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Mit Hilfe der Sprache verstehen wir einander, kommunizieren wir mit den Menschen um uns herum, denken wir über Dinge und Vorgänge nach; die Sprache hilft uns die Welt und die Menschen um uns zu erfassen. Die Sprachen, die sich gleichzeitig mit den menschlichen Gemeinschaften entwickeln, eignen wir uns nicht nur an und benutzen sie, sondern wir erforschen sie auch. Die Erforschung der Sprachen hat auf allgemeiner Ebene weltweit eine sehr lange Tradition. Auf ihre Entwicklung haben einen bedeutenden Einfluss nicht nur die „traditionellen“ Wissenschaftsdisziplinen wie zum Beispiel die Linguistik, die Literaturwissenschaft, die Pädagogik oder die Geschichtswissenschaften, sondern auch sich stetig etablierende neuere Wissenschaften, zu denen etwa die Soziolinguistik, die Psycholinguistik, die Kontakt- oder Areallinguistik oder die Fremdsprachendidaktik gehören. Wie zum Teil bereits durch einige soeben genannte wissenschaftliche Disziplinen angedeutet, wird die Erforschung der Sprachen durch die gesellschaftspolitische Entwicklung eines konkreten soziokulturellen und regional eingeschränkten Umfelds während einer bestimmten zeitlich begrenzten Epoche beeinflusst. Eine der wichtigsten Herausforderungen für die heutige Gesellschaft ist neben der Entwicklung einer funktionellen Mehrsprachigkeit des Einzelnen auch die Respektierung sprachlicher wie kultureller Vielfalt, die Wahrnehmung der Sprache als identitätsbestimmendes und identitätsentwickelndes Phänomen sowie als wichtiger Bestandteil unseres gemeinsamen kulturellen Erbes.
In diesem Verständnis wurde die Konferenz Deutsch ohne Grenzen zum Anlass für eine internationale wissenschaftliche Diskussion über die aktuelle Entwicklung im Bereich der multidimensional und transnational aufgefassten germanistischen Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft, ausgewählter Gesellschaftswissenschaften sowie der Didaktik im Fach Deutsch als Fremdsprache im europäischen Kontext.
Der vierteilige Sammelband beinhaltet den Großteil der im Verlauf dieser Konferenz präsentierten theoretischen und empirischen Beiträge, die im September 2014 an der Pädagogischen und an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Südböhmischen Universität in České Budějovice stattgefunden hat. Ihr Hauptorganisator war der Germanistenverband der Tschechischen Republik. An der Konferenz nahmen 142 Fachleute aus elf Ländern teil. [...]
Der vorliegende Teil des Sammelbandes stellt die linguistische Sektion dar, in der das Phänomen Grenze als eines der Zentralthemen der gegenwärtigen linguistischen Forschung thematisiert wurde. Die einzelnen Beiträge konzentrierten sich auf die Frage, ob die Sprache als Kommunikationsmittel wirklich ohne Grenzen ist. Hinsichtlich der Komplexität der natürlichen Sprachen ist die Frage völlig berechtigt, ob gewisse Grenzen wirklich bestimmt werden können, sollen oder sogar müssen, wenn diese komplexen symbolischen Systeme verstanden bzw. auf metasprachlicher Ebene beschrieben werden sollen. Dank der Vertretung von Vortragenden aus mehreren Ländern konnte die Problematik im Kontext der tschechischen wie auch der internationalen germanistischen Forschung untersucht werden. Außer anderem kann auch diese Grenzüberschreitung und die damit verbundene Konfrontation von diversen Perspektiven der Erforschung des Gegenwartsdeutschen für einen bedeutenden Beitrag dieser Konferenz gehalten werden. Dem Wort Grenze wird auch der gesamte erste Aufsatz dieses Sammelbandes gewidmet, in dem dieses Wort vom lexikalischen und stilistischen Gesichtspunkt aus sehr ausführlich untersucht wird.
Die einzelnen Studien spiegeln die aktuelle empirische und theoretische Erforschung der deutschen Sprache wider, wobei sie diverse Schwerpunkte akzentuieren. In den ersten Beiträgen steht die Diachronik im Fokus. Sie widmen sich unter anderem der Beschreibung von mittelalterlichen medizinischen Texten, den sog. Zaubersprüchen, Segen und Beschwörungen, und ihrer sprachlichen Charakterisierung, der historischen Semantik und Möglichkeiten deren Erforschung am Beispiel von historiographischen Texten, der frühen Kodifizierung der deutschen Zeichensetzung, der Problematik der geschriebenen Sprache in der Zeit des Humanismus an der böhmisch-sächsischen Grenze, der Distribution und Funktion von Phraseologismen in journalistischen Texten der 2. Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, den deutschen Dialekten in Mähren und der Rolle der Sprache, die sie als Kommunikationsmittel einer bestimmten Nation hinsichtlich der historischen Soziolinguistik erfüllt.
