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Contents Introduction 1 New forms of collaborative innovation and production on the Internet : Volker Wittke and Heidemarie Hanekop Interdisciplinary perspectives on collaborative innovation and production: Conceptual debates 2 Customer Co-Creation: Open Innovation with Customers : Frank Piller, Christoph Ihl and Alexander Vossen 3 Governing Social Production : Niva Elkin-Koren 4 Trust Management in Online Communities : Audun Jøsang 5 Building a reputation system for Wikipedia : Christian Damsgaard Jensen 6 Cooperation in Wikipedia from a Network Perspective : Christian Stegbauer Firm driven collaborative innovation and production: Case studies 7 Managing a New Consumer Culture: “Working Consumers” in Web 2.0 as a Source of Corporate Feedback : Sabine Hornung, Frank Kleemann and G. Günter Voß 8 Prosuming, or when customers turn collaborators: coordination and motivation of customer contribution : Birgit Blättel-Mink, Raphael Menez, Dirk Dalichau, Daniel Kahnert 9 Role Confusion in Open Innovation Intermediary Arenas : Tobias Fredberg, Maria Elmquist, Susanne Ollila, Anna Yström List of Contributors
When taking into consideration the demographic and socio-economic trends in most European countries, the demand for domestic services will be increasing in the next decades. This development could be used for creating formal employment opportunities in private households for unskilled and low-skilled labour. However, it is not an easy task since it entails devising a strategy for reducing the high share of informal labour in as well as overcoming the current fragmentation of the domestic services sector. Both on the national and EU level there is a need for policy advice on how to best integrate the diverse but yet interrelated needs and interests of the households, the employees and the firms as providers of domestic services into one coherent strategy. So far, such a comprehensive strategy can be found only in France where the BorlooPlan systematically integrated measures and tools from all relevant fields of politics. Thus it led to a significant growth of the domestic services sector and a substantial increase of formal employment. This brochure presents the Generalised Model, a tool for devising a similarly comprehensive and coherent strategy. It was constructed by drawing on the successful French strategy of creating more formal employment relationships through the systematic development of the domestic services sector. The brochure demonstrates how other countries can learn from the French experience by analysing their current situation and using the Generalised Model to create a strategy fitting their specific circumstances. By studying the situations in Germany, Austria, Italy and Poland and considering how to create strategies fitting the different national settings in these countries it is shown how the Generalised Model can put into practice. These case studies were conducted in the EU Project “Labour Market Instruments for Reducing Illegal Employment in Private Households of the Elderly”, supported by DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. The brochure intends to initiate and stimulate discourses on fostering the creation of formal employment in EU Member States. Therefore, it addresses different stakeholders such as policymakers on the national, regional and EU level, representatives of local administrations, providers of domestic services, domestic workers, trade unions or welfare associations, labour administration, placement services as well as providers of education and training.
Nso' and Its Neighbours : Readings in the Social History of the Western Grassfields of Cameroon
(2011)
This is a rich and compelling volume of readings in social history on Nsoí and its neighbours in the Western Grassfields of Cameroon. It consists of 19 essays by some of the leading historians, archeologists and ethnographers of the region, with seminal contributions by Jean-Pierre Warnier, Paul Nchoji Nkwi, Bongfen Chem-Langhee, Phyllis Kaberry, E.M Chilver, Miriam Goheen, Ian Flower, Dan Lantum and V.G. Fanso. The book covers a broad range of themes from precolonial times to date, including trade, alliances, diplomacy, the iron industry, colonial impact, continuities, discontinuities and compromise, general persistence, ideology and conflict. Warnier draws on linguistic and archaeological data to argue that this region has been settled for several millennia, very probably continuously, and that its landscapes are very ancient and have resulted from many human and natural forces other than the simple clearance of the forest cover of the region at an uncertain date as some authors have postulated. Using data on inter-group diplomacy and alliances, Nkwi puts into question some problematic theses on persistence hostilities and enhances knowledge of the precolonial history of the region. Fowler and Chem-Langhee show how local conditions and needs fostered the spirit and practice of cooperative ventures in the precolonial period, which provided the driving force and the ideological and structural underpinnings for the successful and smooth introduction of modern modes of cooperation in the area during the colonial and postcolonial periods. The rest of the studies have a unifying theme or thesis, namely, that despite the entry and assault of external, influences, particularly those associated with colonialism, Christianity and Islam, the traditional institutions, customs and value systems of the Nsoí and their neighbours have resisted major change and their total corrosion is not yet in sight. The volume illustrates the proposition that historical research is a continuous process of rediscovery which provides new questions, and also that the evidence of other disciplines - linguistics, archaeology and palaeobotany for example - may give rise to many new lines of inquiry and help to correct the documentary record and explain oral tradition. Herein lies the most important element of this experimental collection. Its editors hope that it will provoke other similar collections.
Local Livelihoods and Protected Area Management : Biodiversity Conservation Problems in Cameroon
(2011)
Cameroon's tropical forest is home to numerous plants and animals. It is also inhabited by Baka pygmies who are foragers and Bantu farmers. These communities have developed forest-dependent livelihoods, cultures and religions. Destruction of the forest by commercial and state interests, subsistence agriculture and the harvesting of products has necessitated a considerable upsurge in environmental protection projects to conserve and rehabilitate ecosystems, forests, soils and water resources. Ultimately, the approach to conservation that is applied is the responsibility of the government and international development agencies. The case studies documented seek to demonstrate that a broader perspective linking environmental protection and human welfare is important for two reasons. First, it addresses the rights and needs of local people and more marginal groups in society. Second, it also ensures that fundamental conservation objectives are achieved in practice with the participation of local people. The book develop guidelines for a more integrative and socially-aware approach to environmental planning and project design and implementation. It outlines a participatory mapping procedure for the design and implementation of community forest programmes. This is a valuable book for land resource managers, environmentalists, environmental biologists, conservators, field workers and technicians involved with environmental conservation. With the professionalisation of courses in most universities, the book will constitute good reading for students of geography, biology, agriculture, forestry, botany and natural resource management.
The Last Hope
(2011)
This play was written as part of an evaluation of Africa's oldest and most diverse rainforest conservation initiative in the Korup area, with the aim of highlighting and sharing some lessons learnt from the creation of the Korup National Park, through a period of full activity, to when activities were considerably reduced. It is a fine blend of the results of the evaluation and some carefully developed fictional, artistic materials for the achievement of an overall dramatic effect. Ekpe Inyang gives an informed artistic touch to achieve dramatic effects, succinctly relating the story of Cameroon's first rainforest national park, Korup.
The Cameroon Political Story is a long journey through the eyes and actions of the author himself. It is a mix between Mbile's memoirs, a bit of his biography and the Cameroon political story, heavily weighted in favour of that part of the Republic formerly identified as Southern Cameroons, later West Cameroon, now South West and North West Regions. The story is told in the interest of the Cameroonian youth and scholar who have often complained of the inadequate recording by political leaders of the life and deeds of their times. It is the story of an African boy of humble village beginnings who rose to participate in the making of a modern political community. It is hoped the book provides useful knowledge on the history, growth and constitutional evolution of Cameroon, a country which after more than a century of administrative metamorphosis settled to its present statehood in 1961, a Cameroon reborn.
No Trifling Matter : Contributions of an Uncompromising Critic to the Democratic Process in Cameroon
(2011)
No Trifling Matter is a collection of controversial, critical weekly commentary on the reluctance of a monolithic regime to yield to popular aspirations for democracy in Cameroon. In these essays written between 1990 and November 1992, Godfrey Tangwa, alias Rotcod Gobata, doesnt quibble. He comes across as a man of courage and resolve; one ready to swim upstream in a manner of a desperate midwife eager to prevent a still birth (in this case, of democracy). His column is as daring an embarrassment to Biyas démocratie avancée as the radio programme Cameroon Report (later Cameroon Calling), was to Presidents Ahidjo and Biya in the hey days of the parti unique. Rotcod Gobata believes the time has come for Cameroon to graduate from a country over milked by mediocrity and callous indifference, to the paradise that it was meant to be for the poor and downtrodden. In this regard, he belongs with that rare breed of intellectuals who are genuine in their pursuit of collective betterment, and who in consequence, have opted to distance themselves from the stomach and all its trappings. This position is to be commended and encouraged, especially in a system where explanation is often mistaken for subversion, a system where the stomach is about the only political path-finder - the sole compass in use, a country where the champions of falsehood want all at their beck and call, and where a handful of thirsting palates daily jostle to share with Count Dracula the blood of the common and forgotten. Rotcod Gobata wants the new Cameroon to be rid of the ills and failures of the past five decades that have made it impossible for Cameroonians in their millions to live productive and creative lives.
In the on-going democratic debate, the Cameroonian media have not played the role of objective mediators. A one-party logic, of which government, opposition and the public are guilty, has prevented Cameroonian multipartyism from addressing the major issue: that of how best to bring about real participatory democracy. So far, democracy has served mainly as a face powder, an empty concept or slogan devoid of concrete meaning used to justify reactionary propaganda by the ruling party and its acolytes on the one hand, and revolutionary propaganda by the opposition and some pressure groups on the other. This polarisation in the Cameroonian political arena corresponds to a similar polarisation in the Cameroonian media. One can identify two main political tendencies in the media: first, there are those who argue that all the government does is good and in the best interest of Cameroon, and that the radical opposition is void of patriots and motivated only by selfish, regional, or ethnic self-interests. These comprise the publicly owned, government-controlled electronic and print media on the one hand, and pro-government 'privately' owned newspapers on the other. Second, there are those who claim that all the radical opposition does or stands for is in the best interest of Cameroon, and that the government and its allies are only motivated by a stubborn love of power and other selfish pursuits. These comprise the bulk of the privately owned papers. The media are polarised into two diametrically opposing camps, each claiming to know and represent the best interests of the Cameroonian people.
