Book Description

This book, first published in 1983 by Cambridge University Press and now issued for the first time in paperback with a new preface, tells the story of Amilcar Cabral who, as head of PAIGC, Guinea-Bissau’s nationalist movement, became one of Africa’s foremost revolutionary leaders.

In less than twenty years of active political life, Cabral led Guinea-Bissau’s nationalists to the most complete political and military success ever achieved by an African political movement against a colonial power. At the time of his death in 1973, months before Guinea-Bissau became independent, his influence extended well beyond the Lusophone world and Africa. Friends and foes alike admired his political acumen and skills and saw in him a potential leader of a non-aligned movement. His writings have shown him to be a sophisticated analyst of the social, economic, and political factors which have affected and continue to affect the developing world.

At a time when there is a general sense of despondency about the future of Africa, as well as cynicism about its political elites, it is instructive to be reminded that the continent has produced a political leader of Cabral’s caliber. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A first rate political biography of Amilcar Cabral.
Patrick Chabal's Amilcar Cabral is a first-rate political biography of Amilcar Cabral. Indeed, this work is the most thorough, critical, and objective source of information and analysis of this important African democratic revolutionary that I have come across. Chabal tells a thorough and compelling story of Cabral and critically analyzes the development of his revolutionary philosophy and political skills within the context of colonial Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. I highly recommend this work to anyone looking for a rigorous source on this important democratic philosopher and African revolutionary. Chabal also gives us a detailed contextual account of Cape Verde and "Portuguese Guinea," and the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) during Cabral's time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Some background before you read, please.
This book is a good overview at West Africa's attempts to police itself and solve its own problems. It covers the three ECOMOG deployments to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau (this was written before the as of now potential ECOMOG deployment to Cote d'Ivoire) as well as adding several chapters which analyze all three of the deployments and how they succeded or failed in their missions. Finally, a brief view of how ECOMOG and the rest of the world should cooperate is peppered throughout the book. While small, the book is well researched and intelligently put together. It covers the history of each conflict well, and explores the deployments without getting bogged down in details of combat or the establishment of bases, etc. However, I would not reccomend this book to someone who does not already have a basic understanding of West Africa or else of basic peacekeeping principles from operations in other areas of the world. Without this, much of the details needed to fill in some of the gaps in the book would be missing and would bring down the value of the read. This book is not intended to educate a person on each of conflicts, but rather to provide an overview of how ECOMOG/ECOWAS responded to each, and whether lessons were learned. ... Read more

Book Description

Hawthorne reevaluates long-held notions about the Atlantic slave trade's impact on a number of "stateless" societies in Africa's Guinea-Bissau region. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A new look at the slave trade
Employing evidence from African oral traditions and European archival sources, this book looks at the slave trade in and from Africa in a new and unique way. Casting an eye toward the continent's decentralized societies, and most especially at the Balanta of the Upper Guinea Coast, Hawthorne demonstrates that those living outside states were not mere victims of enslavement and often found ways to produce slaves themselves. The book also challenges our view of precolonial women's history by arguing that in some places African men's work increased as a result of women being exported into the Atlantic. In the Balanta case, as the society turned to paddy rice production in the eighteenth century, young men assumed a much more central role in agricultural production. The book is mandatory reading from anyone interested in environmental, agricultural, gender, African or slave studies. It is well written and argued and might be considered alongside of the works of Walter Rodney, John Thornton, Joseph Miller, Martin Klein, Richard Roberts, and Paul Lovejoy. ... Read more

Book Description

In this comprehensive and provocative study of maternal reactions to child death in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, anthropologist Jónína Einarsdóttir challenges the assumption that mothers in high-poverty societies will neglect their children and fail to mourn their deaths as a survival strategy. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 1993 to 1998 among the matrilineal Papel, who reside in the Biombo region, this work includes theoretical discussion of reproductive practices, conceptions of children, childcare customs, interpretations of diseases and death, and infanticide. Einarsdóttir also brings compelling narratives of life experiences and reflections of Papel women. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Economic Issues, published by Association for Evolutionary Economics on September 1, 1994. The length of the article is 170104 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: History and Hunger in West Africa: Food Production and Entitlement in Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. (book reviews)
Author: Thomas R. DeGregori
Publication: Journal of Economic Issues (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1994
Publisher: Association for Evolutionary Economics
Volume: v28Issue: n3Page: p921(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description

This book analyzes the contemporary food crisis in Africa from an historical perspective, using two West African case studies. From the perspective of food production and entitlement, the volume traces the economic history of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, beginning with the slave trade, through the colonial and postcolonial periods to democratization and structural adjustment. Using the theory and methodology of political economy, the study argues that the way in which African societies have been integrated into the world market diverted resources from food production and exacerbated exploitation. This affected entitlement to the food produced, created the conditions for national food dependency, and contributed to the degradation of the environment. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A thorough analysis of the PAIGC's revolutionary agenda.
"Warriors at Work" examines the complete functioning of the Guinean people's struggle against Portuguese imperialism. Brilliantly noting the contribution and leadership of Amilcar Cabral, Dhada, as Cabral would have approved, focuses on the mass popular contribution and national role in the process of liberation. Dhada clearly reveals the brilliance of the PAIGC effort. The fighters of Guinea while battling Portuguese aggression simultaneously created a functioning relevant and indigenously produced nation state that would replace the Portuguese colonial machine. Dhada's focus on the mechanics of this process give us the most insightful view of what made the Guinean revolution effective, unique and a theoretical model for all revolutionaries to consider.

Excellent Analysis.
Amilcar Cabral one of the greatest minds of the twenteth century. A complete revolutionary. His works need to be studied by every African. He is a guide for the future for the success of Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau if they would follow his example to overcome the colonialist mentality and to change the minds and to become liberated for a new freedom of thought,for a democracy and economic development of Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde only in their unity in the struggle for success. One can not make it without the other. The youth of both countries must come together in the movement of JAAC. The future of Africa depends on it. ... Read more