Towards a Pax Africana: A Study of Ideology and Ambition (Nature of Human Society Series)

Mazrui, Ali A.

University of Chicago Press

The Power of Babel: Language and Governance in the African Experience

Linguists estimate that there are currently nearly 2,000 languages in Africa, a staggering figure that is belied by the relatively few national languages. While African national politics, economics, and law are all conducted primarily in the colonial languages, the cultural life of the majority of citizens is conducted in a bewildering Babel of local and regional dialects, making language itself the center of debates over multiculturalism, gender studies, and social theory. In The Power of Babel, the noted Africanist scholar Ali Mazrui and linguist Alamin Mazrui explore this vast territory of African language. The Power of Babel is one of the first comprehensive studies of the complex linguistic constellations of Africa. It draws on Ali Mazrui's earlier work in its examination of the "triple heritage" of African culture, in which indigenous, Islamic, and Western traditions compete for influence. In bringing the idea of the triple heritage to language, the Mazruis unravel issues of power, culture, and modernity as they are embedded in African linguistic life. The first section of the book takes a global perspective, exploring such issues as the Eurocentrism of much linguistic scholarship on Africa; part two takes an African perspective on a variety of issues from the linguistically disadvantaged position of women in Africa to the relation of language policy and democratic development; the third section presents a set of regional studies, centering on the Swahili language's exemplification of the triple heritage.The Power of Babel unites empirical information with theories of nationalism and pluralism—among others—to offer the richest contextual account of African languages to date.

Politics & Social Sciences

Mazrui, Alamin M.

Anthropology

Linguists estimate that there are currently nearly 2,000 languages in Africa, a staggering figure that is belied by the relatively few national languages. While African national politics, economics, and law are all conducted primarily in the colonial languages, the cultural life of the majority of citizens is conducted in a bewildering Babel of local and regional dialects, making language itself the center of debates over multiculturalism, gender studies, and social theory. In The Power of Babel, the noted Africanist scholar Ali Mazrui and linguist Alamin Mazrui explore this vast territory of African language. The Power of Babel is one of the first comprehensive studies of the complex linguistic constellations of Africa. It draws on Ali Mazrui's earlier work in its examination of the "triple heritage" of African culture, in which indigenous, Islamic, and Western traditions compete for influence. In bringing the idea of the triple heritage to language, the Mazruis unravel issues of power, culture, and modernity as they are embedded in African linguistic life. The first section of the book takes a global perspective, exploring such issues as the Eurocentrism of much linguistic scholarship on Africa; part two takes an African perspective on a variety of issues from the linguistically disadvantaged position of women in Africa to the relation of language policy and democratic development; the third section presents a set of regional studies, centering on the Swahili language's exemplification of the triple heritage.The Power of Babel unites empirical information with theories of nationalism and pluralism—among others—to offer the richest contextual account of African languages to date.

Social Sciences

Contemporary Africa is the product of three major influences--an indigenous heritage, Western culture, and Islamic culture. The Africans looks at these legacies, how they co-exist, and their impact on the continent and the people who are called African. This reader, a supplement to the telecourse, provides an introduction to a variety of historical and contemporary writings on Africa.

The Africans: A Reader

Literature & Fiction

Kleban Levine, Toby

History & Criticism

Praeger

Ali Al'amin Mazrui (born February 24, 1933 in Mombasa, Kenya) is an academic and political writer on African and Islamic studies and North-South relations. He is an Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York.  In World Culture and the Black Experience, he discusses the effect of the
evolution of a heavily European-bases world culture on the black peoples of Africa and her Diaspora. Ali A. Mazrui concentrates on three vital areas- religion, science, and language. He first examines the imopact of world religions, especially Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, on tyhe black peoples and on the boundaries of their identity. The implications of the technological superiority of European civilization for the black races are his next area of concern. Finally, he turns to the consequences of the rise of English and French as world languages and what this means for those black people who must communicate, think, and live by these tongues.

World Culture and the Black Experience (John Danz Lectures)

Travel

University of Washington Press

Looks at the history, geography, and culture of Africa, assesses native, Arab, and Western influences, and discusses sports, religion, government, and social issues in Africa

The Africans: A Triple Heritage

History

Africa

Little,Brown & Co

Africa's International Relations: The Diplomacy Of Dependency And Change

Reference

Routledge

Ali Mazrui makes us reconsider the realities of power in world politics. He argues that the emphasis continues to be on arms, on resources, and on strategic calculations and that the importance of culture has been grossly underestimated. Mazrui's own mind is a cultural crossroads; he can give Islamic insights to Western audiences about The Satanic Verses; he relates the Beijing Spring to the Palestinian Intifada; he compares the effects of Zionism and Apartheid; he puts together Muhammad, Marx, and market forces; he tells the Americans that their attitude to the Third World is a "dialogue of the deaf." The three sections of his masterful book are entitled The Cultural Sweep of History, Ideology and Power, and In Search of Change.

Cultural Forces in World Politics

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Heinemann

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Books by Mazrui, Ali A.