Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet

Structural stability in an African context

Upphovsperson:	Kappel, Robert
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2003
Ämnesord:	Crisis, Development aid, Economic and social development, economic aspects, NEPAD, Partnership, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Structural Stability is a particular focus for reconceptualising developmental strategy and development aid and has provoked unfore-seen responses in the course of a recent, mainly German debate. This debate began late in 2000 when a number of prominent German scholars in African Studies initiated a policy dialogue through a widely circulated and publicly discussed "Afrika Memorandum" centred on the notion of structural stability. Its arguments are relevant not only to a German audience but offer stimulating and thought-provoking inputs into the debate in the wider European context on bilateral and multilateral relations with Africa. This Discussion Paper presents the revised contributions to a Consulta- tive Workshop on Structural Stability in an African Context that took place at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala on 31 March and 1 April 2003.

The roots of the military-political crises in Côte d'Ivoire

Upphovsperson:	Akindès, Francis
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Citizenship, Civil war, Coup d'état, Ethnicity, Front Populaire Ivorien, Houphouetism, political development, Rassemblement de Républicains, Côte d'Ivoire, Political science, Statsvetenskap

With the coup d’etat of 24 December 1999 and the politico-military conflict that started on 19 September 2002, Côte d’Ivoire broke with its tradition of political stability, which had served as a model in the West African sub-region. It is now facing an unprecedented crisis that is not only jeopardising the continuity of the state, but has also introduced a culture of violence into the society.This study has three objectives. The primary one is to understand the nature of this socio-political crisis, and what is at stake in it. Secondly, the study examines the issue of ivoirité. Finally, it explores the escalation of violence in this socio-political crisis and the catalogue of justifications for that violence.It is argued that the recurrence of military coups d’etat in Côte d’Ivoire signifies the delegitimisation of the modes of regulation built on the tontine system, and calls for a renewal of the political grammar and socio-political regulatory modalities around integrating principles that have yet to be devised. CONTENT Introduction CHAPTER 1. The Three Parameters of the Houphouët Boigny Compromise Deliberate and centralised openness policy to the outside world Philosophy of the “peanut roasters” Paternalistic management of social diversity CHAPTER 2. Houphouetism Shows Signs of Wear and Tear under Democratisation Confronting the issues: the political class and the criteria for political representation and legitimacy “Ivoirité” under Bédié, or the selective function of an ideology General Gueï’s variable-geometry Houphouetism The RDR, or Houphouetism the wrong way round The FPI, or the theoretical expression radical schism Immigration and its politicisation CHAPTER 3. The Problematic of “Ivoirité” and the Meaning of History in Côte d’Ivoire The social and political construction of “Ivoirité” Ideological justification Political justification Economic justification The constitution and ethno-nationalism Military coups d’état as therapy for “Ivoirité”? CHAPTER 4. The Course of History, or the Need for the Invention of Another Social Contract Alassane Dramane Ouattarra (ADO): symbol of the reality underlying the question of being a national An alternative to “slice” citizenship Bibliography

Transition in Southern Africa : comparative aspects

Upphovspersoner:	Melber, Henning | Saunders, Christopher
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2001
Ämnesord:	apartheid, democracy, Liberation, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The 1990s completed a process of transition in Namibia and South Africa that brought formal decolonisation in Africa to an end. These two contributions review some aspects of the transformation and complement each other. They take stock of the transformation in a historical, comparative perspective and investigate the experiences and prospects of democratisation under sovereign, legitimate political rule. They were compiled subsequent to a public lecture arranged by the Nordic Africa Institute and given by Christopher Saunders on "The Transitions to Democracy in Namibia and South Africa" on 5 April 2001. Henning Melber was a discussant at the presentation.

Transforming elections into opportunities for political choice

Medarbetare:	Ibrahim, Jibrin
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	political development, Political power, Democratization, political participation, elections, Civil rights, Conference papers, West Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This monograph presents a well-informed overview and analysis of political transitions, democratic struggles and elections in West Africa. It explores the ways in which various authoritarian regimes across the sub-region have tried to subvert democracy and how the citizens of various countries have struggled against dictatorship and impunity, to achieve the return to democratic rule. Drawing on insights from the Ghanaian model of free and fair elections, Niger's difficult, but successful transtion to democracy, elections in post-conflict Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the struggles for democracy in Nigeria, Jibrin Ibrahim proposes concrete strategies that will empower the people of West Africa to make political choices which will advance and secure their individual and collective socio-economic and democratic rights.

