Centre of African Studies thesis and dissertation collection
Founded in 1963, the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh is the only such academic unit in Scotland dedicated to the study of Africa. Drawing on a proud history of links between Scotland and Africa, from the missionaries who played a major role in southern Africa to the African leaders, such as Julius Nyerere, who studied at Edinburgh, the Centre of African Studies brings together African expertise from across the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and more widely. In turn, the Centre seeks to relate African Studies to the wider community, through links with NGOs and major educational and cultural organisations in Africa and Scotland.
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Recent Submissions
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Alcohol, clan councils and colloquial understandings of the state in rural Uganda
(The University of Edinburgh, 2023-05-16)In Uganda, as in many African countries, traditional authorities are important institutions that contribute to the provision of welfare services and settle disputes in rural communities. At times their voices take precedence ... -
Understanding technological capabilities in the Kenyan textile and apparel sector: a patchwork market of tailors, fashion designers, and stylists
(The University of Edinburgh, 2023-03-13)This research project examines the extent to which the entrepreneurs in the Kenyan cities of Mombasa and Nairobi engage with the global textile and apparel value chain in order to accumulate the technological capabilities ... -
Navigating seas, smoke, and social relations: making a living in a Sierra Leonean fishing town
(The University of Edinburgh, 2023-01-27)This thesis explores maritime livelihoods in the fishing town of Tombo, in Sierra Leone’s Western Province. With global attention on the decreasing fish stocks in the Gulf of Guinea, and national and international policies ... -
Cross-border transport corridors and developmental regionalism in Africa: experiences from West Africa and the Horn
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-12-13)This thesis aims to improve our understanding of the factors that have shaped the outcomes of regional integration initiatives in Africa. The earlier theories of regional integration have often been criticized for their ... -
Tweeting 'truths': rumour and grammars of power in Kenya
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-11-17)This study examines rumour as a mediator of public discourses in Kenya. It focuses on rumours that followed the killing of Chris Msando – a senior election official with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ... -
Beyond policy accountability: responses to police abuse by people at Kenya's urban margins
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-08-31)Police abuse of power has been a persistent problem in Kenya from the colonial era to the present day, and disproportionately impacts people belonging to marginalised groups. Over the decades, there have been calls for ... -
Divided waters: a hydropolitical analysis of development, space, and labour in N'Djamena, Chad
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-07-25)This thesis analyses the everyday politics of water in N’Djamena, Chad and its implications for various realms in the urbanscape. Water workers and end-users coexist and punctually collaborate with numerous other ... -
Institutional performance, public appraisals, and electoral governance in Kenya (2002-2017)
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-07-16)After Kenya adopted a new constitution in 2010, the country embarked on extensive citizen-oriented reforms targeted at improving the performance of key public institutions and Kenyans’ opinions of it. Much scholarly ... -
Understanding the diffusion and adoption of improved cookstove technologies in Uganda through the technological innovation system
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-06-14)About 2.5 billion people in the world rely on the traditional use of solid bioenergy to cook their meals, and in Sub-Saharan Africa almost 80% of the population still cooks with solid bioenergy. Despite the multifaceted ... -
Pursuing the good life: displacement, inclusion, and wellbeing among Congolese in Nairobi, Kenya
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-06-09)This thesis explores the everyday experiences and conceptualizations of ‘the good life’ among Congolese living in Nairobi, Kenya. Drawing on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2018/19, I argue that ... -
Non-governmental organisations and the politics of mining law review in Malawi: subjectivities and bifurcated loyalties
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-05-16)This thesis examines the factors and relationships that impacted Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Malawi in shaping the review of the 1981 Mines and Mineral Act (MMA). In response to public outcry against environmental ... -
Statehood, sovereignty and identities: exploring policing in Kenya’s informal settlements of Mathare and Kaptembwo
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-03-22)Academic work focusing on Kenya acknowledges that the state does not have a monopoly in the everyday policing of informal settlements. Nevertheless, there is limited scholarly focus on relationships between the different ... -
Political economy of Sino-African infrastructural engagement: the internationalisation of Chinese state-owned companies in Kenya
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-03-21)Since the turn of the 21st century, the development of infrastructure on the African continent has assumed a prominent role in national, regional, and continental developmental agendas. The increasing focus on ... -
School of Albino feminist thought: an anthropological opera from the Calloused Hands of a Black Man
(The University of Edinburgh, 2022-02-23)Structured like an opera this PhD thesis sets the foundation for The School of Albino Feminist Thought & the School of Vitiligo Feminist Thought rendering the subject position of intersectionality—being Black, being ... -
Law beyond the state: the makings of justice in urban Sierra Leone
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)This study reckons with the puzzle of a justice mechanism that has not only resisted the hostility of state authorities but has thrived and proliferated. To come to terms with the phenomenon of neighbourhood courts or ... -
After Ebola in Sierra Leone: the politics of neglect and the social life of projectified post-epidemic recovery
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)This thesis provides a medical anthropological account of the Sierra Leonean post-Ebola recovery initiative, how it was implemented by a District Health Management Team (DHMT), and how the social life it produced was ... -
Reshaped rivers, ruins, and Renaissance: the politics of hydro-developmentalism in the case of Tana-Beles, Ethiopia
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)Since the early 2000s, the Ethiopian government engaged heavily in the construction and expansion of large hydraulic infrastructures. This thesis explores the modern political history of one of Ethiopia’s most ... -
Forging ahead as an anti-corruption agency: the case of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Nigeria (2000– 2017)
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)This thesis investigates how the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Nigeria has carved a niche for its operations, to forge ahead within the Nigeria’s anti-corruption landscape, ... -
Stagnant extraction? The politics of time and space in the Tanzanian hydrocarbon sector
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-12-06)In the early 2010s, discoveries of offshore gas reserves in Tanzanian waters generated considerable anticipation both for international oil companies, national politicians, and local populations. The promises of ... -
Mama Mboga: exploring the continuity of micro retailers of fresh fruit and vegetables in Nairobi, Kenya
(The University of Edinburgh, 2021-07-31)Food retail in Africa is undergoing a dramatic transformation, threatening the existence of traditional retailing practices in urban metropoles. In particular, the issue of supermarket (SM) development is important ...
