In the literature on population mobility, mobility has generally been seen as a temporary phenomenon. However, in many instances, mobility rather than sedentarity is the norm. This is illustrated... Show moreIn the literature on population mobility, mobility has generally been seen as a temporary phenomenon. However, in many instances, mobility rather than sedentarity is the norm. This is illustrated in the present chapter by two case studies of so-called 'cultures of travel'. The first case concerns the Fulbe, a nomadic cattle-rearing people, in the Hayre area of central Mali. The Fulbe case demonstrates how mobility has been embedded historically in Sahelian cultures under conditions that are marginal, both from an ecological and an economic perspective. It illustrates how people develop economic and cultural strategies marked by a high degree of opportunism. It shows that Fulbe society is, in fact, organized around mobility. The second case, that of Pentecostalism in Ghana, demonstrates how a specific form of culture acts to bring about a particular form of mobility. In this case, it is not a whole culture that is on the move, but individuals who are mobile for personal reasons. Mobility among Ghanaian Pentecostalists is not yet part and parcel of daily life, but presents an example of how people construct cultural forms and means for dealing with everyday problems of mobility. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum Show less
Dit essay gaat in op lange-termijnperspectieven voor Afrika. De auteur stelt dat in het Westen de Afrikaanse situatie te vaak gezien wordt in het licht van een evolutieschema, waaruit ook de... Show moreDit essay gaat in op lange-termijnperspectieven voor Afrika. De auteur stelt dat in het Westen de Afrikaanse situatie te vaak gezien wordt in het licht van een evolutieschema, waaruit ook de begrippen 'ontwikkeling' en 'vooruitgang' zijn afgeleid. Wanneer we de huidige situatie van Afrika vanuit dit gezichtspunt bekijken, zal het continent in de meeste opzichten niet blijken te voldoen aan de criteria van 'vooruitgang'. De auteur is van mening dat een nieuwe visie vereist is. Hij stelt dat de belangrijkste problemen waaronder Afrika gebukt gaat, uiteindelijk politiek van aard zijn. Afrika's politieke problemen dienen geanalyseerd te worden in het kader van een breed menselijk perspectief. Daartoe moeten sleutelelementen uit de Afrikaanse geschiedenis bestudeerd worden. Zo beschikten grote delen van Afrika tot de koloniale tijd niet over iets dat vergelijkbaar was met een Europese staat. Veel lokale gemeenschappen in Afrika hebben ook nu nog een hoog gehalte aan zelfbestuur. Zowel Afrikanen als niet-Afrikanen zouden serieus moeten nadenken over de manier waarop in de samenleving gewortelde idee‰n over loyaliteit en sociale verplichtingen vertaald kunnen worden in doeltreffende en duurzame publieke instituties. Noten, samenv. in het Engels (p. 227) Show less
This paper examines the various theoretical issues in regulation with a view to enhancing understanding of the regulation arena. Special emphasis has been placed on the banking industry. The paper... Show moreThis paper examines the various theoretical issues in regulation with a view to enhancing understanding of the regulation arena. Special emphasis has been placed on the banking industry. The paper shows how regulation serves different purposes for different interest groups on different occasions. It further argues that because of the ever shifting concept of 'public good', shifting individual and group interest and, perhaps the entwinement of individual and public good, neither the capture theory or the public good theory has yet fully explained the rationale for regulation. A clear understanding of the theoretical issues involved in regulation is therefore important if the forces that drive regulation are to be appreciated fully. Show less
