1,720,958 research outputs found
Staying on the margins: Konkomba mobility and belonging in Northern Ghana, 1914-1996
No full textEnglish: This thesis examines Konkomba mobility and the contestations it generated about their belonging in northern Ghana. It analyses the social and political context within which this mobility occurred and argues that by moving across colonial and ethnic boundaries and further away from centres of power, the Konkomba placed themselves beyond the reach of state authorities. The thesis contends that whereas Konkomba spatial mobility was initially an instrument of resistance against state control, it became a source of marginality and exclusion from political and land rights in the postcolonial period. It further analyses the shifting British colonial policy, arguing that the nature and trajectory of British colonial experiment among the Konkomba were shaped not only by colonial initiatives but also by the Konkomba’s ability to subvert colonial rule through cross-border mobility. On the other hand, colonial policy also influenced the changing pattern and magnitude of Konkomba mobility. The thesis argues that the pattern of Konkomba mobility in the 1930s and 1940s has had a lasting impact not only on Konkomba status but also on the political and demographic history of the region. In addition, the thesis maintains that colonial state formation in northern Ghana produced a highly politicised form of ethnicity by pushing groups to redefine their feelings of belonging and identity in ethnic terms. It also analyses the tensions that emerged between the Konkomba and their host groups in the 1960s and 1970s as well as the differentiated ways in which they negotiated their inclusion in their host communities. Whereas in the 1990s, democratisation opened up political space for equal citizenship, it also excluded the Konkomba from land ownership and political rights. This fuelled tension between the Konkomba and their hosts. The thesis goes beyond explanations for mobility to contribute to debates around ethnic identity, belonging and democratisation in contemporary Africa, suggesting that there is the need to rethink the role of democratisation as a tool for empowering marginalised groups in Africa.Afrikaans: Hierdie tesis ondersoek Konkomba beweeglikheid en die betwisting wat die gegenereer het oor of hulle behoort in noord Ghana. Dit analiseer die sosiale en politieke konteks waarin hierdie beweeglikheid voorgekom het en argumenteer dat deur om oor koloniale en etniese grense en verder weg van die sentrums van mag te beweeg, die Konkomba hulself buite die bereik van staatsowerhede geplaas het. Hierdie tesis voer aan dat terwyl Konkomba se ruimtelike beweeglikheid oorspronklik `n instrument vir verset teen staatsbeheer was, dit `n bron van marginalisering en uitsluiting van politieke en grondregte vir die Konkomba in die post- koloniale periode geraak het. Dit analiseer koloniale beleid en demonstreer dat die Britse koloniale beleid konstant geskuif het van akkommodasie na gewelddadige onderdrukking. Deur hierdie verskuiwings in Britse beleid te onthul argumenteer hierdie tesis dat die aard en trajek van die Britse koloniale eksperiment onder die Konkomba nie net gevorm was deur die amptelike koloniale inisiatiewe nie, maar ook deur die Konkomba se vermoë om koloniale heerskappy ondermyn deur kruis-grens beweeglikheid. Aan die ander kant het koloniale beleid ook die patrone en omvang van Konkomba beweeglikheid beïnvloed. `n Ondersoek van die sensus opnames van noord Ghana wys dat die Konkomba met grootskaalse migrasie na areas suid van hulle tuislande betrokke was. Hierdie patroon en omvang van Konkomba beweeglikheid in die 1930s en 1940s het `n blywende impak op Konkomba-status gehad asook op die politieke en demografiese geskiedenis van hierdie streek. Daarbenewens voer hierdie tesis aan dat koloniale staatsvorming in noord Ghana `n hoogs verpolitiseerde vorm van etnisiteit geskep het en groepe is forseer om hul gevoelens van behoort en identiteit in etnisiteit te herdefinieer. Dit analiseer ook die spanning wat ontstaan het tussen die Konkomba en hulle gaheer-groepe in die 1960 en 1970s en die onderskeidelike wyses hoe die Konkomba hul insluiting in die gasheer-gemeenskappe onderhandel het. Terwyl demokratisering in die 1990s politieke ruimte oop gemaak het for gelyke burgerskap, het dit in dieselfde asem die Konkomba van grondbesit en politieke regte uitgesluit en sodoende die spanning tussen die Konkomba en hul gashere aangevuur. Hierdeur gaan hierdie tesis verder as `n verduideliking van beweeglikheid om by te dra tot die debatte rondom etniese identiteit, behoort, en demokratisering in kontemporêre Afrika en dui op die nood om die rol van demokratisering in die bemagtiging van gemarginaliseerde groepe in Afrika te heroorweeg
