ANTH-E 613 - PROF. BETH BUGGENHAGEN

If prevailing scholarship grapples with the precarious position of postcolonial African societies faced with rapidly changing economic and political orders on a global scale, how do contemporary perspectives, if at all, address the everyday experiences of African women and men? Images of African women and men from the migrants rescued at sea, to refugees, to student protests are often met with political polarization, decreasing empathy, and the entrenchment of difference. Through comparative and interdisciplinary discussions, we will apprehend recent ethnographies of the African continent that address contemporary debates over: theorizing Africa and locating the productive and creative practices of African men and women in cities, in unregulated economic spaces, in the arts, within households, and in religious communities.