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Social change

Just like couscous : Gender, agency and the politics of female circumcision in Cairo

Upphovsperson: Malmström, Maria Frederika
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Göteborg : University of Gothenburg
År: 2009
Ämnesord: anthropology, identity, gender, agency, embodiment, senses, body, sexuality, female circumcision, politics, Social change, performativity, practice, Political islam, Egypt, Middle East, North Africa
This dissertation explores how female gender identity is continually created and re-created in Egypt through a number of daily practices, of which female circumcision is central. In order to do so, the study inquires into the lived experiences and social meanings of female circumcision and femininity as narrated by women from lower class neighbourhoods in Cairo. The study seeks to understand how the experiences of femininity and female circumcision are shaped and challenged by the social and political changes that impinge on these women’s lives. Female circumcision has become a global political minefield with ‘Western’ interventions affecting Egyptian politics and social development, not least in the area of democracy and human rights. The global human rights discourse brings about change by portraying female circumcision as mutilation. These discourses and other political and social changes both in Egypt and elsewhere, such as modernization, the aftermath of 9/11 and regional instability have together begun to dis-embed female circumcision from its socio-cultural context. This thesis focuses upon the way in which these women understand and respond to these complex changes and it looks particularly at how different actors, in their construction of female identity, contest, resist, subvert or embrace female circumcision. The study explores how the subject is made through the interplay of global hegemonic structures of power and the most intimate sphere, which has been exposed in the international arena. The need to understand agency as the capacity to act according to the exigencies of the specific sociocultural forms the main premise of this dissertation; the Egyptian context comprises the complex interaction between the local and a variety of wider global forces.

Musical Violence : Gangsta Rap and Politics in Sierra Leone

Upphovsperson: Tucker, Boima
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation |
År: 2013
Ämnesord: Sierra Leone, youth, Popular music, politics, Social change, cultural identity
Hip Hop has become a global force in recent years. However, when taken up by youth outside its American birthplace, it is often dismissed as a shallow adaptation or imitation of American popular culture. However, its global popularity cannot be questioned, and its proliferation is aided by its adaptability to local contexts. It has become associated with an emergent youth political identity in many parts of the world, a result of its ability to embody rebellious youth energy. Hip Hop is a new global lingua franca for youth rebellion that exists beyond the boundaries of the state, and is aided by the emergence of the internet and accompanying communications technologies. Analysis of the political ramifications of Hip Hop in West African societies is vital to gaining a true sense of what democracy means in the local context. This paper focuses on the West African country of Sierra Leone, and explores how youth participation in Hip Hop there is a radical political project.

UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation-Cutting : Accelerating Change : Annual Report 2010 : Nurturing Change from Within.

Upphovsperson: Malmström, Maria Frederika
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | New York : UNFPA-UNICEF
År: 2011
Ämnesord: circumcision, female genital cutting, Social change, body, agency
The objective of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C): Accelerating Change is to contribute to the abandonment of FGM/C in 17 African countries within a generation. FGM/C is a deeply embedded in social norm – woven into all aspects of social, cultural and political life. Although the practice is a violation of human rights and causes untold harm to the health and wellbeing of women and girls, it has long been viewed as a cultural necessity. In this context, simply exhorting people to change their beliefs and behaviour is not eff ective and can, in fact, be counterproductive. People must arrive at these decisions on their own; public support and consensus are key to promoting sustainable change. In its work to change such a deeply ingrained cultural practice as FGM/C, from its inception the Joint Programme has supported a holistic, culturally sensitive and participative approach grounded on a firm foundation of human rights. This approach ensures that the principles of human rights guide all programmatic activities and analysis in the target countries. The aim is to create local environments characterized by participation, empowerment, non-discrimination, equity, accountability and the rule of law. This holistic, participative approach has proven to be a most eff ective means for ending FGM/C in a sustainable manner. It also tends to promote wider community empowerment. Similarly, a supportive national environment based on an accurate, country-specific, culturally sensitive understanding of the causes and eff ects of FGM/C is also crucial to accelerating the abandonment of the practice.

The Social Infrastructures of City Life in Contemporary Africa

Upphovsperson: Simone, AbdouMaliq
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Towns, Urbanization, Urban environment, Physical infrastructure, Governance, Urban development, Social change, Africa, Sociology, Sociologi
The growth of cities is one of the most significant aspects of the contemporary transformation of African societies. Cities in Africa are the sites of major political, economic and social innovation, and thus play a critical role in national politics, domestic economic growth and social development. They are also key platforms for interaction with the wider world and mediate between global and national contexts. Cities are variously positioned in global flows of resources, goods and ideas, and are shaped by varied historical trajectories and local cultures. The result is a great diversity of urban societies across the continent. Cities in Africa are not only growing rapidly but are also undergoing deep political, economic and social transformation. They are changing in ways that defy usual notions of urbanism. In their dazzling complexity, they challenge most theories of the urban. African cities represent major challenges as well as opportunities. Both need to be understood and addressed if a sustainable urban future is to be achieved on the continent. The Urban Cluster of the Nordic Africa Institute, through its research, seeks to contribute to an understanding of processes of urban change in Africa. This discussion paper by Professor AbdouMaliq Simone, commissioned by the Urban Cluster, is a valuable contribution to shaping the research agenda on urban Africa.

