Description: The evolution of student activism in sub-Saharan Africa is crucial to understanding the process of democratic struggle and change in Africa. Focusing on the recent period of 'democratic transitions' in the 1990s, Leo Zeilig discusses the widespread involvement of student activism in democratic struggles across contemporary Africa and focuses on two case studies, Senegal and Zimbabwe. He provides an historical examination of the student-intelligentsia on the continent that played a crucial role in the independence struggles across much of Africa, leading and organising nationalist movements and outlines the development of grass-root activism. Zeilig demonstrates how students shape and are shaped by national processes of political change and popular protest and reveals both the continuities and transformations in student activism in an era of austerity, crisis and poverty.
Brief description: Leo Zeilig has written extensively on African politics and history, including books on working-class struggle and the development of revolutionary movements and biographies on some of Africa's most important political thinkers and activists. Leo is an editor of the Review of African Political Economy-the radical African-studies journal founded by activists and scholars in 1974-and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London.
Review Quotes: 'The strength of the book lies in its empirical detail and analytical rigor. The author combines a deep knowledge of the historical and geographical contexts; extensive use of archival and local secondary sources; and over 100 interviews with former and current student activists, and with observers of student activism. These are woven into an engagingly written narrative that builds a vivid picture of the involvement of students in political change...the book addresses a fascinating topic of considerable contemporary relevance. It represents a major contribution to our knowledge of both the sociology of students and African politics.' - Nicola Ansell, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Brunel University
''...an engaging investigation into an under-researched population in some of the world's most neglected places. Leo Zeilig's intimate knowledge of Senegal and Zimbabwe, has enabled him to write authoritatively about the role of student activists in recent periods of political transformation.' - Susan Buckingham, Head of Geography and Earth Sciences, Brunel University