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Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet

Cadres, capitalists, elites and coalitions : The ANC, business and development in South Africa

Upphovsperson: Van Wyk, Jo-Ansie
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Post-apartheid, political development, Democratization, Political leadership, Elite, political parties, Governance, Economic conditions, South Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa is widely regarded as an exemplary case of an elite political settlement. Moreover, South Africa’s political history in the last two decades can certainly be understood in terms of the way old, new, political and economic elites interacted in different domains and sectors to resolve major collective problems and produce institutional solutions that would work – even if some of these solutions appeared contentious – and cater to broad interests. The political settlement achieved by opposing elites produced a unique democratic pact. However, less attention has been paid to the economic pact achieved by these elites. As a liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC) advocated nationalisation to undo the socioeconomic legacies of apartheid, but once the political transition had commenced, it discarded nationalisation. Instead, ANC elites opted for pro-business/market policies, which stabilised the economy and attracted much needed foreign direct investment. Their decision was partly attributable to the negotiated political and economic pacts that they concluded with National Party elites and ‘white’ capital. With the political or democratic pact in place, the negotiation and consolidation of the economic pact was achieved with the formation of numerous formal and informal coalitions with first ‘white’ and later ‘black’ capital to undo the economic legacies of apartheid. Not only did the pact result led to a stable political transition, it also in political and economic transformation. More importantly, early signs are now evident of a developmental pact that may result in a successful developmental state capable of achieving equality and equity for all in post-apartheid South Africa.

Africa’s Business and Development Relationship with China : Seeking Moral and Capital Values of the Last Economic Frontier

Upphovsperson: Marafa, Lawal Mohammed
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Foreign investment, Direct investment, Transport infrastructure, Regional integration, South south relations, Foreign trade, Economic and social development, Sustainable development, China, Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
This Discussion paper investigates the extent to which China’s own experience in regional infrastructural development as the center piece of its development strategy can be replicated in the African continent. The author argues that China’s extensive investment in Africa’s infrastructure—from dams to major trunk roads—is a positive development in light of the neglect of this important sector by Africa’s western development partners for many decades. The increasing penetration of China in the African market is spearheaded by the major Chinese state-owned construction, telecommunication, and energy exploration companies who have access to long-term financial support from the Chinese state. This is an opportune moment for African countries to address the backlog of infrastructure investmentthat has kept African development at the minimum.

Democratic Governance and Accountability in Africa : In Search of a Workable Framework

Upphovsperson: Olukoshi, Adebayo O.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Africa, political development, Democratization, Political pluralism, political reform, democracy, Governance, Institutional framework, constitutions, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper provides a thought-provoking and radical intervention into the ongoing debates on democratic governance and accountability in Africa. The author undertakes a critical overview of the discourse on democratisation in Africa and notes that democracy on the continent cannot be fully understood on the basis of the ways in which electoral pluralism has played out in the last 20 years. The paper critiques mainstream explanations and points out their shortcomings. It goes on to make a compelling case for an alternative framework based on historically informed dialectical analysis of everyday democracy and struggles for democracy in Africa. Noting that no two democracies are exactly the same, the paper advocates the need for democracy in Africa to be studied on its own terms, and in a way that facilitates taking the African experience into the global arena to produce a truly comparative theory of democratisation on a world scale. The paper is essential reading for all those interested in the history, present and future of democracy in Africa.

Reflections on the Challenge of Reconstructing Post-Conflict States in West Africa : Insights From Claude Ake’s Political Writings

Upphovsperson: Arowosegbe, Jeremiah O.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: political development, Democratization, Post-conflict reconstruction, State Nation-building, Peacebuilding, Political theory, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Sierra Leone, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper is based on a theoretical exploration of state reconstruction and the prospects for peacebuilding in post-conflict West African countries based on critical reflections on the political thought of Claude Ake, one of Nigeria’s foremost political thinkers. Its point of departure is the refutation of the view that the state project in Africa is ‘hopeless’ or at a dead-end. It therefore revisits the debate on the viability of the state project in the continent, particularly as it relates to those West African states emerging from or affected by violent conflict. While acknowledging the shortcomings of the state-formation project in some post conflict West African countries, the author argues that the state remains a key institutional and social actor that needs to be understood more in terms of its historical moorings, political economy and marginal position in the international order. Drawing on Ake’s postulations about the limited autonomy of the state in Africa and its links to political violence and conflict, the author critiques both the hegemonic discourses on the nature of the state in Africa and those relating to post-conflict peacebuilding in the continent. The analysis of the latter focuses on the epistemological groundings of mainstream peacebuilding discourses, and posits that there is no guarantee that such imported models ensure sustainable peace in West Africa. Thus, the paper makes a compelling case for reinventing the state in West Africa based on autochthonous democratic transformation in favour of ordinary people. In this regard, it argues for an endogenous transformation of the state in Africa in ways that can strongly root it in the people as a fundamental step towards sustainable and locally owned participatory peacebuilding. It thereby opens up a new perspective on state reconstruction as a step towards ending violent conflict in the sub-region.