Despite rapid urbanisation, Africa remains predominantly rural. This calls for decentralisation beyond the dominant concern by states and government with urban spaces. Rural areas, rural development and the future of rural settlements need to be understood and addressed in the context of the ongoing democratisation trends and the emergence and development of civil society. States have tended to tame rather than serve civil society in Africa. By establishing a single cultural reference and imposing a centralised state, African governments have exacerbated the fragmentation of civil society. However, political pluralism has slowly been gaining ground since the 1990s. This book explores the scope for implementing decentralisation programmes that focus on citizens in rural areas. For the purpose of decentralisation, civic participation in local politics and user participation in development programmes must be seen as two sides of the coin. The book focuses on spatial planning ? a process concerned with spatial organisation in an integrative manner, and incorporates the design, establishment and implementation of a desired spatial structural organisation of land. This is especially relevant in a context where the formulation of guidelines for spatial development at the overall level of a state is inadequate.
The Death of Asobo-Ntsi
(2011)
This novel re-visions history through narrative fiction: the history of his people that has long been silenced and distorted as a colonial strategy, the history of an African community at the crossroads. Asobo-Ntsi, the stubborn yet proud Fon of Nyen, is faced with some challenges amongst which are: his seven- and nine-man council that is not happy with his dictatorship and tax laws, a disgruntled quarter that attempts to secede, and also, the encroaching colonialist, Nwuoupang, with his church and administration. How Asobo-Ntsi handles these challenges is expressed powerfully and movingly with great narrative artistry that absorbs the reader and keeps him/her enthralled to the end.
Neoliberalism has become the dominant development agenda in Africa. Faced with a deep economic and political crisis, African governments have been compelled by powerful external agencies, in particular the Bretton Woods institutions and western states, to pursue this agenda as a necessary precondition for the receipt of development aid. What is particularly striking in Africa, however, is that neoliberal experiments there have displayed such remarkable diversity. This may be due not only to substantial differences in historical, economic and political trajectories on the African continent but also, and maybe more importantly, in the degree of resistance internal actors have demonstrated to the neoliberal reforms imposed on them. This book focuses on Cameroon which has had a complex economic and political history and is currently witnessing resistance to the neoliberal experiment by the authoritarian and neopatrimonial state elite and various civil-society groups. It is the culmination of over twenty years of fine and refined research by one of the leading scholars of Cameroon today.
The Power to Succeed
(2011)
This is the fascinating story of a young girl from a very poor family who raised her head high and raised the dignity of women through her own personal and determined effort. She did not yield to the victimizations of corrupt minds, nor to the temptations of apathy and pessimistic thinking; rather she saw everything optimistically and through many hardships achieved her life's ambitions.
Regional Balance and National Integration in Cameroon : Lessons Learned and the Uncertain Future
(2011)
This book presents a series of reflections by Cameroon scholars on a variety of topics associated with regional balance and national integration. The different reflections look for answers to some burning questions of the day such as: Where are we coming from? Where are we going? How are we going where we are going? Have the different state ideologies offered appropriate solutions to the quest for a strong, united, stable and prosperous nation-state? If not, what has gone wrong and why? What can be done to shape the future and accommodate the aspirations of the men and women of Cameroon and of their progeny? The book addresses the issue of national unity and national integration within the context of different political perceptions and visions. It examines the merits and demerits of the policy of regional balance of the Ahmadou Ahidjo years (1960-1982). Focus is also on the underlying flaws of this doctrine and philosophy. The debate also addresses some critical questions of the national integration policy and practices of Paul Biya, President since November 1982. The policy has failed to achieve its stated goals and has ended up in the ethnicisation and polarisation of national life. The future of the Cameroon nation-state, with its rich ethnic and cultural diversity, seems to be in jeopardy as internal forces question the management of civil society by leaders who have lost the sense of justice and equity. Why are there several voices singing the song of destitution and disappointment with the state? Have regionalism and the rhetoric of national integration and balance emerged as untenable polities within a nation-state in search of an identity and responsible leadership? These are some of the questions and issues Cameroonian and Cameroonist scholars have tried to address in this collection of 28 well-researched and outstandingly argued essays.
At independence, Cameroon and Nigeria adhered to the OAU principle of UTI POSSEDETIS JURIS by inheriting the colonial administrative borders whose delineation in some parts was either imperfect or not demarcated or both. The two countries tried to correct these anomalies. But such efforts were later thwarted by incessant geostrategic reckoning, dilatory, and diversionary tactics in the seventies and eighties that persisted and resurfaced in the nineties with a more determined posture. On two occasions, the border conflict almost boiled over to a full-scale war. First, in May 1981 when there was the exchange of fire between Cameroonian and Nigerian coast guards and second, in February 1994 when Nigeria marched her troops into Cameroon's Bakassi Peninsula. Elsewhere in Africa, border incidents like these have often degenerated into war. But Cameroon and Nigeria together with the international community managed these protracted incidents from escalating into war. This book examines the part played by the disputing parties, Cameroon and Nigeria; the mediation, conciliatory and adjudicatory role of third parties; and the regional and international organisations, in the process of the resolution of the border dispute from 1981-2011. The study situates the nature and dynamics of the dispute historically, and comprehensively explores in detail its causes, settlement and resolution.
There is a dearth of well researched books on important disciplines in law written by Cameroonians. This regrettable situation has invariably meant a reliance of substantive and practice books written mostly by Nigerian and English writers. While books written by these writers have been helpful, they have not always captured the peculiarities and judicial attitudes of the Cameroonian context. When approached from the perspective of practice in the Anglophone regions, not even Cameroonian writers of French orientation have done justice to this situation. This book contributes to filling this gap. It is a comprehensive review that combines an analysis of the principles and basic procedure of labour law in Cameroon. Yanou draws on solid academic research as well as a wide ranging experience in legal practice across Cameroon and Nigeria to present a coherent and practical elaboration of themes such as employment, dismissal, remedies for wrongful dismissal, compensation for industrial injuries, and trade unions. The book is also motivated by the desire for a repository for members of the Bar and Bench, judges, academics, students and human resources practitioners.
The Power To Make A Choice
(2011)
Is it possible to make a difference in your life that no one else has ever made? What difference will you make as an individual in your life's situations? Have you ever considered yourself a possible obstacle to your future plans? Some people toil and amass knowledge and fame to make a difference. Some engage in a life of politics where they believe they can make a difference. Still, there are some who make a difference in a quiet way and move the world on. The difference you make may lead to negative or positive results and both ways have a price. It is worth exploring the powers you have and discovering the real you. Life is full of surprises. Life around you might be ignorant but you have the potential to move to a better understanding. This story portrays and affirms the uniqueness of each person: how one moves on in life amidst all the difficulties that life presents. Life is beautiful if we are able to challenge what we can and accept what we cannot change. The Power to Make a Choice is a powerful story on how to look within ourselves to make a difference.
The debate on the existence of African philosophy has taken central stage in academic circles, and academics and researchers have tussled with various aspects of this subject. This book notes that the debate on the existence of African philosophy is no longer necessary. Instead, it urges scholars to demonstrate the different philosophical genres embedded in African philosophy. As such, the book explores African metaphysical epistemology with the hope to redirect the debate on African philosophy. It articulates and systematizes metaphysical and epistemological issues in general and in particular on Africa. The book aptly shows how these issues intersect with the philosophy of life, traditional beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of ordinary Africans and the challenges they raise for scholarship in and on philosophy with relevance to Africa.
Within the Walls of Hell
(2011)
The Land of Eternal Discomfort is a place where no one wants to go. It is hot and dirty. One is sure to experience depression once there and sleep is a luxury no longer attainable in that place. Unbelievable though it may seem one enters the Land of Eternal Discomfort by choice. It is a place destined for those who did not live a righteous life according to the Creator. The kind of life one lives down below determines where they go thereafter. For the seven characters in this play, the love of power and the hatred for those different and inferior to themselves leads them to choose a life of luxury gained through deceit, theft, adultery and murder. Against all the Creator's commands, they chose to live lives of self-gratification ignoring their obligations to their fellow man. The choice they made was for their lives down there but they will forever live with the consequences in their lives thereafter. Life down there does not last forever and the characters are destined to meet the Messenger at which time the choice will have already been made. When you finally meet the Messenger, pray that he is ushering you into the Land of Eternal Happiness because in the other place you are doomed forever. In the Land of Eternal Discomfort the gate can only open to let someone in. It cannot open to let anyone out. Once you are in there you can never get out again.
The Campaign Trail
(2011)
In an uncomplicated plot, The Campaign Trail takes its readers through the independence of a state in fiction, the introduction of a multiparty system, to its demise owing to poor governance and power struggle; this novel has a universal appeal to the political scientist, the literary critic, the sociologist, the anthropologist and just anyone who needs entertainment. The author blends the comic and the tragic to good effect.
In this collection Ayuninjam attempts to capture his sentiments on many plains. He also takes the liberty to capture the sentiments of other persons in his life and in society as a whole as well as the sentiments of other creatures that are part of the chain of life. As a result, much of what follows is occasional poetry, as he has more often than not responded or reacted to his sensations while also being a surrogate for those who could (or would) not express theirs. Having lived abroad for as long as he lived in Cameroon, his perspective has, accordingly, been coloured, though not necessarily transmuted. The poems transcend space and time.
