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Dust, Spittle and Wind
(2011)
Dust, Spittle and Wind is a story of youth, dreams of innocence and transcendence told within a postcolonial setting. It follows Olu Ray, the main character of the novel through a bitter-sweet journey of loss and self-realisation. The novel focuses on the final moment before actual emotional maturity when dreams either become flowers of brilliance or cold ashes. The novel describes the cold hand of fate as it swings between both extremes. Olu Ray eventually survives at the price of the abrupt loss of his innocence. The book teems with colourful characters and the blistering heat of the physical terrain appears to mirrors the lush sexuality on display. It explores the nature of taboo, the frustrations caused by it and the compulsions it provokes. In Sanya Osha's telling, society seems to be on the verge of irreparable breakdown but somehow manages to pull itself back from the abyss. The tension that runs through the novel is relentless but then, there is also much tenderness and subtlety that balances everything out. This is unquestionably a feat of powerful artistry. It deservedly won the Association of Nigerian Authors' Prize for prose in 1992.
A Dirty Game
(2011)
Mayor Foti is accused of killing his predecessor by a veteran journalist whom he desperately wants dead. He hires assassins to kill the journalist only for the assassins to kill his own son instead. As a consummate embezzler of public funds, Mayor Foti is determined to be filthy rich and above the law. He sends his other son to Germany to assist with siphoning abroad of stolen money. For how long will Mayor Foti have the last laugh? Heavy drinking and a cardiac arrest are waiting round the corner. Whom for? Here indeed is a dirty game!
Sing Love 101
(2011)
Sing Love 101 a collection of 101 love poems in which this wordsmith worth his words brings together the good, the bad and the ugly of human love experiences. The poems are glossed with the simplicity of a sweet gentle breeze that caresses the reader's heart like that blowing across his childhood rice fields in the summer. The poet highlights 'Love' as 'the Dream' none should let die.
Contemporary Bali Nyonga is a rapidly growing town of over 80,000 in habitants, sixteen kilometres southwest of Bamenda, the capital of the North West region, Cameroon. If Cameroon has been aptly referred to in many circles as Africa in miniature, then Bali Nyonga, since its founding in the mid 19th century is emblematic of this so-called 'multicultural' region. This book is about change in Bali Nyonga, but it is also about change in a typical postcolonial African setting grappling with a challenging new world reality. It aims to provide cutting-edge analyses of cultural change in Bali as well as inspire a new kind of scholarship in the Cameroon Grasslands - championed by indigenous intellectuals. The contributors to this volume come from diverse academic backgrounds and as will be evident in the various chapters, their disciplinary perspectives have largely shaped their approaches to the topics under study. Hence, this book draws on anthropological, theological, literary and media studies perspective.
Silent Voices
(2011)
This collection of poems spans a wide range of themes and subjects, including culture, politics, socio-economics, environment, and human rights. The poems are a reflection of Ekpe Inyang's close contact with and passionate observation of society, as well as his generous sharing of life experiences and personal philosophy. Ekpe's poetic journey started in 1992, and some of the poems in this collection have been published in national and internal newspapers, magazines, anthologies, and journals.
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.
Homeless Waters
(2011)
Life in Safang could not have been more idyllic for Ngoma and Shaka, his elder sister. Under the wings of an attendant and storytelling mother, they didn't miss the father they hadn't known. Later on, in the alluvial valleys of Bonfuma and the lands beyond, Ngoma experiences the thrills and challenges of schooling and being schooled. Adolescents will appreciate his stories and struggles as he tries to reconcile his village roots with the desire for a modern education. He has special relationships with his grandfather, stepfather and teachers, and becomes captain of the college football team. But growing up with a sister does not make him understand the subtleties and complexities of girls. Whether Collette or Camille, they seem to be two sides of the same coin. Ngoma successfully manoeuvres between the two, without the slightest crisis, for a while. He seeks balance between God and girls, work and pleasure, learning and mischief. While life can be well salted, it can also be bitter. Jealousy rises and he discovers who matters and who doesn't. His life brings together the bearableness and unbearableness of belonging, of being in love and being free, of...
