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Africa South of Sahara

Neighbours and family first : donors should consider the effects of political favouritism in Africa

Upphovsperson: Isaksson, Ann-Sofie
Utgivare: Uppsala
År: 2015
Ämnesord: Africa South of Sahara, democracy, Ethnicity, Ethnic groups, Foreign aid, Social inequality, Ethnic favouritism, Regional favouritism
In many African countries it is a known fact that a person belonging to the same ethnic group as the president is less likely to be treated unfairly by the government. The same is valid for people living in the president’s home region, regardless of their ethnic affiliation. Ethnic and regional favouritism are two distinct but parallel problems. This Policy Note, drawn from data involving 20 000 citizens in 15 African countries, explore the scope of favouritism and its implications for citizens and democratic attitudes.

Displacement Economies in Africa : Paradoxes of Crisis and Creativity

Medarbetare: Hammar, Amanda
Utgivare: London : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2014
Ämnesord: Africa South of Sahara, Development strategy, economics, politics, Displaced persons, Refugess, Labour mobility, Forced migration, Social conflicts, case studies, Regional security, Livelihood
Large-scale displacement - whether caused by war, state-related political or development projects, different forms of political violence, structural crisis, or even natural disasters - evokes many stereotyped assumptions about those forcibly displaced or emplaced. At the same time there is a problematic lack of attention paid to the diversity of actors, strategies and practices that reshape the world in the face (and chronic aftermath) of dramatic moments of violent dislocation. In this highly original volume, based on empirical case studies from across sub-Saharan Africa, the authors reveal the paradoxical effects, both intended and unexpected, that displacement produces, and that manifest themselves in displacement economies.

Multi-choice policing in Africa

Upphovsperson: Baker, Bruce
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2008
Ämnesord: Police, conflicts, Crime prevention, violence, Safety, Human security, Social implications, Africa South of Sahara, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Political science, Statsvetenskap
Policing is crucial to how Africans experience the freedoms of democracy and determines to a large degree the levels of economic investment they will enjoy. Yet it is a neglected area of study. Based on field research, this book reveals the surprising variety of people involved in policing besides the state police. Indeed many Africans are faced with a wide choice of public and private, legal and illegal, effective and ineffective policing. Policing in Africa is very much more than what the police do. It concerns the activities of business interests, residential communities, cultural groups, criminal organisations, local political figures and governments. How people negotiate this 'multi-choice' of policing options, and the implications of this for government and donor security policy, is the subject of this book It covers policing in all its forms in Sub-Saharan Africa, including two case studies of Uganda and Sierra Leone.

Votes, money and violence : political parties and elections in Sub-Saharan Africa

Medarbetare: Basedau, Matthias | Erdmann, Gero | Mehler, Andreas
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet ; Kwazulu-Natal Press, South Africa
År: 2007
Ämnesord: elections, Electoral systems, political parties, democracy, Political systems, Political pluralism, Multipartyism, Africa South of Sahara, Political science, Statsvetenskap
Following the (re-)introduction of multiparty systems in Africa in the early 1990s, third and fourth elections in Africa's new democracies and hybrid regimes are now being seen. Although there is a large and growing literature on democracy and elections in Africa, parties and party systems have hitherto not been the focus of research, which may be surprising given their central role in a liberal democracy. The early works from the 1960s and 1970s provide neither a sound conceptual nor empirical basis. Research on political parties and party systems in Africa is still in its infancy. Various contributions in this volume address the theoretical and conceptual challenges provided by the African parties and party systems with their particular features of weak organisation, informal relationships dominated by 'big men' and clientelism within a neopatrimonial setting. Others raise the crucial question of representation in relation to ethnicity, civil society and gender, or look into the empirical relationship between party systems and democracy. Further chapters ask questions about the appropriate electoral system for the multiethnic context in Africa and deal with the problem of electoral system reform. Finally, there are chapters which focus on the neglected area of electoral violence, and the moral role of money and vote buying is scrutinized through a case study. An important conclusion is that party research in Africa needs more conceptual clarity as well as empirical research particularly on party organisation, voting behaviour, and the role of ethnicity.

