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:
News and Events
Event: A Revolutionary Life: Ruth First, 1925-1982
07 June 2012, 10:00 - 19:00. MacMillan Hall, Senate House, Bloomsbury, London
Speakers: Justice Albie Sachs, Gillian Slovo, Shula Marks, Bridget O’Laughlin
Ruth First was an anti-apartheid activist, investigative journalist, and scholar. First worked her entire life to end apartheid in South Africa; writing in 1969, she explained how her life was dedicated ‘to the liberation of Africa for I count myself an African, and there is no cause I hold dearer’. Her knowledge of the continent was phenomenal and she knew many of the continent’s leading political figures: Nelson Mandela, Ben Bella, Oginda Odinga. First was an influential figure, who saw activism, solidarity work (for the anti-apartheid struggle) and her research and writing as inextricably linked. She was exiled from South Africa in 1964, with her husband, the prominent South African communist Joe Slovo and their children. In 1982 ,while working in Mozambique, Ruth First was killed by a letter bomb sent by South African secret service. 2012 is the thirtieth anniversary of Ruth First’s murder. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICS) and the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau are holding a one-day celebration of Ruth First’s extraordinary life and work. The event is part of year long project that is digitising some of Ruth First’s papers and books held at the ICS. This event is a joint initiative between the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau and ICwS and is sponsored by ROAPE
Register here
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.