The African Poor: A History

A History

Author: John Iliffe Series: African Studies Series

Professor Iliffe traces the history of the poor of Sub-Saharan Africa from the thirteenth-century Ethiopia to the South African resettlement sites of the 1980s.

Product Unavailable

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

Professor Iliffe traces the history of the poor of Sub-Saharan Africa from the thirteenth-century Ethiopia to the South African resettlement sites of the 1980s.

Description

This is a book for all readers concerned with the future of Africa. The first history of the poor of Sub-Saharan Africa, it begins in the monasteries of thirteenth-century Ethiopia and ends in the South African resettlement sites of the 1980s. It provides a historical context for poverty in Africa--both the permanent poverty of the dispossessed and the temporary poverty of famine victims. Its thesis, modelled on the histories of poverty in Europe, is that most very poor Africans have been incapacitated for labor, bereft of support, and unable to fend for themselves in a land-rich economy. Dr. Iliffe investigates what it is like to be poor, how the poor seek to help themselves, how their families help, and how charitable and governmental institutions provide for them.

Critic Reviews

“"This tour de force could only be written by someone with a vast library at his disposal, and Iliffe has used his sources well indeed." Journal of Developing Areas”

'This is history which is in empathy with Africa which seeks, and finds, the positive elements in the suffering of the poor.' The Times Higher Educational Supplement 'This pioneering book is both comprehensive and also eminently fair: whether in dealing with pre-colonial, colonial, or contemporary conditions, Iliffe presents a splendidly balanced and unprejudiced view always meticulously supported by the factual evidence.' American Anthropologist

About the Author

John Iliffe is Professor of African History at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John's College. He is the author of several book on Africa, including The African Poor: A History (Cambridge, 1987) and Africans: The History of a Continent (Cambridge, 1995). The African Poor was awarded the Herskovits Prize of the African Studies Association of the United States.