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Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet

Extended handshake or wrestling match? : youth and urban culture celebrating politics in Kenya

Upphovsperson: Lukalo, Fibian Kavulani
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2006
Ämnesord: Kenya, urban youth, popular culture, music, politics, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
One of the factors affecting the social, political and economic situation in Africa today is the youth. Among today's African populations, there are various groups of younger people who find themselves disillusioned with the inevitable lack of political space available to them for meeting their needs. Kenya is uniquely positioned within Africa, since it has experienced relative peace and avoided major political turmoil. However, there is no question that since the early 1980s the youth have increasingly begun to agitate for political accountability from their leaders. This agitation has taken various forms, key among which were artistic expressions through music. In this way, youth carved out for themselves a niche of 'social inclusion' from which they questioned corrupt practices. These practices, by state agents, leaders and the common 'mwananchi', were intimately linked to moral decay in the society. This discussion paper addresses the varied notions of culture, politics and youth music in the Kenyan context during former President Moi's presidency. Moving away from the notion that youth activities can be equated with terror and acts of idleness, the author examines the historical centrality of music and politics in Kenya. Using imagery derived from proverbs as a basis of thinking, the author discusses the changing views of culture and identity among the youth of Kenya. To enhance the discussion, politics and the urban context serve as the basis for interrogating youth involvement through music in the political space in Kenya. Finally, the discussion presents the youth musician Eric Wainaina and discusses his use of music as an intervention into the issue of political decay and corruption. The underlying thrust of this discussion is to reflect upon and dispel the assumption that, through their music, youth in Kenya are engaged in violent activities against the state.

Small states in an unstable region : Rwanda and Burundi, 1999-2000

Upphovsperson: Reyntjens, Filip
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2000
Ämnesord: Burundi, Rwanda, central Africa, Conflicts, Conflict resolution, Government policy, Political science, Statsvetenskap
"Small States in an Unstable Region - Rwanda and Burundi 1999-2000" is the second overview by Filip Reyntjens on present development sin Rwanda and Burundi. The first one "Talking or Fighting?" (published 1999) covered the period 1998-1999. In the new publication questions such as governance and institutions, human rights, justice, civil wars, opposition and political dialogue in Rwanda and Burundi are investigated as well as how the regional situation, resulting from the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has a serious destabilizing effect on the internal situation in both countries.

Women and the remaking of politics in Southern Africa : negotiating autonomy, incorporation and representation

Upphovsperson: Geisler, Gisela
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Southern Africa, women's participation, political participation, political movements, women's status, gender equality, Social anthropology, Socialantropologi
African women have a long history of political involvement. Yet, the fervour with which they participated in anti-colonial struggles and supported national liberation were not acknowledged after independence leaving them to fight for representation and personal liberation on other fronts. This study looks at women’s struggles in Southern Africa where the last ten years have seen the most pervasive success stories on the African continent. Tracing the history of women’s involvement in anti-colonial struggles and against apartheid, the book analyses post-colonial outcomes and examines the strategies employed by women’s movements to gain a foothold in politics. In this book, the author presents in depth analyses and women’s narratives of their experiences in political parties, in the national machinery for the advancement of women and in the autonomous women’s movements.

Measuring democracy and human rights in Southern Africa

Upphovspersoner: Davids, Yul Derek | Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2002
Ämnesord: Democratisation, Liberation, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Are there ways and means of measuring democracy and “good governance”? The contributions to this Discussion Paper present attempts to do this by means of surveys on democratic attitudes in Mozambique and Namibia respectively as well as by exploring the degree of commitment to and violation of human rights in a comparative perspective in Namibia and South Africa. They illustrate attitudes by offering empirical evidence of the preferences and views of local people, as well as by examining the track record of a human rights culture. In doing so, by going beyond a level of theoretical analysis, they offer concrete evidence of attitudes prevalent among both individuals and state agencies in societies of Southern Africa.

AU, NEPAD and the APRM : democratisation efforts explored

Upphovspersoner: Fombad, Charles Manga | Kebonang, Zein | Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2006
Ämnesord: Institutional framework, African organizations, African Union, NEPAD, Democratization, Governance, Government policy, Development strategy, Legal aspects, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) represent an unprecedented collective political effort by African governments at the beginning of the 21st century to address issues of democracy and good governance on a continental scale within an emerging framework of institutions and instruments designed to assist in this effort. The visible commitments to jointly tackle political and socioeconomic challenges in order to overcome the structural legacies that hamper national and social development are reflected in the adoption of a variety of programmatic blueprints and a series of newly created or recently strengthened institutions. The most visible of these since the integration of NEPAD into the AU is the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a process- aimed at addressing some of the challenges on the basis of a voluntary assessment of African government policies. The contributions to this publication trace these recent developments from a policy perspective and explore the scope and limitations of current democratisation efforts. Going beyond the rhetoric surrounding the emergence of the new initiatives, the authors provide an interim and realistic prognosis of the prospects for these new dynamics to achieve the declared goals of sustainable and meaningful change.