In deze inaugurele rede besteedt de auteur aandacht aan drie thema's: strijd, identiteit et continuïteit in Afrika. Hij richt zich met name op het verschijnsel van de opkomst van neo-etnische... Show moreIn deze inaugurele rede besteedt de auteur aandacht aan drie thema's: strijd, identiteit et continuïteit in Afrika. Hij richt zich met name op het verschijnsel van de opkomst van neo-etnische bewegingen in Afrika die een nieuwe combinatie van elementen vertegenwoordigen: een lidmaatschap van voornamelijk jongeren, een etnische basis, een roep om terugkeer naar de eigen cultuur, en actief verzet tegen de gevestigde, corrupte machten in de staat en tegen de mondialisering die Afrika in een gemarginaliseerde positie brengt. Na een discussie van de begrippen strijd, identiteit en continuïteit gaat de auteur in op de kritisch-realistische benadering die hij voorstaat. Hedendaagse sociaal-wetenschappelijke studies over Afrika kenmerken zich ofwel door een excessieve nadruk op de materiële, ecologische en politieke aspecten van conflict en crisis, samengevat onder de noemer 'resource competition', ofwel door een sterk interpretatieve, culturalistische analyse van de 'bovenbouw': religieuze ideeën en ideologiën, culturele symboliek, identiteitsdenken, en van nieuwe 'subjectiviteiten'. Een kritisch-realistisch perspectief ziet bovengenoemde benaderingen als problematisch. Dit perspectief stelt dat de relatie tussen materiële ontwikkelingen en cultuur-symbolische 'systemen' analytisch gezien onverbrekelijk is. De auteur beschrijft vervolgens twee recente voorbeelden van etniseringstrajecten in Afrika, namelijk de Mungiki-beweging in Kenia en de Gurage in Ethiopië. Show less
This study was carried out in the districts Kilifi and Malindi. It focusses on the activities of artisanal fishermen and their households: the livelihood strategies they have, their attitude... Show moreThis study was carried out in the districts Kilifi and Malindi. It focusses on the activities of artisanal fishermen and their households: the livelihood strategies they have, their attitude towards conservation, their indigeneous environmental conservation practices and the effects of the Watamu Marine National Park on these. In this study, data were collected through semi structured questionnaires, participant observation, life and career histories, network analysis and genealogies in Uyombo, Takaungu and the Watamu Marine National Park. Discussions were also held with the fishermen, Kenya Wildlife Service employees and people employed at the Watamu Marine National Park. In order to analyse the findings, an actor oriented approach is used, combined with the theories of political ecology and legal pluralism. By using these theories attention is paid to the historical background, wider context, human agency, property rights and community based natural resource management.The study revealed that fishermen are aware of the degradation of marine resources but are unable to do something about it because of their poor situation. Due to their declining standard of living people start to diversify. Two types of diversification can be found: fishermen who diversify by starting to cultivate on a shamba and farmers who diversify by starting to fish. Because of this, people of other ethnicities and religions, than those of the traditional fishermen started fishing. This ended indigeneous ways of conservation. Finally the study revealed that many fishermen are willing to stop fishing. However, the lack of employment possibilities will probably only drive more people to fishing, causing more severe degradation of marine resources. The thesis ends with some recommendations which might attribute to a decline of the degradation of marine resources and the deteriorating situation of fishermen at the Kenya Coast. Show less
The case studies in this book on mobility in sub-Saharan Africa critically discuss dichotomous interpretations of mobility and reject the idea that migration indicates a breakdown in society. They... Show moreThe case studies in this book on mobility in sub-Saharan Africa critically discuss dichotomous interpretations of mobility and reject the idea that migration indicates a breakdown in society. They adopt the approach that sedentary and mobile worlds converge and that mobility is part of the livelihood system of African people. Contents: Mobile Africa: an introduction (Mirjam de Bruijn, Rijk van DijkandDick Foeken) - Population mobility in Africa: an overview (Han van Dijk, Dick FoekenandKiky van Til) - Territorial and magical migrations in Tanzania (Todd Sanders) - Moving into another spirit province: immigrants and the 'mhondoro' cult in northern Zimbabwe (Marja Spierenburg) - Cultures of travel: Fulbe pastoralists in central Mali and Pentecostalism in Ghana (Mirjam de Bruijn, Han van Dijk and Rijk van Dijk) - Mobile workers, urban employment and 'rural' identities: rural-urban networks of Buhera migrants, Zimbabwe (Jens A. Andersson) - Migration as a positive response to opportunity and context: the case of Welo, Ethiopia (Jonathan Baker) - Multi-spatial livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: rural farming by urban hosueholds - the case of Nakuru town, Kenya (Dick FoekenandSamuel O. Owuor) - Urbanisation and migration in sub-Saharan Africa: changing patterns and trends (Cecilia Tacoli) - Processes and types of pastoral migration in northern Côte d'Ivoire (Youssouf Diallo) - Mobility and exclusion: conflicts between autochthons and allochthons during political liberalisation in Cameroon (Piet Konings) - Population displacement and the humanitarian aid regime: the experience of refugees in East Africa (Patricia Daley) Show less
