Many African countries have experienced sustained economic growth, but few have achieved the type of structural change, driven by rising productivity, that has transformed mass living standards in... Show moreMany African countries have experienced sustained economic growth, but few have achieved the type of structural change, driven by rising productivity, that has transformed mass living standards in parts of Asia. In the Developmental Regimes in Africa Synthesis Report, editor David Booth examines how DRA research has shed new light on how developmental regimes might emerge and be sustained in Africa in the 21st century. He outlines a concept with defining features at three levels: policy content, especially regarding agriculture; policy process, especially the ability to arrive at appropriate policies through iterative and adaptive problem-solving; and a type of political settlement that frees policy-making from the usual constraints. Among the other authors are the ASC's Ton Dietz and André Leliveld, with a contribution on the Agricultural 'pockets of effectiveness' in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda since 2000. Show less
By tracking the changing nature of wasta, or personal intermediation, in the Khartoum labour market, this paper examines the impact of Islamist policies on state-society relations in Khartoum,... Show moreBy tracking the changing nature of wasta, or personal intermediation, in the Khartoum labour market, this paper examines the impact of Islamist policies on state-society relations in Khartoum, Sudan. It argues that economic liberalisation and higher education expansion weakened sectarian control over the economy, replacing the former institutionalised system of privilege with a much more decentralised, private and transnational structure. The conclusion asks whether these policies have laid the groundwork for long-term political transformation. While education expansion and liberalisation should theoretically allow a regime to broaden patronage networks, they may also reduce the capacity of both the regime and the private sector to exercise power and establish predictability outwards. Show less
Berendsen, B.; Dietz, A.J.; Schulte Nordholt, H.; Veen, R. van der 2013
Asian Tigers, African Lions is an anthology of contributions by scholars and (former) diplomats related to the 'Tracking Development' research project, funded by the Netherlands Ministry of... Show moreAsian Tigers, African Lions is an anthology of contributions by scholars and (former) diplomats related to the 'Tracking Development' research project, funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and coordinated by the African Studies Centre and KITLV, both in Leiden, in collaboration with scholars based in Africa and Asia. The project compared the performance of growth and development of four pairs of countries in Southeast Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa during the last sixty years. It tried to answer the question how two regions with comparable levels of income per capita in the 1950s could diverge so rapidly. Why are there so many Asian tigers and not yet so many African lions? What could Africa learn from Southeast Asian development trajectories? Show less
The few existing studies on the response of labour to the economic crisis and structural adjustment in African countries tend to focus on the (oppositional) relations between the State and central... Show moreThe few existing studies on the response of labour to the economic crisis and structural adjustment in African countries tend to focus on the (oppositional) relations between the State and central labour organizations. They largely ignore the response of workers and unions at the workplace. This article describes how workers and unions in the tea estates of Cameroon have dealt with the economic crisis and structural adjusment. It shows that the workers have adopted various strategies to cope with the structural adjustment measures planned and implemented by the management in close cooperation with the State-controlled unions. Two striking facts emerging from the analysis are that the majority of the estate workers have never completely abandoned their 'traditional' militancy, and that gender differences in the degree and modes of labour resistance tend to be slight. The data are derived from fieldwork carried out in 1991-1993 in the tea estates of the Cameroon Development Corporation, the largest agro-industrial parastatal in Cameroon. Show less
De invoering van Structurele aanpassingsprogramma's (SAP's) in Afrika is vaak gepaard gegaan met een versterking van de autoritaire tendensen van de Afrikaanse regimes. De levensstandaard en... Show moreDe invoering van Structurele aanpassingsprogramma's (SAP's) in Afrika is vaak gepaard gegaan met een versterking van de autoritaire tendensen van de Afrikaanse regimes. De levensstandaard en werkgelegenheid van de stedelijke arbeiders zijn door de SAP's ernstig aangetast. In dit overzicht van de rol van vakbonden in de SAP's en in democratiseringsprocessen wordt het verzet van een aantal vakbonden tegen de invoering van de SAP's ge‹llustreerd aan de hand van het vakbondsverzet in Zambia, Ghana en Nigeria. De vakbonden in Zambia zijn in staat geweest het SAP te saboteren, terwijl het vakbondsverzet in Ghana gering was; een tussenpositie in het vakbondsprotest tegen SAP's wordt ingenomen door Nigeria. Hoewel de interne democratie binnen de vakbonden vaak niet optimaal was, heeft een aantal vakbonden zich toch ingespannen voor het bereiken van een zekere mate van participatie in het ondernemings- en regeringsbeleid. Gedurende de invoering van de SAP's hebben steeds meer vakbonden zich verzet tegen het toenemend autoritarisme van de machthebbers. Met name vakbonden in Zambia hebben een sleutelrol gespeeld in de strijd om grotere democratisering. De mate waarin vakbonden een actieve rol kunnen spelen is afhankelijk van twee factoren. De ene factor is de mate van autonomie die vakbonden hebben behouden ten opzichte van de regering. Vakbonden in Engelstalige Afrikaanse landen zijn daar beter in geslaagd dan vakbonden in Franstalige Afrikaanse landen. Een tweede factor is de aard van het regime (militair of civiel). Show less
