New Research for Civic Activism

If democratisation is in part a way for civil society to play a greater role in public life, what impact have recent political transitions, including elections in Angola, had in southern Africa? The question is important because that country is coming out of a long history of civil strife and needs to rebuild its society. But it is also of some consequence for the future of southern Africa because most political theorists see multiparty polls as the main avenue allowing for the emergence of an active civil society. What, therefore, can the experience of Angola tell us about the existence, role and future of civil society in the region and, more generally, in Africa? And what light can the experience of post-colonial Africa shed on the current transitions in Angola?
These questions are simple enough to ask but complicated to tackle ... ‘

(From Patrick Chabal's introductory article to 'Political Transitions and Civil Society in Africa')

Indeed ... simple enough to ask but complicated to tackle ... and that is exactly what we would like trying with this website: in a more interactive way, with a host of members and working towards one goal: tackling questions that are important enough and simple enough to ask...
So we see this website as the follow up of a process that we started 6 years ago with the first book in what would become a series: ‘O proceso de transição para o multipartidarismo em Angola' (Vidal and Pinto de Andrade 2006).