2016 ARBEITSPAPIER – WORKING PAPER 165 Thomas Bierschenk and Eva Spies Africa since 1960 Continuities, Dislocations, Perspectives ARBEITSPAPIERE DES INSTITUTS FÜR ETHNOLOGIE UND AFRIKASTUDIEN WORKING PAPERS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND AFRICAN STUDIES AP IFEAS 165/2016 Herausgegeben von / The Working Papers are edited by: Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Forum 6, D-55099 Mainz, Germany. Tel. +49-6131-3923720; Email:
[email protected]; http://www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de http://www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de/92.php Geschäftsführende Herausgeberin / Managing Editor: Konstanze N’Guessan (
[email protected]) Copyright remains with the author. Zitierhinweis / Please cite as: Bierschenk, Thomas und Eva Spies (2016): Africa since 1960: Continuities, Disclocations, Perspectives. Arbeitspapiere des Instituts für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (Working Papers of the Department of Anthropology and African Studies of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) 165. Bierschenk, Thomas and Eva Spies: Africa since 1960: Continuities, Dislocations, Perspectives. Abstract Many African states south of the Sahara celebrated half a century of political independence around the year 2010. This paper, originally written in German as introduction to an edited topical volume (Bierschenk and Spies 2012), evaluates this 50-year period and presents perspectives on the future challenges facing these states. It summarizes the developments of the past 50 years in areas such as the economy, religion, cultural production and politics. As a result of various multi-layered processes of consolidation, differentiation and transformation, African societies today are significantly more complex and diverse than they were at the time of independence. Moreover, African actors are far more visible at global level today than they were 50 years ago.