During the Fourth Republic in Ghana there has been an unprecedented growth in Pentecostalism. The chief message of Pentecostalism is the contestation of tradition. It encourages members to abandon... Show moreDuring the Fourth Republic in Ghana there has been an unprecedented growth in Pentecostalism. The chief message of Pentecostalism is the contestation of tradition. It encourages members to abandon the past and traditions and to adopt a completely new way of life, unemcumbered by the sins of the ancestors. Their rejection of their heritage has erupted into violence in Accra, largely as the result of their transgressing of the ban on drumming and silence during the Homowo Festival. This is an ancient Ga ritual which requires silence and tranquility for more than a month after the ritual planting of the crops. Music, mostly adapted Western music, is essential to Pentecostal services but their pursuit of it during the period of ritual silence led to a violent attack on one of their chapels. On the basis of fieldwork carried out in Accra and among a diaspora community in The Hague, the author draws some conclusions about a number of dialogues which are going on at different levels, more numerous and more complicated than what would appear to have been a fairly simple dispute about the transgressing of ritual silence. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
The importance of rural nonagricultural activities in sub-Saharan Africa has been growing during the past two decades, but their role in rural development is still unclear. Current debate about... Show moreThe importance of rural nonagricultural activities in sub-Saharan Africa has been growing during the past two decades, but their role in rural development is still unclear. Current debate about agricultural and rural development centres on two competing paradigms, one focused on increased market orientation and the new global order, the other beamed at local development and environmental issues. However, neither encompasses the role of rural nonagricultural activities. The present paper reviews the two paradigms and their nonagricultural oversight. The two prevailing approaches to rural nonagricultural activities are the livelihoods perspective, which emphasizes the supplementary value of income generation for rural people who cannot survive on their agricultural incomes alone but is less concerned with their role in the rural production system, and the multiplier perspective, which focuses on the economic linkages of nonagricultural activities with agricultural production and rural household consumption but largely ignores their dominant nature as trade and service functions. The paper concludes with a discussion of the service perspective on rural nonagricultural activities Show less
Pour analyser les conflits qui ont lieu actuellement en Afrique de l'Ouest il faut remonter loin dans l'histoire. Il convient d'examiner la période antérieure aux indépendances qui datent, pour la... Show morePour analyser les conflits qui ont lieu actuellement en Afrique de l'Ouest il faut remonter loin dans l'histoire. Il convient d'examiner la période antérieure aux indépendances qui datent, pour la plupart, des années 1960. Tandis que les conflits constatés dans la région sont principalement liés au contrôle des États modernes (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinée, Guinée-Bissau) et de leurs richesses, ces luttes sont liées aussi à des processus historiques plus profonds. En conséquence, on ne devrait pas être surpris de voir resurgir actuellement des institutions et des pratiques associées à ceux-ci. Des sentiments d'exclusion, en premier lieu, enveniment les relations de voisinage dans certains pays de la région, notamment au Liberia et en Côte d'Ivoire. Les Malinké ou 'Mandingos' sont perçus de plus en plus comme migrants étrangers. L'auteur rappelle les sources historiques de la 'question mandingue' et remarque ensuite le regain d'importance des sociétés initiatiques, qui, dans le contexte de la faiblesse des États modernes, sont utilisées comme moyen d'encadrement politique et militaire dans les luttes factionnelles actuelles. Finalement, il cerne la manière dont s'effectue la concurrence commerciale dans sa relation au pouvoir politique, qui rappelle tout à fait l'histoire précoloniale. Show less
