{"title":"Series: Verso's Southern Questions","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eVerso’s Southern Questions\u003c\/em\u003e offers a compelling exploration of diverse themes ranging from politics and history to culture and personal development. This series invites readers to engage with thought-provoking perspectives on social justice, negotiation, creativity, and identity, blending rigorous analysis with accessible storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether delving into political movements, artistic expressions, or practical wisdom, readers can expect insightful works that challenge conventional narratives and inspire critical reflection across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Each title enriches understanding of the complexities shaping our world today.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"this-fiction-called-nigeria-by-adewale-maja-pearce-9781804291801","title":"This Fiction Called Nigeria","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this groundbreaking work, the essayist and critic Adéwálé Májà-Pearce delivers a mordant verdict on Nigeria’s crisis of democracy. A mosaic of ethnic and religious groups, the most populous country in Africa was fabricated by British colonisers at the turn of the twentieth century. When Nigerians went to the polls to vote in the 2023 elections, they had experienced a quarter century of democracy, after a similar period of almost unbroken military dictatorship. Yet the blessings of self-rule are unclear to many, especially among the more than half of the population living in extreme poverty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBuffeted by unemployment, saddled with debt, and rent by bandits and Islamic fundamentalists, Nigeria faces the threat of disintegration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMájà-Pearce shows that recent mobilisations against police brutality, sexism, and homophobia reveal a powerful undercurrent of discontent, especially among the country’s youth. If Nigeria has a future, he shows here, it is in the hands of the young, unwilling to go on as before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46851709534444,"sku":"9781804291801","price":36.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/10932313482830.jpg?v=1759120977"},{"product_id":"the-cameroon-war-by-thomas-deltombe-9781788733762","title":"The Cameroon War","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLegend has it that the end of France’s empire in sub-Saharan Africa was a peaceful affair. This book tells a very different story, exposing the shocking violence of a secret war. Its theatre was Cameroon in the 1950s and ’60s, where a mass movement for self-determination emerged under the leadership of a pro-independence party, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn response, the colonial power opted for brutal repression. Employing the same methods as in Algeria, French forces waged a counterinsurgency campaign of extraordinary violence, eventually eradicating the opposition and installing a client dictatorship in Yaoundé.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the height of the Cold War, with attention focused on the Algerian bloodbath, the conflict in Cameroon received little attention at the time. Subsequently, its devastating consequences — and tens of thousands of victims — would be intentionally obscured by French authorities and their local collaborators.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Cameroon War\u003c\/em\u003e uncovers this hidden history for the first time. It illuminates a forgotten struggle for decolonization at the origin of neocolonial rule in Francophone Africa that persists to this day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000770150636,"sku":"9781788733762","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/23866663482824.jpg?v=1763303315"},{"product_id":"my-country-africa-by-andree-blouin-9781839768712","title":"My Country, Africa","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in French Equatorial Africa, Andrée Blouin played a leading role in the struggles for decolonisation that shook the continent in the 1950s and 1960s. From the colonial orphanage of her childhood, she escaped an arranged marriage to become an avatar of pan-Africanism, advising heads of state from Algiers to Abidjan. Her autobiography retraces this journey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn Guinea, where Blouin accompanied Sékou Touré’s campaign for independence, she came into contact with leaders of the liberation movement in the Belgian Congo, who recruited her to run their women’s organisation. Blouin witnessed the Congolese tragedy up-close, as an adviser to Patrice Lumumba, whose arrest and assassination she narrates in unforgettable detail.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMy Country, Africa\u003c\/em\u003e is an essential contribution to the history of anti-colonialism and radical black feminism. Beginning with the formative experience of colonial rule, Blouin offers a sweeping survey of pan-African nationalism, encompassing the intricacies of revolutionary diplomacy, comradeship, and betrayal. Alongside intimate portraits of the movement’s leaders, Blouin provides insight into the often overlooked contribution of African women.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47362927624428,"sku":"9781839768712","price":38.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/586153482843.jpg?v=1772903359"},{"product_id":"everybody-loves-a-good-drought-by-palagummi-sainath-9781804297766","title":"Everybody Loves a Good Drought","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe poor in India are, too often, reduced to statistics. In the dry language of development reports and economic projections, the true misery of the hundreds of millions who live below the poverty line gets overlooked. In this thoroughly researched study of the poorest of the poor, we get to see how they manage, what sustains them, and the efforts, often ludicrous, to do something for them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe people who figure in this book typify the lives and aspirations of a large section of Indian society, and their stories present us with the true face of development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAcclaimed across the world, assigned in over 100 universities and colleges, and included in part in \u003ci\u003eThe Century's Greatest Reportage\u003c\/i\u003e, alongside the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Studs Terkel, \u003ci\u003eEverybody Loves a Good Drought\u003c\/i\u003e is the established classic on rural poverty in India. Two decades after publication, it remains unsurpassed in the scope and depth of reportage, providing an intimate view of the daily struggles of the poor and the efforts, often ludicrous, made to uplift them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47424097878252,"sku":"9781804297766","price":54.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781804297766.jpg?v=1774769158"},{"product_id":"djamila-boupacha-by-simone-de-beauvoir-9781836741817","title":"Djamila Boupacha","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1960, as the Algerian War for Independence entered its sixth year, 22-year-old Djamila Boupacha was arrested for allegedly planting a bomb in a university cafeteria. While in custody, she was tortured and raped by French soldiers. Her case would have been buried like countless others had it not been for the efforts of her lawyer, Gisèle Halimi, and the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir to transform it into an international cause célèbre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDjamila Boupacha\u003c\/i\u003e is the culmination of this campaign to expose the systemic violence of colonial rule. “To protest in the name of morality against ‘excesses’ or ‘abuses’,” Beauvoir writes, “is an error which hints at active complicity. There are no ‘abuses’ or ‘excesses’ here, simply an all-pervasive system.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMore than a historical document, the book is a profound exploration of morality, complicity and resistance. A classic text of anticolonialism, this is a story that demands to be read—and remembered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48317936238828,"sku":"9781836741817","price":42.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781836741817-djamila-boupacha-1.jpg?v=1788749831"},{"product_id":"the-barrel-of-a-gun-by-ruth-first-9781804299449","title":"The Barrel of a Gun","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA committed communist and anti-apartheid activist, Ruth First dedicated her life to African liberation struggles until her assassination by South Africa’s Special Branch in 1982.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Barrel of a Gun\u003c\/i\u003e establishes First’s position in the canon of post-colonial revolutionary thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48334358905068,"sku":"9781804299449","price":56.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781804299449-the-barrel-of-a-gun-1.jpg?v=1788915664"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/series-versos-southern-questions.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}