Sökformulär

violence

Movement for the emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) : political marginalization, repression and petro-insurgency in the Niger Delta

Upphovsperson: Courson, Elias
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2009
Ämnesord: Energy resources, Petroleum industry, Transnational corporations, Macroeconomics, Geopolitics, conflicts, violence, Marginality, Protest movements, Nigeria, Niger Delta, Political science, Statsvetenskap
This Discussion paper addresses the linkages between the political economy of oil and violent conflict in Nigeria’s main oil and gas producing region, the Niger Delta. It is based on a case study of the insurgent Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has targeted and attacked the interests of international oil companies and the federal government in the oil-rich, but impoverished, Niger Delta region of Nigeria, in its professed campaign for the control of the oil wealth of the region for the benefit of local people. Through this study of MEND, fresh perspectives are brought to bear on the causes and ramifications of the oil conflict in the region, and the role of various actors at the local, national and international levels. This is important in grasping the nature of the violence in the Niger Delta and Nigeria and the enormity of the task of resolving the complex conflict in which the region is immersed. It is a challenge, which as the author argues, transcends the resort to the militarized or securitized solutions that often fail to adequately address the roots of conflict.

Multi-choice policing in Africa

Upphovsperson: Baker, Bruce
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2008
Ämnesord: Police, conflicts, Crime prevention, violence, Safety, Human security, Social implications, Africa South of Sahara, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Political science, Statsvetenskap
Policing is crucial to how Africans experience the freedoms of democracy and determines to a large degree the levels of economic investment they will enjoy. Yet it is a neglected area of study. Based on field research, this book reveals the surprising variety of people involved in policing besides the state police. Indeed many Africans are faced with a wide choice of public and private, legal and illegal, effective and ineffective policing. Policing in Africa is very much more than what the police do. It concerns the activities of business interests, residential communities, cultural groups, criminal organisations, local political figures and governments. How people negotiate this 'multi-choice' of policing options, and the implications of this for government and donor security policy, is the subject of this book It covers policing in all its forms in Sub-Saharan Africa, including two case studies of Uganda and Sierra Leone.

Rebels and robbers : violence in post-colonial Angola

Upphovsperson: Malaquias, Assis
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: violence, Social structure, Obstacles to development, Political aspects, Political power, Civil war, peace, Nation Building, national security, Post-conflict reconstruction, Angola, Political science, Statsvetenskap
Rebels and Robbers is about the political economy of violence in post-colonial Angola. This book provides the first comprehensive attempt at analyzing how the military and non-military dynamics of more than four decades of conflict created the structural violence that stubbornly defines Angolan society even in the absence of war. The book clearly demonstrates that the end of the civil war has not ushered in positive peace. The focus on structural violence enables the author to explore the continuities since colonial times, especially in the ways race, class, ethnicity, and power have been used by governing elites as mechanisms to oppress the powerless. Thus, although corruption as structural violence manifesting itself so ubiquitously in Angola today may have been taken to new levels after independence, its origin is unmistakably colonial. Similarly, the zero-sum character of political interactions that defined colonial Angola is yet to be fully exorcized. But there are also important discontinuities. The unabashed propensity to capture public resources for personal aggrandizement is purely post-colonial. So is the tendency toward personal, unaccountable rule. Given its rich endowments, the end of the civil war provides Angola with an opportunity to finally realize its developmental potential. This will depend on whether the wealth resulting from the exploration of natural resources is directed toward creating the conditions for the citizens' realization of their aspirations for the good life thus ensuring sustainable peace.

The security-development nexus : expressions of sovereignty and securitization in Southern Africa

Medarbetare: Buur, Lars | Jensen, Steffen | Stepputat, Finn
Utgivare: Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; HSRC Press
År: 2007
Ämnesord: violence, Crime, Economic and social development, politics, Government policy, State, International relations, Peaceful coexistence, Citizenship, Human security, Regional security, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The link between security and development has been rediscovered after 9/11 by a broad range of scholars. Focusing on Southern Africa, the Security-Development Nexus shows that the much debated linkage is by no means a recent invention. Rather, the security/development linkage has been an important element of the state policies of colonial as well as post-colonial regimes during the Cold War, and it seems to be prospering in new configurations under the present wave of democratic transitions. Contributors focus on a variety of contexts from South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, to Zimbabwe and Democratic Congo; they explore the nexus and our understanding of security and development through the prism of peace-keeping interventions, community policing, human rights, gender, land contests, squatters, nation and state-building, social movements, DDR programmes and the different trajectories democratization has taken in different parts of the region.

Ethnic militias and the threat to democracy in post-transition Nigeria

Upphovsperson: Agbu, Osita
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2004
Ämnesord: Armed forces, ethnic conflicts, democratization interethnic relations, militarism, violence, Nigeria, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning
The democratic opening presented by Nigeria’s successful transition to civil rule (June 1998 to May 1999) unleashed a host of hitherto repressed or dormant political forces. Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between genuine demands by these forces on the state and outright criminality and mayhem. Post-transition Nigeria is experiencing the proliferation of ethnic militia movements purportedly representing, and seeking to protect, their ethnic interests in a country, which appears incapable of providing the basic welfare needs of its citizens. It is against the background of collective disenchantment with the Nigerian state, and the resurgence of ethnic identity politics that this research interrogates the growing challenge posed by ethnic militias to the Nigerian democracy project. The central thesis is that the over-centralization of power in Nigeria’s federal practice and the failure of post-transitional politics in genuinely addressing the “National Question, has resulted in the emergence of ethnic militias as a specific response to state incapacity. The short- and long-term threats posed by this development to Nigeria’s fragile democracy are real, and justify the call for a National Conference that will comprehensively address the demands of the ethnic nationalities.

Does one size fit all? : the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission revisited

Upphovsperson: Sesay, Amadu
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2007
Ämnesord: Civil war, conflicts, violence, Reconciliation, Post-conflict reconstruction, Peace building, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Sierra Leone, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning
Societies emerging from protracted conflict and violence face numerous challenges at the individual, community and national levels. Accordingly, a variety of strategies have been suggested for "healing" the wounds of the past and coping with the future, thereby facilitating national reconciliation and peace buildings. One of these approaches is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, believed to provide a veritable platform for victims and perpetrators alike, to have a voice that would enable them to come to terms with the horrifying past. In Africa, TRCs as strategies for coming to terms with the past in Africa came into prominence following the example of South Africa after the end of apartheid in 1994. Since then, TRCs have been set up in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, while one has been proposed for Liberia. From such a standpoint it is tempting to argue that there has emerged what we can call  a  "one size fits all" syndrome, that is, if the TRC "worked" for South Africa, a position that is the subject of intense debate within and outside that country, then it is "good" for Sierra Leone, Liberia or any other African society that is emerging from protracted violent conflict. The main purpose of this study, therefore, is to draw attention to the TRC phenomenon in Sierra Leone, to stimulate discussion on the diverse questions surrounding its rationale, processes and outcomes, especially its impacts on post conflict reconciliation in the country. Another goal of the project is to document the multiple and conflicting perceptions among various groups in the TRC processes, and how such perceptions were reflected in the Commission's work and recommendations. Finally, it is expected that the study would form the basis for future empirically grounded research and policy analysis, more extensive research and perhaps even collaboration, between the author and those working on innovative but home-grown mechanisms for promoting reconciliation in post war Sierra Leone and elsewhere.