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.
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.
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.
The struggle for independence and the unity of African countries was at its peak during the period between 1945 and 1960. These testing times turned out to be the formative years of the young Amady Aly Dieng, and set the stage for an eventful life of commitment and challenges of all sorts for someone who ? along with other young African students, many of whom later became leaders of their respective countries ? integrated the leadership of student organizations in France, honing his militant skills at the forefront of the intellectual and political struggle for independence and the unity of the nascent sovereign nations. Amady Aly Dieng?s memoirs are primarily meant to inspire young Africans toward taking action towards true independence and development. These memoirs reflect the historic evolution of youth militancy in Africa and are to serve as an inspiration to leaders of Africa today and tomorrow.
The advent of formal independence in former French colonies in Black Africa meant the dawn of a new era: the struggle against neocolonialism. African students rallying around this struggle became new strangers and targets for expulsion out of France. The French government of the time resorted, therefore, to massive expulsions against their labour and political organizations. The implementation in 1956 of the Loi-cadre Gaston Defferre ? meant to divide up Black Africa under French dominion ? and the ensuing explosion of the two great AOF and AEF federations along with the cancellation of scholarship federal commissions will considerably weaken the Fédération des étudiants d?Afrique noire en France (FEANF) [African Student Federation in France] in favour of territorial sections. This meant that African governments were to take charge of their own students. In turn, the former used their embassies and scholarship territorial commissions to squelch those student organizations that were hostile to their collaboration with the French authorities. Among the repressive strategies were the cancellation of scholarships and grants to hotels and residences that were reserved for their students (La Maison de la Côte d?Ivoire, du Gabon, de la Haute Volta, du Congo, d?AOF), the creation of pro-government associations such as that of the Senegalese Progressive Union (UPS), the Student Movement for the African and Malagasy Organization (MEOCAM), and the National Union for Students of Côte d?Ivoire (UNECI). This marked the beginning of the decline of the Fédération des étudiants d?Afrique noire en France (FEANF). The worm had entered the fruit of unity with the implementation of the Loi-cadre.
This book on Professor Samir Amin retraces his family origins, intellectual itinerary, political struggles as well as his experience in economic policy formulation in Egypt, Mali and many other countries. The fundamentals which shaped Samir Amin's thinking, directed his life-long work and influenced his action spawned from his early discovery in high school of Marxism and Historical Materialism, used as a scientific analysis of the history of human societies. This book also highlights Samir Amin's invaluable contribution to the struggle against capitalism through his indefatigable fight to deconstruct the concepts that are used to disguise the true face of historical capitalism, which is nothing but an unabashed pursuit for accumulation and dispossession of dominated countries and peoples. Through a series of interviews with Samir Amin, the author unravels the poignant and great ideas which have been at the heart of his intellectual and political fight for the last half century. The author also provides a selection of texts which includes an exhaustive bibliography, with all published writings of Samir Amin in French. This rich work is meant for a large readership - students, researchers, teachers, political leaders and citizens who are interested in the phenomenon of globalisation and its impact on the so-called 'under-developed countries.
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
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.
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.
An analysis of natural resources in the Central African Republic has shown that the country has a strong national potential and a diversified ecosystem. However, the economy has drastically deteriorated over the years owing to mismanagement. As a result, people's welfare has become increasingly critical, reaching now the level of what can be called 'acute misery'. While studying issues of governance and the stabilisation of the economic system, this book pays a special attention to the analysis of the structural and contextual evolution of the economy of the Central African Republic. The study is a longitudinal assessment of the acts and undertakings spanning from the colonial times through 2003. A consideration of which tool to use to reach a particular economic goal requires, first and foremost, asking the question: 'If the goal is reached, are we capable of stabilizing the system?' This book is written as a guide for political decision making and a rational basis for economic policy making, through its analysis of the possible implications of instruments of target-oriented economic policy, the possible usage of rare resources, the costs of particular decisions, the sacrifice incurred by particular choices, etc. The major concern is about what the economist can bring in to prevent blind decision making: what rules can decision makers put in place to improve living conditions in the community.
