Journal of Asian and African Studies最新文献

{"title":"Resolving Teesta River Conflicts: Harnessing Institutional Solutions for Cross-Border Water Cooperation","authors":"Kajol Gupta","doi":"10.1177/00219096231218436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231218436","url":null,"abstract":"This research delves into the enduring Teesta River water-sharing dispute between India and Bangladesh, highlighting the pivotal role of institutions, with insights gleaned from international experiences. It comprehensively reviews the historical evolution, notably the Farakka Barrage and key treaties in 1977 and 1996, illuminating the dispute’s deep-rooted origins. The study investigates the unresolved Teesta River conflict, rooted in pre-partition concerns and divergent water allocation demands. By analysing decades of negotiations and the involvement of joint commissions and technical groups, it contributes vital insights into effective conflict resolution mechanisms within shared river systems, offering significant understanding of India–Bangladesh relations.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"240 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139152797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Between Colonial and Revolutionary Heritage: Contemporary Political Urban Landscape of São Tomé","authors":"Krzysztof Górny","doi":"10.1177/00219096231218439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231218439","url":null,"abstract":"This article tackles the subject of political urban landscape of São Tomé, the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its aim is to characterise the urban landscape of this city, which has not been previously extensively explored in international literature, in terms of political and historical aspects. As demonstrated by the results of the conducted field research, the contemporary landscape of São Tomé is a system of intertwined components, related to various eras in the islands’ history. On one hand, there are still many traces of Portuguese colonial heritage; on the other hand, there are also plenty of symbolic elements associated with the period of Marxist dictatorship of 1975–1991.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"52 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139153238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tribal Education in India – Reviewing the Progress and the Way Forward","authors":"V. Sucharita","doi":"10.1177/00219096231219759","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231219759","url":null,"abstract":"The present paper critically reviews various educational interventions and the resultant trends in the participation and learning outcomes in the domain of tribal education in India. A review of the existing policies on formal education suggests that there have not been clear-cut policy provisions for the education of tribal children aligning with their socio-cultural needs. They are often clubbed with other disadvantaged groups, wherein they are perceived as mere beneficiaries of various government schemes and incentives. Given the profound diversity of the tribal groups, a ‘one size fits all’ approach may not work, which obliterates their identity and blurs the cultural differences. The interventions too have primarily focused on their assimilation with the mainstream society than towards inclusion. The paper also discusses various forms of exclusion and marginalization of tribal children in schools and delineates possible pathways for building more inclusive and democratic educational ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"14 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139153772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Gender Dilemmas of Kupindira Among the Ndau People of South-Eastern Zimbabwe","authors":"T. Muyambo","doi":"10.1177/00219096231215714","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231215714","url":null,"abstract":"This article problematises gender and ethical issues surrounding kupindira, as an infertility management measure, among the Ndau of south-eastern Zimbabwe. This phenomenological qualitative study utilised interviews and observations to collect data from 20 participants who comprised both the old and the young, male and female. Some of the findings revealed that while the kupindira practice saves marriages, it promotes gender inequalities and is characterised by ethical dilemmas. Using cultural hermeneutics, the article concludes that while kupindira forms part of Ndau traditions on infertility, it must be reconstructed to make it a safe practice for human flourishing.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139153543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Street Vendors Using Smartphones for Digital Payments: A Qualitative Study of Digital Opportunities and Inequalities From Kashmir Region in India","authors":"Ikhlaq Ul Rehman Mir, M. I. Wani","doi":"10.1177/00219096231218437","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231218437","url":null,"abstract":"There are around 4.9 million street vendors in India, a large part of the country’s informal sector workforce. Linked to India’s focus on digital economy and promotion of digital transactions, there is growing popularity of mobile payment (m-payment) applications or m-wallets such as PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, Bhim, and so on. This is also the case with street vendors, and the sight of a street vendor with a QR barcode for accepting payments is not uncommon. How do street vendors make sense of smartphone-based transactions in their lives? In qualitative interviews with street vendors in Srinagar city in Kashmir region in India, a complex picture emerged. Street vendors were mostly illiterate or had limited education, but were quickly adopting m-payments. For online transactions, QR barcode stickers were mostly displayed on carts of street vendors in Kashmir. However, at the same time, vendors had little or no understanding of these m-payment apps. They had limited language skills and had to take help of literate friends or family members to check transactions or to get over difficulties in operation. The use of these m-payment apps or m-wallet smartphone applications introduced new opportunities associated with digital payments. However, gaps in digital skills are pronounced, and remained a major challenge for the street vendors. During the course of fieldwork in Srinagar (2022–2023), we also observed that m-payment companies introduced technological solutions such as speaker-based instant audio confirmations for payments such as Paytm Soundbox and PhonePe Smartspeaker. This is indicative of the continuous tracking of the informal sector usage by such companies, and clearly they are aware and receptive of such gaps. However, market-linked technological solutions only address operational gaps, and do not address the underlying causes, including illiteracy, and knowledge or skill gaps. Such observations can be helpful in planning and implementation of government policies for street vendors in India.