War and peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Upphovsperson: Weiss, Herbert F.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2000
Ämnesord: Congo DR, Zaire, Central Africa, War, Conflict Resolution, Peace Agreement, History, Post war, Political science, Statsvetenskap
A report on the last years' events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have transformed the country into an arena of international and internal violence and conflict involving so many participants that it can be described as the first African continental war. The study also contains a historical background to the recent events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

How to be a 'proper' woman in the time of AIDS

Upphovspersoner: Jassey, Katja | Nyanzi, Stella
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: womens role, gender relations, feminism, sexuality, Hiv, aids, Social change, attitudes, information campaigns, behavioural sciences, South Africa, Uganda, Gambia, Sociology, Sociologi
How to Be a ‘Proper’ Women in the Time of AIDS is written as a piece of music for multiple voices. The voices of Katja Jassey and Stella Nyanzi – both professional women, both mothers, both anthropologists, one European, one African – are intertwined with the voices of other women (and men) telling about their lives coping with AIDS and/or struggling against the epidemic.  Personal storylines and interviews are interspersed with analytical reflections and a string of amazing photographs of African HIV/AIDS billboard posters, captured by Suzy Bernstein. Unconventional questions are posed: What kind of sexuality is portrayed in the anti-HIV/AIDS campaigns? Why is there such an absence of messages that would include or make sense to those living with HIV? What does it mean to be a ‘proper’ woman in the time of AIDS? The authors decided that instead of producing yet another publication citing the number of people infected, they would reflect on their own stories and professional experience, how they had come to think and react to HIV, and how their different positions influenced their understandings. By doing so they manage to create new insights and open new perspectives. They don’t say what is right and wrong. They say stop! Stop awhile and think about yourselves. Stop and think for yourselves.

Armed struggle and democracy : the case of South Africa

Upphovsperson: Legassick, Martin
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2002
Ämnesord: Armed struggle, democracy, Liberation, ANC, Historical analysis, Political culture, South Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The impact of the concept(s) of armed struggle for the notion(s) of democracy in South(ern) Africa is the focus of this paper. Originally submitted to a conference on '(Re-) Conceptualising Democracy and Liberation in Southern Africa', held in Windhoek/Namibia during July 2002, it argues from the point of departure of the personal involvement of the author in the issues raised. The author was part of a group which criticised the strategy of armed struggle in the ANC. For the articulation of this dissenting view they were suspended from the movement in 1979 and finally expelled in 1985. With this paper he inspires a debate, which can claim relevance for current issues of democracy in South Africa and the Southern African region more generally. Given the degree of personal involvement of its author, this analysis is contemporary history based on personal insights, and provides arguments for a necessary discussion.

Africa, regional cooperation and the world market : socio-economic strategies in times of global trade regimes

Upphovspersoner: Brüntrup, Michael | Melber, Henning | Taylor, Ian
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2006
Ämnesord: Regional cooperation, international trade, Trade liberalization, Globalization, international economic relations, regional integration, agricultural markets, European Union, NEPAD, Senegal, Africa, Business and economics, Ekonomi
Under the regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), local and regional policies are increasingly determined by global factors. One example is the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). It stresses an earlier notion of African Renaissance, which includes the emphasis on collective self-reliance, but at the same time seeks closer cooperation with the global trade system and its international agencies. Bi- and multilateral trade relations between external actors and individual African states or regional blocs are becoming ever more decisive. This is also true of the more recently negotiated Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in the post-Lomé era of EU-African relations. In light of such trends the question of coherence between trade as aid and other areas of development strategy and cooperation remains to be answered. The contributions to this Discussion Paper reflect upon related matters of socio-economically viable strategies seeking to reconcile the global and the regional in an African perspective. They were originally presented to the Panel 'Regional Cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Between Collective Self-Reliance and Global Trade Regimes'” organised by the Nordic Africa Institute within the 11th General Conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) in September 2005 in Bonn.

Foreign aid, debt and growth in Zambia

Upphovspersoner: Andersson, Per-Åke | Bigsten, Arne | Persson, Håkan
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2000
Ämnesord: Zambia, Southern Africa, Development aid, external debt, economic development, investment, economic conditions, Business and economics, Ekonomi
This study first discusses the structural problems of Zambia and the policies of adjustment that have been tried. It then uses a computable general equilibrium model to analyse the impact of various strategies with regard to external resource transfers. It compares the impacts of foreign loans or grants to the private and the public sectors, as well as the impact of a turnaround of the country's fortunes with regard to its external terms of trade. The results of the policy analysis show that the scope for growth is highly dependent on the tightness of the external resource constraint.

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