The papers in this volume were earlier presented at the conference 'Globalization and new questions of ownership', which was held in Leiden, The Netherlands, from 26-27 April 2002. The volume... Show moreThe papers in this volume were earlier presented at the conference 'Globalization and new questions of ownership', which was held in Leiden, The Netherlands, from 26-27 April 2002. The volume challenges the dominant view that globalization is a primary threat to African societies. Instead, it emphasizes African agency in situating globality, that is, in selectively and creatively appropriating elements of the emerging global culture. Contributions: Situating globality: African agency in the appropriation of global culture (Wim van Binsbergen, Rijk van DijkandJan-Bart Gewald); Global and local trends in media ownership and control: implications for cultural creativity in Africa (Francis B. Nyamnjoh); Global media and violence in Africa: the case of Somalia (Jan-Bart Gewald); Can ICT belong in Africa, or is ICT owned by the North Atlantic region? (Wim van Binsbergen); 'Man will live well': on the poetics of corruption in a global age (Sanya Osha); 'Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia': Pentecostal Pan-Africanism and Ghanaian identities in the transnational domain (Rijk van Dijk); Global connections, local ruptures: the case of Islam in Senegal (Roy Dilley); How is a girl to marry without a bed? : weddings, wealth and women's value in an Islamic town of Niger (Adeline Masquelier); The social life of secrets (Senegal, Ferdinand de Jong); The persistence of female initiation rites: reflexivity and resilience of women in Zambia (Thera Rasing). [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
Ngoma, a southern African ritual of healing, dance, rhythm and rhyme, is at the heart of social effort to change the fortunes of individuals and communities so that well-being is restored. This... Show moreNgoma, a southern African ritual of healing, dance, rhythm and rhyme, is at the heart of social effort to change the fortunes of individuals and communities so that well-being is restored. This collective volume investigates ngoma in its many and culturally diverse manifestations. Contributions: Rijk van Dijk, Ria Reis and Marja Spierenburg (introduction); Henny Blokland (the use of drums in weddings in Unyamwezi, Tanzania, as the key to their use in healing cults and politics); Annette Drews (gender and ngoma among the Kunda of eastern Zambia); Ria Reis (therapeutic ngoma in Swaziland); Marja Spierenburg (the influence of healers' clientele in the Mhondoro territorial cult in Dande, Zimbabwe); Matthew Schoffeleers (rain cults as therapeutic ngoma in the Mbona cult of rural Malawi); Cor Jonker (the politics of therapeutic ngoma as exemplified in the Zionist churches in urban Zambia); Rijk van Dijk (ngoma and born-again fundamentalism in urban Malawi). In the afterword, John M. Janzen takes up critically the challenges to his own work (1992) presented by the contributions in this volume. Show less