The Nordic Africa Institute
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Understanding and addressing conflict-related sexual violence : Lessons learned from the Democratic Republic of Congo
No full textThe Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) warscape has become infamous globally from the reports on the massive scale of sexual violence. While vast amounts of other forms of violence and abuse have also been committed, it is sexual violence that has attracted the lion’s share of attention, especially among “outside” observers. Countless reports, newspaper articles, news-clips, appeals and documentaries have been devoted to the issue. Numerous journalists, activists and representatives of diverse international organisations and governments have made pilgrimages to the DRC to meet and listen to survivors first-hand
Understanding poverty in Africa? : A navigation through disputed concepts, data and terrains
No full textIn any international comparison, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most pervasive poverty. The study of African societies requires the study of numerous dynamics, processes and situations with links to poverty issues. Recent methodological innovations hold that research into poverty should be multidimensional, dynamic and cross-disciplinary. But how can such research be undertaken? This volume comprises two separate articles. The first provides an overview of major conceptual positions on poverty. With the focus on theoretical and methodological issues, it argues that the epistemological and normative elements have not been sufficiently emphasised in the attempts to bring different disciplinary approaches together. Such elements constitute fundamental dividing lines in the poverty debate. However, the article goes on to argue that the capability approach has promising potential for bridging these divides.The second article is an empirical study of recent poverty developments in Tanzania and Burkina Faso. Common to both countries – one in East and the other in West Africa – is that a largely subsistence agricultural sector dominates their economies. The article combines quantitative and qualitative methods to show that regional differences in the structures of agricultural production may in large part explain variations in poverty
Afrikas historie
No full textInnehåll: Innledning -- Oversikter -- Historiografi -- Temaer -- Konflikter -- Religion -- Historical dictionaries of Africa -- Tidsperioder -- Afrikansk historie i globalt perspektiv -- Regioner og enkeltland -- Det sørlige Afrik
The Social Infrastructures of City Life in Contemporary Africa
No full textThe 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
Afrika har ordet
No full textInnehåll: Henning Mankell/har/ordet -- Veronique Tadjo/har/ordet -- Föfattarna: Chris Abani -- Lubna Al-Hussein -- Meshack Asare -- Sefi Atta -- Edem Awumey -- Gabeba Baderoon -- Yaba Badoe -- Doreen Baingana -- Biyi Bandele -- Lesley Beake -- Sihem Bensedrine -- Maïssa Bey -- Paulina Chiziane -- Mia Couto -- Bernadette Sanou Dao -- Lassana Igo Diarra -- Ousmane Diarra -- Boubacar Boris Diop -- Unity Dow -- Nawal El Saadawi -- Christian Epanya -- Nuruddin Farah -- Petina Gappah -- Nadine Gordimer -- Miguel Gullander -- Piet Grobler -- Helon Habila -- Jay Heale -- Ayaan Hirsi Ali -- Chenjerai Hove -- Philo Ikonya -- Brian James -- Tahar Ben Jelloun -- Billy Kahora -- Fatou Keïta -- John Kilaka -- Elieshi Lema -- Alain Mabanckou -- Sindiwe Magona -- Kopano Matlwa -- Desbele Mehari -- Maaza Mengiste -- Deon Meyer -- Bienvenu Sena Mongabe -- Geoffrey Musonda -- Wambui Mwangi -- Dominique Mwankumi -- Eyoum N’gangue -- Cletus Nelson Nwadike -- Monica Arac de Nyenko -- Tolu Ogunlesi -- Ondjaki -- Shailja Patel -- Wumi Raji -- Lesego Rampolokeng -- Irene Sabatini -- Ismail Serageldin -- Steeve Sassene -- Jonathan Shapiro -- Patricia Schonstein -- Veronique Tadjo -- Mpho Tutu -- Ngugi Wa Thiong’o -- Binyavanga Wainaina -- Senayit Worku -- Förlagen: -- TACK
Litteratursökning
No full textInnehåll: Översiktsbibliografier -- Löpande bibliografier -- Litteratur utgiven i Afrika -- Litteratursökning på Internet -- Afrikaspecifika databaser -- Biblioteksdatabaser -- Ämnesdatabaser -- Digitala arkiv och webbportaler -- Att söka tidskriftsartikla
Towards More Informed Responses to Gender Violence and HIV/AIDS in Post-Conflict West African Settings
No full textThe evidence is incontrovertible that Liberia (with its two civil wars, 1989-97 and 2000-03) and Sierra Leone (with its 1991-2001 war) have emerged from two of the most inhuman, ferocious and cruel conflicts in the post-Cold war era. The scale of destruction, rape, mayhem, arson and torture perpetrated during these wars was among the greatest in Africa’s postcolonial history. Women, especially adolescents and young adults, were exposed to extreme sexual brutality at a time when a growing heterosexually-driven HIV pandemic was occurring in the West African sub-region. Both countries also experienced an economic and social collapse that resulted in human development indicators on employment, income, health, education, women’s status and child well-being that are among the lowest in the world. Protracted armed conflicts, as witnessed in Liberia and Sierra Leone and beyond, expose women and girls to unprecedented levels and forms of sexual violence. Moreover, the expectation that the transition from war to peace will lead to significantly reduced sexual violence against women (SVAW) is often disappointed. Instead, post-conflict transitions tend to produce a change in the predominant forms of sexual violence and the profile of its perpetrators. The extended and interlinked conflicts in these neighbouring countries relate at a fundamental level to the persistent denial of citizenship rights to particular population sub-groups over several decades. Within such landscapes of severe social, economic and political marginalization and deprivation, women and girls were bound to suffer more than men and boys during and after the wars as a result of long-established and deeply entrenched patriarchal structures and ideologies in both countries. The persistence of SVAW during post-conflict transitions tends to increase the risk of HIV infection among younger women relative to the phase of armed conflict. A key causal factor is men’s highly exploitative, transactional and cross-generational multiple sexual activities. Thus far, the dominant responses to this complex of issues in post-conflict West Africa have lacked a nuanced understanding of the underlying drivers of sexual violence and its intersections with women’s higher risk of HIV infection.The policy responses to the challenges of post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building in West Africa have generally focused more on traditional security, physical infrastructurere building and economic revitalization issues than on such highly gendered human security concerns as sexual violence and violations of reproductive rights. Left unaddressed, these persisting or worsening human security challenges, affecting at least half their populations, make sustainable peace and development in post-conflict Liberia and Sierra Leone nearly impossible
Building the African Union : An assessment of past progress and future prospects for the African Union’s institutional architecture
No full textCreating a Conducive International Environment for Africa’s Development : China’s role in Global Governance Reform!
No full textThe world is at a critical juncture: there is the opportunity to come together to pursue a common agenda, or it can break into opposing groups based on differences in income, interests, religion or race. Globalisation exacerbates this tension between opportunity and threats. The most keenly felt tension is the sense that globalisation creates greater inequality in an already unequal world. If the world is unequal, then it must be undemocratic as well. As a result, globalisation and democracy come togetheras simultaneous challenges. As far as Africa is concerned, the challenge is how to gain voice in global governance