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Liberation

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.

Re-living the second Chimurenga : memories from the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson: Chung, Fay
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet; Weaver Press, Harare
År: 2006
Ämnesord: Biographies, national liberation movements, Liberation, Civil war, Independence, ZANU, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap
Fay Chung grew up in a Chinese family in Rhodesia in the 1950s and 1960s. She studied education and literature, and became a lecturer at the University of Zambia in the early 1970s. In Zambia, she joined the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), and took part in the radicalisation of the nationalist rising, which led to Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. The memoirs of Fay Chung give an inside view of the divisions within ZANU during the late 1970s. She witnessed the change of leadership from Sithole to Mugabe, experienced the tensions between politicians and military leaders, as well as the rise and fall of the vashandi movement, which tried to change the direction of ZANU in a more socialist direction. Within ZANU, Fay Chung was prominent in preparing educational reform, and after Independence worked for the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education and Culture - eventually as Minister. Her memoirs describe the efforts to extend access to education and to bring ‘education-with-production’ principles into school curricula. Fay Chung also reflects on the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe. While regretting the violence, she is critical of the new democratic opposition, and supports Robert Mugabe's 'Third Chimurenga' as a return to the objectives of land reform and economic justice, which she sees as the 'heartblood' of the liberation struggle. This is an account, which will be certain to provoke many readers, and which will stimulate discussions both within Zimbabwe and abroad. This edition includes an introduction by Preben Kaarsholm, which situates Fay Chung's narrative in the context of ongoing debates about Zimbabwe.

Report of the conference Nordic Solidarity with the Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa, and Challenges for Democratic Partnerships into the 21st Century, 11-14 February, 1999

Medarbetare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet,
Utgivare: Kapstaden : Robben Island Museum; Mayibuye Center; Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 1999
Ämnesord: national liberation movements, International cooperation, Liberation, Democratization, Conference report, anti-apartheid movements, Southern Africa, Scandinavia, Finland, Political science, Statsvetenskap

Re-examining liberation in Namibia : political culture since independence

Upphovsperson: Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2003
Ämnesord: Namibia, Independence, Liberation, Political culture, Reconciliation, Post-colonialism, Human rights, Political science, Statsvetenskap
From 1960, SWAPO of Namibia led the organised and later armed struggle for independence. In late 1989, the liberation movement was finally elected to power under United Nations supervision as the legitimate government. When the Republic of Namibia was proclaimed on 21 March 1990, the long and bitter struggle for sovereignty came to an end. This volume takes stock of emerging trends in the country's political culture since independence. The contributions, mainly by authors from Namibia and Southern Africa who supported the anti-colonial movements, critically explore the achievements and shortcomings that have been part of liberation in Namibia.

Transition in Southern Africa : comparative aspects

Upphovspersoner: Melber, Henning | Saunders, Christopher
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2001
Ämnesord: apartheid, democracy, Liberation, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The 1990s completed a process of transition in Namibia and South Africa that brought formal decolonisation in Africa to an end. These two contributions review some aspects of the transformation and complement each other. They take stock of the transformation in a historical, comparative perspective and investigate the experiences and prospects of democratisation under sovereign, legitimate political rule. They were compiled subsequent to a public lecture arranged by the Nordic Africa Institute and given by Christopher Saunders on "The Transitions to Democracy in Namibia and South Africa" on 5 April 2001. Henning Melber was a discussant at the presentation.

Measuring democracy and human rights in Southern Africa

Upphovspersoner: Davids, Yul Derek | Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2002
Ämnesord: Democratisation, Liberation, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Are there ways and means of measuring democracy and “good governance”? The contributions to this Discussion Paper present attempts to do this by means of surveys on democratic attitudes in Mozambique and Namibia respectively as well as by exploring the degree of commitment to and violation of human rights in a comparative perspective in Namibia and South Africa. They illustrate attitudes by offering empirical evidence of the preferences and views of local people, as well as by examining the track record of a human rights culture. In doing so, by going beyond a level of theoretical analysis, they offer concrete evidence of attitudes prevalent among both individuals and state agencies in societies of Southern Africa.

Armed struggle and democracy : the case of South Africa

Upphovsperson: Legassick, Martin
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2002
Ämnesord: Armed struggle, democracy, Liberation, ANC, Historical analysis, Political culture, South Africa, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
The impact of the concept(s) of armed struggle for the notion(s) of democracy in South(ern) Africa is the focus of this paper. Originally submitted to a conference on '(Re-) Conceptualising Democracy and Liberation in Southern Africa', held in Windhoek/Namibia during July 2002, it argues from the point of departure of the personal involvement of the author in the issues raised. The author was part of a group which criticised the strategy of armed struggle in the ANC. For the articulation of this dissenting view they were suspended from the movement in 1979 and finally expelled in 1985. With this paper he inspires a debate, which can claim relevance for current issues of democracy in South Africa and the Southern African region more generally. Given the degree of personal involvement of its author, this analysis is contemporary history based on personal insights, and provides arguments for a necessary discussion.

Political cultures in democratic South Africa

Upphovspersoner: Neocosmos, Michael | Suttner, Raymond | Taylor, Ian | Melber, Henning
Utgivare: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År: 2002
Ämnesord: Democratisation, Human rights, Liberation, Nation Building, Reconciliation, ANC, South Africa, Southern Africa, Political science, Statsvetenskap
The democratic transition in South Africa that emerged during the 1990s and became manifest in a democratically elected government, has not yet brought to completion the post-Apartheid social and political transformation of that country. In fact, it has far from consolidated a new socio-political culture. The contributions to this Discussion Paper reflect upon different but related aspects of South African democracy after Apartheid as represented in a variety of social forces, institutions and individuals. They illustrate that societies in transition have to make sustained efforts to overcome the legacies of the past, and that the present reproduces some of the past structural constraints and patterns of power and control in the new framework. This publication has been compiled under the aegis of the research network on “Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa” (LiDeSa), currently coordinated through the Nordic Africa Institute. The contributions were originally presented to a workshop organised in Cape Town in December 2001.