Africa Spectrum最新文献

{"title":"Book review: Transfers of Belonging: Child Fostering in West Africa in the 20th Century","authors":"J. Pauli","doi":"10.1177/0002039719886324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039719886324","url":null,"abstract":"A central feature of anthropology is to question what is assumed to be natural. This is especially true for the anthropological study of kinship. Notions of motherhood and fatherhood are deeply engrained into our personal experiences. They feel “natural.” Erdmute Alber questions any naturalistic assumption with the very first sentence of her fascinating and very timely book on parenthood and fosterage in Benin: “Nothing is seemingly more natural than the idea that children belong to their birth parents who are caring for them” (1). In a sophisticated way, Erdmute Alber shows that children do not always and not everywhere belong to their birth mother or their birth father. Among the Baatombu in northern Benin, the belonging of a child can be transferred to someone else. While adoption and fosterage have been described for different regions of the world, what makes the cases described in Alber’s monograph outstanding is the normality of this transfer of belonging. For the Baatombu, child fostering and not growing up with one’s birth parents is “the normal way of parenting and not an exception or an anomaly” (4). Nevertheless, due to various forms of social change and “modernisation,” especially the spread of Western types of education and European ideas of parenthood, practices of child fostering are undergoing substantial changes. In exemplary detail, Alber scrutinises these historical trajectories and relates them to the contemporary practices. The book is divided into four parts. In the first part, the introduction, Alber lays out her conceptualisation of the study, describes her field site, and discusses her fieldwork. The book spans a remarkable long period of more than a quarter of a century of research. Since 1992, Alber has researched the Borgu region of northern Benin, conducting field work in both villages and cities. The honesty with which she describes her long-term fieldwork is unusual, touching, and very convincing. Photographs of herself, her two daughters, and the new kin Alber made while living in Benin are complemented with reflexive discussions of how of her children have influenced her fieldwork. Methodological, Alber’s book is ethnography at its best. Alber combines the intimacy of numerous life stories she has observed and listened to over the years with archive data, participant observation, and questionnaires. Beyond globalisation, Alber’s monograph shows the importance of long-term ethnographic fieldwork in one field site. Africa Spectrum 1–2 a The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0002039719886324 journals.sagepub.com/home/afr","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"207 - 208"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039719886324","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43414917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mutualism Despite Ostensible Difference: HuShamwari, Kuhanyisana, and Conviviality Between Shona Zimbabweans and Tsonga South Africans in Giyani, South Africa","authors":"Tamuka Chekero, Shannon Morreira","doi":"10.1177/0002039720914311","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720914311","url":null,"abstract":"This ethnographic study explores forms of mutuality and conviviality between Shona migrants from Zimbabwe and Tsonga-speaking South Africans living in Giyani, South Africa. To analyse these forms of mutuality, we draw on Southern African concepts rather than more conventional development or migration theory. We explore ways in which the Shona concept of hushamwari (translated as “friendship”) and the commensurate xiTsonga category of kuhanyisana (“to help each other to live”) allow for conviviality. Employing the concept of hushamwari enables us to move beyond binaries of kinship versus friendship relations and examine the ways in which people create reciprocal friendships that are a little “like kin.” We argue that the cross-cutting forms of collective personhood that underlie both Shona and Tsonga ways of being make it possible to form social bonds across national lines, such that mutuality can be made between people even where the wider social context remains antagonistic to “foreigners.”","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"33 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720914311","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45793889","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Peacekeeping Experiences as Triggers of Introspection in the Ghanaian Military Barracks","authors":"H. Agyekum","doi":"10.1177/0002039720922868","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720922868","url":null,"abstract":"African political elites have been forthcoming with military support for United Nations peacekeeping missions, contributing substantially to these missions’ workforce. Despite their contribution, most studies on peacekeeping omit the African soldier’s voice on his experiences of the African war theatre. This article features Ghanaian soldiers’ narratives based on their peacekeeping deployments and illuminates how Ghanaian peacekeepers connect their experiences to their home society. In this contribution, I illustrate how Ghanaian soldiers’ narratives about peacekeeping experiences are framed as deterring examples for their home society, thus potentially impacting their actions and behaviours. Based on long-term qualitative research embedded with the Ghanaian military, drawing from interviews and informal conversations with peacekeeping veterans and serving military operatives, it is argued that Ghanaian soldiers’ narratives of peacekeeping experiences and the collective processes through which these narratives gain currency in the barracks and beyond are informed by introspection in the post-peacekeeping deployment phase.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"50 - 72"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720922868","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45425296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring the Middle Class in Africa – Income Versus Assets Approach","authors":"Tereza Němečková, Jaromír Harmáček, M. Schlossárek","doi":"10.1177/0002039720916087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720916087","url":null,"abstract":"Traditionally, economists measure middle class from the income perspective. Considering quality of data for many African countries, relying solely on income may, unfortunately, lead to an incorrect picture. This article compares and analyses the African middle class measured by income and by ownership of assets. Results indicate that middle class sizes differ significantly in some countries, while in others they are more or less the same. Regression analyses performed to investigate potential correlates of the African income and assets middle class sizes indicate that the African assets middle class size is positively associated with income per capita and negatively with assets inequality. To a lesser extent, it is positively affected by education and negatively by ethnic fractionalisation. The African income middle class size depends positively on income per capita and education, while negatively on income inequality.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"3 - 32"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720916087","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41438644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book review","authors":"L. Kroeker","doi":"10.1177/0002039720915924","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720915924","url":null,"abstract":"Attribution 4.0 License (https:// creativecommons. org/ licences/ by/ 4. 