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| Africa Today (journal) | |
|---|---|
| Title | Africa Today |
| Discipline | African studies |
| Abbreviation | Afr. Today |
| Publisher | Indiana University Press |
| Country | United States |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| History | 1954–present |
Africa Today (journal) is a peer-reviewed quarterly scholarly journal covering contemporary Africa with emphasis on politics, culture, and social change. Founded in the mid-20th century, the journal has published research by scholars associated with institutions such as Indiana University Bloomington, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and University of Oxford. It serves readers in fields connected to African studies including those at School of Oriental and African Studies, Stanford University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago.
Established in 1954 amid postwar decolonization debates, the journal emerged alongside publications like Transition (magazine), The Journal of Modern African Studies, Africa Confidential, African Affairs, and The Times Literary Supplement. Early contributors included scholars affiliated with London School of Economics, Freetown University, Makerere University, University of Ibadan, and Université Cheikh Anta Diop. During the 1960s and 1970s it engaged with issues tied to events such as the Algerian War of Independence, Kenyan Mau Mau uprising, Congo Crisis, Portuguese Colonial War, and the policy debates following the OAU summit meetings. In subsequent decades the journal responded to crises and transitions including the Ethiopian Civil War, Rwandan genocide, South African transition to democracy, Liberian Civil War, and the emergence of African Union institutions. Its editorial history intersects with grants and collaborations involving the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and archives at the Library of Congress and British Library.
The journal prioritizes interdisciplinary work drawing on authors from anthropology, political science, history, sociology, and public health departments at institutions like University of Ghana, University of Nairobi, University of Cape Town, Princeton University, and Brown University. It foregrounds case studies on countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, Angola, Senegal, Cameroon, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Libya, Gabon, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Chad, Niger, Benin, Togo, Liberia, Central African Republic, Burundi, Djibouti, Eswatini, Lesotho, Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan (country), and South Sudan. The journal engages with thematic areas tied to specific events and institutions such as the Trans-Saharan trade, Berlin Conference (1884–85), Pan-African Congresses, Neocolonialism debates, Structural Adjustment Programmes, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, African Continental Free Trade Area, African Peer Review Mechanism, and scholarly works like The Wretched of the Earth and Decolonising the Mind.
Published by Indiana University Press on a quarterly schedule, the journal is distributed through academic libraries at institutions including Library of Congress, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Harvard University Library, Bodleian Library, National Library of South Africa, and the catalogues of JSTOR and Project MUSE. Circulation reaches universities and policy centers such as Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Chatham House, Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, International Crisis Group, and regional institutes like Institute for Security Studies (South Africa), African Studies Association (US), and Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa.
The journal is indexed in bibliographic services and databases including Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR, Project MUSE, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Index Islamicus, Anthropological Index Online, PAIS Index, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Historical Abstracts, and listings in the catalogs of WorldCat and the National Library of Medicine for public health-related pieces.
Contributions have included influential articles addressing topics such as postcolonial state formation discussed alongside the Berlin Conference (1884–85), analyses of liberation movements like African National Congress, Pan Africanist Congress, MPLA, UNITA, FNLA, and FRELIMO, and studies of economic policies referencing the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, African Development Bank, and programs like the Structural Adjustment Programmes. Landmark pieces have engaged with crises such as the Rwandan genocide and transitional justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, reconciliation in South Africa after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa), and scholarship on migration tied to routes via Sahara and ports like Dakar and Mombasa. The journal has published work by prominent scholars connected to Frantz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah, Amílcar Cabral, Cheikh Anta Diop, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Ali Mazrui, Achille Mbembe, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Aminata Traoré, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Homi K. Bhabha, Stuart Hall, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Abdoulaye Wade, Olusegun Obasanjo, Wangari Maathai, Thomas Sankara, Julius Nyerere, Haile Selassie studies, and research engaging with institutions such as African Union and Organisation of African Unity.
The editorial board comprises academics and practitioners from institutions including Indiana University Bloomington, University of the Witwatersrand, Makerere University, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, University of Lagos, University of Pretoria, University of Ibadan, SOAS University of London, Cornell University, Duke University, McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Birmingham, and the United Nations system. Manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review by referees drawn from networks tied to the African Studies Association (US), Association of African Historians, International African Institute, and regional research centers such as CODESRIA and the Centre for African Studies (Edinburgh). The journal adheres to ethical standards promoted by bodies like the Committee on Publication Ethics.
The journal is cited in policy and academic outlets such as Foreign Affairs, The Economist, New York Times', think tanks including International Crisis Group, Chatham House, and scholarly monographs published by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Indiana University Press. It has influenced curricula at departments such as African Studies Centre Leiden, SOAS, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of California, Berkeley, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and professional associations including the African Studies Association. Its articles have been discussed at conferences like the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, International Congress of Africanists, and workshops funded by foundations such as the Carnegie Corporation and Ford Foundation.
Category:African studies journals Category:Indiana University Press academic journals