Africa: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society

Tony Blair famously said that “(T)he state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world”. Perhaps after several hundred years of colonial and neo-colonial exploitation that is not surprising, but it is certainly the case that Africa as a continent has largely negative connotations for many in Europe and America. Usually neglected in mainstream media, Africa only seems to feature when there is massacre, as in Rwanda, piracy and a failed state, as in Somalia or, increasingly, Islamic terrorism, as in Tunisia, Egypt and Nigeria, to name but some recent examples. That Africa is a diverse continent...