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political development

Independent? : Tanzania's challenges since Uhuru

Upphovsperson: Vilby, Knud
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Dar es Salaam : E & D Vision Publishing Ltd.; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: political development, Social change, Governance, Socialism, Economic and social development, Globalization, Post-independence, Tanzania, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This book describes the history and challenges facing Tanzania through the voices and memories of Tanzanians and through their visions and ideas about the challenges Tanzania faces today. It is a story of set backs and disappointments, but also of pride. Among those interviewed are leading politicians, activists and researchers, but also ordinary everyday Tanzanians - farmers, workers, grandfathers and grandmothers, active and retired civil servants - are interviewed. The statements are used thematically in chapters forcusing on the various challenges that have faced Tanzania: from insufficient focus on agriculture to the menace of corruption; from socialism to capitalism and from the role of the family to the importance of religion. There is a strong focus on the limitation of independence. Tanzania is independent, but there is no true independence in a globalized world.

Democratic Governance and Accountability in Africa : In Search of a Workable Framework

Upphovsperson: Olukoshi, Adebayo O.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Africa, political development, Democratization, Political pluralism, political reform, democracy, Governance, Institutional framework, constitutions, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper provides a thought-provoking and radical intervention into the ongoing debates on democratic governance and accountability in Africa. The author undertakes a critical overview of the discourse on democratisation in Africa and notes that democracy on the continent cannot be fully understood on the basis of the ways in which electoral pluralism has played out in the last 20 years. The paper critiques mainstream explanations and points out their shortcomings. It goes on to make a compelling case for an alternative framework based on historically informed dialectical analysis of everyday democracy and struggles for democracy in Africa. Noting that no two democracies are exactly the same, the paper advocates the need for democracy in Africa to be studied on its own terms, and in a way that facilitates taking the African experience into the global arena to produce a truly comparative theory of democratisation on a world scale. The paper is essential reading for all those interested in the history, present and future of democracy in Africa.

Reflections on the Challenge of Reconstructing Post-Conflict States in West Africa : Insights From Claude Ake’s Political Writings

Upphovsperson: Arowosegbe, Jeremiah O.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: political development, Democratization, Post-conflict reconstruction, State Nation-building, Peacebuilding, Political theory, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Sierra Leone, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper is based on a theoretical exploration of state reconstruction and the prospects for peacebuilding in post-conflict West African countries based on critical reflections on the political thought of Claude Ake, one of Nigeria’s foremost political thinkers. Its point of departure is the refutation of the view that the state project in Africa is ‘hopeless’ or at a dead-end. It therefore revisits the debate on the viability of the state project in the continent, particularly as it relates to those West African states emerging from or affected by violent conflict. While acknowledging the shortcomings of the state-formation project in some post conflict West African countries, the author argues that the state remains a key institutional and social actor that needs to be understood more in terms of its historical moorings, political economy and marginal position in the international order. Drawing on Ake’s postulations about the limited autonomy of the state in Africa and its links to political violence and conflict, the author critiques both the hegemonic discourses on the nature of the state in Africa and those relating to post-conflict peacebuilding in the continent. The analysis of the latter focuses on the epistemological groundings of mainstream peacebuilding discourses, and posits that there is no guarantee that such imported models ensure sustainable peace in West Africa. Thus, the paper makes a compelling case for reinventing the state in West Africa based on autochthonous democratic transformation in favour of ordinary people. In this regard, it argues for an endogenous transformation of the state in Africa in ways that can strongly root it in the people as a fundamental step towards sustainable and locally owned participatory peacebuilding. It thereby opens up a new perspective on state reconstruction as a step towards ending violent conflict in the sub-region.