This detailed, meticulous ethnographic study on mobile phone use among Nuba students at the University of Khartoum in Sudan, distinguishes itself from other studies by taking a focused look at the linguistic content of mobile phone interactions via text-messaging, portraying it as a site for the expression of personalized and affective language. While men and women appear to be equally aggressive consumers and producers of text-message poetry, women are formally discouraged in using the phone for relations that go beyond the publicly acceptable norms of 'keeping in touch' and making arrangements. Nonetheless, women use it for such purposes and many manage it discreetly, showing how this technology can serve to subvert discursive norms on gender and marriage. The mobile phone in Sudan enhances individual autonomy over interactions, making possible the extension and creation of social spaces. It simultaneously enlarges private space and trespasses into public space. Poetic themes and language, previously limited to elite producers - those both more literate and who had control over mass media domains, radio and newspapers - are exposed to anonymous recipients, who draw from, copy or forward them in continuous circulation, thereby staking a claim in the public sphere. Similarly, the mobile phone serves as a site for the exercise of several layers of identity in negotiation, and reflects or creates alternative identities and the contestation of existing discourses, communities in physical space and notions of belonging.
This book emphasises that planning is essential, as the conservation approaches of the past may not work in an ever-changing warmer environment. It appraises current management strategies, assesses the biological and physical effects of climate change on natural systems in Cameroon and designs a planning and management framework for each natural system within the context of global warming. Climate change poses a complex bewildering array of problems for ecosystems. The key question is, what can be done ? in addition to efforts to reduce CO2 emissions ? to increase the resistance and resilience of these natural systems to climate change? This book seeks to answer the above question by drawing from the vast array of scientific data available on the subject, and which may not be readily available to policy makers, resource planners, resource managers, environmentalists, students of geography, conservation biology and agronomy. It constitutes an important manual for those ready to confront the impacts of climate change. It is also a valuable document for teachers of the functioning and management of natural systems globally.
In most African countries, banana production has been consigned to subsistence production. However, a few countries, especially in Francophone West Africa, have recognised the commercial importance of banana, and have used their special relationship with France to export bananas. This has led to the dualization of the banana sector, with the traditional system existing side by side with a modern sector geared towards export trade. This book is one of the few comprehensive studies that have incorporated both the agronomic and economic aspects of banana production and marketing in Africa. It looks at all facets of banana production, from an historical perspective to the various traditional and modern technologies involved. The marketing aspect covers both the domestic and international trade, with emphasis on the preferential (ACP / DOM Lome Convention) and the open markets of the European Union. The book is a major contribution to understanding the internationalisation of the banana trade and to its ever-increasing investment portfolio, as the backbone of many a developing tropical economy. Although the emphasis is placed on Cameroon, other relevant African, tropical and subtropical banana-producing countries are mentioned where necessary, especially in the export sector where a degree of competition existed. Further, agricultural practices, soils, meteorological and climatological characteristics, pests and diseases, personnel and banana varieties grown, mean that findings in Cameroon are of relevance to other banana-producing countries, especially in Africa. Meanwhile, other African and tropical countries still contemplating entry into banana exports would benefit from the Cameroon experience. The book is of especial relevance to agronomists, entomologists, economists, farm managers, government policy makers, large, medium and small scale banana growers, and students and teachers in universities and schools of agriculture.
This study explores the predicament of Anglophone Cameroon - from the experiment in federation from 1961 to the political liberalisation struggles of the 1990s - to challenge claims of a successful post-independence Cameroonian integration process. Focusing on the perceptions and actions of people in the Anglophone region, Atanga argues that what has come to be called the 'Anglophone Problem' constitutes one of the severest threats to the post-colonial nation-state project in Cameroon. As a linguistic and cultural minority, Anglophone Cameroonians realised that the Francophone-led state and government were keener in assimilation than in implementing the federal and bilingual nation agreed upon at reunification in 1960. Calls for national integration became simply a subterfuge for the assimilation of Anglophones by Francophones who dominated the state and government. The book details the various measures undertaken to exploit the Anglophone regionís economy and marginalise its people. Principally the economic structures meant to facilitate self-reliant development were undermined and destroyed. Institutionalised discrimination took the form of the exclusion of Anglophones from positions of real authority, and depriving the region of any meaningful development. With the advent of multi-party politics, most Anglophone Cameroonians increasingly have made vocal demands for a return to a federation, in order to adequately guarantee their rights and recognition for them as a political and cultural minority. Actively encouraged by France, the Francophone-led regime in Cameroon has refused to yield to such demands, despite the grave danger of violent conflict and possible secession.
She Seized The Balls
(2011)
In She Seized The Balls, Ntube's exploits can best be described as guided by the hand of providence. In a bid to inherit her father's compound and live comfortably, she destroys the old sacred village grove and fells totemic trees. An epidemic breaks out, killing mostly the elderly. Ntube is accused of causing it because of the destruction of the sacred places. She is brought before the clan council several times but she tantalizes the council with her flawless defences. In due course, she rebuffs her former husband's bid for reconciliation; falls in love with an influential personality and begets a child with him. She uses the man to achieve the building of a bridge across the river that had enclaved the clan for centuries. With her elevated status among her people she becomes the first woman to be given the prerogative to pour libation in a patriarchal society.
In this thought provoking book, Komla Tsey argues that if governments, NGOs, development donor agencies and researchers are serious about development in Africa, they need to get down to ground level, both metaphorically and literally. They must search deep into Africa's own rich oral traditions by creating space and opportunity for ordinary Africans, whose voices have so far been conspicuously absent in the development discourse, to tell and share their own stories of development. Story-sharing as research methodology acts as a mirror, reflecting the participants' self-evaluation of where they have come from, where they are now, and how to proceed into the future. They are strategies that can empower and enable individuals and communities of people to be agents of their own change which, in Tsey's view, is what development is all about.
The Weeping Triangle
(2011)
The Weeping Triangle portrays a country that has been overtaken by corruption. This country had been awarded the most corrupt country in the world two times in a row and a third time is increasingly likely. In a world where money talks and violence is a way of life, most people succumb to the way things are lest they become victims of the system. Smith, however, is one of a kind. As a teacher entrusted with the lives of his students, Smith sees the need to curb the current direction of his country. Frustrated with the way things are, curious as to how things got so bad and motivated to make a change for the better, he stands out among the rest determined to make a difference no matter how small. Branded a fool for his bravery and incessant inquisitiveness, Smith stands up to those in authority; most of whom are bound by corruption. He refuses to partake in this illegal way of life. Encouraging his friends and anyone else to do the same proves difficult but does not deter his intentions. What hope does one have in a country full of lies, secrets, deceptions and bribery? The Weeping Triangle takes you through the journey of Smith and his friends making the most of what little hope there is.
This is an engaged and extremely well-informed book on business and business ethics in a society with political and social-economic crises. As an engaging and engaged effort to bring a nexus between business ethics and business practices in any human society, the book invites the reader to partake in pressing debates on business ethics in times of crisis. The book provides a much needed interdisciplinary approach and marshals an extraordinary array of social and intellectual resources that positively inspire business people and business making. It is wholesome and systematic in its articulation of the political and social forces that shape and are shaped by business. Additionally, it gives the reader a guided tour into the fascinating creativity that shapes and characterises business culture in contemporary Zimbabwe.
I Will Fly is a collection of 52 poems which bring to life a story of struggle and hope, the struggle of ordinary Cameroonians who daily entertain hardship, and of English-speaking Cameroonians born into a minority population. Disgruntlement leads to protests; but what happens when the protests fail to yield? Immigration and resignation, the latter, at times, becoming an invitation to death. Adventure and romance stand as the lifeline of others. Hope is a constant companion in these situations, inviting all and sundry to desist from giving adversary easy victories.
This posthumous publication is a collection of essays some of which are based on the author's research work while others record her thoughts on issues she regarded as important. The materials, which were written between 1991 and 1996, cover a range of subjects that have been tied together under the theme of women, law and justice in Uganda. They represent the author's central concerns, interests and views as they developed over the years.
Essays in Criminology
(2011)
Crime in Africa is fast growing like African cities, African poverty, African indebtedness, African brain-drain and African dependence; everything in Africa appears to be growing very fast; population too has been fast growing except that it is being reduced by violence as we have witnessed in Rwanda, Burundi and Somalia and AIDS pandemic that is first spreading in Africa, claiming thousands of lives every year. This book is a collection of essays and papers not based on empirical research on crime in East Africa but general observations arising out of the author's experience as a criminologist in East Africa.
Dictionary of Criminology
(2011)
In professional disciplines, just as in academics, the definition of basic concepts is fundamental for adequate understanding of issues. A dictionary of criminology may be regarded as irrelevant for the simple reason that criminology cannot be said to constitute an academic or professional discipline in East Africa. But this dictionary is not limited to criminological or sociological concepts alone. Just like any academic discipline, it covers other areas of social studies such as law, economics and politics. The dictionary covers some areas that, to the average reader, are least related to law and crime; but to the specialist, even the least likely entry, like race, tribe and democracy is, in some remote way, linked to the incidence of crime, delinquency or deviance.
Arbitration Law and Practice in Kenya is a practical reference text for one of the fastest growing areas of legal practice in Kenya today. The text covers the arbitration process from the arbitration agreement to commencement of proceedings and to the delivery of the Award in the Kenyan context. All topics are covered against the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1995, the Civil Procedure Act, the UNICTRAL Model Law, relevant international conventions and relevant case law, local, regional and international. The book will prove useful for students, practitioners and arbitrators.
