News & Events

This ASC seminar by Maggie Dwyer (University of Saint Andrews and University of Edinburgh) takes a new approach to military mutinies in West and Central Africa. Moving away from the more standard approach that views mutinies as exceptional events, this project observes mutinies as a recurring phenomenon in the region. It suggests that there is a trend of mutinies following (peacekeeping) deployments and democratization pressures. Field research in Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia involving interviews with former mutineers provides unique insights into the perspectives of those who counter their hierarchy.

In reflecting on how to do research on the history of organised and professional crime in Nigeria, it seems that we must begin in 1914 for two reasons. First, Nigeria was created in its contemporary form in that year. Second, before that time many parts of what is now Nigeria did not have modern states or written law. In this seminar on 22 January, ASC senior researcher Stephen Ellis will show how certain types of criminal practice developed in Nigeria - often quite recently - and how the state itself has become a vehicle for organised crime.

The Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Amsterdam and the African Studies Center in Leiden are organizing the lecture series And Now Africa for students and professionals who are interested in understanding more about the continent. The course will provide a sense of context: Africa is rising, but for whom? Where and how does economic growth take place and can it be seen as real transformation? What about the rapid population growth and urbanization?