case studies

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.

Unconstitutional changes of government in Africa. What Implications for Democratic Consolidation?

Upphovsperson:	Omotola, J. Shola
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Africa, Constitutional reform, Political crisis, Coups d’etat, Political power, Democratization, Governance, militarism, case studies, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion Paper is based on a conceptual and analytical reading of cases of unconstitutional change of government in Africa. It provides a deep and up-to-date exploration of the prospects for democratic consolidation on the continent against the backdrop of an upsurge in unconstitutional changes of government. Rather than focus only on the internal threats to democracy in Africa, the author also analyses the role of neighbouring states, regional organisations and hegemonic forces within the international community in advancing or limiting democracy. In this regard, this work sheds light on why the pursuit of the liberal democratic project in Africa has so far appeared to alienate ordinary people, while providing space for dominant elites to tamper with democratic institutions and processes, which then work against popular participation and democratic development. This paper is essential reading for scholars, policy practitioners, analysts and all those with an interest in the prospects for democracy in Africa.

African Migration, Global Inequalities, and Human Rights : Connecting the Dots

Upphovsperson:	Minter, William
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Globalization, Trade and Regional Integration | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Migrations, Migrants, Social inequality, Human rights, Economic and social development, case studies, Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Migration from and within Africa, just like migration elsewhere in the world, often generates anti-immigrant sentiment and ignites heated public debate about the migration policies of the destination countries. These countries include South Africa as well as others outside the continent. The countries of origin are also keen to minimize losses through “brain drain” and to capture resources such as remittances. Increasingly, international organizations and human rights advocates have stressed the need to protect the interests of migrants themselves. However, while the UNDP’s 2009 Human Development Report talks of “win-win-win” solutions, in practice it is the perceived interests of destination countries that enjoy the greatest attention, while the rights of migrants themselves are afforded the least. Yet migration is not just an issue in itself: it also points to structural inequalities between countries and regions. Managing migration and protecting migrants is too limited an agenda. Activists and policymakers must also address these inequalities directly to ensure that people can pursue their fundamental human rights whether they move or stay. It is not enough to measure development only in terms of progress at the national level: development must also be measured in terms of reductions in the gross levels of inequality that now determine differential rights on the basis of accident of birth.

Transnational Activism Networks and Gendered Gatekeeping : Negotiating Gender in an African Association of Informal Workers

Upphovsperson:	Lindell, Ilda
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics |
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Informal sector, Social movements, International organizations, Grass roots groups, Networks, Associations, Women’s organizations, Women’s participation, leadership, gender relations, feminism, case studies, Mozambique, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

The last decade has witnessed the rise of a great number of transnational social movements and activist networks. While many of these movements have been initiated in the North, some are driven by people from the Global South with the aim of addressing various forms of destitution and asserting a variety of basic economic and cultural rights. Such transnational organizing is increasingly evident in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some of these initiatives relate particularly to the growing numbers ofpeople depending on forms of informal work for survival. This edition of Current African Issues looks into the transnationalization of a local association of informal workers as it becomes involved in an international network of grassroots organizations. While this transnational engagement opens up new political possibilities, it also poses new challenges. Participation in international activities is highly unequal and mediated rather than direct, as influential actors engage in practices of gate-keeping that tend to work to the disadvantage of women. Tensions also emerged as a result of the divergent gender ideologies espoused by different participants. The paper draws on various theoretical perspectives on spatial politics in the global age to interrogate the unequal and contested spatialities of this transnational activism. Feminist scholarship sheds further light on the gendering processes at work in the transnationalization of a grassroots association.

Afro-regions : the dynamics of cross-border micro-regionalism in Africa

Medarbetare:	Söderbaum, Fredrik | Taylor, Ian
Utgivare:	Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	regionalization, Regional cooperation, regional integration, regional development, Regional organizations, politics, Governance, case studies, Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This collection focuses on the making and unmaking of cross-border micro-regions in Africa. Its main emphasis is that micro-regions are not givens, but are constructed and reconstructed through social practice, political economy and, in discourse, by a variety of states, corporations and non-state actors. The region-builders are the focus -- that is, those actors that build and make micro-regions and their associated region-building strategies. Key research questions are: for whom, for what purpose and with what consequences are micro-regions being made and unmade? There is also special emphasis on how people on the ground and local communities create their own region-building strategies and how they respond to the region-building strategies of others. The case studies -- by leading scholars of African studies and the result of extensive fieldwork -- include a wide selection of micro-regions all over Africa, such as the Maputo Development Corridor, the Zambezi Valley region, the Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique Growth Triangle, Walvis Bay, the Sierra Leone-Liberia border zone, cross-border micro-regions on the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region, North Africa, and so forth.

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.

Micro-regionalism in West Africa : evidence from two case studies

Upphovspersoner:	Söderbaum, Fredrik | Taylor, Ian
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	Regional cooperation, regional integration, regional development, regionalization, case studies, West Africa, Sahel, Niger, Nigeria, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This collection seeks to complement and advance recent studies on regionalism in Africa and the implications that this has for the continent’s development. The two case studies on cross-border micro-regionalism in the borderlands of Mali-Burkina Faso and Niger-Nigeria are part of the work of the West Africa Borders and Integration (WABI). WABI is a research institute that looks at cross-border developments in West Africa, particularly at the convergence between political will and regionalisation on the ground. Providing a challenge to the considerable number of state-centric, formalistic and not seldom overly idealistic studies in this field, the two cases show quite clearly that formal borders either essentially do not exist in the Westphalian sense, being ignored by local populations and traders, or, are strategically used by (often self-styled) representatives of the state to extract resources and rents. In either case, the Eurocentric notion of fixed boundaries and bordered delineations has little purchase in the West African Sahel.

Political opposition in African countries : the cases of Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Upphovspersoner:	Hulterström, Karolina | Kamete, Amin Y. | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	political opposition, politics, Democratization, Ethnicity, Local government, political parties, SWAPO, case studies, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap

This Discussion Paper is another result of the project “Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa” (LiDeSA), which was coordinated at the Institute between 2001 and 2006. The papers are revised versions of presentations to a Session of the Research Committee “Comparative Sociology” at the XVI World Congress of Sociology held at the end of July 2006 in Durban. They explore the role of opposition parties under different aspects in several East and Southern African countries, which differ according to the socio-political determinants.

China in Africa

Upphovspersoner:	Lee, Margaret C. | Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	international economic relations, Foreign trade, Economic policy, Access to markets, International cooperation, Partnership, Globalization, case studies, Business and economics, Ekonomi

The contributions to this compilation add in various ways to the ongoing discussion on China’s role in Africa. They offer a blend of general overviews on the new scramble for Africa’s resources, the Chinese expansion into Africa and case studies on Uganda and South Africa. They present reflections on and insights to a current theme, which is widely and controversially debated also within Africa.

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