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"The wealth of historiographic resources, the command of relevant literature, the ethnographic research and prudent use of oral traditions give this work a high degree of . . . intellectual excitement. . . . a landmark in the field." --Warren d'Azevedo

Making use of archival and oral resources in this extensively researched book, Paula Girshick Ben-Amos questions to what extent art operates as political strategy. How do objects acquire political meaning? How does the use of art enhance and embody power and authority? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BENIN, PORTRAIT OF AN ANCIENT KINGDOM
Letter to Paula Girshick Ben-Amos, author of "Art, Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Benin." Your book, "Art Innovation, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Benin", is superb. I'm not a reviewer so themuch I can see is that you lead us, the reader, easy and firmly across theancient history of a Kingdom with her obas, uzamas, ezomos,iyases, chiefs-- and give us a handy list of the obas from Ehengbuda to Akengbuda, andteach us how they were, through the art they left behind. You make ease tounderstand the Civil War and different behave of various obas and chiefs.As well their relation with the spiritual world. When you refer toFather Monteleone, and the cloths "made in five or, at the most, sixmonths" on pg. 41, using Ryder, you touch in a subject that hasconnection with Brazil. In the book "A enxada e a lança", (The Hoe and theSpear), the Brazilian writer Alberto da Costa e Silva depicts a panel ofAfrica, before the Portuguese's arrival (he starts his book on Africa'sprehistory), and refers (pg. 526)to Pano da Costa (Cloth from the Coast -Ijebu), largely exported from Benin to Brazil on the first half of Eighteenth Century. It seems, later on, when the slave traffichas ended,and commerce between Bahia (Brazil) and West Coast was verystrong,industrialized Pano da Costa, produced in Brazil has turned itself into alargely disputed merchandise all over the Coast, including in Benin . And moreover, in your book you teach us how to see and comprehend thebronzes, plaques, heads, in metal, ivory, clay and wood. Is all absolutelyperfect. If one want to have a spotless ideas, in 177 pages, about theKingdom of Benin, in your bookone will find it.So, I indeed haveenjoyed your book.

José Luiz Pereira da Costa Brazil e-mail:dacostaq@cpovo.net ... Read more

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This volume in the "Marxist Regimes" series examines three African Marxist states which were formerly French colonies: Benin is discussed by Chris Allen, The Congo by Michael Radu and Keith Somerville, and Burkina Faso by Joan Baxter and Keith Somerville. From Independence in 1960 until Major Kerekou's 1972 coup, Benin was the least stable state in Africa. Since then, Benin has been a stable Marxist regime. Part 1 investigates the sources of the earlier unrest, the process of stabilization and its relationship to the radicalization of Benin's politics. Its claims to socialism are assessed and its gradual renewed contact with Western and capitalist systems in the 1980s is noted. The Peoples' Republic of Congo is the oldest self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist regime in sub-Saharan Africa. In Part 2, its political development is traced from Independence in 1960 to the Sassou-Ngouesso regime and the institutionalization of radicalism. The role of oil and the vulnerability of a one-commodity economy are covered, along with the Congo's part in the Angola-Zaire conflict and in Chad's civil war. Burkina Faso, formerly Upper Volta, also gained independence in 1960.The subsequent coups and involvement of the military in government are covered here, alongside the economic development plans and efforts of "national recovery". The name Burkina Faso was adopted in 1984. ... Read more

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This account was first published in 1829. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This book, divided into two broad sections, examines the state in the Republic of Benin and the socio-political role of the Christian churches. The first looks at the remarkable pre-colonial kingdom of Danxom- and its place in the imagining of the modern contrat social beninois. The second section looks at both the historical role of the mainline churches and the more recent development of a Christianisme beninois. The study concludes that the churches are above all a commentary upon the society in which they find themselves. Rather than an overt challenge to the state, they articulate social distress and the desire for a different future. In times of stress they may prove to be the only viable institutional buttress as well as the arbiter. This study seeks to make a contribution to the understanding of the public role of Christian churches in Africa. ... Read more

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Ouidah, an indigenous African town in the modern Republic of Benin, was the principal pre-colonial commercial centre of its region, and the second most important town of the Dahomey kingdom. It served as a major outlet for the export of slaves for the trans- Atlantic trade. Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries Ouidah was the most important embarkation point for slaves in the region of West Africa known to outsiders as the 'Slave Coast'. Exporting over a million slaves, it was second only to Luanda in Angola for the embarkation of slaves in the whole of Africa. The author's central concerns are the organization of the African end of the slave trade, and the impact participation in the trade had on the historical development of the African societies involved. It shifts the focus from the viewpoint of the Dahomian monarchy, represented in previous studies, to the coast.Here is a well documented case study of pre-colonial urbanism, of the evolution of a merchant community, and in particular the growth of a group of private traders whose relations with the Dahomian monarchy grew increasingly problematic over time.North America: Ohio U Press ... Read more

