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Umleavyo : the dilemma of parenting

Medarbetare: Ntukula, Mary | Liljeström, Rita
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Tanzania, parents, gender, generations, children, adolescents, sexuality, initiation, education, marriage, rites and ceremonies, customary law, modernization, child rearing, Sociology, Sociologi
Societies and families are changing all over the world. Less of what the older generations transmit of their experiences can be replicated by the younger generations in their own lives. What we are witnessing is a type of cultural delinking from past generations. Parents despair when their good intentions fail to have an effect and feel overwhelmed by circumstances they cannot control.The Reproductive Health Study Group linked to the University of Dar es Salaam published the first set of studies, Chelewa, Chelewa: The Dilemma of Teenage Girls, in 1994. The focus was on the teenage girl and the various reactions of the adult world to teenage out-of-wedlock pregnancies. The next set of studies, Haraka, Haraka: Look Before you Leap, appeared in 1998 and looked at the erosion of the customs that had regulated marriage, parenthood, and intergenerational obligations.This third and final report, Umleavyo: The Dilemma of Parenting, comprises studies on the generation gap and the ways in which this gap has widened over the past century. In these studies, the past serves as the seemingly stable background on which to project currently fluid and ambiguous parent-child relationships. The main focus of the studies is the different methods of, and goals for, bringing up the next generation. These include physical punishment; achieving compliance through fear and reference to supernatural forces; initiation ceremonies that provide multiple precautions and timely instruction on marriage and procreation; emphasis on relations between people as the most crucial experiences; and encouraging a sense of personal responsibility.The volume is based on the narratives of the grandparents, parents, and youths in the villages of the Pare people in the north and of the initiation leaders in Songea in the south, and on a comparison of the opinions of Nyakyusa elders and youths on gender issues. The central questions raised in the book are: How should one-support youths for whom there is no clear passage to full adulthood? And, how can one forge links between the plight of families and issues of citizenship and public action?

Nile Basin cooperation : a review of the literature

Upphovsperson: Mohamoda, Dahilon Yassin
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: Nile river, Water resources, Regional cooperation, Literature surveys, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Two interrelated developments can be identified in the Nile basin, during the last decade: an emphasis on potential conflict over the Nile waters on the one hand, and an evolving process of basin-wide cooperation on the other. The history of the Nile basin is dominated by tensions and conflicts. Relationships between major Nile basin countries are usually described in terms of mutual distrust and confrontation. The Nile basin, moreover, has frequently been referred to by many observers and analysts as an example where conflict over water resources as a result of water scarcity will lead to armed confrontation. Recent years, on the other hand, have witnessed a growing cooperation among the basin countries. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is a case in point. All the ten countries that share the Nile waters agreed, for the first time, to cooperate on development of the Nile basin. This is a significant step, although a number of serious problems and challenges remain. Many donors have made formal pledges to support the initiative. This paper reviews literature on the Nile basin cooperation and issues related to this process, focusing on more recent publications. The literature on utilization and management of the Nile waters related to basin-wide cooperation efforts has been growing fast during the last decade. At least seven books have been published on the subject between the years 2000 to 2002, while the number of papers presented at conferences and articles in various journals and on the Internet is enormous. This review discusses and covers a wide range of issues, which include: debate on water scarcity and its potential consequences in general, and its implications for the Nile basin countries in particular; legal aspects of utilization of the Nile waters focusing on the UN Watercourse Convention of 1997; conflicts and major attempts at cooperation; divergent views and interests of the basin countries; and challenges and prospects of the recent basin-wide cooperation.

