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These days, Africa is seen as an underdeveloped or developing continent. (...) What is meant by this is that Africa as a whole lags behind other areas in terms of measurable economic output and general "quality of life" indices for its inhabitants. An evident paradox in the attempts made to solve the problem of underdevelopment in Africa is that the vast majority of the research into the cause of Africa's present condition emanates from research centres and universities located in the West. And what is evident about the majority of such theories is that they tend to focus narrowly on strictly economic issues geared towards "alleviating poverty" and creating piecemeal conditions for "sustainable development". The collection of essays in this issue approach the problem of development from a broader, more holistic perspective which analyses that explore Africa's present status theoretically, from the standpoint of all the social sciences, not just economics. (Afr Dev/DÜI)