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.
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.
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.
Re-thinking African Economies for Development is delivered in the particularly historic context of the fiftieth independence anniversary of most African countries. This moment, therefore, calls for an assessment and suggestions for new alternatives. African countries have been searching for models of development since attaining political independence. Taking cognizance of the fact that African economies are today stuck in an impasse, many innovative ideas are proffered by the contributors to this book for new development strategies. These ideas are essentially hinged upon the successful experience of countries in Asia and Latin America, and the need to reform the State and bring about development. African intellectuals are called upon in this book to rise up to their responsibility for the production of innovative knowledge that can be used by public and private sector decision makers to raise their communities out of poverty. In this publication, issues of industrialization and diversification of African economies are raised again to decry their limited specialization which exacerbates their vulnerability toward crises. This, to a large extent, is at the root of Africas marginal status in global trade. Special attention ought to be given to those thousands of micro-economy stakeholders who are actually the backbone of African economies. Regional integration is more and more seen as an imperative for economic development in the context of Africas small sized countries that often fall prey to a great deal of political instability. The issue of financing of development is re-visited, and new ideas are put forth to better channel foreign direct investment and public revenue towards building a more viable monetary and financial system.
The dramatic sociopolitical crisis which befell Côte d'Ivoire in September 2002 gave birth to an unprecedented political zeal. Immigration, the other, ethno-nationalism, nationalism, patriotism, civil war, youth at risk - such are the words that describe the Côte d'Ivoire' situation. Attempts to explain the 'crisis' in this country, known in recent past as 'relatively peaceful', mainly happen through media 'sensationalism'. This translates at the same time the almost complete control of the scoop media which renders the understanding of the situation only possible through such outlets. The ability of media professionals to coin words through which social history is reflected upon has the effect of complicating the task of social and human sciences while also appearing as stimulating at the same time. Understanding complex situations is now a crossroad of confusion between the simple and the simplified. The challenge for social and human sciences is, therefore, to resume its rightful place by presenting social and political realities in their complexity. Contributions in this book attempt to rid simple words of their excessive simplification to enable an understanding of social and political ills as well as the sense of history. This book is to be taken as a look from within. The challenge here is to take a step back and disconnect the real from the surprising which prevents a deep analysis of realities emanating from a historical process that is relatively long. At the heart of that process resides the paradoxical re-invention of the self through violence, though in the name of democracy. The 2010 post-electoral crisis and the intensity of the violence which characterized it are once again a demonstration of the relevance of the violence-democracy paradox and the on-going exercise of objectivity.
This book re-examines historical, ethnographic and anthropological productions in various spaces in Senegambia. Just like language, material culture in original forms is powerful in the transmission and affirmation of identity. Unfortunately, archeology has so far played a very minor role in this domain in Senegambia, as the discipline has been confined to the study of eras know as prehistoric and protohistoric, which are little known by story tellers and other traditional communicators. It is generally agreed that archeology generates more inclusive knowledge, given the fact that the essential source of identity for all societal strata is based on the production, consumption, rejection or recycling of material culture. This book democratizes knowledge generation by giving prominence to the social life and identities of ordinary individuals who are often invisible in written and oral sources.
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.
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.
'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.
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.
Difficult Gifts
(2011)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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'.
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.
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.
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.
