We rely on readers to keep our website open to all. Help sustain a public space for collective reasoning and imagination—make a tax-deductible donation today.
In place of public-private partnerships, we should revive the Pan-African ambitions of the green developmental state.
When Desmond Tutu reconciled African theology and Black theology.
To ask why COVID-19 hasn’t been deadlier in Africa is to suggest that more Africans should be dying. We need better questions.
Working people are forever kept on the brink of going broke. More than higher wages and better job security, a just economy requires giving them the power to choose and create their own futures.
Kenya's poor were among the first to benefit from digital lending apps; now they call it slavery.
Citizens of African countries are expected to accede to a lower political standard than real democracy. Not only does this perpetuate the old colonial imagination, it is also fundamentally wrong.
Elections are now used to legitimate authoritarian regimes, not herald liberal democracy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Kenya.
The West likes morality plays with clear heroes and villains, in which we play the role of savior.
Refugee camps, intended to be temporary, host people for an average of 12 years.
Nigeria's recent election encouraged alliances among Muslims and Christians.
After twenty years of electoral dominance by the African National Congress, are South African politics finally becoming competitive?
The U.S. is funding development in restive Northern Nigeria, but soft power isn't blunting anti-American sentiments.
OneTouch travels the African continent, showcasing its natural beauty.
Migrants are dying as they cross the Mediterranean. Is there a better way?
With photographs by David Bacon.
The cause of Camus's native countrymen moved him, yet he yearned helplessly toward the European culture that had formed him.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses her new novel, Americanah—a love story that delves into the complexities of race with humor and empathy.
The Liberian army embarks on its first combat mission since the end of the country's brutal civil war.
The Egyptian uprising that began on January 25 has been rightly celebrated as a momentous event. Eighteen continuous days of mass protests forced the end of Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of strongman rule.
Many development experts promote information and communication technology (ICT) as a way to relieve global poverty. They should pay more attention to the human beings who use it.
Though both the victims and perpetrators of human rights violations on African soil have been Africans, the pursuit of justice has been conducted largely by international institutions.
A political and literary forum, independent and nonprofit since 1975. Registered 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more about our mission
Just in time for the holidays, get any three print issues of Boston Review for just $35 – that’s 40% off the cover price!
Before December 9, mix and match any three issues for one low price using code 3FOR35.
Just in time for the holidays, get any three print issues of Boston Review for just $35 – that’s 40% off the cover price!
Before December 9, mix and match any three issues for one low price using code 3FOR35.
For nearly 50 years, Boston Review has been a home for collective reasoning and imagination on behalf of a more just world.
But our future is never guaranteed. As a small, independent nonprofit, we have no endowment or single funder. We rely on contributions from readers like you to sustain our work.
If you appreciate what we publish and want to help ensure a future for the great writing and constructive debate that appears in our pages, please make a tax-deductible donation today.
That’s what sociologist Alondra Nelson says of Boston Review. Independent and nonprofit, we believe in the power of collective reasoning and imagination to create a more just world.
That’s why there are no paywalls on our website, but we can’t do it without the support of our readers. Please make a tax-deductible donation to help us create a more inclusive and egalitarian public sphere—open to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.