Political History Commons^™

Publish Not Punish: The Contested Truth Of The South African Truth And Reconciliation Commission, Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

After the TRC: Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa, Wilmot James and Linda van de Vijver, Editors. Athens: Ohio University Press and Cape Town: David Philip Publishers, 2000. 228pp.

and

Looking Back, Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, Charles Villa-Vicencio and Wilhelm Verwoerd, Editors. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press and London: Zed Books, 2000. 322pp.

Assessing The Concept Of Human Rights In Africa, Paul J. Magnarella

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of Human Rights in Africa: The Conflict of Implementation by Richard Amoako Baah. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000. 123pp.

The title of this book is somewhat more expansive than its contents. The author, a native Ghanaian who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee and teaches government at South Texas College, reports on an interesting study of human rights/human dignity conceptualizations among the Akan people of Ghana. The Akan constitute about 60% of Ghana’s 14 million people and consist of five major groups: Fanti, Ashanti, Akim, Brong, and Akwapim. A sizable Akan population also lives …

Timbuktu: A Lesson In Underdevelopment, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

Th e purpose of the present paper is to investigate Timbuktu’s economic decline in the three centuries elapsed between 1526, when Leo Africanus reached the Mysterious City, and 1830, when the fi rst European explorers arrived in Timbuktu. It is argued that Timbuktu’s decline was neither an accident nor the result of inevitable natural conditions. Timbuktu’s decay was the product of historical and social forces. Specifi cally, it is argued that Timbuktu lost power and prestige because its market decayed. However, it is also suggested that no single factor can account individually for this event. Th e crisis of Timbuktu’s …