His publications include numerous articles and chapters on popular cultures (music, fashion, gambling, and memory), gender and postcolonial issues in Central Africa and the African diaspora in France. His most recent book, Tropical Cowboys: Youth Gangs, Violence, and Masculinities in Colonial Kinshasa (Indiana University Press, 2016) examines the ways in which young people commandeered images from Hollywood western movies to forge new standards of manliness and masculinities in 1950s Kinshasa. His book Africanisme: La crise d’une illusion (Paris: L’Harmattan 2007) explores the connections between African studies in France and French policies in Africa. In 2002, he published The History of Congo (Greenwood Press).
Academic Interests
- Colonial Africa, African Diaspora, popular culture, gender and urban issues in west and central Africa.
Research Interests: Popular cultures, masculinities, 20th-century African Diaspora, and the social impact of Chinese commodities on urban Africa
My specialization and research interests revolve around popular cultures, interstitial youth groups, and masculinities in Central Africa and the African Diaspora in France. These interests are reflected in my body of work, which includes numerous articles and chapters on popular cultures (music, fashion, gambling, the reception of western movies, and memory), gender, and postcolonial issues.