Regional Integration in Africa Bridging the North-Sub-Saharan Divide came about as a research project conducted by the Africa Institute of South Africa and examines the North African countries' strategies of involvement in the African continent, and their integration initiatives. The book looks at major issues involving Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. These countries, in most cases, have been treated as separate from sub-Saharan Africa. However, the historical reality and economic and political interests indicate that the North African countries have been and still are closely connected with the rest of the African continent. Egypt, for example, was one of the leading countries in the African unity movement, and, together with Libya, has contributed to the restructuring of the African continental organisation and the establishment of the African Union. The book consists of two parts. The first part includes five chapters written in English, the second part of the book comprises six chapters written in Arabic.
Joy in the Morning
(2011)
Hopolang was sexually abused by a neighbor and for nineteen years she didn't divulge her experience because she feared that she would be blamed. In the first edition of 'Joy Comes in the Morning' she shared her battle to regain her self-confidence and self-esteem by running into the arms of the One who can heal - God. Through poems, she expresses emotions, such as confusion, pain, fear, betrayal, guilt, regret, approval, self-pity, mistrust and forgiveness that she had to work through. In this revised edition of 'Joy Comes in the Morning', Hopolang recounts how she overcame, not only the trauma of being sexually abused but also other challenges, such as working through relationships and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro- something that she never imagined she could accomplish. As she narrates her experiences, her hope is that the lessons she learned will motivate and inspire her readers. No matter how difficult the circumstances are that we encounter in our lives, we can triumph, and joy always comes in the morning. As she walked the paths of recovery from sexual abuse, Hopolang Phororo longed to read stories she could relate to, of those who had suffered abuse and overcame it. Because such stories were not available, she decided to share her story, to reach out and inspire other women with the message that there is hope. Her passion to see young women realize their fullest potential has led her to set up the Daughters of Destiny (DoD) Ministry (mentoring young women), in countries where she has lived.
This volume, from an Africa perspective, examines the relationship between ethnicity and citizenship within the framework of nation-state. Its objective and scope engage relational aspects of political integration, awaken public conscience, and motivate civic engagement. It provides a platform that could be considered prerequisite for political transformation. Such a framework is indispensable not only for challenging the politics of exclusion and marginalization, but also for reconstructing fractured social relationships. The test of its validity and relevancy is not whether it accounts for particular traditions, but whether it provides a framework through which we can comprehend the dynamics of ethnic identities as an avenue for promoting participatory governance and democratic accountability. An interdisciplinary study of this kind brings forth practical and theoretical contributions to the evolving concepts of ethnicity and citizenship.
Predicaments
(2011)
In this juvenalia, his first collection of poems, Francis Nyamnjoh takes the reader back in time, even as the past catches up with the present, to show how unchanging and even painful life can be. Accordingly, the poems celebrate, mourn, ridicule, lambast, and lament, thereby highlighting Nyamnjoh's characteristic fascination with the plight of the person in society, a picture which reaffirms his already established role as the conscience of spaces, especially those African.
This is a pioneer, long overdue and truly original book that off ers a unique, comprehensive and thorough exposition of the criminal law of Cameroon by a leading scholar. This latest book by Professor Carlson Anyangwe adopts a thematic approach, each chapter covering a specific aspect of the criminal law. The text is a clear, simple and comprehensive exposition of all the offences codified in the Penal Code. It offers a rich, clear, learned and discerning analysis to understanding of the criminal law. The book is designed to instruct and to contribute to a deeper understanding of the subject, the treatment of which is unique, informative and makes for compelling reading. This is the first textbook ever on the subject in Cameroon and it is undoubtedly an indispensable tool of trade for judges, prosecutors, lawyers in private practice, academic lawyers, law students and law enforcement officers.
This is a vivid, thought-provoking and fascinating text on some contentious issues in contemporary medical ethics. The book acknowledges the contribution of 'African tradition' and Western scholarship to the development of medical ethics as a university discipline. It questions the lack of consensus around such biomedical issues as euthanasia and traditional medicine. In many countries, the failure has resulted in public outcries. Its thrust centres on the nexus of practice and theory, and the importance of pragmatism and critical questioning in dealing with different cases on and around biomedicine. Its virtue is its significant shift from the traditional positions on selected biomedical issues to a more rigorous, pragmatic and critical questioning and understanding of the reasoning and positions of all involved and/or affected parties.
This is the story of the prolific professor Newit Anatole Lobe who after his studies and a failed marriage in the US decides to return home to Cameon, an imaginary post-colonial African state to take up a teaching job with the country's main university. When he refuses to join the machinations and antics of the power elites who want to hang on to power at all cost, he pays a heavy price. He plays a key role in the founding of an opposition party just to be betrayed by those in whom he placed his trust. He is arrested and detained on trumped up charges of subversion and complicity with external enemies of the state. He learns the hard way that life is larger than logic.
The Dialectics of Praxis and Theoria in African Philosophy : An Essay on Cultural Hermeneutics
(2011)
This book is a clarion call for African renaissance informed by African spirituality. It develops the vision that Africans can be the same in the process of change. Africans have to coincide with their ways of perceiving values, and to retrieve their identity wiped out by regrettable historical events. Even in this involvement of revalorisation of their stifled ways, Africans have to be aware of the fact that history has evolved and new human environments are taking place. Any attempt to recover African personality involves a triple necessity. First, to remember the past, second, to analyse critically what Africans have inherited from their past, and lastly, to project new ways and means for a genuine renaissance, free from alienation and exploitation. Bin-Kapela sees in Cultural hermeneutics an appropriate philosophical method to achieve this end of recognising and projecting African spirituality as a universal value.
This innovative book is a forward-looking reflection on mental decolonisation and the postcolonial turn in Africanist scholarship. As a whole, it provides five decennia-long lucid and empathetic research involvements by seasoned scholars who came to live, in local peoples own ways, significant daily events experienced by communities, professional networks and local experts in various African contexts. The book covers materials drawn from Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania. Themes include the Whelan Research Academy, rap musicians, political leaders, wise men and women, healers, Sacred Spirit churches, diviners, bards and weavers who are deemed proficient in the classical African geometrical knowledge. As a tribute to late Archie Mafeje who showed real commitment to decolonise social sciences from western-centred modernist development theories, commentators of his work pinpoint how these theories sought to dismiss the active role played by African people in their quest for self-emancipation. One of the central questions addressed by the book concerns the role of an anthropologist and this issue is debated against the background of the academic lecture delivered by René Devisch when receiving an honorary doctoral degree at the University of Kinshasa. The lecture triggered critical but constructive comments from such seasoned experts as Valentin Mudimbe and Wim van Binsbergen. They excoriate anthropological knowledge on account that the anthropologist, notwithstanding her social and cognitive empathy and intense communication with the host community, too often fails to also question her own world and intellectual habitus from the standpoint of her hosts. Leading anthropologists carry further into great depth the bifocal anthropological endeavour focussing on local peoples re-imagining and re-connecting the local and global. The book is of interest to a wide readership in the humanities, social sciences, philosophy and the history of the African continent and its relation with the North.
Blessing
(2011)
Fatti Ashi died. Startling her family and community, she comes back to life just a few hours after dying. Blessing chronicles the life of this Fatti Ashi, a young village girl who from the moment she rejoins the land of the living is faced with both obstacles and opportunities consistent with an attempted mergence of two worlds. From a child who is molded with her father's advice to merge ancestral skull worship and Christianity to an underprivileged teenager who falls in love with the alphabet and finally becoming a woman who desires emotional and financial independence, Fatti Ashi's life yields misunderstandings and isolation. As a child in the village, her life is a battleground for family rivalry and religious conflict. As a teenage wife in the city, she befriends a sex worker who encourages her to bring meaning into her life rather than simply living to the dictates of others. She takes up the challenge by embarking on adult education and becoming a breadwinner but is taken aback when her husband requests a divorce. In a search for solutions to save her marriage, she entertains traditional religion, Catholicism and Pentecostalism. Disappointment and desperation lead her to take a deeper look at the situation. Is she to stay married simply for convenience? Is she to continue following religious paths laid out by others, clearly not as beneficial to her? Is she to please society to her detriment? The long journey of self-discovery takes her through scandal and humiliation but in the end, she emerges as a confident, admired and happy woman.
African historians documented the histories of their tribal people and have not investigated the role of slavery and colonialism in the shaping of the African personality; or how the two evils have in some way or other contributed to the slow economic growth of Africa. It is the belief of the author that reparations should be sought not to bring about economic development or to reduce dependence but redress wrongs the degradation, vandalism, terrorism and other inhuman treatment Africans have experienced nor is the demand racially motivated. The demand is for indemnity for inhuman acts committed against African people and is made in the belief that the international community will accept the reality of slave trade and later, imperialism and colonialism are crimes against humanity.
Tanzania has been independent in 2011 for 50 years. While most neighbouring states have gone through violent conflicts, Tanzania has managed to implement extensive reforms without armed political conflicts, Hence, Tanzania is an interesting case for Peace and Development research. This dissertation analyses the political development in Tanzania since the introduction of the multiparty system in 1992, with a focus on the challenges for the democratisation process in connection with the 2000 and 2005 elections. The question of to what extent Tanzania had moved towards a consolidation of democracy, is analysed by looking at nine different institutions of importance for democratisation grouped in four spheres: the state, the political, civil and economic society. Focus is on the development of the political society, and the role of the opposition in particular. The analysis is based on secondary and primary material collected between September 2000 to April 2010. The main conclusion is that even if the institutions of liberal democracy have gradually developed, in practice single-party rule has continued, manifested in the 2005 election when the CCM won 92% of seats. Despite impressive economic growth, poverty remains deep and has not been substantially reduced. On a theoretical level this brings the old debate between liberal and substantive democracy back to the fore. Neither the economic nor the political reforms have brought about a transformation of the political and economic system resulting in the poor majority gaining substantially more political influence and improved economic conditions. Hence, it is argued that the interface between the economic, political and administrative reforms has not been sufficiently considered in the liberal democratic tradition. Liberal democracy is necessary for a democratic development, but not sufficient for democracy to be consolidated. For that a substantive democratic development is necessary.
