks, the armed militiamen raped women,
burned houses, and tortured and killed men of fighting age. Through whole swaths of the region, they left only smoke curling into
the sky.
At their head was a 6-foot-4 Arab with an athletic build and a commanding presence. In a conflict the United States would later call
genocide, he topped the State Departments list of suspected war criminals. De Waal recognized him: His name was Musa Hilal, and
he was the sheikhs son.
The fighting in Darfur is usually described as racially motivated, pitting mounted Arabs against black rebels and civilians. But the
fault lines have their origins in another distinction, between settled farmers and nomadic herders fighting over failing lands. The
aggression of the warlord Musa Hilal can be traced to the fears of his father, and to how climate change shattered a way of life.
Until the rains began to fail, the sheikhs people lived amicably with the settled farmers. The nomads were welcome passers-through,
grazing their camels on the rocky hillsides that separated the fertile plots. The farmers would share their wells, and the herders
would feed their stock on the leavings from the harvest. But with the drought, the farmers began to fence off their landeven fallow
landfor fear it would be ruined by passing herds. A few tribes drifted elsewhere or took up farming, but the Arab herders stuck to
their fraying livelihoodsnomadic herding was central to their cultural identity. (The distinction between Arab and African in
Darfur is defined more by lifestyle than any physical difference: Arabs are generally herders, Africans typically farmers. The two
groups are not racially distinct.)
The name Darfur means Land of the Fur (the largest single tribe of farmers in Darfur), but the vast region holds the tribal lands
the darsof many tribes. In the late 1980s, landless and increasingly desperate Arabs began banding together to wrest their own dar
from the black farmers. In 1987, they published a manifesto of racial superiority, and clashes broke out between Arabs and Fur.
About 3,000 people, mostly Fur, were killed, and hundreds of villages and nomadic camps were burned before a peace agreement
was signed in 1989. More fighting in the 1990s entrenched the divisions between Arabs and non-Arabs, pitting the Arab pastoralists
against the Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit farmers. In these disputes, Sudans central government, seated in Khartoum, often
supported the Arabs politically and sometimes provided arms.
In 2003, a rebellion began in Darfura reaction against Khartoums neglect and political marginalization of the region. And while
the rebels initially sought a pan-ethnic front, the schism between those who opposed the government and those who supported it
broke largely on ethnic lines. Even so, the conflict was rooted more in land envy than in ethnic hatred. Interestingly, most of the
Arab tribes who have their own land rights did not join the governments fight, says David Mozersky, the International Crisis
Groups project director for the Horn of Africa.

Who in Sudan is wanted by the ICC since 2008?
Omar Al Bashir
Waiting depicts what civil war?
This short documentary zooms in on the Dinka population of Alek, South Sudan, during a period of famine. The Dinkas are an
extremely patient people. With empty stomachs, they await the next harvest. For the last 40 years, an intermittent state of civil war
has divided the country in 2. This time, the population has requested aid. Sacks of grain are dropped from planes, but to prevent
rioting, distribution is delayed until the arrival of reinforcements. During this week of waiting, we witness the true face of hunger.
28
In what ways do you see that conflict makes it difficult for people to continue to
provide for themselves?
After 145 tons of grain are air-dropped into Alek, what is the problem? How is it
resolved?
To what extent is dependence on a commodity within the global economy useful
in understanding the conflicts we have discussed since the last exam?
What did we learn from the class discussion of the Diamonds ideas on societal
collapse and their application to Rwanda?
This book employs the comparative method to understand societal collapses to which environmental
problems contribute. My previous book (Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies), had
applied the comparative method to the opposite problem: the differing rates of buildup of human societies
on different continents over the last 13,000 years. In the present book focusing on collapses rather than
buildups, I compare many past and present societies that differed with respect to environmental fragility,
relations with neighbors, political institutions, and other "input" variables postulated to influence a
society's stability. The "output" variables that I examine are collapse or survival, and form of the collapse
if collapse does occur. By relating output variables to input variables, I aim to tease out the influence of
possible input variables on collapses.
[1]

Diamond identifies five factors that contribute to collapse: climate change, hostile neighbors, collapse of
essential trading partners, environmental problems, and failure to adapt to environmental issues.

