Prof Cliffe, first chair of the Department of Development Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam and founder-editor of the Review of African Political Economy, was a socialist, sympathetic to Mwalimu Nyerere’s policies, and a supporter of the total liberation of Africa from external domination

African Union Human Rights Memorial Network dialogue in Dakar, Senegal, 11-12 November, examines the role of slavery memorialisation in promoting human rights on the continent

The Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) is developing a Directory of individuals, organizations and law firms offering or ready to offer pro bono legal representation, or any other form of legal aid, to indigent clients appearing before African continental and (sub) regional Courts and tribunals. This Directory will also include any established funds or facilities offering pro bono legal aid.

Why Angola is buying junk military aircraft from Russia, which will require lots of money to service, is puzzling. Who will fly the aircraft? Where is Angola preparing to fight? These and many more questions beg for answers

Despite pretensions to the contrary, the regime in Algiers is an obvious ally of Western imperialism. Algeria’s position, as can be seen from its response to foreign interventions in Libya, Mali and Syria, shows that the country has lost its heavy-weight and daring diplomacy of the 1960s and 1970s

The Napoleonic syndrome of President Jammeh expressed through his recent withdrawal from the British Commonwealth conceals his gross human rights violations, executions of political dissidents and homophobic pronoucements – rather than any principled opposition against neo-colonialism

An examination of the nationalist struggles in India and those in Africa reveals a historiography that is splashed with personalities. But these did not simply emerge as elite phenomena

There are still people who believe the BRICS can help fix global-scale problems caused by the persistent capitalist crisis. Yet strategies advocated by BRICS leaders have so far had no discernible effect on financial volatility

Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org) is organizing a special issue for November 2013 on the specific theme ‘Racial Relations in Brazil.’ Given the role and status of Brazil in the current global world order, as an emerging power from the South, some crucial issues in the social development of the country must be discussed. That specific issue is the problem of racial relations is an old one in Brazilian society. It is a country popularly known as a ‘racial paradise.’ However, this foundational myth relies on the cordial relations of the races (black, white and indigenous), but fundamentally Brazil has so far made little efforts to solve this problem.

November is the month historically chosen to celebrate black consciousness in the country. It is the month when Zumbi dos Palmares, who founded the maroon (quilombo) society of freed African slaves during the 17th century in northeastern Brazil, died on 20 November 1695.

We therefore invite people to write about the dynamics of racism in Brazil in order to publish this issue in this special month for not only black Brazilians but to remind our readers in Africa and globally that Brazil has historical, political, social and cultural ties to the African continent. We believe that Pambazuka can contribute to the debate on racism in a country that is emerging. Yet Brazil’s development will be halted if it fails to resolve the structural racism and its psychological impact that continues to withold human development in that country.

Authors are invited to write on any of the following topics (however, the list below is not exhaustive):

1.Racism and gender relations;
2.Race and class;
3.Racism and education;
4.Racism and psychology;
5.Racism and childhood;
6.Racism and the youth;
7.Environmental racism;
8.Institutional racism;
9.Case studies of racial problems;
10.Compared perspectives on racism;

Deadline for submission of articles in Portuguese, English and French languages is 26 October 2013
Texts must be sent to
Word length: articles must be between 1000-3000 words and in Times size 12 font.
Biography: please, submit a two line bio at the end of the article.
Bibliographical Endnotes can be submitted at the end of the article.

Until now, China has resisted continuous pressure to put an end to manipulation of the Yuan. This resistance has allowed China to continuously record the strongest growth rates in the world. There is no reason whatsoever for flexible exchange to encourage foreign trade growth. So why does HSBC Bank insist on this?

Around the world – from China to the US, and Turkey to Brazil – countries are stepping up their involvement in Africa. But what about Russia in all this?

In his effort to “put the angry Black genie back in the bottle” following George Zimmerman’s acquittal, President Obama once again claimed to oppose racial profiling. He’s lying. Obama has endorsed the most prolific racial profiler in the country as a potential head of Homeland Security. The president is a bulwark of the system that targets millions of Trayvon Martins

Pambazuka News publishes a special edition for the first time in three languages: English, French and Portuguese, on the relations between Brazil and Africa

The funds transfer programme has lifted millions of people out of poverty, although critics dismiss it as welfare adventurism which African countries can ill afford

Brazil House in Jamestown, Ghana, can be conceptualized as an urban landscape of memory framing Tabon identity. But the house is also a powerful modern tool of nostalgia and longing for authenticity that sparks the desire of the Tabon to explore their roots and origin

If one were to consider the cultural links between Brazil and Africa, Yoruba legacy in the North of Brazil could be the object of focus. However, this exchange was not just in one direction; the Brazilians also has a cultural impact on Africa

Archival records from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries show the Portuguese knew about Brazil years before 1500, when they officially discovered the South American landmass

Whether as skilled labourers, domestic servants, field hands, or as soldiers in the military, enslaved Africans brought to Brazil not only such important skills but their cultural and religious beliefs and practices that were to blend with European practices and customs. Ultimately it led to an Africanization of Brazil

Brazilians have much to learn from South Africans who hosted the 2010 World Cup in which thousands of South Africans rioted in the streets prior to the games and FIFA took billions in revenues. Will Brazil’s main trade union remain stymied by their alliance to the ruling party like South Africa’s?

Harare stands to benefit a great deal from increasing engagement with Brasilia in energy, mining, agriculture, or poverty alleviation policies. Zimbabwe must now engage the government of Brazil and expand mutually beneficial areas of political, economic and social cooperation between the two nations