Prominent Malawian Machona Progenies in Zimbabwe
Get PDFAs immigrants settle and gradually entrench themselves in foreign spaces, some permeate the socio-economic and political fabric of their host nation and in the process assume unprecedented hegemonic prominence over time. Such has been the case of Malawian Machona (lost ones) descendants in Southern Africa, who as products of the colonial labour migration system, have over the years carved a niche for themselves in their adopted lands. Despite many of them living invisibly on the margins of the state, they have exhibited and showcased their unique ancestral traits and gained prominence across various fields. In Zimbabwe and South Africa, which are territories that immensely benefited from the sweat of colonial regional migrant labour, these immigrants have imprinted their genetic socio-cultural cosmology and left an everlasting influence and legacy across numerous spheres. Therefore, using biographical narratives of people of Malawian ancestry in Southern Africa, this article details how descendants of Malawian labour migrants in the region have become visible and left an indelible mark on the southern African geo-political landscape. The article anchors itself within the concept of visibility and invisibility, to showcase how migrants become prominent or visible in situations where formal bureaucracies and even historiographies tend to conceal, invisibilize or underrepresent such minorities. In the context of Malawian progenies, this prominence or visibility emerges out of an inherent assertiveness that has been historically informed by numerous socio-cultural circumstances in the diaspora
Migrant Chewa Identities and their Construction through Gule Wamkulu/Nyau Dances in Zimbabwe
No full textThis paper focuses in the construction of the Chewa identity in Zimbabwe through the use of Gule Wamkulu or ‘nyau’ dances. The Chewa are an immigrant ethnic group from Malawi and are a matrilineal entity who distinctly use the Gule Wamkulu (‘big or great dance’) institution to initiate their members into an exalted status of adulthood as well as for entertainment or leisure purposes. The paper is anchored in the assertion that identities are either real, constructed or imagined from a plethora of variables. Thus, it basically argues that these dances are rich traditions that have gone a long way in the construction, reconstruction or imagination of the Chewa identity and in carving a niche for the migrants on the Zimbabwean landscape since the pre-colonial times to the present. The dances have acted as a distinct variable in identity articulation against other popular concepts like race, class, religion, linguistic as well as ethnic characteristics and stereotypes. In other words, the rites have over the years been the most conspicuous identity marker upon which the Chewa identity has been reconstructed or imagined. Despite such vitality and uniqueness, people in general; have tended to misrepresent these dances, which together with their xenophobic tendencies has in the process greatly distorted the image of the traditions and ultimately misconstrued and prejudiced the identity of Chewa people. Therefore, this paper attempts to uncover the dynamics involved in Gule Wamkulu traditions as well as show their role in the construction or imagination of the Chewa identity both amongst the Chewa themselves and the autochthonous groups in Zimbabwe
Settling in motion: Nyasa clandestine migration through Southern Rhodesia into the Union of South Africa: 1920s-1950s
No full textIllegal African migration into South Africa is not uniquely a post-apartheid phenomenon. It has its antecedents in the colonial/apartheid period. The South Africa colonial economy relied heavily on cheap African labour from both within and outside the Union. Most foreign migrant labourers came from the then Nyasaland (Malawi) and Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) through official channels of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA). WNLA was active throughout Southern Africa and competed for the same labour resources with other regional supranational "native" labour recruitment agencies, providing various incentives to lure and transport potential employees to its bustling South African gold and diamond mining industry. However, not all migrant labourers found their way through formal WNLA channels. Using archival material from repositories in Harare (Zimbabwe), Zomba (Malawi), Grahamstown (South Africa), London, and Oxford (UK), the paper casts light on illicit migration mainly by Malawian labourers (Nyasas) through Southern Rhodesia into South Africa between the 1920s and 1950s. It argues that many transient Nyasas subverted the