0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https:// us. sagepub. com/ enus/ nam/ openaccessatsage). Book Review Africa Spectrum 2020, Vol. 55(1) 113–115 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub. com/ journalspermissions DOI: 10. 1177/ 0002 0397 20915924 journals. sagepub. com/ home/ afr Book Review","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"113 - 115"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720915924","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45798824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamics of Everyday Life within Municipal Administrations in Francophone and Anglophone Africa","authors":"Matthew Sabbi, L. Doumbia, Dieter Neubert","doi":"10.1177/0002039720914630","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720914630","url":null,"abstract":"Decentralisation in sub-Saharan Africa promises to build responsive institutions, hold officials to account and promote popular participation. Still, existent studies ignore the everyday interface between decentralised structures and citizens, as well as how decentralised institutions function in relation to their local contexts and other “authorities” on the margins. These contexts shape service provision and the impact of local power structures on local communities. Against this backdrop, our conference in Dakar, Senegal, on “Dynamics of Everyday Life within Municipal Administrations in Francophone and Anglophone Africa,” which took place in May 2019, demonstrated three key points of interest: namely, how actors within local bureaucracies interface with those who are outside; how ordinary citizens appropriate the bureaucratic techniques of the state and how these actors negotiate and adapt to the daily practices of municipal administrations. In general, decentralisation is not simply implemented, rather, it creates new frameworks and spaces for both formal and informal public action.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"73 - 85"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720914630","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44420476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Corona Virus and Migration Governance in South Africa: Business As Usual?","authors":"F. Zanker, Khangelani Moyo","doi":"10.1177/0002039720925826","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720925826","url":null,"abstract":"The South African response in dealing with the Corona pandemic needs to speak to the realities of all people living in the country, including migrant and refugee communities. Reflecting on this in light of ongoing research on the political stakes of migration governance, we find that the virus response shows little change in the government agenda when it comes to dealing with refugees and other migrants. Veritably, we see that the pandemic may even be an excuse for pushing through already-aspired to policies. This includes the securitised agenda behind the sudden building of a border fence to close off Zimbabwe and the xenophobic-rhetorical clout behind the lockdown rules about which shops are allowed to remain open. The temporary stay on renewing asylum seekers permits counts as a perfunctory exception. We show that each of these developments very much play into politics as usual.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"100 - 112"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720925826","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45037487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: The Army and Politics in Zimbabwe: Mujuru, the Liberation Fighter and Kingmaker","authors":"Martin Welz","doi":"10.1177/0002039720917680","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720917680","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720917680","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46271976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Ghetto President and Presidential Challenger in Uganda","authors":"Garhe Osiebe","doi":"10.1177/0002039720916085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039720916085","url":null,"abstract":"The political history of post-colonial Uganda is about as fascinating as that of any post-colonial state. The styles of key political figures, including Milton Obote and Idi Amin Dada, who have had the privilege of leading the country, are central to this fascination. Yet, since becoming Uganda’s leader in 1986, President Yoweri Museveni appears to have outdone his predecessors so much so that an entire generation cares little of the country’s history before Museveni. In 2021, the Ugandan people are scheduled to go to the polls in a presidential election. Following the success of a bill in parliament to expunge an upper age limit to contest for the office of president, the seventy-five -year-old Museveni is set to seek an additional mandate. Unlike in his previous electoral contests, however, Museveni faces the challenge of a man less than half his age. Thirty-seven year-old Robert Kyagulanyi is among the most successful popular musicians in East Africa. Kyagulanyi has since exploited his success and fame to become an elected Member of Uganda’s Parliament. Barely two years after the artist materialised as a politician, the Ghetto President, as he is popularly known, has declared his intention to run for the office Museveni occupies, against Museveni. Since Museveni permitted electoral contests for the presidency of Uganda, he has remained defiantly invincible. How does Kyagulanyi propose to undo this, and why does he think he can, to the extent of daring? Drawing on a socio-biographical analysis of the celebrity MP, some strategic interviewing and student-participant observation, the article engages the dynamics inherent with some of these issues.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"55 1","pages":"86 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039720916085","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45221763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Unintended Consequences of Risk Assessment Regimes: How Risk Adversity at European Universities Is Affecting African Studies: Die unbeabsichtigten Folgen von Risikobewertung: Wie sich Gefahrenvermeidung an Europäischen Universitäten auf die Afrikaforschung auswirkt","authors":"Giulia Piccolino, Sabine Franklin","doi":"10.1177/0002039719898904","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0002039719898904","url":null,"abstract":"Many European universities have introduced procedures for assessing risks to social researchers. These procedures are inspired by occupational and safety health standards, whose logic is driven by the suppression of uncertainty. The rise of risk assessment also fits into a broader global trend of increasingly representing marginalised areas of the world as risky and insecure. While there is a lack of evidence about the actual impact of these procedures on mitigating risks, they are posing an increasing burden on researchers in terms of time, effort, and financial resources, affecting particularly research in and about Africa. Risk assessment can also influence the choice of research methods and reinforce neocolonial patterns of knowledge production by encouraging the transfer of risk to local partners, whose views are rarely integrated in the risk assessment process. This analysis discusses the unintended impact of risk assessment and gives some suggestions for improving processes of preventing risk to social researchers.","PeriodicalId":45570,"journal":{"name":"Africa Spectrum","volume":"54 1","pages":"268 - 281"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0002039719898904","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46715222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}