Conflict in Contemporary Africa

Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Summer 2003 by Smaldone, Joseph P

Conflict in Contemporary Africa, ed. by P. Godfrey Okoth and Bethwell A. Ogot. Nairobi, Kenya: Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, 2000. 268 pp. $34.95 (paper). Dist. by African Books Collective, Oxford, UK.

Confronted by the bewildering variety of conflicts across Africa, the contributors to this book set modest aims: no grand theories much less grand solutions, only "food for thought." They do claim to offer holistic, comprehensive, interdisciplinary, Afrocentric, and (neo)-Marxist perspectives on conflict, but fall somewhat short. If the editors speak for all contributors, the inevitability of conflict and the "complex nature of humans and their environment" leave scholars no choice but to "soldier on with transdisciplinary researches in the causes, nature, levels, variety and incidence of conflict and its management in Africa." (p. 17)

The contributors consider conflict to be a ubiquitous condition of underlying disputed issues, as distinct from armed violence (which they term "crisis"). They are concerned with conflict in this broad sense, so there is scant reference to combat. The 22 chapters range widely, dealing with everything from traditional interstate territorial quarrels to globalization, with literacy, gender imbalance, urbanization, and road transport among others examined as sources of conflict. A rich variety to be sure, but the absence of a coherent analytical framework and the sheer diversity of subjects and approaches render the whole no greater than the sum of its parts.

As is often the case with edited volumes (this one being the proceedings of a 1997 conference organized by the Department of History and Government, Maseno University, Kisumu, Kenya), the scope and quality of the chapters vary considerably. Most of the papers are short, about 10 pages, and virtually all contributors are based at Kenyan universities (11 of 21 at Maseno). As local scholars, many understandably chose local subjects. The pan-African title notwithstanding, of eleven chapters with a specific regional or country focus, all but one deal with East/Central Africa, and six of them are about Kenya. Some authors place their subjects in the context of relevant theory, but most of the papers are straightforward descriptive analyses.

The editors and contributors did not intend to produce a book on the theory of conflict or its resolution, but rather a collection of essays and case studies on various conditions and predicaments that give rise to and contextualize conflicts in Africa. Much of the related literature deals with wars in Africa and their prevention or control, often with a more limited ambit. This book, more broadly conceived, offers a local smorgasbord instead of a fixed menu. Professionals and advanced students concerned with conflicts and conflict management in Africa should check out the offerings here; some may be satisfied to sample the contents, but few will be tempted to consume all of it.

Reviewed by Joseph P. Smaldone

Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Book review editor of JPMS