Book review: Verandahs of power: colonialism and space in urban Africa
RIS ID
82088
Abstract
The plights of indigenous peoples raise the most pressing issues within contemporary political discourse. It is not surprising that scholarly literature has begun to focus ever more closely on these concerns. At first sight, Ronald Niezen’s task seems insurmountable, for it attempts to tackle issues as complex as the relativism–universalism human rights debate, the decline of the nation-state, assimilation policies, as well as the legacies of colonization and imperialism and the disenchantment of western liberalism. Nevertheless, any attempt to describe indigenism without engaging with these debates would have proved lacklustre.
Publication Details
Phillips, C. (2004). Book review: Verandahs of power: colonialism and space in urban Africa. Progress in Development Studies, 4 (2), 176-178.