Revue des études africaines

Revue des études africaines is a French-language scholarly periodical dedicated to the study of African societies, cultures, and history. Founded in the mid-20th century, it has published research on North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa across fields intersecting with anthropology, history, and political affairs. The journal has engaged contributors and readers linked to universities, research institutes, and international organizations across Europe and Africa.

History

The journal was established in 1959 during an era shaped by decolonization movements such as the Algerian War and the independence of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), with founders connected to institutions like the International African Institute, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the École pratique des hautes études. Early editorial networks included scholars associated with Université de Genève, the Université de Lausanne, the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, and the British Museum's African collections. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s its pages reflected debates touched by figures and events such as Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Haile Selassie, the Congo Crisis, and the Algiers Conference (1969), while engaging comparative perspectives linked to archives at the Institut Français d'Afrique Noire and the Royal Museum for Central Africa. In later decades the journal responded to scholarship influenced by authors associated with the Cambridge University Press, the University of Chicago Press, and the Harvard University Press, and covered regional developments involving entities like the Organisation of African Unity and the African Union.

Scope and Content

Articles examine historical episodes such as the Scramble for Africa, the Anglo-Zulu War, the Maji Maji Rebellion, the Mau Mau uprising, and the First Congo War, alongside studies of personalities including Patrice Lumumba, Julius Nyerere, Sékou Touré, Thomas Sankara, and Leopold Sédar Senghor. The journal publishes research on cultural artifacts in collections at the Musée du quai Branly, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and engages with archival sources from the British Library, the Archives Nationales de France, and the National Archives of Zimbabwe. Comparative pieces have referenced theoretical work associated with scholars linked to the University of California, Berkeley, the School for Advanced Study, University of London, and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Special issues have explored themes tied to treaties such as the Treaty of Wuchale, economic episodes like the Scramble for Africa, and social movements involving activists related to Amílcar Cabral, Steve Biko, and Wangari Maathai.

Editorial Structure and Peer Review

The editorial board has historically included academics from institutions like the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, the Université Mohammed V, the University of Ibadan, and the University of Cape Town. Editors have coordinated peer review with external referees from centers such as the African Studies Association, the Royal African Society, the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity. The review process aligns with standards practiced in journals published by houses like Routledge, Oxford University Press, and Brill Publishers, and solicits responses from specialists with expertise tied to fieldwork in regions including the Sahara, the Sahel, the Great Lakes Region, and the Horn of Africa. Editorial policies have addressed language conventions used in works citing sources from the Archives du Ministère des Colonies and methodological approaches inspired by scholars associated with the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies.

Publication and Distribution

Published in Geneva and distributed through academic networks connected to the International African Institute, the journal reaches libraries such as the Library of Congress, the Bodleian Library, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It appears in bibliographic databases alongside titles from publishers like Springer, Elsevier, and Cambridge University Press, and is catalogued in systems used by institutions such as the Union Catalogue of Swiss Libraries and the WorldCat network. Back issues are held in repositories at the University of Paris, the University of Cape Town Libraries, and national libraries in Senegal, Morocco, and Côte d'Ivoire; special collections sometimes collaborate with exhibitions at venues such as the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire and the Royal Museum for Central Africa.

Impact and Reception

Scholars cite the journal in work addressing postcolonial trajectories linked to thinkers like Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Aimé Césaire, and in comparative histories referencing events such as the Rwandan Genocide, the Biafran War, and the Angolan Civil War. Reviews of its issues have appeared in forums associated with the African Studies Review, the Journal of African History, and the Canadian Journal of African Studies, and its articles have influenced curricula at institutions including the University of Oxford, the Université de Genève, and the University of Lagos. The journal has contributed to historiographical debates alongside work produced by researchers at the Institut Pasteur, the Wellcome Trust, and the World Bank on topics spanning health crises, migration flows, and urban transformations in cities like Lagos, Dakar, Kinshasa, Nairobi, and Johannesburg.

Category:African studies journals Category:French-language journals Category:Academic journals established in 1959