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Micro-regionalism in West Africa : evidence from two case studies
No full textThis collection seeks to complement and advance recent studies on regionalism in Africa and the implications that this has for the continent’s development. The two case studies on cross-border micro-regionalism in the borderlands of Mali-Burkina Faso and Niger-Nigeria are part of the work of the West Africa Borders and Integration (WABI). WABI is a research institute that looks at cross-border developments in West Africa, particularly at the convergence between political will and regionalisation on the ground. Providing a challenge to the considerable number of state-centric, formalistic and not seldom overly idealistic studies in this field, the two cases show quite clearly that formal borders either essentially do not exist in the Westphalian sense, being ignored by local populations and traders, or, are strategically used by (often self-styled) representatives of the state to extract resources and rents. In either case, the Eurocentric notion of fixed boundaries and bordered delineations has little purchase in the West African Sahel.CONTENTS -- Introduction: Fredrik Söderbaum and Ian Taylor -- Thinking about Micro-Regionalism in West Africa -- Chapter 1: Marie TrémolièresRegionalisms in the Sahel:The Mopti-Ouahigouya Cross-Border Area -- Chapter 2: Mohamadou Abdoul and Marie Trémolières -- Cross-Border Cooperation between Niger and Nigeria: The Case of the Maradi Micro-Regio
Mano river basin area : formal and informal security providers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone
No full textDiamanter är för evigt - men Sierra Leonsk ungdom är utbytbar
No full textKommentarer på filmen Blood diamond
Effects of Rules of Origin on the European Union - Africa Economic Partnership Agreements : summary of issues
No full textRules of Origin (ROO) determine the economic nationality of an imported product. Where margins of trade preferences are higher, ROO tend to be very restrictive and even sometimes dilutes the benefits of such preferences. As the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations enter a critical phase, the devil of the agreement will be in the detail of the impending EPAs ROO. According to the original mandate, EPA is supposed to be concluded by December 2007 and should be development friendly. Yet, the recent EC ROO offer to the ACP countries (Commission Staff Working Document Concerning the Definition of “Originating Products and Methods of Administrative Cooperation”) are seen by commentators as completely undermining the development dimension of EPA. Bearing in mind the current EPA negotiations, Roberto Rios explains how ROO impact the pattern of trade between countries and how they can be development friendly
On Africa : scholars and African studies
No full textThis volume is based on contributions to a seminar which was organised in honour of the Institute’s retiring Director Lennart Wohlgemuth in December 2005. African scholars presented their views on “The Role of Africa in ‘African Studies’”, while Nordic scholars and policy makers responded. The deliberations offer a spectre of relevant approaches on both academic as well as policy oriented research and advisory work in and on Africa.The contributions aim at bridging the gap between academics and practitioners. They share a common commitment to African affairs and seek to support and promote these in the international context. Contributors include:Olu Ajakaiye and William Lyakurwa, the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)Adebayo Olukoshi, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)Göran Hydén, University of FloridaArne Tostensen, Chr. Michelsen Institute in BergenCONTENTS -- African Scholars and African Studies – Adebayo Olukoshi -- African Scholars and African Studies. A Commentary on Olukoshi – Arne Tostensen -- Policy Advice and African Studies – William Lyakurwa and Olu Ajakaiy -- Challenging the Mainstream in Research and Policy – Göran Hydén -- Further Comments – Kari Karanko and Klaus Winke
Mapping Darfur
No full textThe Darfur Peace Agreement was signed on 5 May 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria. It has not brought safety to the people of Darfur. The humanitarian crisis continues to be deeply worrying despite aspirations to achieve improved conditions for the suffering population of Darfur. The report Mapping Darfur is published one year after the peace agreement was signed. It is based on a series of seminars during February and March 2007 organised by the Nordic Africa Institute, the Life and Peace Institute and ABF Stockholm. The key intention was to increase knowledge and good understanding of the underlying causes of the crisis in Darfur through contributions from different actors and observers, such as academia, politicians and humanitarian aid workers
Votes, money and violence : political parties and elections in Sub-Saharan Africa