The ANC underground in South Africa

Upphovsperson: Suttner, Raymond
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Auckland Park, South Africa : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet and Jacana Media
År: 2008
Ämnesord: African National Congress, South African Communist Party, politics, political participation, political history, political parties, national liberation movements, anti-apartheid movements, anti-apartheid activists, South Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
It is commonly held that the ANC -after its banning in 1960 and the imprisonment of its leaders - largely disappeared off the face of South Africa until public support for it revived in the wake of the Soweto uprising of 1976. This book takes issue with that view. Drawing  on substantial oral testimony, Raymond Suttner develops a convincing case that internally based activist, sometimes working independently of the ANC in exile and sometimes in combination, were able to reconstitute networks within South Africa after the organisation's banning. He discusses the broad features of their secret  underground work, the impact it had on their personal lives, and the opportunities that were presented for both bravery and abuse. One of the distinctive features of his approach is its treatment of such illegal activity through a gendered lens. Suttner concludes by exploring the dominant position which the ANC had established by the 1970s (partly through underground activity), enabling it to become the prime political beneficiary of the Soweto uprising and ultimately creating the conditions for a negotiated settlement in South Africa. CONTENTS Acknowledgements Introduction The early underground: From the M-Plan to Rivonia The reconstitution of the SACP asan underground organisation The ANC underground betweeen Rivonia and 1976 The character of underground work Gendering the underground Revolutionary morality and the suppression of the personal The re-establishment of ANC hegemony after 1976 List of interviews Notes Index

State recognition of traditional authority in Mozambique : the nexus of community representation and state assistance

Upphovspersoner: Buur, Lars | Kyed, Helene Maria
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2005
Ämnesord: Local government, Traditional authority, Traditional leaders, political participation, Government Mozambique, Political science, Statsvetenskap
How should the Mozambican traditional leaders' double role as community representatives and state assistants be captured? This discussion paper addresses some fundamental questions pertaining to the 2002 official recognition of traditional leaders as community authorities. After a brief history of the changing role of, and faith in, traditional authorities as a basis for understanding the importance of their recent official recognition, the paper outlines the key objectives of the Decree 15/2000 that officially recognises community authorities. Some of the key concepts underpinning the Decree are then critically assessed. It is argued that the double role that community authorities are expected to fulfil as both community-representatives and state-assistants is not equally balanced in the Decree: the scale tips heavily towards the state-assistance aspect. The reasons for this are explored in the context of a set of reified notions underpinning the Decree, such as its understanding of 'traditional rules' and the concept of 'community'. The paper concludes by pointing out some unintended con-sequences of these reified notions for kin-based forms of community authority and especially for the ideal of community participation.

Common security and civil society in Africa

Medarbetare: Wohlgemuth, Lennart
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1999
Ämnesord: Africa, Civil Society, Conflicts, International security, Regional security, Partnership, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
This book is the outcome of a conference on Common Security and Civil Society in Africa, held in 1997, and organised jointly by the Nordic Africa Institute and the Common Security Forum, based at the Centre for History and Economics, King's College and the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. The idea that security is to be achieved by cooperation more than by confrontation, and that it is an economic and social as well as a military condition, has been a commonplace of international politics for some 20 years. The geometry of common or extended security is complex. But it usually involves an extension of the domain of security, of the sources of security, and of the characteristics of security. Among these diverse kinds of security, it is political security which has come into particular prominence at the end of the 1990s, most strikingly in Africa. Political security, in the sense of legal and political institutions such that individuals feel secure both in their individual rights and in the development of political culture, has come to be seen as the foundation of all other kinds of security. The papers presented in this volume seek to go 'beyond the war of images', to imagine a different and more secure future, and they are concerned with five major themes: economic and social change; the prevention of violent conflict; the causes of conflict; political security; the international politics of development partnership.

Media, public discourse and political contestation in Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson: Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Civil rights, Freedom of information, Journalism, Mass media, political development, Press, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The current situation in Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF government shows increasing signs of abuse of power by those in political control. They also direct their desire to suppress criticism towards the media. Press organs in private ownership have been closed down and journalists have been physically harassed, arrested and expelled. Laws are abused to regulate and manipulate public opinion by a policy of banning. Worldwide condemnation of the growing restrictions upon the freedom of expression goes hand in hand with the protests inside the country against the growing tendencies of totalitarian rule. Current events are critically reflected upon and the background to these developments is summarised in this publication. It is based on some of the contributions to a recent conference on Zimbabwe organised by the Nordic Africa Institute and offers insights into the contested space of public opinion in Zimbabwe. The critical analyses of current developments are there-by complemented with particular reference to the media sector in the ongoing battle for hegemonic control over the public sphere.