This rich conversational auto-biography tells the story of the political life of Ndeh Ntumazah who was born in Mankon in 1926, spent the best part of his life suffering and sacrificing for the freedom of Cameroon, and died in London on January 21, 2010, at the age of 83, as President of the Union of the Populations of Cameroon (UPC). Ntumazah was a political activist for nearly 60 years. He joined the UPC around 1950 and remained a militant of the party until his demise. When the UPC was banned in French Cameroon in 1955, he was advised by his comrades to create another party in the Southern Cameroons, which would be the UPC in disguise. The party was called 'One Kamerun Movement - OK', with Ndeh Ntumazah as its President. Following its banning, the UPC started a war of liberation in French Cameoon, so Ntumazah from the safety of Southern Cameroons, liaised with his comrades in French Cameroon to carry out their underground operations. Ndeh Ntumazah left Cameroon to seek political asylum abroad in 1962. He stayed in Ghana, Guinea, Algeria and finally in Britain where he spent most of his time sensitising the world about the plight of Cameroon using various avenues like writing, conferences and deputations. Ntumazah is dead, but he lives on because his life stands out as a point of focus.
There is a general agreement that piracy; counterfeiting and passing off are unfair. However, there is often surreptitious - or even open - sympathy for, say, those who purchase counterfeit designer fashions or the latest technical gadgets. The pirate is even sometimes represented as a daring evil hero. In this book, Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili, Director General of Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, presents a unique study of a global phenomenon in which law-breaking and profiteering prevail at the cost of human health and life - and of the ways in which this can be fought by appropriate legislation, regulation and enforcement.
Migration in the Service of African Development : Essays in honour of Professor Aderanti Adepoju
(2011)
Fifteen chapters are included here in this compendium in honour of the Nigerian migration scholar Professor Aderanti Adepoju. Though the authors come from diverse disciplinary backgrounds: geography, demography, sociology and law they all work within the fields of internal and international migration in Africa. Chapters on Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Nigeria and Mali are devoted to aspects of internal migration, while those on African emigration to Mexico and migration between Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire address various aspects of international migration. Migration issues in relation to women, students and climate change are also discussed.
How can a black people, who do not even profess to Islam, claim to have originated from Egypt, which is such an Arabic and Islamic geographical setting? But the Kalenjiin people of Kenya have held on fast to a tradition that their ancestors in antiquity were part of ancient Pharaonic Egypt, which they variously call Tto and Misiri. As unlikely as it may sound, the persistence in keeping this oral tradition alive does not seem to be dying with time and distance from the claimed place of origin. The Misiri Legend Explored: A Linguistic Inquiry into the Kalenjiin People's Oral Tradition of Ancient Egyptian Origin establishes the Kalenjin oral tradition of Misirian origin on the basis of linguistic evidence - a genuine tool which Egyptology scholars and researchers need to have relied on much more to bring greater and more final results to their investigations. Students of ancient Egypt willing to accept that there is an irrational prejudice against the concept of ancient black African ingenuity will upgrade their stock of knowledge regarding ancient Egypt with the numerous discoveries laid out here. They will discover a powerful new tool for their trade in the form of the African languages and cultures that now lie South of the Sahara.
Older people in Tanzania are disadvantaged and marginalized in many ways. They lack adequate formal social protection. They also suffer from diminishing family and community support. They face a series of multi-faceted problems and care for most AIDS-orphans, yet they are a much neglected target group in national social policy and international development programs. This book provides a theoretical discussion of ageing issues and their linkage to social protection. It depicts various policy frameworks at international, Pan-African and national level. And it provides extensive empirical findings on older people's living conditions.
In Our Own Tongues gives poetic voice to three generations of African-American women. It celebrates how Black women speak and do in the ways best known to them. This powerful and healing collection of poetry touches on a variety of experiences in the United States regarding emotional abuse, physical and sexual assaults, racism, lynchings, political issues as well as the permeating smell of magnolias.
President Juliys Kambarge Nyerere was the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Founder of the Nation. He came into power through the ballot - a democratic process held in 1961, and remained in power for more than two decades. Mwalimu Nyerere was a gifted and morally upright man. He was a true son of Africa - a Pan-Africanist, a nationalist, charismatic orator, steadfast thinker, diplomat and above all a teacher. He chose to be called simply Mwalimu-Teacher. Throughout his term of office he gave hundreds of speeches; some were prepared in advance others given extemporaneously. The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (founded by Mwalimu Nyerere himself in 1996) has assembled and put his speeches and writings into books. The Quotations in this book are only those picked from the books in Freedom Series and his University Lectures. They are presented and arranged under the following themes: Philosophy of life, Equality of Man, Colonialism, Tanzania's Revolution, Democracy, Self-reliance, Rural Development, Non-alignment, African Unity, the United Nations, Leadership and Education.
UNICEF estimates that Tanzania has over three million orphans. The Bethsaida Orphan Girls Secondary School seeks to help the ?most vulnerable of Tanzania?s children. Founded by Mrs. Anna Machary in 2005 under the auspices of the non-governmental organization, the Olof Palme Orphans Education Center, the school currently enrolls over 130 orphan girls from all over the country, providing them with free housing, meals, psychological support and a quality secondary education. This book features short stories by thirteen students and has the dual purpose of being a fundraiser for the school and giving the girls a voice. It is a unique and enthralling work of fiction, Their Voices: Their Stories ranges from magical realism to fable, from historical fiction to bildungsroman. Under the professional and passionate editorial guidance of Maryland professor Julie Wakeman-Linn, this collection sings of the fears, anxieties and dreams of young Tanzanian women, who pray their education will be the golden ticket out of lives filled with poverty and abuse.
Never Too Late
(2011)
Images of loneliness, seduction, unfulfilled dreams and torn lives emerge on the pages of this anthology to challenge readers to search for answers for a better life. The authors use The Role of Christianity as the running theme for most of the stories. This is a unique and interesting collection of stories about the life of teenagers. The stories, set in Uganda, offer rare insights into the emotional turbulence and social crises that usually remain unrecognisable and invisible to adults.
Whilst the establishment of the African human rights system was a good gesture that signalled the recognition of the value and essence of international human rights in the continent, a continuous study of the system has become necessary. This is particularly in light of the fact that the continent is in desperate need of well established and effective regional human rights enforcement mechanisms. At the moment, the regional human rights system is stuck between prospects and pitfalls because of the gap that exists between the promise of human rights and their actual realisation. By all means, this trend needs to be reversed. The main objective and purpose of this book is to underscore the challenges besetting the effective enforcement of international human rights law in Africa and the prospects and promises of an effective regional human rights system.
Justice Mary Ang'awa holds LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from the University of Nairobi. She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Puisne Judge. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She has taught the law of succession to judicial officers and advocates of the High Court of Kenya.
Non-Europhone Intellectuals
(2011)
The history of Arabic writing spans a period of eight hundred years in sub-Saharan Africa. Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts in Arabic or Ajami (African languages written with the Arabic script) are preserved in public libraries and private collections in sub-Saharan Africa. This 'Islamic Library' includes historical, devotional, pedagogical, polemical and political writings, most of which have not yet been adequately studied. This book, Non-Europhone Intellectuals, studies the research carried out on the Islamic library and shows that Muslim intellectuals, in West Africa in particular, have produced huge literature in Arabic and Ajami. It is impossible to reconstitute this library completely. As the texts have existed for centuries and are mostly in the form of unpublished manuscripts, only some of them have been transmitted to us while others have perished because of poor conservation. Efforts toward collecting them continues and the documents collected thus far attest to an intense intellectual life and important debates on society that have been completely ignored by the overwhelming majority of Europhone intellectuals. During European colonial rule and after the independence of African nations, Islamic education experienced some neglect, but the Islamic scholarly tradition did not decline. On the contrary, it has prospered with the proliferation of modern Islamic schools and the rise of dozens of Islamic institutions of higher learning. In recent years, the field of Islamic studies in West Africa has continued to attract the attention of erudite scholars, notably in anthropology and history, who are investing in learning the languages and working on this Islamic archive. As more analytical works are done on this archive, there will be continued modification in terms of the debate on knowledge production in West Africa.
This brave and moving collection of stories by South African lesbian women from different backgrounds reminds us, again, that rights are never finally won in legislatures or in court rooms. They are won by people exercising them. The authors of the stories and poems in this book have done just that. They have stood up to celebrate the dignity of lesbian women in South Africa. Each contribution is different. And each intensely personal. And each one reminds us of the urgent need for us to stop hate crime and to create a safe society for all LGBT South Africans.