Nachdem der erste große Krieg der Moderne Ende Juli 1914 seinen Anfang genommen hatte und innerhalb weniger Monate immer mehr Nationen in ein Kampfgeschehen von bis dahin unerreichtem Ausmaß eingetreten waren, ließ es sich – so wird in ausgewählten Puppenspielen der Zeit berichtet – alsbald auch ein altbekannter Spaßmacher und berühmtberüchtigter Spitzbub nicht nehmen, im weltumspannenden Kriegsgetümmel mitzumischen. Mit dem Kasper(l) unserer Tage, der wohl in vielen Menschen kraft seiner herzerwärmenden Kindlichkeit und seiner schalkhaften Harmlosigkeit Assoziationen an die eigene Kindheit hervorruft, hat der Lustigmacher des Ersten Weltkriegs wenig gemeinsam. Vorausgeschickt sei an dieser Stelle ein wesentlicher Aspekt: beim Kriegskasper(l) der Jahre 1914 bis 1918 handelt es sich nicht um eine für ein Kinderpublikum konzipierte Figur. In weiterer Folge differieren beispielsweise die Inhalte, die Figurenkonzeption oder die Darstellungsmittel in erheblicher, ja mitunter frappierender Weise von dem, was der unbedarfte Rezipient von heute sich vermutlich von einem Kasper(l)theater erwarten würde. Zum Gegenstand wissenschaftlicher Forschungen wurde der Spaßmacher des Ersten Weltkriegs allerdings äußerst selten erklärt: Sowohl die Literatur-, die Theater- und die Sprachwissenschaften als auch die historisch-volkskundlichen Disziplinen schenkten diesem Randphänomen des Literatur- und Kulturbetriebs bisher spärlich Beachtung. [...] Programm und zugleich Ziel dieser Masterarbeit ist eine Annäherung an das Phänomen des Kasper(l)s der Weltkriegszeit auf mehreren Ebenen unter Rückgriff auf ein interdisziplinäres Instrumentarium, wobei der philologische Zugang zu den Primärtexten durch die zusätzliche Einbeziehung sozialhistorischer wie auch soziologischer Theorien und Methoden maßgeblich bereichert werden kann. Diese fächerübergreifende Herangehensweise wurde gewählt, da die Kasper(l)stücke der Weltkriegsjahre 1914 bis 1918 eine Fülle von Anspielungen auf politische Ereignisse und soziale Zustände in sich bergen wie auch auf ihre sehr spezifische Weise die Gesellschaft bzw. die nationale Gemeinschaft der damaligen Zeit samt ihren Charakteristika, Anforderungen und Problemen widerspiegeln.
Testamente fungieren als Mittler zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft. Sie organisieren Memoria und Nachleben, beeinflussen Verwandtschaftsordnungen und bestimmen deren Reproduktion, sie verursachen oder lösen rechtliche, familiale, ökonomische Konflikte. Insofern zählt das Testament zu den wichtigsten kulturellen Formen des geregelten Übergangs von Leben zu Leben, durch den Tod getrennt.
Ulrike Vedders Studie analysiert das Testament im Spannungsfeld von Recht, Ökonomie und Kultur sowie im Zusammenhang mit Konzepten von Erbschaft, Vererbung und Nachleben. Sie entwickelt eine Poetologie des Testaments anhand der Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts (von Jean Paul, Kleist, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Balzac, Heine, Droste-Hülshoff, Stifter, Melville, Keller, Storm, Fontane, Zola, James u.a.) und erforscht zudem das Testament als eine Form der Übertragung von Eigentum, Dingen, Rechten, Identität, Schuld, Leidenschaften. Als ein Medium für weitreichende - literarische und außerliterarische - Erbe- und Transferprozesse bildet das Testament eine zentrale Figur der kulturellen Tradierung sowie des Austausches zwischen verschiedenen Wissensfeldern, zwischen Literatur, alltäglicher Praxis und Wissenschaften.
Mit dem wachsenden Interesse für die Vorgänge des Lebendigen im 19. Jahrhundert rückten auch subjektive Erfahrungen in den Bereich lebenswissenschaftlicher Forschung. Damit wurde nicht zuletzt die Frage nach der adäquaten Perspektive virulent, von der aus sich ein Wissen über diese Innerlichkeiten generieren ließe. Das Buch nimmt in drei Fallstudien das neurologische Selbstexperiment Henry Heads, Jacques-Joseph Moreau de Tours' psychiatrische Versuche, den Wahnsinn mit Haschisch zu modellieren, und Benjamin Paul Bloods philosophisch ambitionierten Lachgaskonsum in den Blick, deren Protagonisten sich allesamt dafür entschieden die Innenperspektive einzunehmen und an sich selbst zu experimentieren.