Water and climate change in Africa – from causes to consequences

Upphovsperson: Oestigaard, Terje
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Agrarian Change, Property and Resources | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Climate change, Environmental effects, Shared water resources, Food resources, Development aid, Nile river, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
There is a need to extend the climate change discourse. This should not be by paying less attention to the causes, which are now well known, but by stressing more the consequences, which have been largely neglected in political discourses, especially changes in water systems. This is also an issue of how global society should react to the uncertainties climate change represent for Africa and its development. Globally, the current political agenda focuses mainly on mitigation of carbon emissions, a consideration that also structures international aid policies, and less on adaptation and how to develop countries and societies when hydrology and environment changes. Thus, a water perspective may add important insights and future policy guidelines of particular relevance to Africa’s development.

The Africa policies of Nordic countries and the erosion of the Nordic aid model : a comparative study

Upphovsperson: Odén, Bertil
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Foreign aid, Development aid, Foreign policy, Foreign relations, International cooperation, Aid policy, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The aid policies of the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – once had so many distinctive characteristics in common they were sometimes referred to as the “Nordic model”. Now, however, this model has all but disappeared. This paper explores how this came about and examines the current development cooperation policies of the Nordic countries in Africa. In this respect, Nordic countries are now moving along divergent trajectories and becoming part of new donor constellations. This paper is based on a content analysis of official documents and face-to-face interviews with policy makers and key opinion shapers in the four countries. In addition to discussing the aim and role of current Nordic Africa policies and strategies, the paper provides an historical overview of Nordic cooperation with Africa and compares the Africa policy documents of the four Nordic countries. Finally, some suggestions regarding the scope for future Nordic cooperation are presented.

Zangbeto : Navigating Between the Spaces of Oral Art, Communal Security and Conflict Mediation in Badagry, Nigeria

Upphovsperson: Hunsu, Folashade
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Grass roots groups, Traditional culture, Vigilantes, Human security, Peaceful coexistence, Ethnic groups, Social and cultural anthropology, Yoruba, Nigeria, Badagry, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
This Discussion Paper critically examines Zangbeto, a highly revered society, among the Egun people in the town of Badagry, near the city of Lagos, in south west Nigeria, that have creatively re-invented tradition to serve multiple purposes. It shows how Zangbeto has in the context of economic crisis and challenges linked to urban growth, adapted its roles to include communal policing, conflict mediation, oral art and entertainment, and the maintenance of communal order. In more ways than one, it captures the essence and multiple identities of Zangbeto within Badagry society. The involvement of Zangbeto in local policing or ‘night watching’ provides an alternative or an exception to the dominant representation of vigilantism in Nigeria as disorderly violence, sometimes for political or criminal ends. This paper also demonstrates how Zangbeto, drawing upon local Egun culture and traditional practices is able to maintain security and local order at the community level. It is argued that rather than act in an arbitrary and violent manner, Zangbeto operates through the combination of traditional symbolic actions and oral art in mediating local conflicts and preserving social harmony and local order. An interesting point relates to how Zangbeto co-exists peacefully with formal political and security institutions, and operates without causing tensions within Badagry town, where some inhabitants share different ethnic identities and religious faiths. The study also opens up a humanist perspective to how the aesthetics of Zangbeto’s cultural tropes of oral presentation, rhetoric and representation act as a powerful force for preserving cherished communal norms and values, and facilitating communication in ways that strengthen social cohesion. In this regard this paper demonstrates the wealth of possibilities that exist within Africa’s traditional cultures and oral arts for alternative grassroots based conflict mediation and security.

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