Royal African Society

The Royal African Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom was founded in 1901 to promote relations between the United Kingdom and countries in Africa. In addition to producing its journal African Affairs (ISSN 0368-4016, formerly Journal of the African Society), the Society runs programmes in business, politics, the arts and education. It is a not-for-profit membership organisation based in London.

History

The establishment of the society in 1901 grew out of the travels of Mary Kingsley, an English writer and explorer who travelled to Africa several times in the 1890s and greatly influenced European study of the African continent. In 1893, she travelled to Luanda, Angola, where she lived with the indigenous peoples to learn their customs. In 1895 she returned to study cannibal tribes, travelled up the Ogooué River collecting specimens of previously undiscovered fish, and became the first European to climb Mount Cameroon. Upon her return to England, Kingsley upset many people, particularly the Church of England: she criticized missionaries, and supported many traditional aspects of African life, most controversially the practice of polygamy. Kingsley wrote that a "black man is no more an undeveloped white man than a rabbit is an undeveloped hare".[1] She died of typhoid in South Africa in June 1900, and the African Society was formed to commemorate and continue Kingsley's work. It received a Royal charter in 1935, becoming the Royal African Society (RAS).[2] Its current Royal Patron is Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

Its journal, originally Journal of the African Society, now African Affairs, has been in continuous publication since 1902. It is a peer-reviewed academic journal of political, economic and social science.

The society administers the African Studies Association of the UK (est. 1963) which organises a biennial African studies conference,[3] and provides the secretariat for the All-party parliamentary group (APPG) for Africa.[4]

In 2002, the society appointed Richard Dowden as its first Executive Director and began a significant expansion of its activities (see below). He was succeeded in 2017 by Dr Nicholas Westcott.[5]

Activities

In addition to its journal and its support for the APPG for Africa, the society organises regular meetings on current African issues, including a series on African "Economies to Watch", and occasional major conferences. In 2009, the RAS, with the International African Institute (IAI) launched the African Arguments Book Series, published by Zed Books. This was followed by an online platform called African Arguments, which provides a forum for African journalism and analysis on current social, political, economic and cultural matters in Africa.[6]

Cultural initiatives

In 2008, the RAS supported the launch of a London African Film Festival, in co-operation with Africa at the Pictures, and subsequently established the annual festival "Film Africa".[7] In 2012, the RAS established an annual literature festival called "Africa Writes".[8][9] Having grown significantly, these festivals are now held in alternate years. In July 2019, the inauguration of the Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award was announced, the first recipient being Margaret Busby.[10][11]

See also

References
  1. Mary H. Kingsley (1897). Travels in West Africa; Congo Français, Corisco and Cameroons.
  2. "History of the RAS".
  3. "About Us". Asauk.net. African Studies Association of the UK. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. "APPG for Africa". RAS website.
  5. "Nicholas Westcott biography". SOAS Staff website.
  6. "About" African Arguments.
  7. Film Africa.
  8. "A History", Royal African Society.
  9. Africa Writes.
  10. Otosirieze Obi-Young, "Pioneering Publisher & Editor Margaret Busby Receives the Inaugural Africa Writes Lifetime Achievement Award", Brittle Paper, 10 July 2010.
  11. "Africa Writes: Margaret Busby OBE awarded Lifetime Achievement in African Literature", Alt Africa Review, 12 July 2019.
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