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is a multicultural province within a multicultural state. Hence, its political leaders not only face the need to integrate ethnic and cultural diversity into a regional framework, but also have to define Aceh’s role within the Indonesian nation. During its violent past which was characterized by exploitation and military oppression, there were good reasons to emphasize sameness over diversity and to build up the consciousness of a unified Acehnese identity. From both an emic and an etic perspective, it is today widely accepted that there is such a thing as a homogeneous Acehnese culture which is rooted in a glorious, though troublesome, history of repression and rebellion and shaped by a strong Islamic piety. Even if it is true that Acehnese history has created a strong regional identity, it must not be forgotten that people living in this area belong to various ethnic and cultural groups and that they represent a rich variety of different cultures rather than simply a single homogeneous culture. As a matter of fact, the practises and discourses of Islam here also vary depending on the cultural background of the people. As elsewhere in Indonesia and beyond, world religions have to adapt to local customs, have to be appropriated by the local people, and have to be indigenized. This is the reason why adat still continues to play a role in every local context, even if it has been treated with suspicion in many parts of Indonesia since the Dutch colonial administration began using it as a counterforce against Islam in order to implement their divide-and-rule strategy. With this article, I wish to shed some light on the complexities of Acehnese culture, as it encompasses numerous very distinct local cultures and this reflects on the general significance of culture for the construction and reconstruction of post-tsunami Aceh.
This thesis examines three made-for-television ‘Event Movies’ from the German production company teamWorx, made between 2006 and 2007 – Dresden (2006), Nicht alle waren Mörder (2006) and Die Flucht (2007) – within the context of contemporary debates of ‘Vergangenheitsbewältigung’ or ‘coming to terms with the past’ in Germany. It will deal with specific debates in memory of the National Socialist past, namely representations of Germans as victims of the Second World War and memory of the Holocaust. Although in recent years the importance of teamWorx’s television films has begun to be acknowledged by scholars in both Germany and the UK, this thesis represents the first attempt to analyse these three Event Movies as a unit and to explore in-depth the teamWorx company and its attitudes to historical film. As such, two interviews will be relied on throughout this thesis, with chairman of the board Nico Hofmann and Die Flucht’s director Kai Wessel. In order to place the films within the context of contemporary debates on memory of the Nazi past in Germany, the thesis will undertake a filmic analysis of the Event Movies, supported by both the intentions of the filmmakers and critical responses in the contemporary press. Of primary importance for the thesis will be the twin concerns of the authenticity of teamWorx’s productions, as claimed by the filmmakers and the Event Movies’ borrowing of filmmaking devices from Hollywood genres, in particular the melodrama. Following this analysis it will be asked to what extent the Event Movies affect and reflect contemporary debates on the legacy of National Socialism and how these films contribute to the normalisation of the Nazi past in Germany.
G-CSC Report 2010
(2011)
The present report gives a short summary of the research of the Goethe Center for Scientific Computing (G-CSC) of the Goethe University Frankfurt. G-CSC aims at developing and applying methods and tools for modelling and numerical simulation of problems from empirical science and technology. In particular, fast solvers for partial differential equations (i.e. pde) such as robust, parallel, and adaptive multigrid methods and numerical methods for stochastic differential equations are developed. These methods are highly adanvced and allow to solve complex problems..
The G-CSC is organised in departments and interdisciplinary research groups. Departments are localised directly at the G-CSC, while the task of interdisciplinary research groups is to bridge disciplines and to bring scientists form different departments together. Currently, G-CSC consists of the department Simulation and Modelling and the interdisciplinary research group Computational Finance.
Jealous in Jozi
(2011)
Ntombi travels to Jozi for the finals of the Teen Voice competition. But it is not a bed of roses. She has left her boyfriend, Olwethu in Cape Town. Her jealous little sister Zinzi is out to make trouble while she's away. And, she must deal with the other contestants she's up against: the cool, talented and gorgeous Alex and the nasty twins, Lindiwe and Sindiwe. Thank goodness her room mate Mahlodi can help her make sense of her confusing emotions. (This is a sequel to Broken Promises.)
Zhero
(2011)
An inspiring and intriguing tale of heroism, Zhero's quest for education and self-worth takes him from the rustic village of Amabra to the cities of Port Harcourt and Lagos. Armed with a determination to succeed against all odds, his quest unearths a malignant problem in the society, which is the degradation and loss of human values. Vincent Egbuson's book is compendium of issues pervading contemporary Nigerian society. It beckons on its readers to emulate acts of kindness and self-sacrifice.
Philosophy and African Development: Theory and Practice appraises development in a holistic manner. It goes beyond the usual measurement in terms of economic achievement and widens the scope to include the impact that history of ideas, political theory, sociology, social and political philosophy, and political economy have had on development in Africa. It is a departure from the traditional treatment of development by economists who point towards the so-called time-tested assertions and recommendations for 'sustainable development', but which are yet bring about significant change in the economies of the so-called 'developing' societies. It is on account of the failures of the economic development theory, with its tepid prescriptions for 'sustainable development' and 'poverty reduction' that theories of development have now been expanded from mere economic analysis to include considerations of history, sociology, political economy and anthropology, as could be discovered in this book. Most of the contributions in this book have been prepared by philosophers across Africa and the United States who implicitly practise their discipline as one whose most effective modern function would be to appraise the human experience in all its dimensions from the standpoints of modern social and natural sciences, all disciplinary offspring of philosophy itself. With chapters ranging from issues of modernity and religious interpretations, the human right to development, the idea of 'African time', the primacy of mental decolonisation, and the type of education offered in Africa today and as a tool for development, to development planning, science, technology and globalisation, as well as issues of post coloniality among others. The tenor of the contributions is not only proportional, but also engaged in the meta-analysis of the theories on which the concept of development is founded and practised. This book is strongly recommended as a useful text in the hands of scholars, researchers and students of development studies. It approaches the important issue of African development from the broad perspective of the social sciences in general, and buttresses this with the keen analytical approach of its contributors.
Creativity is astir: reborn, re-conjured, re-branded, resurgent. The old myths of creation and creators – the hallowed labors and privileged agencies of demiurges and prime movers, of Biblical worldmakers and self-fashioning artist-geniuses – are back underway, producing effects, circulating appeals. Much as the Catholic Church dresses the old creationism in the new gowns of 'intelligent design' , the Creative Industries sound the clarion call to the Cultural Entrepreneurs. In the hype of the ‘creative class’ and the high flights of the digital bohemians, the renaissance of ‘the creatives’ is visibly enacted. The essays collected in this book analyze this complex resurgence of creation myths and formulate a contemporary critique of creativity.
The Constitution of Kenya: Contemporary Reading, provides an in-depth assessment of the interface between constitutionalism and Kenya's new Constitution. Focusing on the historical trajectory on the search for a new Constitution, Chapter One lays the groundwork upon which the fault line between constitutionalism and the issue areas are articulated in the other chapters in relation to the new Constitution. The superb chapters on the carefully selected issue areas, make this edited volume an essential reading. The book makes an important contribution to the evolving constitutionalism and policy clarification on Kenya's new Constitution. It is a welcome and timely intervention by legal scholars and practitioners on the new constitution and the challenges facing Kenya in its implementation. The book is an excellent teaching and reading manual for students in law, history, politics, diplomacy, and international relations as well as for the practitioners.
Prison-reformation has been a controversial and politically charged issue in Kenya. In the past it has elicited such legendary and emotional responses as 'What reforms? Prisons are not supposed to be five star hotels!' Recently, however, there has been a greater consensus between the public sector and the civic society in Kenya - than has ever in the past - of the need to revisit the human rights of inmates in various Kenyan prisons. Since 2003 a number of ground breaking reforms have been introduced in Kenyan prisons and more reforms seem to be on the way. Jacqueline Korir in this book takes a serious and despassionate look into a single variable: the quality of catering in Kenyan prisons. Her findings were both shocking and challenging. The food was lacking in both nutritive value as well aesthetic appeal. The site of food samples was only reminiscent of a grotesque meaning of the famous Council in Church History - The Diet of Worms! This book, grounded, in empirical data analysis by hard statistics and backed by rare photographs from inside Kenyan prisons serves as an eye-opener to both the prison-reformists as well as students and teachers of African sociology and institutional catering all over the world.
Disability, Society and Theology: Voices from Africa is the result of a workshop which brought together African theologians, persons with disabilities and disability expertise in the Region to prepare resource materials to enrich the disability study process in the context of the Africa region. The book is in six parts and includes contributions from scholars across the continent. The parts are: Disability Theology: Issue to Debate; The Able Disabled and the Disabled Church: The Church's Response to Disability; Disability and Society; Disability Theology: Some Interfaces; Disability and Caregiving; and Disability in the African Experience.
Cultural memory and narrative theology are well-known hallmarks of postmodern constructivist thought. The author's research into a century of Anglican history in the Mount Kenya region has helped to establish the little known village of Mutira on the world map of the history of Christianity in Africa. This book, a composition of African biographies and mission history, chronicles how the Anglican Church has carried out its work in Mutira area in the past 100 years.
The book is divided into three parts, the first of which deals with Constitutionalism generally. The second part is dedicated to civil liberties and economic rights, namely, fundamental human rights, land and taxation. The last part of the book is dedicated to the Judiciary and its performance as the guardian of the Constitution. A synoptic table of the 1967 Constitution and the DC is included for purposes of general structural comparison.
This study explores the nationalist imagination, artistic philosophy and the overtly political dimension of Remi Raji's poetry. It is an attempt to construct a sustained critical discourse on Raji's ongoing body of works. Raji is one of the major poetic voices on the Nigerian literary scene today. With the publication of his first collection, A Harvest of Laughters, in 1997 Raji has continued to strengthen his craft and vision through subsequent volumes: Webs of Remembrance (2000), Shuttlesongs: America - a Poetic Guided Tour (2003), Lovesong for My Wasteland (2005); and Gather My Blood Rivers of Song (2009). Evidently he has attained poetic maturity and, given the frequency of his output, is set to realise a fulfilled poetic career. His maturation thus far through these five volumes deserves a major critical assessment, and a possible prediction for the direction of his artistic vision.
