African History and Institutions
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with the interpretive tools necessary to understand: (1) the assumptions regarding the formation of the colonial state, (2) the processes of decolonization, and then (3) the constituent elements of independent states in Africa and regional economic communities, realized in the face of domestic problems and global challenges.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students will have gained an understanding of the impact of the colonial "event" experienced by the various peoples of Africa and their subsequent political, economic, social, and cultural structures. They are expected to refine a specific ability to recognize and articulate the different human reactions to the impact with the variety of colonial experiences that arise from the export of the ius publicum europaeum, used, on the one hand, to divide the continent among the European powers and mark the boundaries of their respective spheres of influence, and on the other, to control not only the exploitation of land and mineral resources, but above all its "human capital", retribalized in a process of objectification, dependence, and systematic epistemological annihilation of African cultures that still today produce consequences in the very way of interpreting Africa in the current vulgate of Western countries and within the African continent. The third monographic teaching unit, relating to South African "settler colonialism" and the regional reverberation of the struggle for the end of the apartheid regime, will complete the course. Students will thus understand the link between the historical legacy of competition for the control and management of natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa, starting from the commodification of human resources to the globalized one of resources by the developmentist state. The course aims to stimulate in students a capacity for critical and historically informed thinking, in analyzing cultural conflicts and institutional stratifications of the past and their consequences in the present.
Lesson period: Third trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Third trimester
Course syllabus
I CU - 1. African studies: research sectors and sources. 2. The phases of the history of the African continent. 3. From illicit trade to lawful trade.
II CU - Continuity in the drainage of African resources during the post-independence era. Unless otherwise agreed with the teacher, students at the exam will be able to focus on one of two main topics, as an alternative to each other:
Focus 1: Colonialism and anti-colonial struggles.
Focus 2: Political-institutional evolution of the sub-Saharan State and/or regional aggregates.
II CU - Continuity in the drainage of African resources during the post-independence era. Unless otherwise agreed with the teacher, students at the exam will be able to focus on one of two main topics, as an alternative to each other:
Focus 1: Colonialism and anti-colonial struggles.
Focus 2: Political-institutional evolution of the sub-Saharan State and/or regional aggregates.
Prerequisites for admission
It would be preferable to have a fair knowledge of modern and contemporary history.
Teaching methods
Lectures, film forums and meetings with various expertises related to the topics addressed in class.
Teaching Resources
Attending students will have access to the slides and materials assigned in class and uploaded to the course website on the MyAriel platform.
NON-ATTENDING students will have an increased program, as indicated below.
I/II UD - Arrigo Pallotti, Mario Zamponi, Anna Maria Medici, L'AFRICA CONTEMPORANEA, Le Monnier Università, 2017.
· ATTENDING students may limit the study of parts of the manual: Chap. 4/§2 and 3; Chap. 5/all; Chap. 11 (bringing 1 case of your choice); Chap. 17; Cap 21 (bringing 1 case of your choice); Chap. 22/all; of the series of cases of Chap. 25 §2 (bringing 1 case) of Chap. 25 §3 limiting itself to bringing 2 cases (e.g. Ghana and Kenya); Chap. 29 § 5 (bringing 1 case) and choosing 1 case from §6, §7 or §8.
· In addition, students attending the 9 cfu course can avoid studying the parts of the textbook that deal with South Africa (although reading it is recommended).
· NON-ATTENDING students will bring the volume in its entirety to the exam.
Case studies: tre (3) essays or book chapters indicated to be chosen from the following or a bibliography selected with the teacher on specific topics requested by the students.