I would like to start off my cultural-historical intervention with a trouvaille from the 'Denktagebuch', a sort of intellectual notebook, of Hannah Arendt, the famous German-Jewish philosopher (1906–1975). Arendt's publications include a most profound book on the 'Human Condition' (1958, in German 'Vita activa', 1960) in which she develops the idea of 'acting / Handlung' as the crucial realm of intersubjectivity and humanity. This realm is based in the space between human beings, a literal 'inter-est' of togetherness. It is only in this space, only in the relationship to others, that the full sense of the Self, including the involuntary expressions of the person, manifests itself. It is the same realm in which the moral, social and political life is created. In the notebook of the 44-year-old Arendt one comes across the following entry: "In nichts offenbart sich die eigentümliche Vieldeutigkeit der Sprache [...] deutlicher als in der Metapher. So habe ich zum Beispiel ein Leben lang die Metapher 'es öffnet sich mir das Herz' benutzt, ohne je die dazu gehörende physische Sensation erfahren zu haben. Erst seit ich die physische Sensation kenne, weiss ich, wie oft ich gelogen habe [...]. Wie aber hätte ich je die Wahrheit der physischen Sensation erfahren, wenn die Sprache mit ihrer Metapher mir nicht bereits eine Ahnung von der Bedeutsamkeit des Vorgangs gegeben hätte?" (Notebook II, 22 December 1950, Arendt 2002, 46) The entry discusses the mutual transferral between mind and body by reflecting the role of language as a mediator for minding the body and the embodiment of the mind. Since the phrase of the 'open heart' belongs to a register of long-established metaphors, these reflections concern the comprehension of body-metaphors and their role for a 'shared meaningful space of experiences' (Gallese 2009a, 527), i.e. language as transmitter of experiences and memory in cultural history.
Nach 1989 ist Europa – wieder einmal – in Bewegung geraten und die Mitte des Kontinents hat sich "ostwärts" verlagert. Diese Verschiebung Europas, die Frage nach neuen und alten Grenzen und Zentren, ist Anlass, sich mit jener vergessenen Himmelsrichtung und ihren Gebieten zu befassen, die 'plötzlich' wieder auf der Landkarte und in den Köpfen aufgetaucht sind. Wird der Osten zum Standort gemacht, von dem aus Europa zu konturieren ist, so erschließt sich dieser Osten in seinen unterschiedlichen geographischen, historischen und imaginären Mehrdeutigkeiten. Europa wird dabei zu einem dezentralen Gebilde, für dessen kulturelle Semantiken gerade die Peripherien von entscheidender Bedeutung sind.
In den Beiträgen des Bandes werden diese "schmerzenden Nähte" (Jurij Andruchowitsch) aufgesucht: von Vilnius über den Balkan, den Kaukasus, die Schwarzmerregion bis nach Istanbul, Alexandria oder Beirut. Es eröffnen sich plurale Kulturen, deren Umgang mit Sprachen, Religionen, Bild- und Zeichensystemen in vielem quer zu westlich-europäischen Ordnungskonzepten liegen. Zugleich liegt die Brisanz dieser Kulturen darin, dass sie auf vielfältige Weise mit modernen kulturellen Homogenisierungsstrategien verbunden sind und immer wieder auf die auch diesen inhärenten, verdeckten oder getilgten Pluralitäten verweisen. Die Beiträge zeigen, wie die Vermessung dieser Orte zu allen Zeiten zu einem beträchtlichen Teil in Literatur und Kunst stattfindet. Hier werden territorial-kulturelle Zugehörigkeiten verhandelt, wird ein nuanciertes Spiel mit geopolitischen Verschiebungen, Verwerfungen und Umkodierungen von Topographien, mit ironischen oder melancholischen Wahrnehmungen "fremder" Räume und Gepflogenheiten betrieben.