Africa's informal workers : Collective agency, alliances and transnational organizing in urban Africa

Medarbetare: Lindell, Ilda
Utgivare: London ; Uppsala : Zed Books ; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Africa South of Sahara, Urban areas, Economic conditions, Social change, Informal sector, Social movements, Trade unionism, Hidden economy, Livelihood, Survival strategies, case studies, Sociology, Sociologi
Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Africa’s Informal Workers explores the deepening processes of informalization and casualization of work that are changing livelihood opportunities and conditions in Africa and beyond. In doing so, the book addresses the collectively organized responses to these changes, presenting them as an important dimension of the contemporary politics of informality in Africa. It goes beyond the usual focus on household ‘coping strategies’ and individual forms of agency, by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal ‘workers’ make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. The emerging picture is that of a highly diverse landscape of organised actors, reflecting the great diversity of interests in the informal economy. This provides grounds for tensions but also opportunities for alliance. The book also explores the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers, gathering case studies from nine countries and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa, and from sectors ranging from urban informal vending and service delivery, to informal manufacturing, casual port work and cross-border trade. Africa’s Informal Workers is a vigorous and timely examination of the changes in African livelihoods caused by deep and ongoing economic, political and social  transformations.

Understanding poverty in Africa? : A navigation through disputed concepts, data and terrains

Upphovsperson: Hårsmar, Mats
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Economic conditions, poverty, Agricultural development, Poverty alleviation, Development research, Development theory, case studies, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Africa South of Sahara, Business and economics, Ekonomi
In any international comparison, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most pervasive poverty. The study of African societies requires the study of numerous dynamics, processes and situations with links to poverty issues. Recent methodological innovations hold that research into poverty should be multidimensional, dynamic and cross-disciplinary. But how can such research be undertaken? This volume comprises two separate articles. The first provides an overview of major conceptual positions on poverty. With the focus on theoretical and methodological issues, it argues that the epistemological and normative elements have not been sufficiently emphasised in the attempts to bring different disciplinary approaches together. Such elements constitute fundamental dividing lines in the poverty debate. However, the article goes on to argue that the capability approach has promising potential for bridging these divides.The second article is an empirical study of recent poverty developments in Tanzania and Burkina Faso. Common to both countries – one in East and the other in West Africa – is that a largely subsistence agricultural sector dominates their economies. The article combines quantitative and qualitative methods to show that regional differences in the structures of agricultural production may in large part explain variations in poverty.

Why is agriculture so important to reducing poverty?

Upphovsperson: Hårsmar, Mats
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Agricultural sector, Agricultural economy, Poverty alleviation, Economic growth, Development theory, Africa South of Sahara, Asia, Business and economics, Ekonomi
Over the last few years, there has been both talk about and action regarding the long-term neglect of agriculture in development. An agricultural revival has occurred, with African governments committing themselves to spending at least 10 per cent of their budgets on agriculture. Donors such as the World Bank and many bilateral organizations are refocusing on the sector. This is partly due to the prevalence of rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa as well as in South Asia. Despite this, the debate on the appropriate role of agriculture in economic growth lingers on among academics and policymakers. In particular, agriculture’s contribution to broader economic growth is questioned. Should growth be driven by agriculture or by something else? Recent empirical studies and earlier theoretical work demonstrate that growth in the agricultural sector has contributed more to poverty reduction than growth in non-agricultural sectors. This paper discusses this issue and highlights some of the preconditions for the achievement of this outcome.

African feminist politics of knowledge : Tensions, challenges, possibilities

Medarbetare: Arnfred, Signe | Adomako Ampofo, Akosua
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Gender studies, feminism, Women’s rights, Academic freedom, Higher education, research, research workers, Women in development, Empowerment, Africa South of Sahara, Sociology, Sociologi
AFRICAN FEMINIST POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE is a book that aims at exposing the dilemmas and conflicts that feminist researchers and practitioners living and working in the Global South have to deal with on a daily basis. The book attempts to disentangle some of the dilemmas, tensions, challenges and possibilities of feminist research and activism in the minefields of the cultures, practices and expectations of university bureaucracies, donor agencies and North-South collaboration. The authors, living and working in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Mozambique, are all researchers. They theorise from their experiences as persons based in Africa, highlighting the dilemmas and conflicts posed by identities as academics and researchers on the one hand, and dependence on donor funding on the other.

Re-thinking Africa : A Contribution to the Swedish Government White Paper on Africa

Upphovspersoner: Arnfred, Signe | Utas, Mats | Cheru, Fantu | Hammar, Amanda | Havnevik, Kjell | Kamete, Amin Y. | Lindell, Ilda | Myhre, Knut Christian | Ngangjoh Hodu, Yenkong | Obi, Cyril I. | Oinas, Elina | Palmberg, Mai | Thorsen, Dorte
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: Foreign relations, Development aid, International cooperation, Government policy, Sweden, Africa South of Sahara, Political science, Statsvetenskap
Edited by Signe Arnfred and Mats Utas.

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