The Review of African Political Economy - examining the politics of imperialism;
development; agrarian, popular and democratic struggles; class, gender and social justice
Who are we?
Since 1974, ROAPE has provided radical analysis of trends, issues and social processes in Africa. It pays particular attention to the political economy of inequality, exploitation and oppression, whether driven by global forces or local ones such as class, race, ethnicity and gender), and to broadly materialist interpretations of change. It sustains a critical analysis of the nature of power and the state in Africa in the context of capitalist globalisation. READ MORE
Current Issue - Vol. 38, No. 127, March 2011
Editorial: Poverty Reduction and the Chronically Rich by Graham Harrison
Article: Political Economy of salt in Afar Regional State in NE Ethiopia by Dereje Feyissa
Article: Agrarian Question in Tanzania: New Evidence Reconcile Old Debate by Bernd E T Mueller
Also in this issue:
Available Printed
ASAUK Annual Conference: Oxford 16-19 Sept 2010
Land: A new wave of accumulation by dispossession in Africa
Panel organised by the Review of African Political Economy
Stream: Land Rights in Africa (organised by Robin Palmer)
Chairs: Ray Bush/Janet Bujra/Gary Littlejohn
Contact email address: j.m.bujra@bradford.ac.uk
Speakers: Sam Moyo, Kjell Havnevik, Jun Borras et al, Giuliano Martiniello
In this panel we aim to uncover the shifting relations of property and production in land in Africa under seemingly new regimes of capital accumulation brokered by national states. Taking four distinctive case studies (Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) we want to explore the phenomenon now commonly called ‘land grabbing’, which entails the alienation of large swathes of land from peasant and subsistence cultivators for the benefit of local (big) capital, foreign states and global companies.
... MORE
Our Quarterly Journal
The Review of African Political Economy
ROAPE is a refereed journal committed to encouraging high quality research and fostering excellence in the understanding of African political economy. Published quarterly by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group for the ROAPE international collective, it contains academic articles, debates pieces, briefings and commentary on current events relating to Africa and an active section of book reviews. The Review is noted in: African Urban and Regional Science Index, EconLit, International Political Science Abstracts, PAIS Select, Political Science Abstracts ... HOW TO BUY
Full Text Documents
These are either full-text reprints of pieces from the journal, additional notes, or new e-briefings published exclusively here. Materials here may appear later in the journal, or may be short-lived or urgent material incompatible with the turnaround time of printing.
Reproduction of "Development in Africa" (Number 1, Spring 1974)
- editorial from the founding issue of the journal in 1974 explains why the journal needed to be formed, and discusses its ideological perspective, and the challenges of imperialism (with particular reference to transnational corporations) to class struggle.... FULL TEXT
Reproduction of "Nigeria: Oil, Debts and Democracy" (Number 37, Winter 1986)
- our issue at the end of 1986 examined the economic crisis in Nigeria following the collapse in OPEC prices. It compared the effects on Nigeria's debts and the worsening political crisis.... FULL TEXT
Reproduction of "Africa in a New World Order" (Number 50, Spring 1991)
- from Spring 1991, this re-assesses the role of the Review following the collapse of "state socialism" in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Discusses crisis and transformation, the new imperialism of a single super-power, and prospects for social development in Africa and the problems of democracy.... FULL TEXT
Reproduction of "Land and Freedom in South Africa" (Number 61, September 1994)
- as a new South Africa began to emerge in 1994, this issued centred on the difficult questions of national land reform which the ANC's Reconstruction and Development Programme identified as 'the central and driving force of a programme of rural development'.... FULL TEXT
Reproduction of "Imperialism in the Post-Cold War Era" (Number 66, December 1995)
- from 1995, discusses how imperialism continues to redefine itself, as the US 'unipolar world' (following the demise of 'state socialism' in the Soviet Union) gives way to a 'tripolar world' as the decline in US economic power is increasingly challenged by that of Japan and Germany, leading to a divide between military and economic power which has potential dangers for other nations that they may be inadvertently drawn into other people's conflicts.... FULL TEXT
Maghreb Online: Internet materials on North Africa
- collection of links to resources on the Maghreb compiled in 2000 by Chris Allen - NOT kept up to date - kept as historical curiosity... FULL TEXT
If you have material which you think should be published on this site or in the journal, see How to contribute.