Journal of African History

Journal of African History
source
Title	Journal of African History
Discipline	African history
Language	English
Abbreviation	J. Afr. Hist.
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Country	United Kingdom
Frequency	Quarterly
History	1960–present
Issn	0021-8537
Eissn	1469-5138

Journal of African History is a peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the historical study of the African continent. It publishes original research on precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods, spanning political, social, cultural, economic, and intellectual histories. The journal attracts contributions from scholars affiliated with universities, research institutes, museums, archives, and libraries across Africa, Europe, and North America.

History

Founded in 1960 amid decolonization debates that involved figures such as Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Haile Selassie, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Julius Nyerere, the journal emerged alongside institutions like the University ofCape Town, University of Ibadan, Makerere University, SOAS University of London, and the School of Oriental and African Studies. Early editorial contributors were influenced by historians associated with Cambridge University, Oxford University, University of London, SOAS, and the British Museum. The journal published work on events including the Mau Mau Uprising, the Algerian War, the Angolan War of Independence, the Rwandan genocide, and the Ethiopian Revolution, and on personalities such as Patrice Lumumba, Nelson Mandela, Samora Machel, Ahmed Ben Bella, and Moses Mabhida. It engaged with debates prompted by the Organisation of African Unity, the Pan-African Congress, the Non-Aligned Movement, and archival releases from institutions like the Public Record Office, the National Archives (UK), and the Library of Congress.

Scope and Content

The journal covers a wide array of regions including North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa, with case studies from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Cameroon, Tanzania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, Togo, Gabon, Congo Free State, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Comoros. Thematic coverage includes studies of empires and polities like the Mali Empire, Songhai Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Ethiopian Empire, Ashanti Empire, Oyo Empire, Zulu Kingdom, Great Zimbabwe, and Kanem–Bornu Empire; diplomatic histories involving treaties such as the Berlin Conference; trade networks including the Trans-Saharan trade, Indian Ocean trade, and Atlantic slave trade; religious movements linked to Islamic expansion, Ethiopian Orthodoxy, Sufi orders, Wahhabism, and Christian missions; and cultural histories related to archives held at institutions like the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the British Library, the National Archives of France, and the Pittsburgh African Studies Center.

Editorial Board and Publication Details

The editorial board has included scholars affiliated with University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, University of Ibadan, University of Ghana, University of Dar es Salaam, University of Nairobi, Stellenbosch University, Fourah Bay College, University of Edinburgh, Queen's University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, McGill University, University of Toronto, Australian National University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Leiden University, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law. Published quarterly by Cambridge University Press, the journal issues peer-reviewed articles, review essays, book reviews, and occasional special issues. Production involves collaboration with printers and distributors historically linked to Cambridge University Press and academic societies such as the Royal African Society and research centers like the Centre for African Studies at multiple universities.

Abstracting and Indexing

The journal is indexed in major scholarly databases and indexing services including Scopus, Web of Science, JSTOR, Project MUSE, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Historical Abstracts, America: History and Life, Anthropological Index Online, MLA International Bibliography, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Google Scholar, and specialist African bibliographies maintained by institutions like the Institute of African Studies and the African Studies Association.

Impact and Reception

Scholars of figures such as Basil Davidson, Janet Abu-Lughod, V. Y. Mudimbe, John Iliffe, Walter Rodney, Sylvia Wynter, Martin Meredith, Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Hugh Trevor-Roper, and Patrick Manning have cited the journal. It has influenced debates on subjects linked to the Berlin Conference, Scramble for Africa, decolonization, Neocolonialism, Independence of Algeria, Apartheid, Pan-Africanism, and Cold War in Africa. Major academic prizes, including those awarded by the African Studies Association, the Royal Historical Society, and various university history departments, have recognized articles first published in the journal. Reviews in periodicals such as The Times Literary Supplement, African Affairs, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Past & Present, and The English Historical Review have engaged with its contributions.

Notable Articles and Special Issues

Notable single articles and symposia published in the journal have addressed events and persons like the Maji Maji Rebellion, Herero and Namaqua Genocide, Haitian Revolution (in comparative perspective), Yaa Asantewaa War, Dongola Campaign, Battle of Omdurman, First Italo-Ethiopian War, Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Mau Mau, Abyssinian Crisis, and figures including Samori Ture, Shaka Zulu, Menelik II, Ibrahim Pasha, Yoweri Museveni, Robert Mugabe, and Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Special issues have focused on themes such as the Atlantic World, Indian Ocean World, Environmental history of Africa, Urban history of Africa, Gender history, History of slavery, Memory studies, Oral history, Histories of Science in Africa, Legal pluralism, Labour movements, Historiography of Africa, and methodological debates involving archives like the Austrian State Archives, the National Archives of South Africa, and the French Colonial Archives.

Category:Academic journals Category:History journals Category:African studies journals