Wena
(2011)
The collection of poems is an intriguing reflection of the sometimes torturous evolution of inner self which so many South Africans face as they struggle to find who they are in a multicultural society that espouses the values of traditional culture while reaching for the promise of a global community. Thus the blend of Xhosa and English as Ntsiki strives to merge her modern views with cultural roots. She feels strongly the need to reclaim her culture and language and blend them within the context of a cosmopolitan society. She captures the 'vibe and energy' of young South Africa and its blossoming as well as its quandaries. Ntsiki does not hesitate to deal with controversial and painful issues, such as rape, and her work challenges the reader to stop and think, really think. The quest for self expression and self-understanding echoes throughout the book and through it, she exhorts the reader to have the courage to explore and understand himself. Underlying many poems is the unspoken but burning desire that, by telling the truth, she will create possibilities for others to do the same. In many ways, 'Wena' is a celebration of life. The poems brim over with Ntsiki's own desire to drink to the full and then go out there and pour love and life out into the world. The manner in which she distills meaning and value from the negative is perhaps best expressed in her own words, from the poem, 'I choose life'.
How do we understand and create kowledge? Does scientific knowledge cover all knowledge? Afrikology tries to answer these questions by tracing the issue of epistemology to the Cradle of Humanity in Africa and through such a reflection the Monograph establishes a basis for holistic and integrated ways of knowledge production that makes it possible to interface scientific knowledge with other forms of knowledge. In this way Afrikology responds to the crisis created by the fragmentation of knowledge through existing academic disciplines. Afrikology therefore advances transdisciplinarity and hermeneutics to a level where they attain a coherent basis for interacting with Afrikology as an epistemology which returns wholeness to understanding and knowledge production.
Archie Mafeje was an independent Pan-Africanist and cosmopolitan individual who sought to understand the world at a global level in order to locate Africa within that tapestry. In many ways, Archie Mafeje was one of the African intellectual pathfi nders. He contributed immensely to the African people's search for self-understanding, self-determination and political emancipation as they struggled against alienation and misrepresentation. In recognising the academic and intellectual contribution of Archie Mafeje, this monograph also refl ects on the African people's journey for emancipation in the search for African identity, self-control and self-understanding.
The Nile River is the longest river in the world covering nearly 7,000 kilometres. It traverses ten countries in Africa, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, with South Sudan as the eleventh riparian state once it acquires its sovereignty. Of the more than 300 million inhabitants in the ten riparian states, the Nile River Basin is home to nearly 160 million people. The interlocking controversies surrounding the utilisation of the waters of the Nile River and the resources therein have centered on the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian and the 1959 Egypto-Sudanese treaties, which have largely ignored the interests of the upstream states. Through the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) established in 1999, the riparian states concluded, in 2010, the Agreement on the River Nile Basin Cooperative Framework (CFA) based on the principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation, the objective of which is to establish durable legal regime in the Nile River Basin. This book addresses the complexities inherent in the colonial and post-colonial treaties and agreements and their implications for the interests of the riparian states and the region in general. It is the first book of its kind that covers the ten riparian states in a single volume and deals comprehensively with politico-legal questions in the Nile River Basin as well as conventions on the international water courses and their relevance to the region.
One of the weaknesses of research in Africa is the little consideration that is given to questions of epistemology and methodology. What we see is the trivialization of research protocols which, consequently, are reduced to fantasy prescriptions that detach social studies from universal debates over the validity of science rather than an interrogation of research procedures induced by the complexity of social dynamics. As a result, social sciences have become an imitative discourse and a recital of exotic anecdotes without perspectives. Knowledge production therefore loses any heuristic bearing. It is on the basis of this reality that attempts to correct this tendency have been made in this book by discussing the methodological foundation of social science knowledge. This volume is a collection of papers presented during methodological workshops organized by CODESRIA. Its objective is to revitalize theory and methodology in field work in Africa while contributing to the creation of a critical space hinged upon the mastery of epistemological bases which are indispensable to any scientific imagination. Far from being a collection of technical certainties and certified methods, this book interrogates the uncertain itinerary of the process of social logics discovery. In that sense, it is a decisive step towards a critical systemization of ongoing theories and practices within the African scientific community. The reader can, therefore, identify the philosophical, historical, sociological and anthropological foundations of object construction, field data exploitation and research results delivery. This book explains the importance of the philosophical and social modalities of scientific practice, the influence of local historical contexts, the different usages of new investigative tools, including the audiovisual tools. Finally, the book, backed by classical theories, serves as an invitation toward considering scientific commitment to African field research from a reflective perspective.
ECOWAS and the Dynamics of Conflict and Peace-building testifies to the fact that we cannot talk of West African affairs, more so of conflict and peace-building, without talking about ECOWAS. For over two decades now, West Africa has remained one of Africa's most conflict-ridden regions. It has been a theatre of some of the most atrocious brutalities in the modern world. It has, nonetheless, witnessed one of the most ambitious internal efforts towards finding regional solutions to conflicts through ECOWAS. The lead role of ECOMOG - the ECOWAS peacekeeping force - in search of peaceful solutions to civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Cote d'Ivoire has yielded a mix of successes and failures. In this book, the authors take a candid look at the role that ECOWAS has played and show how the sub-regional organisation has stabilised and created new conditions conducive to nation building in a number of cases. Conversely, the book shows that ECOWAS has aggravated, if not created, new tensions in yet other cases. The comparative advantage that ECOWAS has derived from these experiences is reflected in the various mechanisms, protocols and conventions that are now in place to ensure a more comprehensive conflict prevention framework. This book provides a nuanced analysis of the above issues and other dynamics of conflicts in the region. It also interrogates the roles played by ECOWAS and various other actors in the context of the complex interplay between natural resource governance, corruption, demography and the youth bulge, gender and the conflicting interests of national, regional and international players.
The global perspectives adopted in this volume by the authors, from different academic disciplines and social experiences, ought not to be locked in sterile linearity which within process of globalisation would fail to perceive, the irreversible opening up of the worlds of the south. There is the need within the framework of the analyses presented here, to quite cogently define the sense of the notion of the market. The market here does not refer to saving or the localised exchange of goods, a perspective which is imposed by normative perceptions. In fact, a strictly materialistic reading of exchange would be included, since every social practice and interaction implies a communitarian transaction; meanwhile the exchange system under study here broadens to root out the obligation of the maximisation of mercantile profit from the cycle of exchange. Trade here would have a meaning closer to those of old, one of human interaction, in a way that one could also refer to ?bon commerce? between humans. In one way, trade places itself at the heart of social exchanges, included the power of money, and is carried along by a multitude of social interactions. The reader is called upon to take into account the major mercantile formations of the social trade system, the market society, without forgetting the diversity of exchange routes as well as the varying modalities of social construction, at the margins and within market logics ? those of implicit value in trade between humans ? which the texts herein also seek to review. The age-old project of restructuring the domestic economy, the market society as it has developed in the West, ? whence it has set out to conquer the whole wide world ? places at the very centre of the current capitalist expansion the challenge of imperatively reshaping gender identity, inter alia, in market relations.
The 21st century qualifies as one in which humanity raised environmental decay, especially climate change, as a key global concern requiring urgent political attention. The book Framework and Tools for Environmental Management in Africa is written from this perspective. It provides researchers from different disciplines including environmental sciences, engineering, commerce, planning, education, agriculture and law, as well as NGOs, government officials, policy makers and researchers, with a platform to engage with concerns relating to sustainable environmental management in this epoch. Topics covered include global landmarks for environmental governance, environmental management on African agenda, sustainability reporting, environmental impact assessment and public participation as well as environmental education. These remain viable in the African set-up where major development projects in mining and agriculture require greater scrutiny. With a collection of both revision and critical reflection questions, carefully constructed by authors with significant experiences from institutions of higher learning across Africa, readers will find this publication a valuable addition to their shelves.
In the atmosphere of suspicion and anger that characterizes our time, it is a joy to hear the voice of Iqbal, both passionate and serene. It is the voice of a soul that is deeply anchored in the Quranic Revelation, and precisely for that reason, open to all the other voices, seeking in them the path of his own fidelity. It is the voice of a man who has left behind all identitarian rigidity, who has 'broken all the idols of tribe and caste' to address himself to all human beings. But an unhappy accident has meant that this voice was buried, both in the general forgetting of Islamic modernism and in the very country that he named before its existence, Pakistan, whose multiple rigidities - political, religious, military - constitute a continual refutation of the very essence of his thought. But we all need to hear him again, citizens of the West, Muslims, and those from his native India, where a form of Hindu chauvinism rages in our times, in a way that exceeds his worst fears. Souleymane Bachir Diagne has done all of us an immense favor in making this voice heard once again, clear and convincing. - Charles Taylor, Professor, McGill University Quebec, Canada
Caprivi, the remote and narrow Namibian strip of land encapsulated by neighbouring Angola, Zambia and Botswana, has a contested colonial and postcolonial history. Bennett Kangumu traces the politics of its people in this complex borderlands since the late 19th century. Neglected by German and South African colonial administrations, its inhabitants were often pushed towards neighbouring territories though not being an integral part of them. At the same time, South African apartheid and homeland politics emphasised the ethnization of local identities. Becoming a strategic location in the ensuing liberation wars of the late 20th century, its history is often one of conquest and resistance, plunder, betrayal and rivalry. Kangumu shows how the inhabitants of Caprivi responded in various ways, notably in the form of regional nationalism when the Caprivi African National Union (CANU) was formed in the early 1960s. The Union?s merger with the dominant Namibian liberation movement, SWAPO, was a claim to end seperation and isolation, which, however, flarred up again in post-colonial Namibia.
