"Power in Africa" casts a fresh look at contemporary Black African politics. It argues that our understanding of Africa has all too often been hampered by the limitations of the concepts and approaches we have used. It reviews the merits and failings of existing interpretations of Africa's post-colonial society and offers a new approach to its understanding. "Power in Africa" has two main aims. First, to present a comparative conceptual framework which places Africa's politics within its appropriate historical context (from the pre-colonial to the present). Second, to provide an explanation of what is actually happening in Africa in terms which make it possible to relate Africa's contemporary predicament and its possible futures to those of other parts of the world.

No-one can deny that today Africa is in crisis. Wars, coups, famines and violence stalk the continent and fill the pages of our newspapers. Africa's debt is astronomical, economic development has ceased, corruption appears endemic and force seems the chief instrument of politics. At the same time we hear that Africa is now moving towards democracy. Economic and political liberalisation is seen as the way forward. How do we assess the viability of the current moves towards democracy? How do we move away from the cliches of Africa as a dark continent perenially in crisis? "Power in Africa" develops a political analysis which attempts to offer a plausible interpretation of Africa's fate.