The power of continuity : Ethiopia through the eyes of its children

Upphovsperson:	Poluha, Eva
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	children, Childhood, child rearing, cultural identity, Ethnicity, Family environment, gender roles, School environment, Social norms, Ethiopia, Social anthropology/ethnography, Socialantrolopologi/etnografi

Children play a vital role as a source of information on politics but have been neglected as political actors in research contexts. In this study, children are used as a window to an Ethiopian society where hierarchical relations persist, despite the numerous political and administrative transformations of the past century. With data gathered through participant observation the book examines how young, Addis Abeba school children learn to adapt to and reproduce relations of super- and/or subordination based on gender, age, strength and social position. The children’s experiences are viewed in the historical context of state-citizen relations where hierarchy and obsession with control have been and continue to be dominant. The discussion focuses on the power of continuity in the reproduction of cultural patterns and political behaviour, and on how change towards more egalitarian relations could come about.  

Development from below : a Namibian case study

Upphovspersoner:	Kössler, Reinhart | Melber, Henning | Strand, Per
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2003
Ämnesord:	Southern Africa, Namibia, colonialism, history, Independence, Globalization, Ethnicity, Traditional culture, Nation-building, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This Discussion Paper offers a revised lecture by Reinhart Kössler, which was originally presented to a Research Forum organised by The Nordic Africa Institute jointly with the Seminar for Development Studies of Uppsala University. It deals with aspects of rebuilding societies from below firstly in a general development studies discourse on a more theoretical level, considering aspects of the current debate on globalisation. This is followed by a concrete case study from southern Namibia. It illustrates local responses by the Witbooi-Nama in Gibeon to (re-)define identity within the context of a (nation-)state in a post-apartheid society. The paper is commented upon by two discussants (Per Strand and Henning Melber). The contributions reflect on the issue of social reconstruction in the context of (southern) Africa with reference to a particular marginalised group. They deal, among other things, with the question of social power and the "invention of tradition" in local efforts to gain from, or seek integration into, the nation building process.

Women informal traders in Harare and the struggle for survival in an environment of economic reforms

Upphovspersoner:	Mupedziswa, Rodreck | Gumbo, Perpetua
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2001
Ämnesord:	Structural adjustment, Informal sector, trade, Women, Household consumption, Survival strategies, Zimbabwe, Harare, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This report summarises the results of the fourth and final round of interviews carried out among informal sector women traders in Harare, Zimbabwe as part of a longitudinal study of their conditions of work and livelihood in the context of economic crisis and structural adjustment. The evidence which was available from the interview points to a deepening social crisis in Zimbabwe as attested to by the increasing crisis of subsistence and livelihood among the overwhelming majorette of the informal sector workers. Far from being the terrain where sections of the populace might be able to find economic liberation, the informal sector is, in fact characterised by serious internal differentiation, very low incomes, and an over-saturation that results in the inability of the women survey to do anything other than struggle at the margins for basic survival.

Gender and agricultural supply responses to structural adjustment programmes : a case study of smallholder tea producers in Kericho, Kenya

Upphovsperson:	Ongile, Grace Atieno
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	1999
Ämnesord:	Kenya, East Africa, Agricultural production, Tea, Structural adjustment, Smallholders, Gender, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This study investigates the gender implications of agricultural sector reform in Kenya. The author focuses on smallholder tea production with the aim of pinpointing the factors that influence the adoption of tea among male and female farmers assessing female farmers' perceptions of the changes in living standards over the research period, and suggesting appropriate policy reforms to ensure that women's interests are taken into account in the design of agricultural reforms.

