full book landing page (including bibliography): https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/component/edocman/sixty-years-after-independence-africa-and-international-law-views-from-a-generation-soixante-ans-apres... Show morefull book landing page (including bibliography): https://www.pulp.up.ac.za/component/edocman/sixty-years-after-independence-africa-and-international-law-views-from-a-generation-soixante-ans-apres-les-independances-l-afrique-et-le-droit-international-regards-d-une-generation Show less
This chapter examines specifics of African contexts relevant for teaching in multilingual and multicultural environments. It starts with basics, pointing to a toxic cocktail of ideas that may have... Show moreThis chapter examines specifics of African contexts relevant for teaching in multilingual and multicultural environments. It starts with basics, pointing to a toxic cocktail of ideas that may have value in the North, but is counterproductive in Africa. Thus, it examines ideas of ‘language’ as applied to Africa proposing to distinguish between discerned and designed languages. If participation in education increases a tran-sition to using a limited number of designed languages as medium of instruction will become necessary and possible. This will overcome the current diglossic situation dominated by former colonial languages. On culture, the chapter proposes a non-essentialist definition. Recent research shows that the old ‘tribal’ categories have lost their meaning in many (though not all) parts of Africa. An appreciation is needed of the new cultural traditions that are emerging on the continent. Understanding Africa’s specificity will lead to a new research agenda and to new ideas on what teaching and learning in Africa’s multilingual and multicultural environments mean. Show less
This essay departs from my search to understand how (new/digital) media interact with society and vice versa, especially in relation to political communication and political change. These ‘effects’... Show moreThis essay departs from my search to understand how (new/digital) media interact with society and vice versa, especially in relation to political communication and political change. These ‘effects’ of changing media technology, however, not only touch the societies that we try to understand but also our own practice of ‘doing’ research. Especially in area studies, the ethnographic method, the relations with the field, with people is at the center of ‘knowing’. Hence changes in these relationships, such as caused by (digital/new) Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), will also influence the ‘data’ gathering, the insights, in short, the knowledge production processes and outcomes. In this essay I compare my own presence as a researcher in the Sahel in the 1990s and now, and I reinterpret this presence in relation to the changing communication ecology in the Sahel. My lens to analyze this is the concept of mediatization and mediation. It offers an interpretation of the changing relations in the field that has expanded with the use of digital media. Hence, I try to understand changes in knowledge ‘construction’ in ethnographic practice in the digital age. Show less
The discussion on decolonising the mind and turning to African indigenous knowledge tends to construct a contradiction between the ‘colonial’ (bad) and the ‘decolonial’ (good), as well as between... Show moreThe discussion on decolonising the mind and turning to African indigenous knowledge tends to construct a contradiction between the ‘colonial’ (bad) and the ‘decolonial’ (good), as well as between the ‘foreign’ (bad) and the ‘indigenous’ (good). However, independent African thinkers have never shied away from taking in elements from abroad into their thinking and have always tried to marry the best elements of indigenous and foreign insights. One therefore wonders if the discussion should not be framed differently: as an examination of which ideas can be seen as empowering, in terms of increasing African agency, and which ideas instead can be seen as disempowering, or inhibiting African agency. This chapter discusses a number of such ideas in two key related areas, the areas of culture and language. In the area of culture, it argues in favour of a view of cultures as value systems that serve as common points of reference to a people. It argues that with such a view and the methods of cross-cultural psychology it is possible in principle to chart new developments in the area of culture in Africa and to devise new policies taking those developments into account. In the area of language, the chapter attacks the idea that all 2,000 living languages counted in Africa need to be treated in the same way. It shows that this idea paralyzes the debate and proposes instead a distinction between ‘discerned’ and ‘designed’ languages. It proposes five principles that would enable increased use of a limited number of African languages in more and more domains. Show less
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Christianity was predominantly a white Euro-American religion with 83 percent of all Christians living in the Global North. Today, it is a global religion... Show moreAt the beginning of the twentieth century, Christianity was predominantly a white Euro-American religion with 83 percent of all Christians living in the Global North. Today, it is a global religion where over two-thirds of the world’s Christians are non-Westerners, who live in the Global South. Christianity is on the rise in Latin America, Asia and especially Africa: a trend that is predicted to continue in the second half of the twenty-first century. I will explore explanations for the appeal of Christianity, and Pentecostalism in particular, for contemporary Africans. Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity that is predominantly popular in those African countries with the fastest population growth. Alongside Catholicism, it is the most rapidly growing religion on the African continent. Show less
Africa's rapid population growth, and even more rapid urbanisation, creates serious sustainability challenges. Like many cities in other parts of the world, African cities try to become 'green',... Show moreAfrica's rapid population growth, and even more rapid urbanisation, creates serious sustainability challenges. Like many cities in other parts of the world, African cities try to become 'green', and promote change in urban design and lifestyles to encourage more sustainable living. Many of these initiatives are supported by international agencies and illustrated on agency websites. Studying these websites, we try to answer three related questions dealing with the inclusivity of those initiatives: the geographical coverage (which cities?), the thematic coverage (how 'holistic'?) and the social inclusivity (how inclusive in terms of social focus?). Both scholars and practitioners should become more inclusive in their approaches to sustainable cities in Africa. Show less
This collective volume explores the ways in which Africa's engagements with an increasingly multipolar world are being reshaped, and, on whose terms. Ch. 2-7 examine new trends in Africa. Ch. 8-13... Show moreThis collective volume explores the ways in which Africa's engagements with an increasingly multipolar world are being reshaped, and, on whose terms. Ch. 2-7 examine new trends in Africa. Ch. 8-13 address the forces, in particular interventions by China, India and the US, that are framing the new global multipolarity and the way multipolarity is being played out. Ch. 14-16 focus on the potential for Africa and Africans to fill the political and economic space that is emerging. Contributions by Ton Dietz, Kjell Havnevik, Mayke Kaag & Terje Oestigaard; Samuel Teshale Derbe;Peer Schouten; Bram Büscher; Sandra Evers, Perrine Burnod, Andrianirina Ratsialonana Rivo & Andre' Teyssier; Wiebe Nauta; Mohamed Salih; Sanne van der Lugt; Gorm Rye Olsen; Liu Haifang & Jamie Monson; Antony Otieno Ong'ayo; Simona Vittorini & David Harris; Peter J. Schraeder; Lloyd G.A. Amoah; Lawrence Ogbo Ugwuanyi; Stephen Ellis. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