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Most important issues of today's world - such as development, human rights, and cultural pluralism - bear the unmistakable stamp of the transatlantic slave trade. In particular Africa's state of development can only be properly understood in the light of the widespread dismantling of African societies and the methodical and lasting human bloodletting to which the continent was subjected by way of the trans-Saharan and transatlantic slave trade over the centuries. But this greatest displacement of population in history also transformed the vast geo-cultural area of the Americas and the Caribbean.In this volume, one result of UNESCO's project Memory of Peoples: The Slave Route, scholars and thinkers from Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean have come together to raise some crucial questions and offer new perspectives on debates that have lost none of their urgency. ... Read more

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As a result of new research, we can now paint a more complex picture of peoples and cultures in the south Atlantic, from the earliest period of the slave trade up to the present. The nine papers in this volume indicate that a dynamic and continuous movement of peoples east as well as west across the Atlantic forged diverse and vibrant re-inventions and re-interpretations of the rich mix of cultures represented by Africans and peoples of African descent on both continents. ... Read more

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The 18 essays in this volume provide a fresh perspective on the wider context of the encounter between the inhabitants of precolonial Virginia and the English. The collection offers an interdisciplinary consideration of developments in Native America, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Chesapeake, highlighting the mosaic of regions and influences that formed the context and impetus for the English settlement at Jamestown in 1607. The volume reflects an understanding of Jamestown not as the birthplace of democracy in America but as the creation of a European outpost in a neighborhood that included Africans, Native Americans, and other Europeans. ... Read more

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This book studies the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on the "Slave Coast" of West Africa, an area covering modern south-eastern Ghana, Togo, Benin, and south-western Nigeria. This region was one of the most important sources of slaves for the Atlantic slave trade, and its history provides an exceptionally well-documented illustration of the effect of the trade on the indigenous African societies of the Slave Coast. The expansion of the slave exports during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries coincided with a period of political disorder, which ended with the rise of the new kingdom of Dahomey. Dahomey was a more militarized and more politically centralized state than those which preceded it in the region, and its distinctive character reflected the impact of the slave trade. Law examines the events which preceded the rise of Dahomey, the organization of the slave trade and its impact on the domestic economy, and the social and political structures of Dahomey and its predecessors. ... Read more

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"Isidore Okpewho has written another landmark study.... Written with exceptional clarity, accessible, yet vigorously argued and sparkling with illustrative insights, Once Upon a Kingdom is immeasurably delightful to read. Like anything Okpewho has ever written, the boook has set the terms for future studies in the field." -- World Literature Today

"Okpewho gives us yet again a work of outstanding scholarship that is also a joy to read." -- Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart

"Indispensable for collections of black or oral literature and history... " -- Choice

"An incisive analysis by one of the leading Africanist scholars that manages to be at once enjoyable, informative and challenging. This timely and authoritative book represents a new stage in the study of African narrative which will interest and challenge (or arouse) students of narrative whatever their geographical specialism." -- Ruth Finnegan

The communities that once lived in the pale of the West African kingdom of Benin still tell stories that show traces of their ingrained resentment of the kingdom. Isidore Okpewho uses stories he collected from narrators in these communities to reveal an effort by marginalized peoples to defend themselves and their place in an uneven socio-political landscape.

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This book aims to examine the impact of fiscal decentralizationon subnational resource mobilization capacity, and on macroeconomicstability, in four African countries. Field research conducted inBenin, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali, constituted the basis for arigorous and detailed examination of the decentralization process ineach country.One of the intriguing findings is that increased subnational taxautonomy significantly reduces the size of the central government andimproves the central government budget balance in the samplecountries. Recommendations are: (a) the design and implementation ofdecentralization mechanisms must be based on the principles ofstability, transparency, accountability, and equity; (b) frequentdialogue between the central and sub-national governments, and anactive association and cooperation of local and regional levels ofgovernment in the formulation of macroeconomic objectives will improvethe chances of successful decentralization programs; (c) authoritiesmust heighten their campaigns to educate local populations ondecentralization reforms. Full and educated participation of allcitizens at the grassroots level is critical to the success ofdecentralization programs.In all, the book focuses its analysis on the capacity of localcommunities in Africa for autonomous development and self-governance,and that, is a refreshing addition to the literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Critique of a Compelling and Extraordinary Book
The ways in which Dr. Boko analyzed the economical developments in many West African countries was outstanding.He was able to convey a detailed and well organized examination of the impact of the fiscal decentralization on subnational resource mobilization capacity and macroeconomic stability.

Usually economic books are extremely dense and quite frankly "hard reads" but Decentralization and Reform in Africa was not.Indeed it was thought-provoking and complex, but Boko seemed to relate ideas and recommendations in an understandably unique fashion.

In the end, it was quite simply a great read.I look forward to future works by this author. ... Read more

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According to Forbes the object of these Journals is "to illustrate the dreadful slave hunts and savages, the annihilations and exterminations consequent on this trade", with the aim of encouraging the British public in its efforts to end slavery. ... Read more