The Nordic Africa Institute
Not a member yet
1081 research outputs found
Sort by
Aid and poverty reduction in Zambia : mission unaccomplished
No full textZambia, a once prosperous African country, now has 73 percent of its people below the poverty line and by the early 1990s, the country had reached a level where the UN General Assembly included it on the list of the least developed countries. With crippling indebtedness amidst poor economic performance, Zambia is at present one of the world's most heavily indebted low-income countries. And poverty continues to take its toll with the province housing the capital city registering the highest increase in poverty over the 1996 to 1998 period. This means that, although rural areas have the highest poverty levels, Zambia's urban centres are fast catching up. With help from donors, poverty reduction is at the centre stage on the Zambia development agenda after almost two decades of externally prescribed experiments with adjustment and stabilisation as a panacea for welfare improvement. But despite significant aid volumes and structural reforms, the country is getting deeper and deeper into poverty. What is the missing link between aid and positive change? Is the problem mainly that the volume of aid is not sufficient and, as is often heard, more of it would make a difference? Is the sluggish social and economic progress in Zambia appropriately diagnosed and correct remedies and strategies prescribed? This book attempts to address these and related questions.CONTENTS -- The Face of Poverty in Zambia -- Policy Response to Poverty -- Aid Flow to Zambia -- Effectiveness of European-funded Projects -- Household Poverty and Aid -- Household Poverty and Aid Low Income Settlements of Lusaka -- Poverty Reduction through Decentralisation -- Aid and Poverty Reduction The Way Forwar
Ethnicity, state power and the democratisation process in Uganda
No full textOne of the post-independence political concerns in Uganda today is that ethnicity has been detrimental to national unity, democracy and development. There is no doubt that the conflicts in Uganda have all had ethnicity as one of the driving factors. The central problem has been the politisation of ethnicity, that is, its use for purposes of group mobilisation in social conflicts that also involve the state. However, ethnicity cannot be taken as a given. The problem is not of ethnicity in itself. Ethnicity is more intimately linked to political and economic conditions such as the unequal distribution of and competition for power and wealth. This paper critically review the impact of ethnicity on the democratisation process in Uganda from colonialism to the present. The paper is divided into four parts. Part one is a theoretical overview of the issues of ethnicity and democratisation. Part two examines the nature of ethnicity construction and expression in the colonial period. Part three looks at the post-colonial political practices and their enhancement of ethnicity in Uganda. Part four discusses the possibility of deconstruction of ethnicity through democratisation and the 'no-party movement'-system. In conclusion, the contention is that there is a need to understand the substantive underlying political, economic and social configurations that enhance ethnicity rather than denouncing them.CONTENTS -- Ethnicity and Democratisation: A Theoretical Overview -- Explaining ethnicity -- Democratisation -- Ethnicity Construction in Uganda: Historical Perspectives -- Colonial intervention and the making of ethnicity -- Post-colonial practices and the reproduction of ethnicity -- The assumption of the nation-state project and ethnicity -- Ethnicity, Militarism and the Rise of an Ethnically Organised State -- Bureaucratic reforms and enhancement of ethnicity -- Militarism and enhancement of ethnicity in the 1960s -- The period of military dictatorship, 1971-79 -- 1980 elections, ethnicity militarism and civil war, 1981-85 -- NRM Politics, Constitutionalism and the Consolidation of Power -- Constituency Assembly (CA) elections, debates and suppression of the opposition -- "No-party" democracy, ethnicity and regionalism -- Civil war, militarism and enhancement of ethnicity -- The International Community and the Democratisation Process in Ugand
Social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa
No full textIn recent decades there has been an increasing attempt by Muslim intellectuals to reflect on the provision of social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa. One reason for this is the few, if not non-existent, possibilities of the states to provide for the basic needs of their subjects, a situation that has become painfully evident in most African states not only the Muslim ones. However, public as well as private provision of social welfare is not a new phenomenon in the Muslim world. Whereas government and public involvement in the provision of social welfare has been haphazard, despite various attempts at direct state involvement especially in the post-colonial world, private and what might be labelled semi-official activities, such as the establishment of pious foundations and the activities of the Sufi orders, have a solid foundation in local Muslim societies in Africa. This book attempts to emphasise the variety of both agents and ways to provide social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa. In addition, social welfare, as such, is both reflected upon and debated by Muslim intellectuals. The aim of this book has therefore been to capture both the theoretical as well as the actual dimension of social welfare.CONTENTS -- Zakat and the Question of Social Welfare: Islamic economics and its implications for social welfare/Holger Weiss -- Is there Room for Non-Muslims in the Sudan's Islamic economy?/Endre Stiansen -- Sidi Fredj: A Case Study of a religious Endowment in Morocco under the French Protectorate/Franz Kogelmann -- Sufism and social welfare in the Sahara/Knut S. Vikør -- Sufi leaders and social welfare: Two examples from contemporary Sudan/Rüdiger Seesemann -- Je veux étudier sans mendier: The campaign against the Quranic Schools in Senegal/Roman Loimeier -- A Survey of Islamic Non-governmental Organisations in Accra/Sulemana Mumuni -- The Concept of Islamic Economy as Articulated in Sokoto: Social Justice and State Responsibility/Holger Weis