No full textFollowing the (re-)introduction of multiparty systems in Africa in the early 1990s, third and fourth elections in Africa's new democracies and hybrid regimes are now being seen. Although there is a large and growing literature on democracy and elections in Africa, parties and party systems have hitherto not been the focus of research, which may be surprising given their central role in a liberal democracy. The early works from the 1960s and 1970s provide neither a sound conceptual nor empirical basis. Research on political parties and party systems in Africa is still in its infancy. Various contributions in this volume address the theoretical and conceptual challenges provided by the African parties and party systems with their particular features of weak organisation, informal relationships dominated by 'big men' and clientelism within a neopatrimonial setting. Others raise the crucial question of representation in relation to ethnicity, civil society and gender, or look into the empirical relationship between party systems and democracy. Further chapters ask questions about the appropriate electoral system for the multiethnic context in Africa and deal with the problem of electoral system reform. Finally, there are chapters which focus on the neglected area of electoral violence, and the moral role of money and vote buying is scrutinized through a case study. An important conclusion is that party research in Africa needs more conceptual clarity as well as empirical research particularly on party organisation, voting behaviour, and the role of ethnicity.Most of the contributions to this volume are based on early versions of the papers presented at the Thematic Conference of the Africa–Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (AEGIS) ‘How People Elect Their leaders. Parties, Party Systems and Elections in Africa South of the Sahara’ 22–23 May 2003, Hamburg.CONTENTS: Introduction: Research on Electoral Systems, Parties and Party Systems in Africa / Gero Erdmann, Matthias Basedau and Andreas Mehler -- Political Parties, Elections and Patronage: Random Thoughts on Neo-Patrimonialism and African Democratization / E. Gyimah-Boadi -- Party Research: western European Bias and the ‘African labyrinth’ / Gero Erdmann -- Political Parties in Africa: Different, Functional and Dynamic? Reflections on Gero Erdmann’s ‘Party Research: western European Bias and the “African labyrinth’” / Peter Burnell -- Political Parties in Africa and the Representation of Social Groups / Vicky Randall -- Do Party Systems Matter for Democracy? A Comparative Study of 28 Sub-Saharan Countries / Matthias Basedau -- Paths of Electoral Reform in Africa / Christof Hartmann -- Electoral Systems, Party Systems and Ethnicity in Africa / Matthijs Bogaards -- Political Parties and Violence in Africa: Systematic Reflections against Empirical Background / Andreas Mehler -- Insights into Electoral Violence in Africa / Liisa Laakso -- Banknotes and Symbolic Capital: Ghana’s Elections Under the Fourth Republic / Paul Nugent -- Conclusion: The Research Agenda Ahead / Gero Erdmann, Matthias Basedau and Andreas Mehler</p
Conflict as integration : youth aspiration to personhood in the teleology of Sierra Leone's 'senseless war'
No full textThe rebel war in Sierra Leone has been given various characterisations. One of the most commonplace of them brands it a ‘senseless war’. In this study the author examines the views of the Sierra Leoneans themselves on this notion, and through a sociological lens he explores the “youthscape“ of the war. The study also revisits some of the central works on the Sierra Leonean war by authors such as Paul Richards, Ibrahim Adbdullah and Yusuf Bangura.CONTENTS -- What Are the Foundations of a ‘Senseless War’ Phenomenon? -- Ever-Integrating Youth: An Amorphous and Elastic Arsenal -- The Pre-War in the Post-War -- Theoretical versus Practical Revolutionaries -- The Logic of Violence -- Conclusion</p
Rebels and robbers : violence in post-colonial Angola
No full textRebels 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.CONTENTS -- Background: legacies of diversity, wealth, and colonialism -- Violence and fractured nationalism -- External interventions and internal violence -- UNITA's insurgency: mutations and self-mutilations -- The problematic post-colonial state -- War termination as survival strategy -- Post-conflict challenges: identity and governance -- Toward a citizen-friendly state -- External dimensions of positive peac
Perspectives on Côte d'Ivoire : between political breakdown and post-conflict peace
No full textThe three articles in this Discussion Paper explore different perspectives to the complex causes of the civil war that broke out in Côte d’Ivoire in September 2002. They are written against the background of the signing of yet another peace agreement between the Ivorian government and the former rebel New Forces (NF) in March 2007. This volume also provides a context where the prospects for post-conflict peace, national reconciliation and democracy in Côte d’Ivoire could be critically analysed.CONTENTS.-- Introduction. Cyril I. Obi -- The Political Implications of Economic Adjustment Crisis, Reform and Political Breakdown in Côte d’Ivoire. Guro Almås -- New War – Old Peace: About the Descent into Civil War in Côte d’Ivoire and Its Absence in Ghana. Volker Riehl -- Reconfiguring Nationhood in Côte d’Ivoire? Henri-Michel Yér