"Dreams for Lesotho" Book Launch

Fri, August 28, 2020 8:00 AM - Fri, August 28, 2020 9:00 AM at Morija Museum & Archives

Join us live at 8 a.m. on Friday, August 28, 2020 for Professor John Aerni-Flessner's book launch, "Dreams for Lesotho" hosted by Morija Museum and Archives.

NOTE: The time of this event is 8 a.m. The poster states the time in Central African Time (CAT).

 

About the Book

"In Dreams for Lesotho: Independence, Foreign Assistance, and Development, John Aerni-Flessner studies the post-independence emergence of Lesotho as an example of the uneven ways in which people experienced development at the end of colonialism in Africa. The book posits that development became the language through which Basotho (the people of Lesotho) conceived of the dream of independence, both before and after the 1966 transfer of power.

While many studies of development have focused on the perspectives of funding governments and agencies, Aerni-Flessner approaches development as an African-driven process in Lesotho. The book examines why both political leaders and ordinary people put their faith in development, even when projects regularly failed to alleviate poverty. He argues that the potential promise of development helped make independence real for Africans.

The book utilizes government archives in four countries, but also relies heavily on newspapers, oral histories, and the archives of multilateral organizations like the World Bank. It will interest scholars of decolonization, development, empire, and African and South African history." (University of Notre Dame Press)

 

You can purchase Aerni-Flessner's book here.