News from the Nordic Africa Institute : No. 1, January 2002
No full textContents: To Our Readers / Lennart Wohlgemuth -- Commentaries: Development Research: Can it be good research? / Johan Helland -- Chad — from Civil Strife and Electoral Fraud to Petro-Dictatorship? / Hans Eriksson -- Research: Nordic–African Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention and AIDS Care / Liv Haram -- Guest Researchers Autumn 2001 -- Interview: Interview with Joseph Ki-Zerbo -- Scholarships -- Publishing -- Vacancy Announcement -- Other activities: Conferences and Meetings -- The Institute’s Publications at Book Fairs -- Poem / Tope Omoniyi</p
Language, democracy and education in Africa
No full textThis publication comprises two papers, both written during January and February 2002 when the author was a guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI). In the first paper, "The Language Question in Africa seen in the Context of Globalisation, Social Justice and Democracy", the language question is looked at through the eyes of a social and political scientist. The choice of an official language in Africa is viewed as a question of social class, of power. What social classes profit from the continued use of European languages in Africa? Who benefits? Who loses? The focus here is not only on language use in education but also on language use in the courts and in the political domain, especially in South Africa. Examples are mostly drawn from South Africa and Tanzania, where the author is conducting two research projects in the area of language and education. The second paper, "The Battle over the Language of Instruction in Tanzania", describes two further research projects in which the author is currently involved. In this paper, the author focuses on the question of the language of instruction through the eyes of an educationist. The paper builds on recent research conducted in Tanzania by the author and her Tanzanian Master's degree students.CONTENTS -- The Language Question in Africa seen in the Context of Globalisation, Social Justice and Democracy -- Globalisation -- In search of social justice – the language policy of South Africa -- The language of the courts -- Redistribution of power between social classes -- Democracy and multipartyism -- Elimu ya Siasa in Tanzanian secondary schools: The change from civics to siasa -- Change from Elimu ya Siasa back to civics in 1992 -- The Battle over the Language of Instruction in Tanzania -- A research project is born -- Field trips to Tanzania in 2001 -- A historical glance at language policies -- Description and analysis of current language policies -- What has happened to the Sera ya Utamaduni language policy of 1997? -- The forces working for and against change -- How teachers cope in secondary school classrooms in Tanzani
Playing with identities in contemporary music in Africa
No full textThe musics of Africa play a particularly important role in expressing and forming identities. This book brings together African and Nordic scholars from both musicology and other disciplines in an attempt to analyse various aspects of the complex playing with volatile identities in music in Africa today. Taken together the papers put new light on the assumed or real dichotomies between countryside and city, collective and individual, tradition and modernity, authentic and alien. The papers are based on contributions for a conference organised by the research project "Cultural Images in and of Africa" of the Nordic Africa Institute together with the Sibelius Museum/Department of Musicology and the Centre for Continuing Education at Åbo Akademi University in Åbo (Turku), Finland in Oct. 2000. The book includes a keynote speech by Christopher Waterman (UCLA), and an introduction by Annemette Kirkegaard, Copenhagen University. Both Southern, West and East Africa are represented in the studies, which cover a great variety of musics.Contents: Foreword -- Introduction / Annemette Kirkegaard -- Big Man, Black President, Masked One : Models of the Celebrity Self in Yoruba Popular Music in Nigeria / Christopher Waterman -- "Modern Traditional" Music from Zimbabwe : Virginia Mukwesha’s Mbira Record "Matare" / Johannes Brusila -- "Tranzania" – A Cross-Over from Norwegian Techno to Tanzanian Taarab / Annemette Kirkegaard -- The Generational Factor in Ghanaian Music Concert Parties, Highlife, Simpa, Kpanlogo, Gospel and Local Techno-Pop / John Collins -- "The Air of the City Makes Free" : Urban Music from the 1950s to the 1990s in Senegal – Variété, Jazz, Mbalax, Rap / Ndiouga Adrien Benga -- Playing It "Loud and Straight" : Reggae, Zouglou, Mapouka and Youth Insubordination in Côte d'Ivoire / Simon Akindes -- Sounds of the "Third Way" : Zulu Maskanda, South African Popular Traditional Music / David B. Coplan -- Expressing Cape Verde : Morna, Funaná and National Identity / Mai Palmberg -- Gender, Ethnicity and Politics in Kadongo-Kamu Music of Uganda : Analysing the Song Kayanda / Sylvia Nannyonga-Tamusuza -- From Mutant Voices to Rhythms of Resistance : Music and Minority Identity among the Idoma and Ogoni in Contemporary Nigeria / Jenks Z. Okwori -- Multipartyism, Rivalry and Taarab in Dar es Salaam / Siri LangeCultural Images in and of Afric