Political and economic liberalisation in Zambia 1991-2001

Upphovsperson: Rakner, Lise
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: economic development, economic reform, Donors, political development, Zambia, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
As one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa, in 1991 Zambia experienced  a peaceful transition to multi-party rule. The new government, Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), also committed itself to implementing an economic reform programme. The international donor community in turn generously rewarded the new government’s commitment to both political and economic change. Despite the optimistic forecasts in 1991, both the political and economic liberalisation processes in Zambia are today characterised by their partial implementation. Zambia has joined the vast majority of African reforming governments and entered into a 'transitional grey zone' in terms of democratic reforms, and remains stuck in a 'partial reform syndrome' characterised by a permanent economic crisis. What can explain the Zambian development trajectory? Why were some elements of the economic reforms implemented soon after the 1991 elections while other vital reform processes were postponed? To what extent did the processes of political and economic reform reinforce or hinder one another? This book analyses the implementation of political and economic liberalisation in Zambia during the first two election periods (1991-2001). Focussing on the negotiations between government and the key domestic interest groups, as well as the dialogues between the MMD government and the international donor community, the book argues that despite a disastrous socio-economic record, the processes of political and economic liberalisation proceeded concomitantly without seriously affecting or undermining each other. Contrary to expectations linked both to the political and economic reform processes, executive dominance increased in Zambia in the 1990s. Stressing continuity rather than change, the analysis of Zambia's reform processes suggests that the practices of patronage politics associated with authoritarian regimes are compatible with processes of political and economic liberalisation.

Tales of the nation : feminist nationalism or patriotic history?

Upphovsperson: Bull-Christiansen, Lene
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Zimbabwe, feminism, nationalism, identity, literature, Yvonne Vera, history, Matabeleland, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
In light of the uses and misuses of history in Zimbabwean politics in recent years, this research report focuses on how versions of the country’s liberation war history have become a site of struggle over the definition of Zimbabwean national identity. As identity politics’often do, Zimbabwean nationalism draws on a wide field of cultural symbols of identity and political discourses of inclusion and exclusion. Therefore, the report takes a cross-disciplinary approach to the issue of national identity by mapping out the imaginary field of Zimbabwean nationalism. This approach opens up the possibility of cross-reading the political discourses of the President and the ruling party ZANU (PF) with opposing voices such as those in the works of the author Yvonne Vera. This cross-reading shows how Vera's novels and the political discourses participate in the struggle over Zimbabwean national identity by offering different versions of the nation’s history in the form of patriotic history, feminist nationalism, or narratives of difference. In this way the research report adds to our understanding of power and resistance in Zimbabwean politics of national identity.

Credit, currencies and culture : African financial institutions in historical perspective

Medarbetare: Stiansen, Endre | Guyer, Jane I.
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1999
Ämnesord: Financial Institutions, Money Management, Credit, Currencies, Islamic banking, Economic history, Africa, Business and economics, Ekonomi
A striking feature of African history is the volume of commerce and production that has been possible without the full panoply of credit, insurance, futures markets, stock companies, limited liability, and other legal and financial services that make up the formal sector of modern economies. This volume investigate institutional nexuses through which money has been managed in Africa. Together they present important perspectives that are needed to understand the present economic crisis on the continent.

Globalization and the Southern African economies

Upphovsperson: Lundahl, Mats
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Southern Africa, Globalization, international economy, trade, economics, economic development, economic reform, labour market, Business and economics, Ekonomi
The present volume has its origin in a conference on globalization and Africa held in Cape Town at the end of 2001. It focuses on the place of Southern Africa in the globalized economy. The different chapters identify the overall economic trends in the African continent and the responses - required and actual - to the impact of an increasingly interdependent world economy. An introductory chapter deals with the phenomenon of globalization in broad terms. Chapter 2 focuses on the marginal role of Africa in the global economy and some of the main reasons for this sad state of affairs. Chapter 3 attempts to answer the question whether globalization is good for Africa and analyzes the relationship between globalization and economic reform, using Zimbabwe as an example. Chapter 4 reports on a survey of popular attitudes towards globalization in a number of African countries. Chapter 5 provides an evaluation of economic integration efforts in Southern Africa. Finally, Chapter 6 uses the case of South Africa to discuss how globalization affects the workplace. The Southern African nations are struggling to find their own ways of participating in global development. The present volume provides an insight into how this process has unfolded in the past and into the problems and challenges of the future.

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