Overview

The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Africa presents to a broad readership an accessible, comprehensive, up to date, and topical comparative analysis of sociological thinking in Africa. Sociological discourse about African societies has been challenging and difficult, due to a lack of both comprehensive analyses and holistic sociological evidence that covers Africa from past to present times. This Handbook brings together latest analyses of sociological phenomena from the best scholars working on numerous thematic areas. It provides contributions that locates African sociological thinking in historical context and takes a critical look at its current manifestations across the continent. This collection builds upon an existing body of literature which has demonstrated that while the analysis of African societies has long been an item on the agenda of sociologists worldwide, advances of the decolonial critique made notably by African scholars in Africa enhances the scholarship of the sociology of Africa. Thus, the collection is premised upon the understanding that in order to understand the sociology of Africa as significant intervention, the participation and representation of African ways of knowing and doing is a critical starting point. This Handbook comprises a series of scholarly and interdisciplinary perspectives on current debates over how best to unpack sociological imaginations in African context. The scholarly contributions, therefore, are based on both perspectives illustrating the importance of specificity in sociological phenomenon. The Handbook is arranged in seven parts: Context and Perspectives; Race, Ethnicity, and Religion; Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality; Medical Sociology: Political Economy and Development; Crime and Violence; and The Family and Education. Premised on the importance of African ways of knowing and doing, these chapters offer sociologists, researchers, and students an invaluable starting point for a fuller understanding of African sociology.

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9780197608494

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Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. * Choice * The need for a handbook of the Sociology of Africa cannot be overstated. While overdue, yet timely, this very well-organized volume provides a much-desired compendium of knowledge and research on sociological formation and discourse in Africa...A central goal and mission of this volume is to decolonize African sociological discourse. One of the delightful features of this volume is the author's attention and dedication to describing the historical trajectory or journey of sociological discourse on Africa from its roots to its development and emergence, not excluding the debates around Eurocentrism and indigenization, and discussions on decolonization. * Journal of Global South Studies (Fall 2024) *

Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. * Choice *

Author Information

R. Sooryamoorthy is Professor of Sociology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He was the Acting Dean and Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (2017-2019) and is a Research Fellow at the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in STI Policy, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He has taught at institutions in India, Canada and Sweden. He serves on the editorial boards of journals such as Current Sociology and International Sociology Reviews. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen titles. Nene Ernest Khalema is Associate Professor and currently Dean and Head of School of Built Environment & Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa. Before joining UKZN he was a professor in various Canadian universities. He served as Chief Research Scientist at the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa where his demographic work on urban livelihoods, social epidemiology, and human migration/mobilities, as well as critical sociological work on black/African Diaspora and Indigenous studies received national and international recognition.

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