African Economic History (1500-present)

By engaging with histories of development, quantitative economic history, and history of labor, this course provides an overview of the methodologies and questions pertaining to the economic history of African contexts from the 16th to the 21st century. Students will gain skills in archival analysis and data analysis of historical sources in order to understand how economic stratification and accumulation functioned in African states and societies from the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, through European conquest and colonialism, to the new imperatives of independence. Themes of the class will include a critical evaluation of slavery, conquest and capital, colonial violence, development and inequality in African contexts.