Sökformulär

eng

Studying Africa : A guide to the sources

Medarbetare: Kristina Rylander,
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2005
Ämnesord: Africa, Reference materials, Bibliographies, Literature surveys, Internet sources, SOCIAL SCIENCES, history, Geography, anthropology, education, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Studying Africa is an introduction to the basic handbooks and standard works on contemporary Africa. The first part of the book is a guide to searching for literature and facts within the field of the social sciences. It deals with bibliographies, databases, reference works, yearbooks, journals, Internet resources, statistics, maps and official publications. Active links to the websites mentioned in the text can be found at the end of each chapter. In the sections entitled “African information on the Internet” and “Statistics”, additional links are given within the text itself. The second part of the book consists of introductions to the literature within the subject areas of history, politics, economics, geography, anthropology and education.

Dealing with uncertainty in contemporary African lives

Medarbetare: Haram, Liv | Yamba, C. Bawa
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Uncertainty, Traditional culture, anthropology, cultural change, Social change, modernization, gender relations, Sexually transmitted diseases, Economic implications, Daily life, Conference papers, Social anthropology, Socialantropologi
The articles in ‘Dealing with Uncertainty in Contemporary African Lives’ are based largely on work in Tanzania which has been spared much of the turmoil that elsewhere has uprooted populations and destroyed communities. Nevertheless they illuminate phenomena common throughout sub-Saharan Africa as modernity in its many guises undercuts old certainties, outmodes established knowledge of how to order life and deal with crises, introduces new hazards, and frustrates ambition and expectations. But as the editors, Haram and Yamba, point out, uncertainty and insecurity have a positive side, providing the basis for ‘curiosity and exploration’. The case studies demonstrate both the increasing uncertainty and insecurity of life in contemporary Africa and the ways that people respond, including warding off and reaching out. Scapegoats are sought. Witch beliefs become elaborated as explanations of failures and malaise while witchfinding becomes a lucrative profession. Pentecostal or other fundamentalist churches burgeon as they assure people that life has meaning and better times are before them if only they believe. Suicide and insanity are other possible responses. All in all, a thought-provoking volume. Elizabeth Colson, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa

Upphovsperson: Weiss, Holger
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2002
Ämnesord: economics, Educations, Islamic Countries, Religion, Social welfare, Sufism, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
In recent decades there has been an increasing attempt by Muslim intellectuals to reflect on the provision of social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa. One reason for this is the few, if not non-existent, possibilities of the states to provide for the basic needs of their subjects, a situation that has become painfully evident in most African states not only the Muslim ones. However, public as well as private provision of social welfare is not a new phenomenon in the Muslim world. Whereas government and public involvement in the provision of social welfare has been haphazard, despite various attempts at direct state involvement especially in the post-colonial world, private and what might be labelled semi-official activities, such as the establishment of pious foundations and the activities of the Sufi orders, have a solid foundation in local Muslim societies in Africa. This book attempts to emphasise the variety of both agents and ways to provide social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa. In addition, social welfare, as such, is both reflected upon and debated by Muslim intellectuals. The aim of this book has therefore been to capture both the theoretical as well as the actual dimension of social welfare.

Reconsidering informality : perspectives from urban Africa

Upphovspersoner: Hansen, Karen Tranberg | Vaa, Mariken
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Informal sector, Hidden economy, Employment, Land use, Livelihood, Urban areas, Urban planning, Urban housing, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Social anthropology, Socialantropologi
This book brings together two bodies of research on urban Africa that have tended to be separate: Studies of urban land use and housing, and studies of work and livelihoods. Africa’s future will be to an increasing extent urban. Nevertheless, the inherited legal, institutional and financial arrangements for managing urban development are inadequate. The recent decades of neo-liberal political and economic reforms have increased social inequality across urban space. Access to employment, shelter and services is precarious for most urban residents. Extra-legal housing and unregistered economic activities proliferate. Basic urban services are increasingly provided informally. The result is the phenomenal growth of the informal city and extra-legal activities. How do urban residents see these activities? What do they accomplish through them? How can these “informal” cities be governed? The case studies are drawn from a diverse set of cities on the African continent. A central theme is how practices that from an official standpoint are illegal or extra-legal do not only work but are considered legitimate by the actors concerned. Another is how the informal city is not exclusively the domain of the poor, but also provides shelter and livelihoods for better-off segments of the urban population.  

Sidor