When did South Sudan become a country? What is its relationship to Sudan?
South Sudan (
i
/sa sudn/ or /sudn/), officially the Republic of South Sudan
[8]
and previously
known as Southern Sudan, is a landlocked country ineast-central Africa
[8]
that is part of the United
Nations subregion of Eastern Africa.
[9]
Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city. The capital
city is planned to be changed to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future.
[10]
South Sudan is
bordered by Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Ugandato the south, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the west and the Republic of Sudan to the
north. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the
Bahr al Jabal.
The territories of modern South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan were part of Egypt under the
Muhammad Ali Dynasty, and later governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium until Sudanese
independence was achieved in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan
Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon
developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. Later that year, southern
autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed.
South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following a referendum that passed with
98.83% of the vote.
[11][12]
It is a United Nations member state,
[13][14]
a member state of the African Union,
[15]

29
and a member state of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.
[16]
In July 2012, South Sudan
signed the Geneva Conventions.
[17]
South Sudan has experienced internal conflict since its
independence.

Who is Salvo Kiir? How long has he been in office?
Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951) is a South Sudanese politician who has been President of
South Sudan since its independence in 2011. Prior to independence, he was President of the
Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011.
What are the Millennium Development Goals? When did they come about?
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that were
established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the
United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 189 United Nations member states and at least 23
international organizations committed to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, the
goals follow:
Be able to list at least four of the eight MDGs.
1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. To achieve universal primary education
3. To promote gender equality and empowering women
4. To reduce child mortality rates
5. To improve maternal health
6. To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. To ensure environmental sustainability
8. To develop a global partnership for development
[1]


30
What do we learn in the class lecture about Seba, a 22-year-old woman from Mali,
who had spent her childhood working rather than going to school?
What do we know about child labor in Africa? How is income related to child labor?
How is income inequality within a country related to child labor? How is school
enrollment related to child labor?
What is child fostering and how is it related to child labor?
Why is African child labor overlooked compared to the child labor problems in Asia
and Latin America?
To what extent is child labor a social problem for African societies?
How does the Convention on the Rights of the Child relate to the issue of child
labor?
What three countries have not ratified this UN convention?
Who is Joseph Koni? Why is he wanted by the ICC since 2005?
Joseph Kony (pronounced IPA: [ko];
[7]
born sometime between July and September 1961)
[1]
is the leader of the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA), a guerrilla groupwhich used to operate in Uganda. While initially purporting to fight against government suppression,
the LRA allegedly turned against Kony's own supporters, supposedly to "purify" the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a
theocracy.
[2]
Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, and has been considered by some as a cult of
personality, and claims he is visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom.
[2]
Ideologically, the group is a
syncretic mix of mysticism, Acholi nationalism, Islam, and Christian fundamentalism,
[8]
and claims to be establishing a theocratic
state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition.
[9][10]

Kony has been accused by government entities of ordering the abduction of children to become child-sex slaves and child
soldiers.
[11]
An estimated 66,000 children became soldiers. And from 1986 up until about 2009, there were at least 2 million people
internally displaced.
[12]

Kony was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in
2005 but has evaded capture.
[13]
Since Juba peace talk in 2006, the LRA no longer operate in Uganda. Sources claim that they are in
Democratic Republic of Congo, or Central African Republic orSouth Sudan.
[14]
In 2013 Kony was reported to be in poor health and
Michel Djotodia, president of the Central African Republic, claimed he was negotiating with Kony to surrender.
[15]

When China Met Africa (documentary film) How are the Chinese perceived? What
country is the subject?
A historic gathering of over 50 African heads of state in Beijing reverberates in Zambia where the lives of three characters unfold. Mr
Liu is one of thousands of Chinese entrepreneurs who have settled across the continent in search of new opportunities. He has just
bought his fourth farm and business is booming.
In northern Zambia, Mr Li, a project manager for a multinational Chinese company is upgrading Zambia's longest road. Pressure to
complete the road on time intensifies when funds from the Zambian government start running out.
Meanwhile Zambia's Trade Minister is on route to China to secure millions of dollars of investment.
Through the intimate portrayal of these characters, the expanding footprint of a rising global power is laid bare - pointing to a
radically different future, not just for Africa, but also for the world.

