Claudia Gastrow

Dusk-to-Dawn curfew in place in Tanzania as protests continue following the national election yesterday. Incumbent Samia Suluhu is accused of intimidation and arbitrary arrests of leading opposition figures, including Chadema leader Tundu Lissu who is charged with treason and was not on the ballot.

A global Gen-Z revolt: African youth mobilize against corruption and neo-colonialism Across the African continent, from Madagascar to Morocco, young people known as Generation Z, are taking to the streets demanding social justice, and their voices to be heard.

Across the African continent, from Madagascar to Morocco, young people known as Generation Z, are taking to the streets demanding social justice, and their voices to be heard.

A newly constructed high-rise apartment building rises into the gray sky above a tree-lined street lined with older, low-rise houses.

China dominates the narrative on Africa’s urban development — but what about Turkey? In Maputo, Turkish construction firms are quietly reshaping the city, largely unnoticed by researchers. Not all of these companies are here for fun—many of them are run by exiles linked to the Gülen movement.

What Pan-Africanism Can Teach Us Now A biography of Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah casts the post-WWII era as a Black liberation epic rather than a psychodrama between Moscow and Washington.

What Pan-Africanism Can Teach Us Now

A biography of Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah casts the post-WWII era as a Black liberation epic rather than a psychodrama between Moscow and Washington.
newrepublic.com/article/1997...

‘We are the last hope’: Gen Z Madagascar vows to fight on until president resigns Protesting young people reject dissolution of government as insufficient and demand list of reforms

“I realised if I stop now, who’s gonna stand up again? If I don’t do it, who’s going to do it? If it’s not now, then when?”

I spoke to Gen Z protestors in Madagascar, who said they plan to fight on until the president resigns and the whole political system is reformed

Introducing the William E. Leuchtenburg Fund

Created to honor Bill Leuchtenburg’s decades of service on our board and his towering contributions to scholarship in American History. Learn more in this thread 🧵

Zambia Belonging A counter-archive of found and crowd-sourced photographs from Zambia’s past.

The artist Sana Ginwalla has created an online photo archive based on 1000 uncollected negatives, slides and prints that she found in the attic of Lusaka’s oldest photo studios. What a great initiative:

www.zambiabelonging.com

Excited to be part of this amazing collaboration which has helped me think more broadly and capaciously about histories of urbanism and architecture across the globe! Thanks to @staneklukasz.bsky.social for leading this initiative!

New UNC Press books have entered the villa 😎

ICYMI: our fall 2025 catalog of books publishing between August 2025 and January 2026 is now live on our site 🎉

uncpress.org/fall-2025-se...

Prepare for publication in an ASA Journal! ASA is calling all emerging scholars to apply for the PIPES pre-conference workshop this November 19 in Atlanta, GA. Review your eligibility, prepare your draft, and apply by May 15! africanstudies.org/a...

Fantastic opportunity for early career African researchers working on agrarian issues.

www.peasantjournal.org/news/call-fo...

Looking forward to this book forum organized by the Duke Africa Initiative on 26 Mar with @cgastrow.bsky.social and @shakirahh.bsky.social

When French Communists Went on a Brutalist Building Boom The new book A Concrete Alliance explores the daring and divisive architecture built by the Communist Party of France in working-class towns of the 1960s and ’70s.

"Conceived as a rebuke of modernism’s minimalism + urban monotony, Gailhoustet + Renaudie’s master plan for Ivry’s town center is a jagged and diffuse pile of triangular volumes that leveled the unity of the superblock into a mosaic of ramps, rooftop terraces and gardens..."

gather here as our country is mourning the tragic and devastating loss of 14 South African soldiers who were part of a mission to bring peace to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. We bow our heads in tribute to: Staff Sergeant William Eddie Cola Staff Sergeant Molahlehi Ishmael Molahlehi Staff Sergeant Shwahlane Theophilus Seepe Corporal Matome Justice Malesa Corporal Rinae Nemavhulani Lance Bombardier Itumeleng Macdonald Moreo Lance Corporal Tseke Moffat Molapo Lance Corporal Metse Stansly Raswiswi Rifleman Sebatane Richard Chokoe Rifleman Derrick Maluleke Rifleman Tshidiso Andries Mabele Rifleman Calvin Louis Moagi Rifleman Mokete Joseph Mobe Private Peter Jacobus Strydom I have directed that the National Flag be flown at half-mast for a period of a week in honour of our fallen soldiers.

