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Abstract

Roughly two years ago, the University of Dayton Human Rights Center hosted a very important conference titled “Decolonization and Development for Africa and People of African Descent.” I attended this event and participated in several sessions of the conference. The topics and discussions were enlightening, and they stimulated much conversation about decolonization and development in relation to the social practice of human rights.

Participants at the conference came from both sides of the Atlantic, and those I spoke with agreed that the conference encouraged them to consider the topic of human rights with a new perspective. Within African studies, human rights are all-inclusive, encompassing such issues as structural discrimination, poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion, and economic disparities.

Following the conference, I contacted Dr. Satang Nabaneh, director of programs at the Human Rights Center at the University of Dayton, and suggested a special issue of the journal on the topic of human rights in Africa. Being receptive to this idea, she contacted the presenters at the conference and asked them to submit articles for publication. The articles went through the journal’s rigorous process of blind review, and the authors promptly completed the suggestions for revision. Dr. Nabaneh was on top of everything, and I offer my thanks to her and all the contributors to the volume.

We hope the articles in this volume will stimulate more interest and research on the topic and will encourage you to continue to learn about human rights in Africa.

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