PhD Georgia State University, 2008
Other Georgia State University, Graduate Certificate in GIS, 2008
MA Université d'Abidjan-Cocody, 1996
BA Université d'Abidjan-Cocody, 1995
Academic Focus
Colonialism/Decolonization; Histories of Development/Modernization; Francophone Africa; U.S.-Africa Relations
Abou B. Bamba teaches Africa-related courses in the Africana Studies program and the History Department. Originally from Ivory Coast, Prof. Bamba was fascinated by foreign cultures early in life. This interest initially led him to concentrate on the study of foreign languages (English and Spanish) in college. Subsequently, he earned a Master's degree in American Studies from the Université d’Abidjan-Cocody in Ivory Coast. In the United States, he earned a certificate in Geographic Information Science (Geosciences) and a PhD in History, both from Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Prof. Bamba's current research focuses on post-1945 transnational histories of modernization, U.S.-Africa relations, migration/expatriation, and the search for the "good life".
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Book
African Miracle, African Mirage: Transnational Politics and the Paradox of Modernization in Ivory Coast. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2016.
Selected Articles:
“Economic Miracles and Their Hypes: An Africanist Disputation.” Radical History Review 151 (January 2025): 227-240.
“De l’ancrage d’une ville africaine: Abidjan, la mondialisation et le colonialisme tardif en Côte d’Ivoire.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 58, 1 (2024): 1-21.
“‘Mightier Than Marx’: Hassoldt Davis and American Cold War Politics in Postwar Ivory Coast.” International History Review 41, 6 (2019): 1123-1144.
“Producing an Imperial Bridgehead: The Making of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, 1908-1955.” World History Connected 13, 1 (February 2016).
“Conspicuous, Yet Invisible: Whiteness, Migration, and the French Residents of Ivory Coast, 1950-1985.” Journal of Modern European History 13, 4 (2015): 549-565.
“An Unconventional Challenge to Apartheid: The Ivorian Dialogue Diplomacy with South Africa, 1960-1978.” International Journal of African Historical Studies 47, 1 (2014): 77-99.
“Transnationalising Decolonisation: The Print Media, American Public Spheres, and France’s Imperial Exit in West Africa.” Journal of Transatlantic Studies 11, 4 (Fall 2013): 327-49.
“At the Edge of the Modern? Diplomacy, Public Relations, and Media Practices during Houphouët-Boigny’s 1962 Visit to the U.S.” Diplomacy & Statecraft 22, 2 (Summer 2011): 219-238.
“Mémoires épistémiques et pouvoir d’experts dans une postcolonie africaine: Le cas de l’usage des savoirs africanistes par l’ORSTOM en Côte d’Ivoire.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 44, 1 (Summer 2010): 1-34.
“Rebirth of a Strategic Continent? Problematizing Africa as a Geostrategic Zone.” African Geographical Review 29, 1 (June 2010): 91-100.
Courses Taught
Introduction to the study of the history and culture of various regions and groups in Africa. This course focuses on both the actual history and culture and how these have been portrayed from different intellectual perspectives. Topics covered include, African philosophical beliefs; an examination of the slave trade, the participants and its impact; political traditions and systems in Africa; economic systems and the impact of, and resistance to imperialism.
A critical examination of the literary, filmic, historical, and memorial representations of Africa. The course traces and analyzes the politics that informs the cultural constructions of Africans as people who live in particular spaces and times. The course compares various African(ist) literary, cinematic, and historical traditions and maps out the areas of convergence and differences as far as the representation of Africa is concerned. Engaging with history as a discipline, it highlights alternative ways in which intellectuals and laypeople have laid claim to the interpretation of the African past. Finally, moving away from Euro-centrism, the course emphasizes cultural productions of African writers, film directors, and public historians to show that Africans are not just subjects of history; they are equally agents of historical representation in its various guises. AFS 262 and HIST 273 are cross-listed. Offered as staffing permits.
Exploration of the evolution, links, and applications of black thought in the Atlantic World. Efforts toward political, economic, and social change in the African Diaspora are examined through the lenses of various ideologies and historical contexts, such as black emancipation and nationalist movements, black and African feminism, and global expansion of hip hop culture. Students conduct extensive analysis and discussion of oral traditions and primary writings, stretching from Sundiata to C. L. R. James, Sojourner Truth to Franz Fanon, and Frederick Douglass to Angela Davis. AFS 331 and HIST 274 are cross-listed. Offered every other year.
A critical examination of the evolution of foreign aid provision and volunteering in Africa. The course analyzes the international and transnational politics of assisting Africans in their quests for a better life. The course also examines the various ways in which aid provision and volunteering have constructed Africa as the ultimate “paradigm of difference.¿? It assesses the impact of aid and volunteering on African societies and investigates the possibility of alternative approaches to aid provision. The course finally explores how Africans have historically been instrumental in the development/modernization of their respective societies. AFS 375 and HIST 375 are cross-listed. Offered as staffing permits.
Introduction to the history of the modern world (app. 1750-1930). Focus is on the comparative global history of Asia, Africa, and Europe during this period. Course examines economic, political, and cultural interactions between these three continents, and includes some history of the Americas to round out the picture of world history. Themes include global economics (slave trade, industrial revolution(s), world markets), imperialism, nationalism, and world war. Course is intended as an introductory history class for all students and fulfills one of the Humanities requirements. Course also fulfills the global history requirement for majors. Offered annually.
Study of African history from the pre-colonial era to the 1880s covering traditional societies, state formations, Africa's relationship to the world economy, and European exploration and conquest. Offered annually.
Study of African history from the 1880s examining developments leading to the colonization of Africa, changes in African societies under colonial rule, African responses to colonialism, African nationalist movements, and post-colonial socioeconomic and political experiments. Offered annually. AFS 272 and HIST 272 are cross-listed.
Study of the evolution of the interactions between people and the environment in Africa. Using the early 19th century as its starting point, the course examines the ways in which Africans (and others) not only managed Africa’s natural resources over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries and how they perceived the ecological system around those resources, but also explores various struggles to control the environment in Africa. The course equally inquires into the ways in which outsiders have created and propagated myths regarding Africans in connections with their environments. Offered as staffing permits.
Study of the impact of European colonial rule on African cultures, African responses to colonialism, and the impact of the colonial experience on contemporary African nations. Course also examine various methods of African resistance to colonial rule. Offered as staffing permits. AFS 373 and HIST 373 are cross-listed.
A critical examination of the rise and evolution of the shared, but also contested, history between France and the nation-states that once formed France’s empire in Africa south of the Sahara. The course will begin by briefly introducing the French colonial expansion in Africa in the late 19th century and mapping out its geographic contours. Offered as staffing permits.
A comparative and transnational examination of the process of decolonization as lived and viewed from the perspective of the Global South in the 20th century. This is a seminar that will familiarize senior history majors with the debates about the decline of the European colonial empires in Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean and beyond. Beside such outlook on the historiography on decolonization, the course will provide perspectives for the assessment of the years 1940-1994 in the Global South. What were the causes of the collapse of European empires? Did the decline of formal imperialism signal the establishment of symmetrical relations between former colonizers and the former colonial subjects? What were the consequences and legacies of decolonization? What contributions did the peoples of the Global South make to the construction of the post-1945 world and its global governance? Was the creation of distinct independent nation-states in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean the only possible outcome of the politics of decolonization? These and other questions will be explored in this course.