For many countries in East and Central Europe, Latin America, and Asia, the implementation of political and economic reforms over the last quarter century has constituted a sharp break from the past. Words such as “transition,” “transformation,” “schism,” and “shock therapy” suggest ruptures of momentous proportions. Many countries have become democratic and adopted market economies. Prices have increased; imports have risen. Workers, consumers, and citizens now rely on blogs or newspapers, the ballot box, or street demonstrations to demand secure jobs, free elections, or fair trade.

In Africa, no less than in the former Soviet Union or Latin America, political and economic changes have been just as transformative. Many African governments now practice some form of democratic electoral politics and many citizens enjoy basic political rights and civil liberties that were denied to them just twenty years ago. To varying degrees, countries have also liberalized trade, set up investment centers, established stock markets, and passed privatization laws. Governments in Mali and Uganda have sold their parastatals to foreign and domestic investors. Malls, fast food restaurants, and cafes selling flavored coffees have sprouted up from Kampala to Cape Town. A dizzying array of consumer goods are hawked on the streets of Lagos or displayed in upscale shops in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.