The second edition of Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation is both an introduction to the cultures of Africa and a history of the interpretations of those cultures. Key essays explore the major issues and debates through a combination of classic articles and the newest research in the field.

“This welcome new edition of key texts, written about Africa as well as from within it, builds on the past but speaks boldly to the current generation — with some striking contributions on contemporary issues.” Wendy James, University of Oxford “This carefully chosen and brilliantly edited collection is an extraordinary resource for anthropologists of Africa. Some of the most seminal works in one of the most foundational domains in the discipline take on new significance in the light of the new current scholarship represented in the volume and of the new conversations among them that Grinker, Lubkemann and Steiner have brought out. This volume is a treasure.” Caroline H. Bledsoe, Northwestern University “This impressive volume provides a critical genealogy of scholarship in Africa, weaving together historical and contemporary pieces to provide insights not only into the political economy and cultural dynamism of Africa’s past, but of its future too.” Henrietta Moore, University of Cambridge and Centre for the Study of Global Governance, London School of Economics “This superb collection of influential contemporary and classic works in African studies will be indispensable to both students and instructors. Twelve thematic sections, each masterfully framed by the editors, offer a deft blend of intellectual history, theory, and ethnography.” Angelique Haugerud, Rutgers University The second edition of the popular reader Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation offers forty six articles illustrating the dynamic processes by which scholars have described and understood African history and culture over the past several decades. This new edition presents fourteen new selections as well as two entirely new parts, “Violent Transformations: Conflict and Displacement” and “Development, Governance, and Globalization,” revealing the historical trajectory, daily experience, and vital influence of African people in the modern world.