Alicia C. Decker - Böcker

Africanizing Democracies examines the ways in which Africans have constructed and reshaped democracy in order to fit their own political ideals and agendas. Analyzing political democratization in this vast continent--which is home to fifty-five sovereign countries--the book includes voices of Africans from all walks of life and utilizes a wide variety of primary sources, including newspaper articles, speeches, memoirs, films, letters, and photographs. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of democratization in Africa, demonstrating how the process has had a significant impact on the continent's economic, social, and cultural landscape. Africanizing Democracies looks at democratization in relation to such topics as the end of apartheid, the role of women in politics, the Arab Spring, debt relief and humanitarian aid, China's growing involvement in Africa, HIV/AIDS and other significant health concerns, feminism and LGBT activism, and peace and security issues, among others.

In Idi Amin's Shadow is a rich social history examining Ugandan women's complex and sometimes paradoxical relationship to Amin's military state. Based on more than one hundred interviews with women who survived the regime, as well as a wide range of primary sources, this book reveals how the violence of Amin's militarism resulted in both opportunities and challenges for women. Some assumed positions of political power or became successful entrepreneurs, while others endured sexual assault or experienced the trauma of watching their brothers, husbands, or sons "disappeared" by the state's security forces. In Idi Amin's Shadow considers the crucial ways that gender informed and was informed by the ideology and practice of militarism in this period. By exploring this relationship, Alicia C. Decker offers a nuanced interpretation of Amin's Uganda and the lives of the women who experienced and survived its violence.Each chapter begins with the story of one woman whose experience illuminates some larger theme of the book. In this way, it becomes clear that the politics of military rule were highly relevant to women and gender relations, just as the politics of gender were central to militarism. By drawing upon critical security studies, feminist studies, and violence studies, Decker demonstrates that Amin's dictatorship was far more complex and his rule much more strategic than most observers have ever imagined.

In Idi Amin's Shadow is a rich social history examining Ugandan women's complex and sometimes paradoxical relationship to Amin's military state. Based on more than one hundred interviews with women who survived the regime, as well as a wide range of primary sources, this book reveals how the violence of Amin's militarism resulted in both opportunities and challenges for women. Some assumed positions of political power or became successful entrepreneurs, while others endured sexual assault or experienced the trauma of watching their brothers, husbands, or sons "disappeared" by the state's security forces. In Idi Amin's Shadow considers the crucial ways that gender informed and was informed by the ideology and practice of militarism in this period. By exploring this relationship, Alicia C. Decker offers a nuanced interpretation of Amin's Uganda and the lives of the women who experienced and survived its violence.Each chapter begins with the story of one woman whose experience illuminates some larger theme of the book. In this way, it becomes clear that the politics of military rule were highly relevant to women and gender relations, just as the politics of gender were central to militarism. By drawing upon critical security studies, feminist studies, and violence studies, Decker demonstrates that Amin's dictatorship was far more complex and his rule much more strategic than most observers have ever imagined.