The Zimbabwean Nation-State Project : A Historical Diagnosis of Identity and Power-based Conflicts in a Postcolonial State

Upphovsperson: Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2011
Ämnesord: Zimbabwe, nationalism, State, Political conflicts, political development, Political leadership, Elite, Ethnicity, National identity, Nation-building, Post-colonialism, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion Paper draws attention to the often overlooked aspects of the limits, poverty and contradictions embedded in the “unfinished business” of the Zimbabwe nation state project. It is located within the broader context of the crisis of the nation-state in an African continent increasingly buffeted by waves of globalisation. It also revisits the debate on whether postcolonial nationalism can completely avoid reproducing the racial and ethnic discrimination that characterised its colonial past. Zeroing in on Zimbabwe, the paper argues that the nation-state crisis has roots in the legacy of settler colonialism, the ethnic fragmentation that marked the history of the liberation movement and the character of the nationalist elite. Its critique of the politics of the nationalist and political elite, the Lancaster House Agreement, the National Democratic Revolution and the Global Political Agreement makes this paper an important contribution to the debates on the real legacy of the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe and the prospects for a common national identity based on nationalism, social justice, inclusive democracy and development in the country.

Colapso e reconstrução política na Guiné-Bissau 1998-2000 : um estudo de democratização difícil

Upphovsperson: Rudebeck, Lars
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2001
Ämnesord: Democratization, political development, history, elections, political parties, Guinea-Bissau, Political science, Statsvetenskap
In this study of recent developments in Guinea Bissau. Lars Rudebeck seeks to investigate how democratic rule emerges and functions in real life. His analysis extends far beyond the multi-party system and election procedures as he discusses contrasts in people's perceptions of democracy. He assesses their access to influential structures, the roles of civil and political society, of the military, and of international assistance and argues that complex power structures need to be addressed if democracy is to be consolidated.

Where the old meets the new : Transitional justice, peacebuilding and traditional reconciliation practices in Africa

Upphovsperson: Villa-Vicencio, Charles
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Africa, political development, Dispute settlement, Peacekeeping, Political stability, Governance, Social justice, Human rights, Post-conflict reconstruction, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Chad - towards democratisation or petro-dictatorship?

Upphovspersoner: Eriksson, Hans | Hagströmer, Björn
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2005
Ämnesord: Democratization, Petroleumextraction, Governance, political development, Economic and social development, Chad, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This study provides a background of the socio-political situation in Chad and the oil project, and analyses how the two will develop and interact in the future. A key feature is an analysis of the incentives in the oil project and their possible future changes. Chad is currently undergoing two processes of significant importance for its future development - political democratisation and transformation into an oil economy. For a country plagued with civil war for decades until 1990, and known as one of the poorest and most corrupt states in the world, this is a real challenge. The oil export started in late 2003, and boosted the economy in 2004. To avoid the disastrous experiences of most poor African oil states, unique oil management, control mechanisms and other conditionalities have been imposed by the World Bank - much thanks to pressure from the civil society and the international community. If implemented well, Chad may become a model for how a poor resource-rich country is able to promote socio-economic development and poverty reduction. However, this demands a close and coordinated cooperation between the Chadian government and the civil society, based on accountability and good governance, and with continuous support of the World Bank and the international community. The situation is fragile and progress is uncertain. If a broader economic development is achieved, conditions for an improved democratisation can be created in the long term.The Chadian oil project deserves continued close attention and monitoring.

Fault-lines in South African democracy : continuing crises of inequality and injustice

Upphovsperson: Hendricks, Fred T.
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: Post-apartheid, Political transition, political development, Democratization, South Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa has raised questions, on the one hand, about the tension between the imperatives of justice and equality and, on the other, reconciliation. Transforming the decades' old apartheid system under conditions of a political compromise has turned out to be a formidable challenge. This paper is about the complexity of the transformation processgoing on in South Africa. Although too early for a real assessmentof the experiment, the tensions, dilemmas, contradictions, paradoxes and some of the changes have already begun to manifest themselves. In this Discussion Paper, the author gives the full measure of the tensions, dilemmas, and paradoxes involved in the transformation of South Africa. Apartheid was more than formal discrimination along racial lines: it was a system of exploitation and oppression in which race, class, gender and other markers of social identity all overlapped. The paper shows how political deals affect the administration of justice, and how they impinge upon the nature of democracy, often by frustrating efforts to realise social goals in the post-authoritarian phase. It also raises the fundamental question of the broader necessities for the long-term survival of democracy in South Africa, which, the paper argues, must include: - addressing the enormous disparities between wealth and poverty and black and white left in the wake of apartheid and - creating a legitimate polity that respects the rule of law.

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