| 351. |
- Volman, Daniel
(författare)
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China, India, Russia and the United States : The Scramble for African Oil and the Militarization of the Continent
- 2009
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since the end of the Cold War, Africa’s status in the internationalgeopolitical order has risen dramatically. The continent was once treated as a convenient battlefield in the global rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. Now, the continent’s increasing importance as a source of energy supplies and other raw materials, has radically altered the picture. This has led to the growing economic and military involvement of China, India, and other emerging industrial powers in Africa and to the re-emergence of Russia as an economic and military power on the continent. In response the United States has dramatically increased its military presence in Africa and created a new military command – the Africa Command or Africom – to protect what it has defined as its “strategic national interests” in Africa. This has ignited what has come to be known as the “new scramble for Africa” and is transforming the security architecture of Africa.
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| 352. |
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Votes, money and violence : political parties and elections in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2007
-
Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following the (re-)introduction of multiparty systems in Africa in the early 1990s, third and fourth elections in Africa's new democracies and hybrid regimes are now being seen. Although there is a large and growing literature on democracy and elections in Africa, parties and party systems have hitherto not been the focus of research, which may be surprising given their central role in a liberal democracy. The early works from the 1960s and 1970s provide neither a sound conceptual nor empirical basis. Research on political parties and party systems in Africa is still in its infancy. Various contributions in this volume address the theoretical and conceptual challenges provided by the African parties and party systems with their particular features of weak organisation, informal relationships dominated by 'big men' and clientelism within a neopatrimonial setting. Others raise the crucial question of representation in relation to ethnicity, civil society and gender, or look into the empirical relationship between party systems and democracy. Further chapters ask questions about the appropriate electoral system for the multiethnic context in Africa and deal with the problem of electoral system reform. Finally, there are chapters which focus on the neglected area of electoral violence, and the moral role of money and vote buying is scrutinized through a case study. An important conclusion is that party research in Africa needs more conceptual clarity as well as empirical research particularly on party organisation, voting behaviour, and the role of ethnicity.
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| 353. |
- Watson, James, et al.
(författare)
-
The Starbucks/Ethiopian coffee saga : geographical indications as a linchpin for development in developing countries
- 2008
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A coalition of Ethiopian coffee producers and the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) set up a programme to acquire trademarks in important export markets, with a view to increasing the profits on these brands for the producers. In March 2005, the Ethiopian government filed its first US trademark applications for three contested coffee names. After 15 months the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) agreed that the name Sidamo was generic and therefore could not be trademarked. This led to an outcry by some commentators, including NGOs and Intellectual Property Rights professionals. Yet, the arguments in favour of protecting indigenous knowledge under international trade rules as a linchpin for economic development and poverty eradication has been forcefully put forward by African countries and other developing countries in both regional trade negotiations and at the World Trade Organization. With the Ethiopian and Starbucks dispute in mind, James Watson and Jeremy Streatfeild eloquently explain in this piece how geographical indications can be used to enhance the capacity of farmers and economic development in Africa and other least developed countries.
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| 354. |
- Weiss, Holger
(författare)
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Begging and almsgiving in Ghana : Muslim positions towards poverty and distress
- 2007
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The vast majority of Muslims in Africa generally do not 'objectify' concepts such as poverty and religion in discussion. Poverty is a situation for 'ordinary' poor people in rural or urban poor areas where people seek to make marginal gains in income to avoid ever-threatening destitution and social disintegration. Most of these 'ordinary' poor people, especially poor and illiterate women, do not really believe that things can change. There exists, however, in all Muslim societies and communities in Africa a minority that criticize social and political conditions in society with the stated aim of striving for an Islamic solution to poverty and injustice. The common denominator for this group is that they are urban educated Muslims, having both a traditional educational background and, usually but not always, a modern, secular one, too. For them, the concept of poverty more readily forms part of a religious discourse involving feasible strategies for change. Their basic idea is to highlight the possibilities of generating new forms of financial resources by combining Islamic ethics and norms with a modern development-oriented outlook. Their vision is the usability of obligatory almsgiving in a modern context, namely that, instead of the traditional individual-centred 'person-to-person' charities, zakāt or obligatory almsgiving should be directed to become the source of communal and collective societal improvement. This study focuses on the conditions of poverty and the debate among Muslims in Ghana, a West African country with a substantial but largely economically and politically marginalized Muslim population.
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| 355. |
- Weiss, Herbert F.
