The 1850s, the discovery of new regions of Africa gradually brought the western world knowledge of the African peoples inhabiting them, and of their cultures. Increasing attention was given to... Show moreThe 1850s, the discovery of new regions of Africa gradually brought the western world knowledge of the African peoples inhabiting them, and of their cultures. Increasing attention was given to objects used by these Africans in their everyday life, and the relatively short period from 1855 to c. 1880 saw a remarkable development in this respect. Soon, it was impossible to imagine travel books without their illustrations showing articles of use from the newly opened West Central African region, and ethnographical museums had begun collecting these objects. Dutch museums also participated in these acquisitions. This research describes the growth of ethnographic interest as shown in international accounts of travel in foreign parts. The fascination with indigenous objects as described in travel accounts - especially where cult statues were concerned - constitutes a gauge of the extent to which people were becoming interested in the ‘morals and customs’ of African peoples. Then follows a description of the Dutch museums’ policy on the acquisition and documentation of objects, which was partly based on the travel accounts mentioned above.We shall recount how, during the last days of the slave trade, many thousands of objects flowed into Dutch museums from the extensive coastal region of West Central Africa. After the Colonial Museum in Haarlem and the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities (Koninklijk Kabinet van Zeldzaamheden) in The Hague had led the way in 1876 and 1877 respectively, halls and depots in the ethnological museums in Leiden, Rotterdam (the Diergaarde) and Amsterdam (‘Artis’) were gradually filled with these African ethnographic items, the collection and description of which had begun to be carried out in a scholarly manner. At that time virtually all the international accounts written about travels in Africa were in the possession of the Dutch ethnological museums. The attention of museum curators was thus drawn to these ethnographic items, and on several occasions curators utilised the descriptions and illustrations published in the travel accounts as guide books for their own procedures. The collections included objects that illustrate daily life: household articles, hand weapons, throwing weapons, chiefs’ headdresses, masks for members of secret societies, (gun)powder holders, ornaments, bags, footwear, decorated ivory derived from elephant and hippopotamus teeth, and especially various cult statues. The Afrikaansche Handels Vereeniging (AHV, the African Trading Association), later to become the Nieuwe Afrikaansche Handels Vennootschap (NAHV, the New African Trading Society) after 1880, played a key role in the transportation of these objects. With the assistance of good will from the boards of directors for the AHV and NAHV, the museums were successful in winning company agents to their collecting cause, and these agents tried their best in far-away Africa to gain a name as donators of objects to the Dutch museums. While a good deal of distaste for, and criticism of the ‘morals and customs’ of ‘the negro’ was still to be read in the scholarly literature (which at that time included travel accounts), the passion for collecting took possession of the ethnographic museums. The correspondence we encounter in museum archives provides a picture of the competition between institutes, occasionally engaging in skirmishes on the subject of collecting objects deriving from this African heritage. These disputes concerned African objects that appeared to run counter to the westerners’ view that ‘the negro’ civilization was inferior to their own. However, there was no conflict between this underestimation and the passion for collecting. The last section of this investigation concentrates on the views of that period on the way in which these West Central ethnographic objects could be fitted into a survey of more or less evolved ‘races, species and peoples’. The main question here concerns the extent to which indigenous objects, and especially cult statues (minkisi) collected in the West Central coastal area, were supposed to support the western belief that Africans were less civilized in comparison with other ‘races’. With the aid of sources deriving from the history of these Dutch collections, we will show the way in which these objects were used in order to demonstrate the ‘African’s’ superstition and lack of artistic sensibility, and thus his lower level of civilization. The ethnographic museums in Leiden, Rotterdam and Amsterdam exhibited their African collections together with the clear message that African material culture represented an inferior civilization. Nonetheless there was also space for a certain value placed on some objects, where these were regarded as rare and exotic. Just as in previous centuries, objects made of basketwork or decorated ivory were prized as beautifully made and beautifully shaped curiosities. Other research was needed to support and underpin this view of ‘inferiority’. For example, the State Ethnographic Museum in Leiden (which later became the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde) collected ‘negro skulls’ as well as articles of use, in the interest of craniology with its measurements of skulls, a wide-spread branch of physical anthropology in that period. The results of these investigations were intended to link the physical characteristics of ‘the negro’ with the ethnographic collections, in order to show what ‘the negro’ represented in the cultural sense as well. Show less