inhibitive WNLA contractual obligations by clandestinely migrating independently into the Union. They also exploited the labour recruitment infrastructure used by the state and labour bureaus to swiftly move across Southern Rhodesia. In essence, Nyasas settled in motion, using Southern Rhodesia as a stepping-stone or springboard en-route to the more lucrative Union of South Africa. An appreciation of such informal migration opens up space for creating a more comprehensive historiography of labour migration in Southern Africa. Likewise, illicit migration is not confined to the contemporary African diaspora, but early diasporas as well. Consequently, this narrative acts as a background for understanding the precursors of the rampant illegal African migration into post-apartheid South Africa
Peasants, ecology and the state: food security in the Lake Chilwa Basin of Southern Malawi, 1891 - 1994
No full textThesis(Ph.D.(Africa Studies))--University of the Free State, 2018This study explores the history of peasants’ experiences in relation to state interventions into Malawi’s rural food economy from 1891 to 1994. Using the case of the Lake Chilwa basin of southern Malawi, it investigates the extent to which peasants maintained food security in the face of political, economic and ecological changes during the period of study. Despite its political and economic power, the study contends, the state was not always all-powerful or monolithic in executing its food security interventions in the country. Nor did the peasants constantly express their agency in isolation from the state. Instead, the state-peasants relations were complex, dynamic and contested. Furthermore, while colonialism disrupted African economies, its impact on peasants’ food security varied with place, time, gender and class, such that in some respects, it created an environment conducive for the maintenance of food security among the peasants. The study argues further that relations between the state and the peasants over matters of food did not occur in isolation from global changes. Nor were the relations simply ‘acted upon’ by international forces. While ecological changes and periodic droughts were critical for peasants’ food security, their impacts in the Chilwa basin were accentuated largely by the political, economic and social circumstances of the times. This thesis, therefore, contributes to the burgeoning literature on food security, agriculture and ecology. This literature predominantly placed peasants’ everyday experiences of food production and consumption at the forefront in the face of droughts, hunger and famine, but paid little attention to the interventions made by the state to complement or degrade pre-existing food security practices in rural Malawi.
___________________________________________________________________Hierdie studie ondersoek die geskiedenis van kleinboere se ervarings met betrekking tot staatsintervensies in die landelike voedsel ekonomie in Malawi vanaf 1891 tot 1994. Deur gebruik te maak van die geval van Chilwa-meer in die suide van Malawi, ondersoek dit die mate waartoe kleinboere in landelike Malawi voedselsekuriteit onderhou het te midde van politieke, ekonomiese en ekologiese veranderinge gedurende die tydperk van die studie. Die vernaamste bewering van hierdie proefskrif is dat die staat, ondanks sy politieke en ekonomiese mag, nie almagtig of monolities was in die uitvoering van sy voedselbeveiligingsintervensies in die land nie. Die kleinboere het ook nie hul agentskap in isolasie van die staat beoefen nie. Inteendeel was staat en kleinboer verhoudings dinamies en betwis. Terwyl kolonialisme die Afrika-ekonomieë ontwrig het, het die impak daarvan op boere se voedselsekuriteit gewissel van plek, tyd, gender en klas, en dit het in sommige opsigte 'n omgewing geskep wat voedselveiligheid onder kleinboere bervorder het. Dit dui verder daarop dat die verhoudings tussen die staat en die kleinboere rondom voedsel nie geïsoleerd van globale veranderinge plaasgevind het nie en interne rolspelers het ook nie slegs net daarop ‘gereageer’ nie. Terwyl ekologiese veranderinge en periodieke droogtes krities was vir kleinboere se voedselsekuriteit, is hulle impak in die Chilwa-meer grootliks beklemtoon deur die politiese, ekonomiese en sosiale omstandighede van die tyd. Deur hierdie argument te maak, dra die tesis by tot die ontluikende literatuur oor voedselsekuriteit, landbou en ekologie. Hierdie literatuur het kleinboere se alledaagse ervarings van voedselproduksie en verbruik te midde van droogtes, honger en hongersnood op die voorgrond geplaas, maar het min aandag gegee aan die intervensies wat deur die staat gemaak is om voorafbestaande praktyke van voedselsekuriteit in landelike Malawi te ondersteun of te komplimenteer.