Alongside soldiers from other Southern African countries, they lost their lives in defence of the fundamental right of the Congolese people to live in peace and security. They lost their lives not in the pursuit of resources or territory or power. They lost their lives so that the guns on our continent may be forever silenced. We salute our gallant soldiers.

President Ramaphosa’s touching tribute to the 14 South African soldiers killed during this month’s heavy fighting in the DRC, both as part of the SADC & United Nations missions. It was a solemn and proper opening to his address.

They served their country, it’s important to honour & remember them.

Now imagine when I found my fieldwork photos unattributed in an edited collection with an actual academic press… book was posted over a decade ago so felt it wasn’t worth following up, but did I get a shock when I saw them.

Police fire teargas, stun grenades and, in at least one instance, live bullets at supporters of Mozambican opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane gathered at Maputo's airport for his arrival this morning. (via Adriano Nuvunga)

Historians: This is an extraordinarily useful collection of online archives that Evan has assembled.

Thanks @nickrushsmith.bsky.social ! I hope it meets expectations! Such an amazing number of books about African urbanism published in the last year.

Last Thursday's strike is eerily similar to a February drone massacre of 30+ people. I produced this visual investigation of it. Since the likes of Turkey, UAE, Iran and China began arming Ethiopia with drones in 2020, thousands of civilians have been killed in strikes.

Events — Patchwork Ethnography

🎉We have a contract! @uchicagopress.bsky.social will publish the Patchwork Ethnography textbook. If you're an Early Career scholar, please consider applying to our workshop. We're looking for contributors who can help advance our theorization. Deadline 6 Dec: patchworkethnography.com/events.

I mad a starter pack for African Studies. Let me know who else should be in here!

When you have a wonderful discussion with amazing discussants but subsequently realise you totally misunderstood the concepts one of your discussants asked you about 🙈 I am going to just take it as a reminder that I always have more to learn and more to read.

South–South Theoretical Dialogues: The Tanzanian Experience (1974–76) in Milton Santos’ Spatial Theory The Brazilian geographer Milton Santos is known for his sophisticated theorisation of geographical space. Less well known, however, is the role that Milton Santos’ experience at the University of Dar...

Milton Santos: the Dar es-Salaam years and their impact on one of the most important spatial thinkers. Some histories were yet to be written. Superb stuff in @antipodeonline.bsky.social
#geosky
#africapolsky
#socialtheory
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

👏🎉👏🎉

The Aesthetics of Belonging: Indigenous Urbanism, City Building and the Oil Boom in Luanda Join us for a thought-provoking seminar on the intersections of urbanism, indigenous identity, and the transformation of Luanda during the oil boom. Claudia Gastrow (North Carolina State University) w...

Come and join me and some wonderful colleagues in discussing my new book next week. More information and registration in the link below:

carleton.ca/africanstudi...

UK freezes the assets of former #Angola first daughter Isabel dos Santos.
www.msn.com/en-za/news/o...

The Aesthetics of Belonging | Claudia Gastrow | University of North Carolina Press After centuries of colonial rule, the end of Angola's three-decade civil war in 2002 provided an irresistible opportunity for the government to reimagine the...

My book is out! The Aesthetics of Belonging explores how urban aesthetics shape experiences and practices of political belonging:

uncpress.org/book/9781469...

Please add me :)

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Please include me! Just joined and trying to find my way on this app!