1. African Political Systems in a Global Context February 23

2. Atlantic Slave Trade and the Triangular Trade  From the mid-15 th century to the late 19 th century.  Manufactured and trade goods (cloth, metal goods, guns) from Europe to Africa. Slaves from Africa to the Americas. Produce from the slave- labour plantations (cotton, sugar, tobacco, molasses, rum) to Europe.

3. Scramble for Africa  Before 1880, European colonization of Africa was quite limited (though South Africa was one exception).  At the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, the European powers agreed to some ground rules for to colonization and partition of Africa.  By 1914, the entire continent of Africa was partitioned and colonized by Europeans, except for Ethiopia and Liberia.

4. Independence  Decolonization took place rapidly for much of the continent.  Ghana, 1957  Thirty-two independent African countries emerged in the decade after 1957.

5. Chris Allen, “Understanding African Politics”  Decolonization and Clientelist Politics  Clientelist Crisis  Crisis ‘Resolved’: Centralized-Bureaucratic Politics  The Centralized-Bureaucratic State Challenged: Democratic Renewal  Crisis Unresolved: Spoils Politics  Post-Spoils Reconstruction: Populist Revolt  Terminal Spoils: State Collapse and Endemic Violence

6. South Africa: Colonization  Dutch colonization, 1650s  British annexation, 1806  Discovery of diamonds in 1871 and gold in 1886  Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902  Act of Union, 1910 created a self-governing Dominion within the British Empire.

7. South Africa: Makings of Apartheid Legal foundation of racial discrimination and segregation:  Mines and Work Act, 1911  Land Act, 1913  Native Urban Areas Act, 1923  National Party elected and Apartheid introduced, 1948

8. The Apartheid Regime  The Population Registration Act, 1950 classified every citizen into one of four racial categories: African, coloured, Indian or white.  Strict segregation of public facilities and residence through homelands, townships  Travel controlled through pass laws and influx controls  An extremely segmented labour market, with huge wage gaps and opportunities limited and tightly controlled for Africans  Sharpeville massacre, 1960  Banning of African National Congress and Pan-Africanist Congress, 1960  Nelson Mandela imprisoned 1962 (released in 1990)  Soweto uprising, 1976

9. Next Week  The struggle against apartheid  The release from prison of Nelson Mandela, 1990  The transition to democracy and the election of the African National Congress, 1994  Assessing post-apartheid South Africa