This paper presents a comparative study on conceptualizations of the poorly understood nodding syndrome (NS) in Uganda and Tanzania. NS has been constructed as a biomedical category to serve global... Show moreThis paper presents a comparative study on conceptualizations of the poorly understood nodding syndrome (NS) in Uganda and Tanzania. NS has been constructed as a biomedical category to serve global health discourse as well as national contexts of managing the condition. The paper looks into the shifting meanings and conceptualizations of NS in the affected areas of Kitgum (UG) and Mahenge (TZ) district. The perceived universality of biomedical classifications is problematized as conflicting with the specific contexts of lucluc and kifafa cha kusinzia. Reconciliation proves to be challenging, poignantly evoking the cultural construction as such of any medical condition. Show less
This paper presents a comparative study on conceptualizations of the poorly understood nodding syndrome (NS) in Uganda and Tanzania. NS has been constructed as a biomedical category to serve global... Show moreThis paper presents a comparative study on conceptualizations of the poorly understood nodding syndrome (NS) in Uganda and Tanzania. NS has been constructed as a biomedical category to serve global health discourse as well as national contexts of managing the condition. The paper looks into the shifting meanings and conceptualizations of NS in the affected areas of Kitgum (UG) and Mahenge (TZ) district. The perceived universality of biomedical classifications is problematized as conflicting with the specific contexts of lucluc and kifafa cha kusinzia. Reconciliation proves to be challenging, poignantly evoking the cultural construction as such of any medical condition. Show less
Ordinary social violence, - i.e. recurrent mental or physical aggression occurring between closely related people - structures social relationships in Africa, and in the world. Studies of violence... Show moreOrdinary social violence, - i.e. recurrent mental or physical aggression occurring between closely related people - structures social relationships in Africa, and in the world. Studies of violence in Africa often refer to ethnic wars and explicit conflicts and do not enter the hidden domain of violence that this book reveals through in-depth anthropological studies from different parts and contexts in Africa. Ordinary violence has its distinctive forms embedded in specific histories and cultures. It is gendered, implicates witchcraft accusations, varies in rural and urban contexts, relates to demographic and socio-economic changes of the past decades and is embedded in the everyday life of many African citizens. The experience of ordinary violence goes beyond the simple notion of victimhood; instead it structures social life and should therefore be a compelling part of the study of social change. Show less
The voices of orphans and other vulnerable children and young people and of their carers and professional development workers are documented and analysed to both criticise the inadequacies of... Show moreThe voices of orphans and other vulnerable children and young people and of their carers and professional development workers are documented and analysed to both criticise the inadequacies of current social development work and to create a new, alternative theory and practice of project management in Zimbabwe and southern Africa. This is the first extensive and intensive empirical study of Zimbabwean orphans and other vulnerable children and young people. Chronically poor children and their carers can be corrupted or silenced by management systems which fail to recognise their basic human needs. Resilience in the face of such adversity is celebrated by the dominant project management ideology and practice but is a major barrier to achieve genuine sustainable improvements in the lives of vulnerable children. We propose a new person-centred project management approach aimed at delivering comprehensive services for orphans, which explicitly recognises the needs of orphans and other poor children to be fully socially, politically and economically included within their communities and which avoids the reinforcement of power based inequalities and their unacceptable consequences. The moral bankruptcy of much social development work in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Southern Africa is described and we delineate an alternative project management policy and practice. Show less
Building on the foundational work of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, the essays in this collective volume offer a picture of the late colonial period in Zambia. The volume is based on untapped... Show moreBuilding on the foundational work of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, the essays in this collective volume offer a picture of the late colonial period in Zambia. The volume is based on untapped archival material and sources that have emerged in recent years and throws new light on some of the historical trajectories that the teleological gaze of nationalist scholars tended to ignore. An introduction by the editors is followed by a background article on Northern Rhodesia's post-war period (1945-1953) by Andrew D. Roberts. The next four chapters deal with the polyphony of African nationalism in the country: Giacomo Macola on the formation of ZANC/UNIP, Walima T. Kalusa on traditional rulers and nationalists in the 1950s, Marja Hinfelaar on the realization of a Catholic social doctrine in the context of a rise in nationalism, and Kenneth P. Vickery on labour, politics and Dixon Konkola. The third part of the book deals with the unsettled world of settlers: Ian Phimister on white miners on the Copperbelt, Joanna Lewis on David Livingstone and the 1955 centenary commemorations, Jan-Bart Gewald on fears and fantasies in the 1950s, Friday Mufuzi on Indian political activism, and Joan M. Haig on Hindu life in 1950s Northern Rhodesia. The final two chapters deal with participating observers: Christopher M. Annear on Ian Cunnison's 'fishing area', Mweru-Luapula, and Andrew J. DeRoche on Frances Bolton, Margaret Tibbetts and US relations with the Rhodesian Federation. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This chapter briefly presents the biography of Londósa, a ritual leader or 'komoru' of the Chari Suri people in southwestern Ethiopia and shows how a personal case study can highlight the social... Show moreThis chapter briefly presents the biography of Londósa, a ritual leader or 'komoru' of the Chari Suri people in southwestern Ethiopia and shows how a personal case study can highlight the social problems of an ethnic group. Suri face a crisis of security and of social continuity. Both their physical security and their food security are at risk, and they have enduring tense relations with neighbouring peoples and with the Ethiopian State. Like other ethnic groups (e.g. Nyangatom, Toposa, Anywaa, Meen) they use armed force to defend themselves or contest resources. The relatively quick "militarization" of societies like the Suri in the last 15 years has brought new problems and challenges. Londósa, as the Suri ritual mediator and leader, recognized the problems emerging and called for restraint to Suri exercise of violence but with little effect. He was powerless to prevent the gradual deterioration of internal social relations in Suri society resulting from this militarization. Feelings of powerlessness and deception with the way Suri society was developing undoubtedly contributed to his early death in June 2000. Includes bibliographical references, notes, and summary [Book abstract] Show less