(författare)
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Krig och fred i Demokratiska republiken Kongo
- 2000
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- En skildring av det aktuella läget i Demokratiska Republiken Kongo (f.d. Zaire) som visar hur förutsättningarna för den nuvarande händelseutvecklingen kan spåras till Kongokrisen i början av 1960-talet.
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| 356. |
- Weiss, Herbert F.
(författare)
-
War and peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 2000
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A report on the last years' events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which have transformed the country into an arena of international and internal violence and conflict involving so many participants that it can be described as the first African continental war. The study also contains a historical background to the recent events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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| 357. |
- Weiss, Holger
(författare)
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Social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa
- 2002
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Bok (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- In recent decades there has been an increasing attempt by Muslim intellectuals to reflect on the provision of social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa. One reason for this is the few, if not non-existent, possibilities of the states to provide for the basic needs of their subjects, a situation that has become painfully evident in most African states not only the Muslim ones. However, public as well as private provision of social welfare is not a new phenomenon in the Muslim world. Whereas government and public involvement in the provision of social welfare has been haphazard, despite various attempts at direct state involvement especially in the post-colonial world, private and what might be labelled semi-official activities, such as the establishment of pious foundations and the activities of the Sufi orders, have a solid foundation in local Muslim societies in Africa. This book attempts to emphasise the variety of both agents and ways to provide social welfare in Muslim societies in Africa. In addition, social welfare, as such, is both reflected upon and debated by Muslim intellectuals. The aim of this book has therefore been to capture both the theoretical as well as the actual dimension of social welfare.
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| 358. |
- Wohlgemuth, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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On Africa : scholars and African studies
- 2007
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This volume is based on contributions to a seminar which was organised in honour of the Institute’s retiring Director Lennart Wohlgemuth in December 2005. African scholars presented their views on “The Role of Africa in ‘African Studies’”, while Nordic scholars and policy makers responded. The deliberations offer a spectre of relevant approaches on both academic as well as policy oriented research and advisory work in and on Africa.The contributions aim at bridging the gap between academics and practitioners. They share a common commitment to African affairs and seek to support and promote these in the international context. Contributors include:Olu Ajakaiye and William Lyakurwa, the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)Adebayo Olukoshi, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)Göran Hydén, University of FloridaArne Tostensen, Chr. Michelsen Institute in Bergen
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| 359. |
- Wohlgemuth, Lennart
(författare)
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The Nordic countries and Africa : old and new relations
- 2002
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Institute has asked one representative from each Nordic country to give an account of how their respective countries have dealt with Africa over the years (in some cases even over the centuries) but with an emphasis on the last 50 years. They were also asked to indicate what role Africa has played in the politics, trade, etc. of their countries. The diversity of the invited authors’ backgrounds and fields of specialisation is reflected in their contributions, but the authors have one thing in common: a long experience from, and deep engagement in, Africa’s development.
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| 360. |
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Writers, writing on conflict and wars in Africa
- 2009. - 1
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many African countries are caught up in perennial or recurrent political conflicts that often culminate in devastating wars. These flaring conflicts and wars create harrowing economic hardships, dire refugee problems, and sustain a sense of despair in such countries. By their nature, these conflicts and wars affect writers in profound and sometimes paradoxical ways. On the one hand, literature—whether fiction, poetry, drama, or even memoirs—is animated by conflict. On the other hand, the sense of dislocation as well as the humanitarian crises unleashed by wars and other kinds of conflicts also constitute grave impediments to artistic exploration and literary expression. Writers and artists are frequently in the frontline of resistance to the kinds of injustices and abuses that precipitate wars and conflicts. Consequently, they are often detained, exiled, and even killed either by agents of state terror or by one faction or another in the tussle for state control. Writers, Writing Conflicts and Wars in Africa is a collection of testimonies by various writers and scholars who have experienced, or explored, the continent’s conflicts and woes, including how the disruptions shape artistic and literary production. The book is divided into two broad categories: in one, several writers speak directly, and with rich anecdotal details about the impact wars and conflicts have had in the formation of their experience and work; in the second, a number of scholars articulate how particular writers have assimilated the horrors of wars and conflicts in their literary creations. The result is an invaluable harvest of reflections and perspectives that open the window into an essential, but until now sadly unexplored, facet of the cultural and political experience of African writers. The broad scope of this collection—covering Darfur, the Congolese crisis, Biafra, Zimbabwe, South Africa, among others—is complemented by a certain buoyancy of spirit that runs through most of the essays and anecdotes.
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