This article is an editorial introduction to the five contributions to a two-day Dutch-Belgian workshop on ethnicity in Africa (Leiden, The Netherlands, December 1991) selected for publication in... Show moreThis article is an editorial introduction to the five contributions to a two-day Dutch-Belgian workshop on ethnicity in Africa (Leiden, The Netherlands, December 1991) selected for publication in the present issue of 'Afrika Focus'. It highlights various aspects of the study of ethnicity which emerge from the papers in question: the deconstruction of the ethnic group as a group, the characterization of ethnicity as a cultural process primarily determined by an underlying struggle for power, the dynamism of ethnicity as a phenomenon subject to constant change, ethnic social stratification and the role of elites. The papers suggest that current approaches to African ethnicity have tended to overemphasize the formative influence of the colonial State at the expense of continuity with precolonial processes of group formation. They also suggest that there is a case for a reassessment of the limits to the political manipulation of ethnic consciousness, and the exploration of the explanatory value of local cultures considered over considerable time periods. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum Show less
The Suri, also known as Surma, are agropastoralists living in the semiarid lowland area of the Kafa Administrative Region of Ethiopia. The Suri language belongs to the South-East Surmic (SES)... Show moreThe Suri, also known as Surma, are agropastoralists living in the semiarid lowland area of the Kafa Administrative Region of Ethiopia. The Suri language belongs to the South-East Surmic (SES) language group within the Eastern Sudanic family of Nilo-Saharan. The Suri-English vocabulary presented here was compiled during research carried out in southwestern Ethiopia, particularly in the village of Makara, between December 1991 and June 1992, and in October 1992. It incorporates two unpublished wordlists, the 200-word list of the Institute of Language Studies of Addis Ababa University, and the 500-word list compiled by M.L. Bender. Bibliogr., notes, ref Show less
The article describes some of the main political events which took place in Togo in mid to late 1991, at a time when the power of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma was facing more serious opposition... Show moreThe article describes some of the main political events which took place in Togo in mid to late 1991, at a time when the power of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma was facing more serious opposition than at any time since his assumption of the presidency twenty-four years earlier, and examines how these events were represented in popular discussion in Lomé. The main forum of debate was the National Conference inaugurated in Lomé in July 1991. The work of the conference was both supplemented and encouraged by the growth of the free press. Another source of information was the form of oral communication known in French as 'radio trottoir'. By analysing some aspects of the power struggle in that period, and popular perceptions of them, the article aims to shed light on the cultural mechanisms by which Eyadéma sustained himself in power and through which his power could be contested. It argues that 'radio trottoir' is a crucial element in the interplay of forces between State and civil society in Togo. Bibliog., note, sum. in English and French Show less
