African studies and sociopolitical issues
African studies and sociopolitical issues is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 9.1k research works in it since 1950. 10.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers explores the complex history of Zimbabwe, focusing on themes such as nationalist historiography, patriotic history, land reform, political economy, and the struggle for social justice. It delves into the impact of colonialism, the urban crisis, and the dynamics of agrarian relations in shaping the nation's identity.
- Zimbabwe
- History
- Land Reform
- Nationalism
- Political Economy
- Agrarian Relations
- Urban Crisis
- Colonialism
- Patriotic History
- Social Justice
- Research works
- 9.1k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 923 per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 10.1% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
- +21% the tick is no change
- Largest producer
South Africa
35% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Which countries lead African studies and sociopolitical issues research?
By volume, South Africa and Zimbabwe publish the most (603 and 361 works in 2022-now).
By volume, 2022-now
- 1
South Africa
603 works
- 2
Zimbabwe
361 works
- 3
United States
244 works
- 4
United Kingdom
151 works
- 5
Nigeria
115 works
- 6
Germany
93 works
- 7
Kenya
54 works
- 8
India
39 works
- 9
Ethiopia
38 works
- 10
Canada
37 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead African studies and sociopolitical issues research?
By volume in 2022-now, University of Zimbabwe publishes the most African studies and sociopolitical issues research, followed by Midlands State University and University of South Africa.
By volume, 2022-now
- 1
University of ZimbabweZimbabwe
90 works
- 2
Midlands State UniversityZimbabwe
88 works
- 3
University of South AfricaSouth Africa
85 works
- 4
University of JohannesburgSouth Africa
74 works
- 5
University of the Free StateSouth Africa
74 works
- 6
University of PretoriaSouth Africa
59 works
- 7
Great Zimbabwe UniversityZimbabwe
48 works
- 8
Institute for Peace Research and Security PolicyGermany
44 works
- 9
University of Cape TownSouth Africa
36 works
- 10
North-West UniversitySouth Africa
34 works
Where is African studies and sociopolitical issues research done?
The largest centres of African studies and sociopolitical issues research in 2022-now are Pretoria (South Africa), Harare (Zimbabwe), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Gweru (Zimbabwe). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Masvingo, Gweru and Bindura.
Largest cities, 2022-now
- 1
PretoriaSouth Africa
153 works
- 2
HarareZimbabwe
146 works
- 3
JohannesburgSouth Africa
111 works
- 4
GweruZimbabwe
88 works
- 5
BloemfonteinSouth Africa
79 works
- 6
MasvingoZimbabwe
54 works
- 7
HamburgGermany
46 works
- 8
DurbanSouth Africa
42 works
- 9
RondeboschSouth Africa
36 works
- 10
LondonUnited Kingdom
34 works
Where it is the local speciality
- MasvingoZW · 53.8 works862×
- GweruZW · 88.3 works790×
- BinduraZW · 27.3 works547×
- HarareZW · 145.8 works501×
- BulawayoZW · 21.5 works140×
- BloemfonteinZA · 78.9 works127×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in African studies and sociopolitical issues than the world average.
Where is the best place to study African studies and sociopolitical issues?
Among universities, judged by research, University of Johannesburg, University of Cape Town and University of the Free State score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.
Every institution in African studies and sociopolitical issues, country by countryIs African studies and sociopolitical issues research growing?
Output in 2022-2025 was 21% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are African studies and sociopolitical issues.
The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Its share of all research
Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is African studies and sociopolitical issues as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0083% in 2024.
Fractional works of African studies and sociopolitical issues over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.
How much of it reaches the world top 10%
Year by year.
Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.
Discussion
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