IIUD/ - Focus 1/ Colonialism and its consequences
· Franz Fanon: Black Skin, White Masks (Feltrinelli, 2015) or The Wretched of the Earth (Feltrinelli, 2007)
1. Valeria Deplano, Alessandro Pes, "History of Italian colonialism. Politics, culture and memory from the liberal age to our days", Carocci, 2024 (one of the three sections into which the volume is divided)
· Antonio Morone (ed.), The end of Italian colonialism. Politics, Society and Memories, Le Monnier, 2019 (one of the three sections into which the volume is divided)
II DU - Focus 2 A: Political-institutional evolution of the sub-Saharan State
· Alessio Iocchi, Resistants, rebels and terrorists in the Sahel - from colonial occupation to contemporary crises (1897-2022), Carocci, 2023 (1 chapter of your choice)
· Or three (3) essays from the following volumes of "Africas and Orients" (3)
1. Possibilities of Independence in Africa, Vol. 21 No. 1 (2019)
2. Africa between old and new powers, Vol. 20 No. 1-2 (2018)
- Focus 2 B: African international politics and regional political-economic communities
· Arrigo Pallotti and Mario Zamponi, Sub-Saharan Africa in International Politics Le Monnier, 2010 (alternatively Part I, Part II or Part III)
NON-ATTENDING students will have an increased program, as indicated below.
I/II UD - Arrigo Pallotti, Mario Zamponi, Anna Maria Medici, L'AFRICA CONTEMPORANEA, Le Monnier Università, 2017.
· ATTENDING students may limit the study of parts of the manual: Chap. 4/§2 and 3; Chap. 5/all; Chap. 11 (bringing 1 case of your choice); Chap. 17; Cap 21 (bringing 1 case of your choice); Chap. 22/all; of the series of cases of Chap. 25 §2 (bringing 1 case) of Chap. 25 §3 limiting itself to bringing 2 cases (e.g. Ghana and Kenya); Chap. 29 § 5 (bringing 1 case) and choosing 1 case from §6, §7 or §8.
· In addition, students attending the 9 cfu course can avoid studying the parts of the textbook that deal with South Africa (although reading it is recommended).
· NON-ATTENDING students will bring the volume in its entirety to the exam.
Case studies: tre (3) essays or book chapters indicated to be chosen from the following or a bibliography selected with the teacher on specific topics requested by the students.
IIUD/ - Focus 1/ Colonialism and its consequences
· Franz Fanon: Black Skin, White Masks (Feltrinelli, 2015) or The Wretched of the Earth (Feltrinelli, 2007)
1. Valeria Deplano, Alessandro Pes, "History of Italian colonialism. Politics, culture and memory from the liberal age to our days", Carocci, 2024 (one of the three sections into which the volume is divided)
· Antonio Morone (ed.), The end of Italian colonialism. Politics, Society and Memories, Le Monnier, 2019 (one of the three sections into which the volume is divided)
II DU - Focus 2 A: Political-institutional evolution of the sub-Saharan State
· Alessio Iocchi, Resistants, rebels and terrorists in the Sahel - from colonial occupation to contemporary crises (1897-2022), Carocci, 2023 (1 chapter of your choice)
· Or three (3) essays from the following volumes of "Africas and Orients" (3)
1. Possibilities of Independence in Africa, Vol. 21 No. 1 (2019)
2. Africa between old and new powers, Vol. 20 No. 1-2 (2018)
- Focus 2 B: African international politics and regional political-economic communities
· Arrigo Pallotti and Mario Zamponi, Sub-Saharan Africa in International Politics Le Monnier, 2010 (alternatively Part I, Part II or Part III)
Assessment methods and Criteria
Attending students will also be evaluated for active participation in class and/or through the blog offered in MyAriel following the film forums that will be experienced or the proposed lessons shared with experts. The oral exam is generally divided into three questions, starting from a topic chosen by the candidate, followed by questions to deepen the program carried out in class and from the manual, or from one of the proposed focus and related literature, if this is not part of the topic selected at the beginning of the discussion. Non-attending students have an increased program, to make up for the lack of lessons, but without prejudice to the possibilities of choice guaranteed in agreement with the teacher.
SPS/13 - AFRICAN HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS - University credits: 6
Lessons: 40 hours
Professor:
Fiamingo Cristiana
Professor(s)
Reception:
The professor receives students at the end of the lessons or by appointment e-mailing to [email protected] to organize a Ms-Teams call or an in-presence meeting, if necessary.
Ist floor, room 10, via Conservatorio 7