Ethnic militias and the threat to democracy in post-transition Nigeria

Upphovsperson:	Agbu, Osita
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Armed forces, ethnic conflicts, democratization interethnic relations, militarism, violence, Nigeria, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning

The democratic opening presented by Nigeria’s successful transition to civil rule (June 1998 to May 1999) unleashed a host of hitherto repressed or dormant political forces. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between genuine demands by these forces on the state and outright criminality and mayhem. Post-transition Nigeria is experiencing the proliferation of ethnic militia movements purportedly representing, and seeking to protect, their ethnic interests in a country, which appears incapable of providing the basic welfare needs of its citizens. It is against the background of collective disenchantment with the Nigerian state, and the resurgence of ethnic identity politics that this research interrogates the growing challenge posed by ethnic militias to the Nigerian democracy project. The central thesis is that the over-centralization of power in Nigeria’s federal practice and the failure of post-transitional politics in genuinely addressing the “National Question, has resulted in the emergence of ethnic militias as a specific response to state incapacity. The short- and long-term threats posed by this development to Nigeria’s fragile democracy are real, and justify the call for a National Conference that will comprehensively address the demands of the ethnic nationalities.

Ghana - long term growth, atrophy and stunted recovery

Upphovspersoner:	Leith, J. Clark | Söderling, Ludvig
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2003
Ämnesord:	Ghana, Post-independence, political development, Economic policy, economic reform, Economic recession, Business and economics, Ekonomi

Ghana's independence in March 1957 was celebrated with great flourish. "Free at last!" Kwame Nkrumah, the country's leader, proclaimed. Yes, Ghana was free to follow an independent political course, and free to experiment with an independent economic direction. But the exercise of that freedom proved to be destructive. Gradually removing internal agents of restraint, and unconcerned about external constraints, Nkrumah pursued his grand vision of Ghana. But, that vision became a nightmare. More than a quarter century of increasingly chaotic political and economic turbulence followed.Eventually a major reform program was launched, but after fifteen years its success has been modest. While the downward spiral has been halted, and real growth resumed, real GDP per capita and total factor productivity have barely exceeded the levels achieved at independence. The long-run economic and political records are both lackluster, each limiting the potential of the other. The question is, why has Ghana not achieved sustained and rapid long-term growth? This study seeks to provide an answer.As we review the experience of the forty plus years of independence, five explanatory themes recur. The first theme is excess demand. Repeatedly, fiscal and monetary policies have been excessively expansionary, generating bouts of inflation, followed by painful adjustment. Ghanaian entrepreneurs have seldom been able to count on a stable macroeconomic environment for more than a few months into the future. Such a short-term horizon has been damaging. Currency overvaluation is the second theme. Initially the problem was a fixed nominal exchange rate, maintained in the face of domestic inflation. Exchange controls followed, while inflation accelerated. The real price of foreign exchange was depressed to a small fraction of its level at independence, and forced the economy to become virtually autarkic. Recovery of the real exchange rate under the reform program has occurred, but its instability remains a serious source of uncertainty for all - exporters, import competing producers, and foreign investors alike. Third, closely related to the foregoing, Ghana has frequently failed to realize the potential gains from pursuing and supporting its comparative advantage. Among the traditional exports, cocoa suffered from a variety of devices that suppressed the real producer price and depressed production to well belowits optimum. Minerals, until recently, endured state ownership, and neglect of infrastructure. The fourth theme is suppression of the financial sector. With the state heavily involved in running financial institutions, and repeated confiscation of assets both directly and via inflation, individuals are reluctant to hold financial assets. The financial sector, consequently, does not yet play its potential roles in bringing savers and investors together. The fifth theme concerns the role of the state. The state was stretched far beyond its abilities. The overextended reach of government and the administrative complexity of many programs pushed the state well beyond the limits of activities that it could handle efficiently and without corruption. This seriously compromised the effectiveness of nearly everything the state was involved in, ranging from education to health care to state-owned enterprises to administration of economic controls. The outcome was a near collapse of the state. Not only was the state ineffective in its economic activities, but it failed to consistently control predation by its agents. Real assets were confiscated, both by direct seizure and indirectly by economic policies. At various times agents of the state extorted huge rents from society and beat hapless victims. The lingering sense that such experiences might recur, leaves the economy achieving far less than its potential, in spite of significant economic and political reforms achieved over the past fifteen years. To appreciate why Ghana's modern history unfolded in this way, it is necessary to understand both the political and economic dimensions. We begin in Chapter 1 with an overview of the economic and political record of the various regimes that governed Ghana from independence through to the launch of the economic reform program in 1983. Those reforms and the consequences are the subject of Chapter 2. The major conclusions are presented in Chapter 3.

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