Imagining a peaceful society : a vision of children's literature in a post-conflict Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson: Chitando, Anna
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2008
Ämnesord: conflicts, Political crisis, peace, literature, Authors, children, Social change, Dispute settlement, Peaceful coexistence, Post-conflict reconstruction, Zimbabwe, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Imagining a Peaceful Society: A Vision of Children's Literature in a Post-Conflict Zimbabwe addresses the marginalisation of children's literature from the discourse on conflict and peace building in Africa. By presenting a unique perspective to how writers of children's literature, and children themselves understand, grapple with, and envision peace in a post-conflict Zimbabwean society, this Discussion Paper calls attention to the immense, but largely untapped potential of literature as a critical resource for the promotion peace in Africa.

History making and present day politics : the meaning of collective memory in South Africa

Medarbetare: Stolten, Hans Erik J.
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: history, political history, political development, Social change, Nation-building, Post-apartheid, historiography, South Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
In this collection, some of South Africa's most distinguished historians and social scientists present their views on the importance of history and heritage for the transformation of the South African society. Although popular use of history helped remove apartheid, the study of history lost status during the transition process. Some of the reasons for this, like the nature of the negotiated revolution, social demobilisation, and individualisation, are analysed in this book. The combination of scholarly work with an active role in changing society has been a central concern in South African history writing. This book warns against the danger of history being caught between reconciliation, commercialisation, and political correctness. Some of the articles critically examine the role of historians in ideological debates on gender, African agency, Afrikaner anti-communism, early South African socialism, and the role of the business world during late apartheid. Other contributions explore continuing controversies on the politics of public history in post-apartheid South Africa, describe the implementation of new policies for history education, or investigate the use of applied history in the land restitution process and in the TRC. The authors also examine a range of new government and private initiatives in the practical use of history, including the establishment of new historical entertainment parks and the conversion of museums and heritage sites. For readers interested in nation building processes and identity politics, this book provides valuable insight.

Transitions in Namibia : which changes for whom?

Medarbetare: Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: Social change, Economic change, cultural change, political development, Liberation, Decentralization, gender relations, International reltions, Economic and social development, Post-independence, Namibia, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This volume completes the research project on "Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa" (LiDeSA). It mainly addresses socioeconomic and gender-related issues in contemporary Namibia. Most of the contributors are either Namibian, based in Namibia or have undertaken extensive research in the country. Their interest as scholars and/or civil society activists is guided by a loyalty characterised not by rhetoric but by empathy with the people. They advocate notions of human rights, social equality and related values and norms instead of being driven by an ideologically determined party-political affiliation. Their investigative and analytical endeavours depict a society in transition, a society that is far from being liberated. Not surprisingly, this compilation explores the limits to liberation more than its advances.

Promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health in East and Southern Africa

Medarbetare: Klepp, Knut-Inge | Flisher, Alan J. | Kaaya, Sylvia F.
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; HSRC Press
År: 2008
Ämnesord: adolescents, Reproductive health, Sexual behavior, Sex education, Health programmes, Health services, aids prevention, Social change, case studies, East africa, Southern Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
In Africa, as in many parts of the world, adolescent reproductive health is a controversial issue for policy makers and programme planners. Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS and to a host of other problems such as sexually transmitted infection, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortions, sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and unsafe circumcision. Yet many countries don't have adolescent health policies and much remains to be done to ensure that adolescents can access appropriate sexual and reproductive health services. Articulating new perspectives and strategies to promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health, the authors of this volume, comprise a network of researchers working in east and southern Africa. They make a unique attempt to bring together the social and biomedical sciences and to disseminate concrete empirical evidence from existing programmes, carefully analysing what works and what doesn't at the local level. The chapters are built on the premise that sexual and reproductive health behaviour is multifaceted and that interventions must operate on several levels - individual, organisational and governmental - and must reach young people in schools, communities, workplaces, and health-care institutions. Cognisant of recent research and the ethical difficulties facing researchers, the authors provide practical guidance for practitioners and policymakers wishing to promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health at the policy and institutional levels and in local communities.

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.

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