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‘Mabhurandaya’: the Malawian diaspora in Zimbabwe: 1895 to 2008
No full textEnglish: This thesis historicizes the connections between identity, marginality and agency amongst an African diasporic community in Zimbabwe. It uses the case of people of Malawian ancestry or Mabhurandaya as a window into examining how their experiences in Zimbabwe, from the 1890s until the inception of the Government of National Unity in 2008, were shaped by various dynamics. More specifically, it situates and historicizes the place of identity in the marginalization of the Malawian diaspora in Zimbabwe and their counter-initiatives in managing and adapting to challenges. Having come into Zimbabwe initially as migrants under the colonial labour migration (Chibaro/Mthandizi) system before gradually settling down permanently as part of a diasporic minority, some Malawian descendants carved a niche for themselves in what became their permanent ‘home’. Malawian identities emerged and were constructed, imagined, as well as contested in various spaces across Zimbabwe. Fluid and multiple identities were fashioned or negotiated based on foreign ancestry, migration experiences, ethnicity, gender, class, education and unique socio-cultural motifs. Officially dubbed ‘native aliens’ by the Rhodesian state and later simply as ‘aliens’ by the post-colonial state, or more commonly as Mabhurandaya by the Zimbabwean indigenes, Malawian communities became an integral component of Zimbabwean social, economic and political history. Nonetheless, the colonial and post-colonial state historically marginalised migrant descendants with diasporas living as minorities in states of unbelonging. At the same time, the Malawian diaspora exerted individual and collective agency to cope and adapt to the several challenges and anxieties they faced in Zimbabwe. They made their own history, and found ways to assert and express themselves. Their experiences were not homogenous but were multi-layered, varying according to gender, age, education, occupation and settlement. They were also multi-dimensional and often cyclical in nature, manifesting themselves in intricate life cycles of marginality and agency over time. The thesis provides a critical and historical analysis of the above dynamics, which is empirically grounded in specific case studies across Zimbabwe.Afrikaans: Hierdie tesis problematiseer en historiseer die verbande tussen identiteit, marginaliteit en bemiddeling in ’n diasporiese Afrika-gemeenskap in Zimbabwe. Dit fokus op mense van Malawiese afkoms, of Mabhurandaya, en stel ondersoek in na die wyse waarop hulle ervarings in Zimbabwe, van die 1890’s tot die instelling van die Regering van Nasionale Eenheid in 2008, vorm gegee is deur verskillende dinamikas. Meer spesifiek situeer en historiseer dit die plek van identiteit in die marginalisering van die Malawiese diasporiese gemeenskap in Zimbabwe en hulle teen-inisiatiewe om uitdagings te bestuur en daarby aan te pas. Nadat hierdie mense Zimbabwe oorspronklik binnegekom het as migrante onder die koloniale arbeidsmigrasiebedeling (Chibaro/Mthandizi-stelsel), het hulle geleidelik permanent gevestig geraak as deel van ’n diasporiese minderheid. Sommige Malawiese afstammelinge het mettertyd ’n nis gevind in wat hulle permanente tuiste sou word. Malawiese identiteite het te voorskyn gekom en is gekonstrueer, verbeel en betwis in verskeie ruimtes en plekke regoor Zimbabwe. Vloeibare en veelvuldige identiteite is gevorm of beding op grond van buitelandse afkoms, migrasie-ervarings, etnisiteit, geslag, klas, onderwyspeil en unieke sosiokulturele motiewe. Malawiërs is amptelik as ‘inheemse vreemdelinge’ deur die Rhodesiese staat geïdentifiseer en later bloot as ‘vreemdelinge’ deur die postkoloniale staat. Onder inheemse Zimbabwiërs was hulle bekend as Mabhurandaya. Hierdie gemeenskappe het ’n integrale komponent van die Zimbabwiese sosiale, ekonomiese en politieke geskiedenis geword. Nieteenstaande die bogenoemde het die koloniale en postkoloniale staat migrante-afstammelinge, wat as geïsoleerde minderhede bestaan het, histories gemarginaliseer. Terselfdertyd het die Malawiese diasporiese gemeenskap individuele en kollektiewe bemiddeling aangewend om die veelvuldige uitdagings waarmee hulle in Zimbabwe gekonfronteer is, te bowe te kom. Hulle het hul eie geskiedenis gemaak en maniere gevind om hul menslikheid te handhaaf en uitdrukking daaraan te gee. Hulle ervarings was nie eenvormig van aard nie maar veelvlakkig, en is beïnvloed deur geslag, ouderdom, onderwyspeil, beroep en nedersetting. Dit was ook multidimensioneel en dikwels siklies van aard, en het gemanifesteer in ingewikkelde lewensiklusse van marginaliteit en bemiddeling oor tyd heen. Die tesis bied ’n kritiese en historiese ontleding van die bogenoemde dinamika en is empiries gefundeer in spesifieke gevallestudies regoor Zimbabwe
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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