Daily Life in Colonial Africa

Discover how European colonization across the many regions in Africa dramatically altered the continent and the daily lived experiences of its peoples.

Daily Life in Colonial Africa explores nine facets of daily life in the European-colonized African continent, such as domestic, economic, political, and religious life. Examples of everyday people-farmers forced to switch to cash crops, people of faith melding native traditions and European Christian doctrine on beliefs about the afterlife, storytellers using allegory to discreetly challenge colonial rule-show how colonialization impacted every aspect of life for Africa’s indigenous people, as well as how they adapted to new ways of life while maintaining their cultural roots. Alongside the main text, helpful additional resources such as a timeline of the colonization of Africa and a glossary of terms provide useful context for understanding what life in this period of history was truly like for the many different people and groups affected by Africa’s colonization.

Toyin Falola is Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.