After more than two years of bloody warfare, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace accord in Algiers on 12 December 2000. Although the peace accord paved the way for negotiations and... Show moreAfter more than two years of bloody warfare, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace accord in Algiers on 12 December 2000. Although the peace accord paved the way for negotiations and a delineation of the Ethio-Eritrean border, political stability in the region is not expected to increase unless the two governments reform their systems of governance. This article focuses on social developments 'on the ground' since the peace accord and on the social and psychological impact of the war on local peoples, such as the Afar, Irob, and Kunama. The author argues that a strict delimitation of the border may further divide local population groups and create tensions instead of defusing them. He further argues that the impact of the United Nations Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), in place since December 2000, will be limited; UNMEE is responsible for immediate security issues, but is not allowed to mediate between State authorities and local inhabitants. In the end, the border people may hold a key to the future of Ethio-Eritrean relations. Notes, ref., sum. in French and Italian Show less
Na ruim twee jaar oorlog verrasten Ethiopië en Eritrea de wereld met ondertekening van een vredesovereenkomst in Algiers, onder bemiddeling van de OAE. Hoewel er nu sprake is van een soort... Show moreNa ruim twee jaar oorlog verrasten Ethiopië en Eritrea de wereld met ondertekening van een vredesovereenkomst in Algiers, onder bemiddeling van de OAE. Hoewel er nu sprake is van een soort vredesproces - of beter 'onderhandelingsproces' - is verzoening nog ver weg. Daarbij komt nog dat de positie van beide regimes op de langere termijn ook door groeiende binnenlandse onvrede in het geheel niet zeker is. In beide landen is de erfenis van een 'geweldscultuur' alom aanwezig. De onderliggende politieke spanning tussen de beide landen staat normalisering, vrede en economische ontwikkeling in de weg. De oorlog mag dan wel afgelopen zijn, de autoritaire politieke structuren en het gebrekkig en arrogant leiderschap in beide landen blijven een groot struikelblok voor vooruitgang. Dit artikel gaat in op potentiële twistpunten in het akkoord van december 2000, zaken die niet geregeld kunnen worden met een vredesverdrag - wederzijds vertrouwen, herstel van normale betrekkingen - en het blijvende antagonisme tussen de twee regeringen. De conclusie is dat, aangezien de oorzaken van de grote spanning tussen Ethiopië en Eritrea nog dezelfde zijn als in mei 1998, de kans op duurzame vrede klein lijkt. Noten, samenv. in het Engels (p. 228) Show less
This chapter presents an overview of the media in Kenya as it stands today, focussing on the role of the media in the process of democratization. It first sketches the Kenyan media landscape as it... Show moreThis chapter presents an overview of the media in Kenya as it stands today, focussing on the role of the media in the process of democratization. It first sketches the Kenyan media landscape as it developed since 1902, when the first newspaper was established in the then British headquarters for East Africa, the town of Mombasa. It discusses the impact of the 1992 'liberalization' of the Kenyan media, demonstrating that in addition to growth in the number of publications and broadcast stations, a qualitative change in content is evident, particularly in the print media. However, although press freedom has improved, regulatory and policy measures affecting the media should still be characterized as restrictive. The chapter then focuses on media coverage of the 1997 elections, distinguishing between two aspects: the game of strategy, and the substance of the elections. It also pays attention to the role of journalists in the debate about the need for constitutional change and the Media Watch project, whose main objective was to monitor the State-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation radio and television during the pre-election period. Show less