An increasing number of poor Southern Africans live in poverty-stricken urban slums or shantytowns. Focusing on four shantytowns in the northern Namibian town of Oshakati, this book analyses the coping strategies of the poorest sections of such populations. The study is based on fieldwork conducted intermittently during a period of ten years. It combines theories of political, economic and cultural structuration, and of the material and cultural basis for social relations of inclusion and exclusion as practise. The poorest shanty dwellers are marginalised or excluded from vital urban and rural relationships and forced into social relations of poverty amongst themselves. Having experienced long-term processes of impoverishment, the very poorest and most destitute in the shantytowns tend to give up improving their lives and act in ways that further undermine their position.
Kerry Hammerton is a poet, writer and alternative health practitioner. She is a graduate of The University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and The College of Integrated Chinese Medicine (Reading, UK). Her poetry has been published in South African literary journals such as Carapace, New Contrast and New Coin, online at Litnet and Incwadi. She has also been a contributor to The Empty Tin Readings (May 2010) and The Poetry Project. These are the lies I told you is her fi rst poetry collection. Kerry has fewer wrinkles than she should have at her age - or so her friends tell her.
Removing
(2011)
Melissa Butler lives in Cape Town and Pittsburgh, PA. In the US, she teaches kindergarten. In South Africa, she writes and works with pre schools in the Eastern Cape. She has a Masters degree in Curriculum Theory from Penn State University and a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town. This is her first book of poetry.
Beyond the Enclave sets out to unravel the contradiction of a country, Zimbabwe, where a rich, diverse resource base co-exists with endemic poverty. One reason lies in the colonial economy, which was predicated on an ideology of white supremacy, creating an enclave formal economy employing one-fifth of the labour force. Yet over three decades after independence, the non-formal segment has become even more entrenched. This book assesses Zimbabwe?s economy through three main phases: 1980-90 when a strong social policy framework proved difficult to sustain due to erratic growth, and 1991-96, when ?structural adjustment? demanded a market-driven approach to development. The third phase is characterized by crisis-management leading to policy inconsistencies and reversals. Not surprisingly, such incoherence saw the economy descend into hyperinflation and paralysis in 2007-2008, leading to the signing of the Global Political Agreement in September 2008. In the absence of formal dollarization, economic recovery after the adoption of the multi-currency regime has remained fragile, leaving an estimated 70 per cent of the population outside the banking system. This has further entrenched uneven (enclave) growth as the economy remains locked in a low-income poverty trap. There is a need to facilitate transition towards formality to promote decent jobs. Furthermore, a strategic, developmental role for the state in the economy is now widely recognized as vital for development. Beyond the Enclave argues for a new approach to development in Zimbabwe based on pro-poor and inclusive strategies, which will contribute to the well-being of all of its citizens and wise stewardship of its resources. It offers suggestions on policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in all sectors, designed to promote inclusive growth and humane development.
This report is an in-depth study of electoral commissions in six countries of West Africa - Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone - assessing their contribution in strengthening political participation in the region. As institutions that apply the rules governing elections, electoral management bodies (EMBs) have occupied, over the last two decades, the heart of discussion and practice on the critical question of effective citizen participation in the public affairs of their countries. The way in which they are established and the effectiveness of their operations have continued to preoccupy those who advocate for competitive elections, while reforms to the EMBs have taken centre stage in more general political reforms. Election Management Bodies in West Africa thus responds to the evident need for more knowledge about an institution that occupies a more and more important place in the political process in West Africa. Based on documentary research and detailed interviews in each country, the study provides a comparative analysis which highlights the similarities and differences in the structure and operations of each body, and attempts to establish the reasons for their comparative successes and failures.
Broken Promises
(2011)
Ntombi's mom is out all the time with a new man, Zakes, leaving Ntombi to lookafter her little sister Zinzi. So Ntombi is missing practices for SA's 'Teen Voice' competition and the auditions are getting closer. Besides, Ntombi's keen to have her own fun, especially once she gets the attention of Mzi, one of Harmony High's hottest boys. But, what secrets are Zakes and Mzi hiding? How many promises will be broken before Ntombi finds out the truth?
Sugar Daddy
(2011)
Busi feels left out! Her friends have won a talent competition, but the only talent that she has is for being late for school! When she climbs out of a broken window at Harmony High and escapes onto the street her life is about to change. The smooth, handsome taxi driver, Parks, stops to pick her up and there is no going back. But, Busi soon finds herself out of her depth and realises that Parks has a secret he isn't sharing.
Universities and economic development in Africa: Pact, academic core and coordination draws together evidence and synthesises the findings from eight African case studies. The three key findings presented in this report are as follows: 1. There is a lack of clarity and agreement (pact) about a development model and the role of higher education in development, at both national and institutional levels. There is, however, an increasing awareness, particularly at government level, of the importance of universities in the global context of the knowledge economy. 2. Research production at the eight African universities is not strong enough to enable them to build on their traditional undergraduate teaching roles and make a sustained contribution to development via new knowledge production. A number of universities have manageable student-staff ratios and adequately qualifi ed staff, but inadequate funds for staff to engage in research. In addition, the incentive regimes do not support knowledge production. 3. In none of the countries in the sample is there a coordinated effort between government, external stakeholders and the university to systematically strengthen the contribution that the university can make to development. While at each of the universities there are exemplary development projects that connect strongly to external stakeholders and strengthen the academic core, the challenge is how to increase the number of these projects. The project on which this report is based forms part of a larger study on Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa, undertaken by the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA). HERANA is coordinated by the Centre for Higher Education Transformation in South Africa.
'Home is as old as one's skin but as elusive as an object seen through the wrong end of a telescope.' It is this sense of a view, skewed, intangible, which echoes throughout Karen Lazar's Hemispheres. Waking in hospital after a post-operative stroke, she finds one side of her body paralysed and her world knocked out of kilter. Spatial, perceptual and subjective changes force her to view her new life in facets. The fragmented view is made apparent by means of a triptych of clusters which charts Karen's experience from Metamorphosis, through Rehabilitation and Adaptation. Quietly reflective, deeply lyrical, Hemispheres is concerned with returning separated parts into a whole and coming home to the self.
Difficult Gifts
(2011)
Conduit
(2011)
'These are poems of drowning and coming up again. Of surviving with lungs that breathe water and sunlight. These are poems of longing and loss. Of searching for a foothold in a world where all slides and changes. Sarah Frost is a new voice in South African poetry. A clear and strong and exciting voice. Read her.'- Kobus Moolman Sarah Frost is 37 years old and a single mother to a six year old boy. She works as an editor for Juta Legalbrief in Durban, South Africa. Sarah has been writing poetry for the past fourteen years. She has completed an MA in English Literature, and also a module on Creative Writing.
Writing Free
(2011)
In this fifth anthology of Zimbabwean short stories from Weaver Press fifteen writers respond to the topic of writing free, and offer their thoughts about how and why they wrote as they did. The stories reflect a wide variety of freedoms: from tyranny, from hunger, from abuse, from the shackles of tradition, and even from the traditional constraints of narrative convention. But there are cautionary tales, too. Political change may be liberating for the adults who suffered for it, but will their children share in the euphoria of new-found freedom? Will a departure from domestic poverty to the calm waters of the diaspora deliver all that was hoped for it? Is the grass always greener beyond the fence of a stifling marriage? Zimbabwe has had more than its share of social and material deprivation in recent years, and people's responses have taken many forms. Writing Free offers an engaging and kaleidoscopic sample of these, and in doing so gives an intimate portrait of a country in transition.
Sons and Daughters of the Soil : Land and Boundary Conflicts in North West Cameroon, 1955-2005
(2011)
This book makes a rare and original contribution on the history of little documented internal land conflicts and boundary misunderstandings in Cameroon, where attention has tended to focus too narrowly on international boundary conflicts such as that between Cameroon and Nigeria. The study is of the Bamenda Grassfields, the region most plagued by land and boundary conflicts in the country. Despite claims of common descent and cultural similarities by most communities in the region, relations have been tested and dominated by recurrent land and boundary conflicts since the middle of the 20th Century. Nkwi takes us through these contradictions, as he draws empirically and in general on his rich historical and ethnographic knowledge of the tensions and conflicts over land and boundaries in the region to situate and understand the conflicts between Bambili and Babanki-Tungoh - the epicenter of land and boundary - from c.1950s - 2009. Little if any scholarly attention has focused on this all important issue, its pernicious effects on the region notwithstanding. This book takes a bold step in the direction of the social history of land and boundary conflicts in Cameroon, and demonstrates that there is much of scholarly interest in understanding the centrality of land and boundaries in the configuration and contestation of human relations. In his innovative and stimulating blend of history and ethnography, Nkwi points to exciting new directions of paying closer attention to relationships informed by consciousness on and around land and boundaries.
Crying in Hiccoughs
(2011)
Crying in Hiccoughs is a graphic presentation of the more realistic phase of Africa's politico-economic and historico-moral evolution in general, and Cameroon's, in particular. From the colonial to the post-independence era, the poet sees nothing worthy of praise-singing and handclapping. So, he resorts to crying in hiccoughs and invites the blind, deaf and dumb brainwashed praise-singers to join him in singing his little songs so as to expose and challenge the demagogy.