This film is part of the five year inter-institutional multi-disciplinary research programme within the social sciences and humanities entitled, "ICE in Africa: the relationship between people and... Show moreThis film is part of the five year inter-institutional multi-disciplinary research programme within the social sciences and humanities entitled, "ICE in Africa: the relationship between people and the Internal Combustion Engine in Africa" funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). For more information see: http://www.ascleiden.nl/pdf/GewaldVidiICEinAfrica.pdf Show less
During the current economic and political crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, urban dwellers tend to display a large measure of creativity in the invention of survival strategies, the development of... Show moreDuring the current economic and political crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, urban dwellers tend to display a large measure of creativity in the invention of survival strategies, the development of social networks, and the construction of imaginative practices. This collective volume explores the importance of the urban neighbourhood in these creative processes. Two different approaches to the neighbourhood are pinpointed. The first perceives the neighbourhood as a geographical domain in which people are engaged in a variety of activities to advance their material and immaterial well-being, making use of the 'wealth' of opportunities, assets and forms of 'capital' (natural, physical, financial, human and social). The second approach sees the neighbourhood not as necessarily geographically bounded, but as created and defined by human beings. These 'neighbourhoods' may take the form of self-help organizations, associations, churches, etc. or may be based on gender, generational, ethnic and occupational identities. The two approaches do not necessarily exclude each other. The volume contains contributions on Nakuru, Kenya (Samuel OwuorandDick Foeken), Douala, Cameroon (Piet Konings; Basile Ndjio), Kampala, Uganda (Emmanuel Nkurunziza), Kano, Nigeria (Katja Werthmann), Accra, Ghana (Deborah Pellow), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Eileen Moyer), Lom‚, Togo (Charles Piot), Mongo, Chad (Mirjam de Bruijn), and Aioun el Atrouss, Mauritania (Kiky van Til). [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
Relations between Africa and China have increased over the years and become more dominated by China's economic interests. With an annual growth rate of 8-9 per cent, and a booming economy, China's... Show moreRelations between Africa and China have increased over the years and become more dominated by China's economic interests. With an annual growth rate of 8-9 per cent, and a booming economy, China's dependency on accessing natural resources is a top priority and has accordingly expanded its horizons. Africa, with all its seemingly unlimited natural resources, is an ideal partner. In addition, the African continent as a whole offers a potential market for China's low-value manufactured commodities. This paper is an attempt to present an overview of contemporary Sino-African relations and the state of trade relations, with special emphasis on natural resources and the export market for Chinese products and investments in Africa Show less
Albeit the divergences on the debate about development in Africa, it is indubitable that the continent remains underdeveloped after five decades of development efforts. To understand this impasse,... Show moreAlbeit the divergences on the debate about development in Africa, it is indubitable that the continent remains underdeveloped after five decades of development efforts. To understand this impasse, it is necessary to trace Africa's encounter with Europe to the period of early modernity. This paper first outlines the theory of modernity and Enlightenment. Next, it traces the genealogy of the idea of development as modernity and how the African development process gets entangled in it. Zeroing in on the current idea of late or hypermodernity, the author dismisses the idea that there is something new in the globalization-backed neoliberal development paradigm. He then addresses the complex question of how the impasse of modernity can be transcended, arguing that Africa needs to construct its own modernity, different from that of the West. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 13 (2006). African... Show moreASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 13 (2006). African Studies Centre, Leiden. Show less
