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Sociology

Haraka, haraka- : look before you leap

Medarbetare: Rwebangira, Magdalena K. | Liljeström, Rita
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1998
Ämnesord: Tanzania, East Africa, Sociology, Youth, Sexuality, Pregnancy, Marriage, Education, Family law, Customary law, Child welfare, Gender, Sociology, Sociologi
A compilation of nine studies from the Reproductive Health Study Group at the University of Dar es Salaam. They highlight the erosion of customary institutions that regulate procreation and express the meaning of gender and marriage. They show the failure of modern education to prepare the young for gendered adulthood. A central tenet of the work is that without an understanding of the dynamics of local customs and attitudes as well as their significance to the people who hold them, change initiated from without becomes ineffective and unsustainable.

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.

Seven Themes in African Urban Dynamics

Upphovsperson: Myers, Garth Andrew
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Towns, Urbanization, Urban sociology, Literature surveys, Social theory, Urban research, 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 trans-formation. 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 Garth Myers, commissioned by the Urban Cluster, is a valuable contribution to shaping the research agenda on urban Africa.

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.

"Women forget that men are the masters" : gender antagonism and socio-economic change in Kisii District, Kenya

Upphovsperson: Silberschmidt, Margrethe
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1999
Ämnesord: Kenya, East Africa, Gender identity, Gender relations, Social values, Social change, Sociology, Sociologi
A study about conflicts between men and women in contemporary Kiskii, Kenya. The author argues that male identity, sense of worth and prestige have been more deeply affected by socio-economic change than that of female identity. Feminists, in particular, will find this study deeply provocative but a good read.

Towards more appropriate technologies? : experiences from the water and sanitation sector

Upphovsperson: Vaa, Mariken
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1993
Ämnesord: Africa, Appropriate technology, Development aid, Water supply, Sanitation, Social participation, Sociology, Sociologi
Since the 1970s there has been a gradual change in the approach of the donors to technical solutions for the provision of water and sanitation in the Third World. This study examines some concrete projects from that perspective.

Class, elite, and community in African development

Upphovsperson: Manghezi, Alpheus
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1976
Ämnesord: Africa, Social structure, Social classes, Elite, Class struggle, Modernization, Community development, Theses, Sociology, Sociology, Sociologi
This paper covers the independent states of tropical Africa (South of the Sahara). Its main focus is on the ex-British colonies. It attempts to deal with a variety of concepts and themes of differing degrees of complexities: these inlude notions of colonialism and imperialist penetration, the process of decolonozation, social and class formations, class and class struggle, élite, and social and political mobilization.

African feminist politics of knowledge : Tensions, challenges, possibilities

Medarbetare: Arnfred, Signe | Adomako Ampofo, Akosua
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2010
Ämnesord: Gender studies, feminism, Women’s rights, Academic freedom, Higher education, research, research workers, Women in development, Empowerment, Africa South of Sahara, Sociology, Sociologi
AFRICAN FEMINIST POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE is a book that aims at exposing the dilemmas and conflicts that feminist researchers and practitioners living and working in the Global South have to deal with on a daily basis. The book attempts to disentangle some of the dilemmas, tensions, challenges and possibilities of feminist research and activism in the minefields of the cultures, practices and expectations of university bureaucracies, donor agencies and North-South collaboration. The authors, living and working in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana and Mozambique, are all researchers. They theorise from their experiences as persons based in Africa, highlighting the dilemmas and conflicts posed by identities as academics and researchers on the one hand, and dependence on donor funding on the other.

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