History 8C
From Leopold to Kabila: The Bad Twentieth Century in Central Africa
Spring 2008
Professor Burke x8115 Trotter 206
This course is a survey focusing centrally on the 20th Century in Central Africa, from its tragic beginnings to its tragic conclusion. We have three major questions that we will be pursuing throughout the semester. The first concerns the relative meaning and weight of suffering and evil in history, and whether we can meaningfully compare genocide, famine and warfare from one moment in time to other times. The second question involves the causal relationship between colonialism and postcolonialism in African history, and whether Africa’s contemporary sufferings owe more to internal or external factors. Finally, we will be trying to understand what it is like to exist within modern Africa’s failed states, what it is like to live on the margins of the contemporary world system. The deep underlying question we will be exploring is when and how history matters for understanding why the present is the way it is, and whether history offers any insights in resolving or healing suffering.
This class is broken into a series of discussions and lectures. The lectures will introduce issues which are not covered in readings, but which are crucial for participating intelligently in discussions and which will covered heavily on the final exam. Attendance, as per History Department policy, is required. Unexcused absences will have a serious effect on your grade. Participation in discussion is important. There will also be two short (3 pp.) discussion papers. Your final grade will be determined by attendance, participation, the papers and the final exam.
Monday Jan. 21st
Introduction
The moral and political problem of the 20th Century in Africa
Comparative studies in tragedy and suffering
Afro-pessimism and its critics
Wednesday Jan. 23rd
Lecture: The longue duree of Central Africa
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, The Congo, short selection
Central Africa Before the 20th Century
Friday January 25th
Lecture: The Kongo kingdom, the Portuguese and the slave trade
Monday January 28th
Lecture: Empires and Peoples: From the 17th Century to the 19th Century in Central Africa
Wednesday January 30th
Lecture: The Scramble for Africa: causes and overall sequence
Henry Morton Stanley, Across Central Africa, selection
Friday February 1st
The Congo Free State
King Leopold’s Ghost, pp. 1-114
Discussion: Causes and nature of the “new imperialismâ€
Monday February 4th
King Leopold’s Ghost, pp. 115-184
Discussion: Genocide, its meaning, origins, reasons
Wednesday February 6th
King Leopold’s Ghost, pp. 185-306
Discussion: Humanitarian motives, African agency
Friday February 8th
Black Livingstone , all
Discussion: Missionaries, race and the African diaspora
The Belgian Congo
Monday February 11th
Lecture: The formalization of colonial rule in the Belgian Congo
Wednesday February 13th
Lecture: Colonial actors, colonial stories
Friday February 15th
Lecture/Discussion: Medicine as a snapshot of colonial society
Albert Schweitzer, African Notebook, selection
Monday February 18th
Lecture: Kimbanguism, Kongo religion and colonial social movements
Wednesday February 20th
Lecture: The colonial political economy
First paper due
Friday February 22nd
Lecture: Chiefship and corruption in the Belgian Congo
Week of February 25-29th
Film showing: “Lumumbaâ€
Decolonization
Monday February 25th
Lecture: Comparative colonial administrations in the region: the range of possible outcomes
Wed. February 27th
Lecture: The process of decolonization in Africa
Friday February 29th
Discussion: “Lumumba†and the “Congo crisisâ€
Monday March 3rd
Discussion: Lumumba to Mobutu
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz pp. 1-168
Wednesday March 5th
Discussion: Neocolonialism, the Cold War, and development: Who made Mobutu possible?
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz, pp. 171-319
Larry Devlin, Chief of Station, Congo, short selection
Postcolonial Society in Central Africa
Friday March 7th
“When We Were Kings” (in-class showing)
SPRING BREAK
Monday March 17th
Discussion: The world in Central Africa, Central Africa in the world
Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
Wednesday March 19th
Discussion: The ties that bind
Film showing: “Pieces d’Identitiesâ€
Friday March 21st
Discussion: Life and change
Emmanuel Dongala, Little Boys Come From the Stars, all
Monday March 24th
Lecture: Survey of the political history of Central African states, 1950-2000
Wednesday March 26th
Discussion: The ethnography of the postcolonial African state
Redmond O’Hanlon, No Mercy
Friday March 28th
Lecture: Social and cultural life in four nations, 1955-1980
Monday March 31st
Discussion: The informal sector and the global economy
Janet McGaffey, Congo-Paris, pp. 9-49
Wednesday April 2nd
Discussion: The nature and meaning of corruption and crime
McGaffey, Congo-Paris, pp. 79-172
Genocide, civil war and the meaning of it all
Friday April 4th
Lecture: Rwanda and Burundi from the 17th Century to 1994
Second paper due
Monday April 7th
Lecture: The problem of genocide in the modern world
Wednesday April 9th
Discussion: The Rwandan genocide and the world’s responsibility
Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You, all
Friday April 11th
Discussion: The Rwandan genocide, continued
Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers, short selection
Monday April 14th
Lecture: The end of Mobutu and the origins of the Congo civil war
Wednesday April 16th
Discussion: The Congo Civil War
Thomas Turner, The Congo Wars, selection
Honwana, Child Soldiers in Africa, selection
Friday April 18th
Discussion: Current news from the Congo civil war and elsewhere in the region
Material TBA
Monday April 21st
Discussion: Oil, diamonds, coltan and the “Dutch trapâ€
Reading: The Wonga Coup, selection
Wednesday April 23rd
Discussion: The wreck of the 20th Century
Friday April 25th
Discussion: Postcolonialism and colonialism, internal and external. Causation and resolution.
Monday April 28th
Discussion: Justice and history: What is to be done?
Wednesday April 30th
Discussion: Why should we care about Central Africa?
Friday May 2nd
Review: Final exam
FINAL EXAM