Class One:

African Communities in Crisis: Perspectives of War and its Aftermath

Fridays 12:30-2:30

Prof: Marc Sommers

Synopsis: Much of the work on African conflicts analyzes the actions of the dominant political, military and economic actors that orchestrate warfare. Such analysis tends to assume that non-elites follow elite leaders, sometimes in lockstep. Accordingly, tracking the story of leaders brings the story of war to light. Most of the rest of the literature displays a normative concern with the role of the international community to prevent or end these conflicts. The focus, then, is again on leaders, as well as on decision-makers in the international community. Little is known, however, about the way war is perceived, created, managed, or suffered from by ordinary people. As a result, the nature of wars is misunderstood, as is the nature of the rebuilding process after war. Opposing armies increasingly attack civilians much more than each other. This kind of warfare, in Africa and elsewhere, has generated a harrowing rule of thumb: civilian men are killed, women are raped, and children are abducted. Communities and their members have a highly significant story to tell as well, as they are directly involved in warfare in a variety of ways, not just as victims but as heroes and footsoldiers - or a combination of all three. Communities are much less the backdrop of most African wars than a kind of stage, and while their members usually do not play leading roles, they constitute war’s cast of many millions. The purpose of this seminar is to illuminate this frequently overlooked perspective of African wars - the view, essentially, from below. It will aim to provide students with an enhanced understanding of African conflicts through an extensive examination of communities engulfed by warfare. The seminar will draw on a variety of sources, all of which aim to reveal aspects of how warfare and communities in Africa intersect. The initial part of the seminar aims to orient students to the diversity of views of warfare. The second part plunges into the ambiguities, confusions, and surprises of civilian involvement in African warfare. Part Three delves into the perspectives and views of particular authors who have researched community perspectives and experiences of war and its aftermath in Africa. Each week, one author and their book on aspects of community perspectives of war in Africa will take center stage. The course concludes with a review of what has been covered during the semester. The final two classes will also incorporate student presentations of findings from their primary research activity.