Beyond Mimicry

Beyond Mimicry offers critical analysis of the main characteristics of African endogenous approaches to governance, investigating the potential of these systems in response to the crises many of today’s societies in Africa are facing. The book reflects on these studies and develops policy recommendations for African decision-makers willing to consider integrating endogenous systems of governance as a basis to search for alternative solutions to current critical issues.

• Provides well-researched scholarly responses to current governance crises
• Draws insights from traditional governance systems as alternatives to the political culture in Africa
• Proposes policy recommendations for African decision-makers

Augustin F. C. Holl is Honorary Research Director at the International Research Center and Documentation on African Traditions and Languages (Yaoundé, Cameroon). He was successively Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego, Curator at the Museum of Anthropology, Professor of Anthropology and of Afro-American and African studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA), Vice-President for International Relations at Paris-Nanterre University (France), and Deputy-Director at the Institute of Humanities and Social Science (CNRS, Paris, France), and Distinguished Professor of anthropological archaeology at Xiamen University, (Fujian, China). He is the Vice Chair of AFROSPECTIVES: A Global Africa Initiative.

Ali Moussa Iye is a researcher and writer and holds a PhD in Political Science. He was journalist and Director of Press and Audiovisual in Djibouti before joining UNESCO in 1997 as the Coordinator of the Culture of Peace Programme in the Horn of Africa. From 2004 to 2019, he was the Head of UNESCO History and Memory for Dialogue Department and directed two important UNESCO Programmes: Routes of Dialogue and General and Regional Histories. He has initiated and coordinated the pedagogical use of the General History of Africa and the drafting of the last three volumes of this prestigious collection to update it and address the new challenges faced by Africa and its diasporas. He is the co-founder and Chair of AFROSPECTIVES: A Global Africa Initiative.