What proportion of Zambias income comes from copper? What other natural
resource is a significant income earner?
Nearly 3/4ths
31
According to Taylor, what are Chinas new roles in Africa?
Development assistance
What are relevant China's foreign relations policies when it comes to the
continent?

What does Africa get in return? Be able to list three things.
Chinese goods
Development aid
Loans
How does Taylor describe the interface of China and the arms trade in Africa?
What are the human rights concerns in terms of Chinas interactions on the
continent?
From the Taylor reading, what country is the top trade partner with African
countries? What country is second?
In what three Sub-Saharan African countries has China made the greatest
investment? Why?
il from Angola and Sudan, timber from Central Africa, and copper from Zambia
What other countries are of interest for China? Why?
From class notes, know and be able to apply Noels Theory of Ethnic Stratification.
Ethnic stratification is a phenomenon that has been part of civilized life for centuries. One of the
better theories attempting to explain this reoccurrence was written by Donald L. Noel. In his
theory, he explained how ethnocentrism, competition, and differential power must all be present
for ethnic stratification to occur.
Noel defines ethnic stratification as a system of stratification where membership of
a particular group is the reason a group is assigned to a lower social position (Noel
1968: 157).
For this to occur there must first be prolonged content between the two different
groups. Each group has a particular culture and views their own as the center of
everything (Noel 1968: 158).
For ethnic stratification to occur there must then be some scarce resource that the
groups compete for.
Finally, one group must have the power to impose its will upon the other (Noel
1962: 162).

32
What is the precondition and what are the three requirements?
Can you apply his model to explain ethnic conflict in Africa?
To prepare, first review both study guides for exams 2 and 3. You are also
responsible for basic geography that we have learned in this class as it shapes the
societies that are contained within Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, I will ask two
or three softball questions about the lecture on our class field trip last Monday.

Next, I want you to think about the bigger concepts in this class (e.g., cultural
hegemony, people's relationship to their government, the importance of
storytelling).
Then, think about all of the forms of social inequality that we have studied. Do
you see patterns from one society (or country) to the next?
How important is the colonial legacy for the societies that we have studied in Sub-
Saharan Africa in terms of shaping the life chances of people who live there?

A lot of talk regarding the African continent revolves around economic
development. From what you have learned in this class (films and materials),
does human rights take a back seat to economic development? Why do you think
this is the case?

From what we have studied in this class, is it the exploitation of natural resources
that leads to increasing incomes in Sub-Saharan Africa? Think about lootable
commodities here and conflict. In the absence of conflict what stands in the way
for a country like Zambia in increasing the standard of living and life chances for
its people?

Some of these questions are broad I realize, but I want you to take a step back
from the details and see the forest and not just the trees. We have to study the
trees in order to understand the forest, but now it is time to think about systems
of social inequality and how these systems work for some actors and not others in
a given society and world order of societies.
Africa: What has gone wrong? Can it be made right?
What are the main reasons cited by Reid for what has gone wrong in Africa?
33


False Start in Africa
An unusually negative colonial experience
Overly Hasty de-colonization
Unworkable political systems
Lack of skilled manpower
The seeds of conflict in the arc of crisis
Wrong development models
An unconstrained elite
A tolerant international environment
According to Reid, what can be made right?


getting the politics right
Botswana a parliamentary system: A best losers constitutional mechanism
allocates seats to minority groups that fail to win parliamentary seats.
Rewriting the political rules of the game: dont rush
Building a consensus on economic policy
Promoting agriculture first
Easing population pressures
Eschewing violence