Eroding local capacity : international humanitarian action in Africa
No full textEroding Local Capacity is a critical examination of the interplay between international and local actors operating in the humanitarian arena in Africa. All sides emphasise the need to build local capacity for humanitarian action, yet the results have not been substantial. Even long-term, semi-permanent emergencies have generated little local capacity to assist and protect the victims of violence, displacement and related deprivations. In some cases, whatever local capacity did exist has been overwhelmed by the international aid presence. Why is this so? What is the case for a more even division of labour between North and South in this area, and why is it so difficult to bring about? The book focuses on cases from East Africa and the Horn. It considers institutional capacity in the public and private sector, as well as legal and social norms of humanitarian action. The authors are African and Nordic scholars who worked together on the NORAD-supported project over a 3-year period. Preliminary conclusions were discussed at seminars organized by the Centre for Foreign Relations (Dar es Salaam), the School of Government at the University of the Western Cape (Cape Town), and the Chr. Michelsen Institute (Bergen).Contents: 1. Introduction / Monica Kathina Juma and Astri Suhrke -- I. CONSTRUCTING A FRAMEWORK FOR INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ACTION -- 2. From Relief to Social Services: An International Humanitarian Regime Takes Form / Astri Suhrke -- 3. International Humanitarian Law in the African Context / Mutoy Mubiala -- 4. Regional Co-operation for Humanitarian Action: The Potential of the EAC / Bonaventure Rutinwa -- II. ERODING LOCAL CAPACITY -- 5. The Marginalisation of Local Relief Capacity in Tanzania / Bonaventure Rutinwa -- 6. Strengthening Local Relief Capacity in Kenya: Challenges and Prospects /Peter Mwangi Kagwanja -- 7. Revitalising Relief Capacity as Part of the General Reconstruction Programme in Uganda / Bertha Kadenyi Amisi and Monica Kathina Juma -- 8. Humanitarianism and Spoils Politics in Somalia / Joakim Gundel -- III CONCLUSIONS -- 9. The Political Economy of Building Local Capacity / Monica Kathina Juma</p
Transition in Southern Africa : comparative aspects : two lectures
No full textThe 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.Contents: From Apartheid to Democracy in Namibia and South Africa: Some Comparisons / Christopher Saunders -- Liberation and Democracy in Southern Africa: The Case of Namibia / Henning Melber</p
Regionalism and regional integration in Africa : a debate of current aspects and issues
No full textA Consultative Workshop on "Regional Integration in Africa" was organised by and at the Nordic Africa Institute on March 8 and 9, 2001. The contributions compiled in this volume were related to this policy oriented but academic endeavour. They identify and review current issues of regionalism and regional integration within the era of globalisation in the African context. Their approaches present different theoretical and regional perspectives which provide new insights, challenge existing concepts and perceptions and contribute to an enriched debate
The changing forms of identity politics in Nigeria under economic adjustment : the case of the oil minorities movement of the Niger Delta
No full textThis study attempts to capture the transformations in ethnic minority identity politics in the oil-producing areas of the Niger delta. In doing this, attention is simultaneously drawn to the factors informing the shift from peaceful agitation to violent protest as well as the dynamic of decay and renewal in the various ethnic minority movements that are active in the delta. It is suggested that part of the solution to the crisis in the delta will involve not only a thorough-going restructuring of the Nigerian state but also the re-orientation of the mode of operation of the giant oil multinationals in order to make them both more sensitive and accountable to the local communities.CONTENTS -- Contending Perspectives on Oil Minorities -- Ethnicity, Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Minorities in the Niger Delta: Some Conceptual Issues.-- Oil Minorities Identity Politics: A Historical Perspective -- From Independence to the Outbreak of the Civil War -- The Nigerian Civil War and the Aftermath: The Changing Fortunes of the Oil Minorities of the Niger Delta -- Economic Crisis, Structural Adjustment and the Changing Forms of Identity Politics of the Oil Minorities of the Niger Delta -- Structural Adjustment Programme in Nigeria: Theoretical Foundations -- The Impact of Structural Adjustment on Nigeria -- Ethnic Identity Politics under Structural Adjustment -- The Changing Global and Domestic Environment -- Oil Minorities Movements of the Niger Delta: Patterns of Continuity and Transformation -- New Trends, New Contradictions in the Delta: Identity as National LiberationThe Globalisation of Local Struggles in the Niger Delta (1991-1999)Decay and Renewal in the Oil Minorities Movements of the Niger DeltaTrajectories of Ethnic Minority Politics in the Niger Delta: Implications for the Nation-State Project in NigeriaConcluding Remarks: Niger Delta Oil Minorities Movement and the Future of Nigeri