This book has been nominated for the Conover-Porter Award 2008 - This bibliography on Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa has been prepared as part of the African Studies Centre/Centre d'Étude... Show moreThis book has been nominated for the Conover-Porter Award 2008 - This bibliography on Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa has been prepared as part of the African Studies Centre/Centre d'Étude d'Afrique Noire project entitled "Islam, the Disengagement of the State, and Globalization in Sub-Saharan Africa" that was funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The present bibliography lists over 4,000 references to secondary literature in European languages about Islam in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. It supplements and updates two existing bibliographies, Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Partially Annotated Guide by Samir Zoghby and Islam in Africa South of the Sahara: A Select Bibliographic Guide by Patrick Ofori, both of which were compiled in the 1970s. Since then, there has been considerable academic interest in Islam in Africa and publications such as the Paris-based journal Islam et Sociétés au Sud du Sahara have regularly informed readers about new publications on Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main objective of the present work is to bring together bibliographical information that has been published in different publications and to provide individuals interested in the topic with a simple and practical research tool. Show less
Urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa has gained momentum in recent years in terms of research and policy, as well as in practical terms. The paradox of accelerated urbanization and the increase... Show moreUrban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa has gained momentum in recent years in terms of research and policy, as well as in practical terms. The paradox of accelerated urbanization and the increase in urban agriculture in developing countries is widely recognized. More than ever before, urban residents all over the developing world are cultivating urban plots and/or keeping animals to sustain their livelihoods. This volume looks at urban farming in the Kenyan town of Nakuru and is based on surveys and in-depth studies carried out by various researchers, including Kenyan Masters students, 1999-2002. It considers farming techniques (crops and yields, animal production and rearing systems), socioeconomic aspects of urban farming (income, food supply, employment, assistance to urban farmers) and the environmental issues involved, and there is also a chapter on school farming. Specific attention is paid to urban farming in relation to poverty, with the conclusion being that those who depend on urban agriculture the most are, in fact, benefiting the least from it. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 15 (2006).... Show moreASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 15 (2006). African Studies Centre, Leiden. Show less
In the 1990s, increasing numbers of Chinese companies developed connections with African countries with the aim of increasing trade between China and the African continent. This development of... Show moreIn the 1990s, increasing numbers of Chinese companies developed connections with African countries with the aim of increasing trade between China and the African continent. This development of Sino-African relations has not gone unnoticed, but the discussion in the West has not been well informed. In order to fill this lacuna, the present paper gives an overview of Sino-African relations, China's aid programme to Africa, and the state of trade relations between China and African countries, with special emphasis on African exports of natural resources, the export market for Chinese products in Africa, and Chinese investments in Africa. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
In this article, the author assesses the nature and the impact of the May 2005 Ethiopian parliamentary elections on Ethiopian politics. The elections, although controversial and flawed, showed... Show moreIn this article, the author assesses the nature and the impact of the May 2005 Ethiopian parliamentary elections on Ethiopian politics. The elections, although controversial and flawed, showed significant gains for the opposition but led to a crisis of the entire democratization process. The author revisits Ethiopian political culture in the light of neopatrimonial theory and asks why the political system has stagnated and slid back into authoritarianism. Most analyses of post-1991 Ethiopian politics discuss the formal aspects of the political system but do not pay sufficient attention to power politics in a historical perspective. There is a continued need to reconceptualize the analysis of politics in Ethiopia, and Africa in general, in more cultural and historical terms, away from the formal political science approaches that have predominated. The success of transitional democracy is also dependent on a countervailing middle class, which is suppressed in Ethiopia. Furthermore, political-judicial institutions are still precarious, and their operation is dependent on the current political elite and caught in the politics of the ruling party. On the basis of the electoral process, the post-election manoeuvring, the role of opposition forces, and the violent crisis in late 2005, the author addresses the Ethiopian political process in the light of governance traditions and resurrected neopatrimonial rule that, in effect, tend to block further democratization. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. (Comment by Tobias Hagmann: in African Affairs, vol. 105, no. 421 (2006), p. 605-612, with a reply by Abbink on p. 613-620.) [Journal abstract] Show less
