University of Botswana History Department

Dr Christian John Makgala
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Dr Christian John Makgala I was born in Botswana in the small town of Morwa in the Kgatleng District of Botswana and studied for my BA and Post-Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Botswana from 1993 to 1998. In 1998 I won a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust scholarship which enabled me to read for an MPhil and PhD in History at Selwyn College of Cambridge University and finished in the summer of 2001. I started lecturing in African History and African Diaspora at the University of Botswana in January 2002. My research interests include colonial indirect rule & public opinion in Botswana; race & tribal relations in Botswana & South Africa; Botswana's economic diversification effort with regard to the arable agricultural sector; refugees & illegal immigrants in Botswana & South Africa; Botswana's role in the Southern African liberation struggle; and the relations between African National Congress (ANC) and Botswana political parties. My idols are the great Pete Sampras, Maria Mutola and Dr Alinah Segobye.

PUBLICATIONS:

1. Books

  1. Elite Conflict in Botswana: A History (Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa, 2006).
  2. Christian John Makgala (ed.), Zibani Maundeni, and Phuthego Phuthego Molosiwa, History of the Botswana Manual Workers Union (Gaborone: Bay Publishing, 2007).

2. Journal Articles

  1. 'Ngwato Attitudes Towards Zimbabwean Immigrants in Bechuanaland Protectorate in the 1950s', Kleio: A Journal of Historical Studies from Africa (2006), forthcoming.
  2. 'The BNF and BDP's "Fight" For Attention of the ANC: A Historical Perspective, 1990-2004', Botswana Notes and Records, 38 (2006), forthcoming.
  3. 'Bid to Settle Jewish Refugees From Nazi-Germany in Botswana, 1938-1939', Botswana Notes and Records, 38 (2006), forthcoming.
  4. 'Botswana's NAMPAADD in Historical Perspective, 1939-2005', Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies, vol. 19, 2 (2006), forthcoming.
  5. 'The Relationship between Kenneth Koma & the BDP, 1965-2003', African Affairs, 104 (2005), pp.303-323.
  6. "The Role and Development of Tribal Police in Botswana", Crime & Justice International, vol. 20, no.79, March/April (2004), pp.11-19.
  7. "Taxation in the Tribal Areas of Colonial Botswana, 1899-1957", Journal of African History, vol. 45 (2004), pp.279-303.
  8. 'A Survey of Race Relations in Botswana, 1800-1966', Botswana Notes and Records, 36 (2004), pp.9-24.
  9. "The Dispensation of Justice in the Tribal Areas of Colonial Botswana", Crime and Justice International, vol. 19, 73, (May 2003), pp.5-10.
  10. "So Far So Good?; An Appraisal of Dr Ng'ombe's 1998 Prophecy on the Fate of the Botswana National Front", Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies, 17 (2003), pp.51-66.
  11. "Brief Notes on History of Serowe", Botswana Notes and Records, vol. 34 (2002), pp.160-163.
  12. "Tshekedi Khama, Patrick Duncan and the ANC Leadership Vacuum in South Africa, 1949-1955", Botswana Notes and Records, 33 (2001), pp.47-53.

3. Book Chapters

  1. 2007. 'A Hometown Decision?: The Location of Botswana's Second University', in Henning Melber (ed.), Governance and State Delivery in Southern Africa: Examples from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Uppsala. Nordic Africa Institute, pp.21-42.
  2. 2007. 'Role and Development of Labour Movement to 1994', in Christian John Makgala (editor), History of the Botswana Manual Workers Union. Gaborone: Bay Publishing.
  3. 2007. 'Formation, Development and Structure of the Botswana Manual Workers Union', in Christian John Makgala (editor), History of the Botswana Manual Workers Union. Gaborone: Bay Publishing.

4. Book Reviews

  1. P.T. Mgadla, History of Education in the Bechuanaland Protectorate (American University Press, 2003), in Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies. 18, 2 (2004), pp.137-40.
  2. Zibani Maundeni, Civil Society, Politics & the State in Botswana (Gaborone: Medi Publishing, 2004), paperback, 104 pages. ISBN:99912-412-7. Botswana Notes and Records, 36 (2004), pp.173-174.
  3. Michael Dingake, The Politics of Confusion, BNF Saga, 1984-1998, Gaborone: Bay Publishing, 2004), 99 pages. Botswana Notes and Records, 36 (2004), pp.185-186.
  4. Jonathan Crush and David A. McDonald (eds.), Transnationalism and New African Immigration to South Africa (SAMP and CAAS, Ontario, 2002): 188 pages. European Journal of Population,19, 4 (2003), pp.439-40.
  5. 2007. J. Lee Thompson, Forgotten Patriot: A Life of Alfred, Viscount Milner of St James and Cape Town, 1854-1925 (Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press), 455 pages. Journal of British Studies, 46, No.4 (2007), pp.974-5.
  6. 2007. Quett Ketumile Masire, Very Brave or Very Foolish: Memoirs of an African Democrat (Gaborone: Macmillan, 2006), 333 pages. To appear in Pula Journal.

5. Encyclopaedia Entries

  1. 2008. 'Khama III, c.1836-1923', entry for New Encyclopedia of Africa. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons Reference Books, Vol 3, pp.112-113.
  2. 2008. 'Seretse Khama, 1921-1980', entry for New Encyclopedia of Africa. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons Reference Books, Vol 3, pp.110-111.
  3. 2008. 'Botswana', entry for The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World. New York: Oxford University Press. Vol 1, pp.444-445.

Photo Gallery

On the banks of the Mississippi
On the banks of the Mississippi River, Vicksburg, Mississippi.
In Duxbury
Enjoying a meal in Duxbury, Massachusetts, with Prof. P. Mgadla (right) and Prof. N. Bennett.

Email: makgalac@mopipi... [click here for full email address]

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Copyright © 2004 John Makgala
Last updated 20 March 2008. [PAGE ENDS]