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"26 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139154719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Considering How India’s Middle East Policy Has Changed and Remained Consistent Since 2019 Under Modi Government","authors":"Abbas Ahmad Rather","doi":"10.1177/00219096231218446","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231218446","url":null,"abstract":"The review of India’s Middle East strategy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has garnered attention. Modi’s outreach to Israel, including a historic 2017 visit, departs from India’s traditional pro-Arab and pro-Palestine stance. His subsequent visits to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, and Oman engage major regional players. Does this foreshadow a foreign policy shift? Can Modi’s preferences explain this shift? This paper aims to extract insights on Modi’s influence on this policy evolution. Drawing from foreign policy studies, it questions prevailing interpretations, suggesting a noteworthy change in India’s stance in the Middle East.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"15 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139153768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Compromised Strongman: Interrelationship of Strongman Politics, Radical Rights, and Nationalism in Contemporary Bangladesh","authors":"Md. Samzir Ahmed","doi":"10.1177/00219096231218444","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231218444","url":null,"abstract":"The strongman is the single key approach to studying the democratic status, the rise of radical rights, and the questions on nationalism in present-day Bangladesh. Occupying the office since 2008, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took a sharp turn in 2014 to become a strongman leader of the country, and a successful strongman regime has been created in the process. Since then, the strongman government has made quite a few populist compromises with the radical right groups, which then, in turn, gave birth to a distinct kind of strongmanship: the compromised strongman. This historical research through secondary data analyses finds that a nationalist identity split between a linguistic and a religious, national consciousness has played the role of the major catalyst in the political outcome of the country, and an apparent compromise between the two groups representing the secular and the religious blocks, contrary to common sense, paved the way for the strongman politics in Bangladesh.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"15 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139153418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Press and Politics: Contributions of Sol Plaatje to South African Journalism","authors":"Abiodun Salawu","doi":"10.1177/00219096231218447","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231218447","url":null,"abstract":"The article looks into the journalism of Solomon Thekisho Plaatje (popularly known as Sol Plaatje) and his contributions to the early South African black press and politics. Sol Plaatje remains one of South Africa’s most important political and literary figures. He was a pioneer of black press in South Africa. He was a spokesman of his people and an opinion leader among them. He was the first Secretary of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) which later became the African National Congress (ANC), the current ruling political party in South Africa. His services to war correspondents as secretary, typist or interpreter and ‘liaison officer’ (to war correspondent Vere Stent) laid the foundation for his careers in journalism and writing. Plaatje edited/published a number of Setswana/English newspapers such as Koranta ea Becoana ( Bechuana Gazette), Tsala ea Becoana ( Bechuana Friend) which later became Tsala ea Batho ( Friend of the People) and Our Heritage. He also wrote regularly for English language newspapers such as Star, Pretoria News, Cape Times, Cape Argus and Diamond Fields Advertiser. The study seeks to find out the interplay between Sol Plaatje’s journalism and politics and his contributions to South African journalism as a pioneer of the black press. The study adopts the historical research method. Data gathered for the study were qualitatively analysed. Sol Plaatje’s kind of journalism was developmental as it was geared towards defending his people and re-orientating them to better ideals while at the same time trying to build cohesion with the white populace. The study is a contribution to the reconstruction of media history in the post-apartheid South Africa.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"34 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139154674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: Performing Memories and Weaving Archives: Creolized Cultures Across the Indian Ocean","authors":"Shankhadeep Chattopadhyay","doi":"10.1177/00219096231221906","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231221906","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"14 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139154081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deconstructing Cardboard Muslim Man: Masculinity Continuum and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Bangladesh","authors":"Marcela Ondekova, Olive McCarthy, C. Power","doi":"10.1177/00219096231215722","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096231215722","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyses the construction of Muslim masculinities and their positioning towards women’s economic empowerment through a life history method applied to examine the lives of 12 purposely selected Bangladeshi Muslim men. The analysis of the men’s accounts positioned the narrators on a masculinity continuum, which incorporates three fluid masculinity markers – Antagonists, Allies and Advocates. The paper challenges the notion of one specific hegemonic masculinity, although some common features were identified, such as dominance of the male breadwinner and situatedness within heteronormativity. The narrators demonstrated a strong inter-generational shift towards rejection of violence and preference for peaceful intrahousehold relationships, even among Antagonists. The proximity of Ally masculinities to Advocates and their relational interests create strong potential for strategic engagement and guiding Ally men to adopt more progressive masculinities.","PeriodicalId":506002,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Asian and African Studies","volume":"19 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139166240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}