Nicht erst seit der Wahl in Berlin 2011 ist die Piratenpartei in aller Munde. Doch trotz des großen Medienechos ist bisher relativ wenig über das Innenleben der Partei bekannt. Daher wurden im Frühjahr 2011 alle damals rund 12.000 Parteimitglieder eingeladen, an einer umfangreichen Befragung teilzunehmen.
Rund ein Viertel der Piraten folgte dem Ruf und gab Antworten auf Fragen zu ihrem Engagement, ihrem Demokratieverständnis, zur programmatischen Entwicklung, zur innerparteilichen Demokratie, Kommunikation und Partizipation. In dieser Studie zum Selbstverständnis der Partei werden die Ergebnisse anschaulich dargestellt und zusammengefasst. Abgerundet wird das Bild durch eine ausführliche Beschreibung zur Entwicklung der deutschen Piratenpartei und ihres internationalen Umfelds.
Tobias Neumann ist Jahrgang 1981 und hat Soziologie, Politologie und Philosophie studiert. Der Wahl-Frankfurter ist seit 2009 Mitglied der Piratenpartei, in der er seine Leidenschaft für Politik auslebt.
Eines der zentralen Konzepte, auf das sich die Sowjetunion in ihrem Selbstverständnis als neue Zivilisation berief, war das Konzept der "Völkerfreundschaft" (družba narodov). Über den naheliegenden Zusammenhang mit der sowjetischen Nationalitätenpolitik (insbesondere stalinscher Prägung) hinaus verweist es auf die propagierte sowjetische Ethik – die Gleichheit aller Sowjetbürger nach der Abschaffung der Klassengesellschaft. Nach dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion wird dieses Modell des gemeinschaftlichen Zusammenlebens bezogen auf den Raum der Sowjetkultur vor allem als machtpolitische Strategie bzw. in seiner mythenhaften Dimension betrachtet. Anliegen des Workshops ist es, ausgehend vom sowjetischen Freundschaftsbegriff unterschiedliche Facetten und Implikationen der Freundschaft im interkulturellen Vergleich zu diskutieren. So haben Länder und Regionen im Süden und Osten Europas (wie Georgien) beispielsweise die Gastfreundschaft als kulturelle Praktik zu ihrem "Markenzeichen" erklärt. Die Art und Weise, wie die Gastfreundschaft in Literatur und Kunst verhandelt bzw. repräsentiert wird, ist ein Indiz für die nachhaltige Bedeutung des Paradigmas, das bis in aktuelle Konflikte und juristische Diskurse (wie etwa die Frage nach dem Gastrecht oder das ethnisch begründete Restitutionsgesetz im heutigen Abchasien) hineinreicht. Gefragt wird u.a. nach den politischen Implikationen des Freundschaftsbegriffs, nach der Übertragung des interpersonellen Konzepts Freundschaft auf Völker im (sowjetischen) Konzept der Völkerfreundschaft, nach Politisierungsstrategien, nach unterschiedlichen Praktiken der (Gast-)Freundschaft (u.a. im Kontext der Derridaschen Ethik oder der Positionen von C. Schmitt, P. Klossowski oder M. Mauss) oder etwa nach der Bildung formeller und informeller Netzwerke in unterschiedlichen kulturellen und historischen Kontexten. Schwerpunktmäßig im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert angesiedelt, wird im Rahmen des Workshops auch die Genese der (sowjetischen) Konzepte und Praktiken der Freundschaft aus der Antike bzw. der Vormoderne thematisiert.
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.
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.
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.
Die Themenschwerpunkte Lehr-Lern-Forschung und Professionalisierung werden aus Sicht aktueller Forschungsprojekte sowohl empirisch als auch theoretisch analysiert. Im Vordergrund stehen die Wirksamkeit spezifischer Unterrichtsmethoden und Fördermaßnahmen sowie professionelle Kompetenzen des Bildungspersonals.