Die Zahl der Verfahren und der Sterilisationen nach dem Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses
(2015)
In dem Buch wird die Zahl der Verfahren nach dem Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses von 1934 bis 1945 (nach Hochrechnung) im "Altreich" auf ca. 436.000 geschätzt. Durchgeführt wurden laut Schätzung im "Altreich" ca. 294.000 Sterilisationen. Dazu kommen noch ca. 10.000 bis 20.000 Sterilisationen in den "angeschlossenen" oder annektierten Gebieten bis 1945.
Adorno und die Kabbala
(2015)
Im neunten Band der Reihe geht Ansgar Martins kabbalistischen Spuren in der Philosophie Theodor W. Adornos (1903–1969) nach. Der Frankfurter Gesellschaftskritiker griff im Rahmen seines radikalen materialistischen Projekts gleichwohl auch auf "theologische" Deutungsfiguren zurück. Vermittelt durch den gemeinsamen Freund Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) stieß Adorno dabei auf das Werk des Kabbala-Forschers Gershom Scholem (1897–1982). Zwischen Frankfurt und Jerusalem entwickelte sich eine lebenslange Korrespondenz.
Für Adorno erscheint vor dem Hintergrund lückenloser kapitalistischer Vergesellschaftung jede religiöse Sinngebung in der Moderne als unmöglich. Der Tradition der jüdischen Mystik schreibt er hingegen eine innere Affinität zu dieser hoffnungslosen Logik des "Verfalls" zu. Sie scheint ihm zur unumgänglichen Säkularisierung religiöser Gehalte aufzufordern. Adornos kabbalistische Marginalien beziehen einen breiten Horizont jüdisch-messianischer Ideen ein. Er verleugnet dabei nie, dass es ihm um eine sehr diesseite Verwirklichung geoffenbarter Heilsversprechen zu tun ist: Transzendenz sei als erfüllte Immanenz, als verwirklichte Utopie zu denken. In diesem Anliegen sieht Adorno selbst jedoch gerade seine Übereinstimmung mit der Kabbala.
Adornos kabbalistische Motive, die auf Scholems Forschungen zurückgehen, werden hier ausführlich an seinen Schriften und Vorlesungen untersucht. In seinem Verständnis der philosophischen Tradition sowie im Modell der Metaphysischen Erfahrung suchte er etwa explizit Anschluss an Deutungen der Kabbala: Das unerreichbare Urbild der Philosophie sei die Interpretation der geoffenbarten Schrift. Wie säkularisierte heilige Texte wurden Werke von Beethoven, Goethe, Kafka oder Schönberg so zum Anlass für "mystische" Interpretationen. Deren detaillierte Untersuchung erlaubt, das viel beschworene jüdische Erbe von Adornos Philosophie zu konkretisieren und bedenkenswerte Einzelheiten von der Negativen Dialektik zur Ästhetik in den Blick zu nehmen.
Nyuma Ya Pazia
(2015)
Nyuma Ya Pazia or Behind the Curtain is about corruption involving the president, and his ministers who rob the country of Mafuriko or Abracadabra. President in conjunction with his Premier brought fake foreign insecticide company; Richmen to invest in power generation in Mafuriko. Through logrolling Richmen lands a very lucrative tender used as a conduit of stealing millions from the Central Bank. Richmen is used to syphon billions of dollars from the treasury. When people get wind of this theft, force the government to crumble thereby rulers are punished by being jailed or other being sentenced to death. The book satirizes African kleptocratic regimes.
El libro pretende brindar un recorrido inicial a través de la fauna de arañas de la Argentina. Está organizado en veintiún capítulos. En el primero de ellos se presentan características generales de las arañas. Cada uno de los capítulos siguientes corresponde a una familia distinta. Se exponen aspectos morfológicos, fisiológicos y etológicos, entre otros. Las arañas de interés sanitario presentes en el país se encuentran incluidas. El libro cuenta con más de 120 fotografías, todas fueron realizadas por el autor, y hasta ahora no habían sido publicadas. La obra está dirigida a todos los que se interesan por el mundo de las arañas, en particular a estudiantes y profesionales de ciencias biológicas, médicas y afines.
Writing the history of archaeology has become increasingly diverse in recent years due to developments in the historiography of the sciences and the humanities. A move away from hagiography and presentations of scientific processes as an inevitable progression has been requested in this context. Historians of archaeology have begun to utilize approved and new historiographical concepts to trace how archaeological knowledge has been acquired as well as to reflect on the historical conditions and contexts in which knowledge has been generated. This volume seeks to contribute to this trend. By linking theories and models with case studies from the nineteenth and twentieth century, the authors illuminate implications of communication on archaeological knowledge and scrutinize routines of early archaeological practices. The usefulness of different approaches such as narratological concepts or the concepts of habitus is thus considered.
Mit Hilfe der Sprache verstehen wir einander, kommunizieren wir mit den Menschen um uns herum, denken wir über Dinge und Vorgänge nach; die Sprache hilft uns die Welt und die Menschen um uns zu erfassen. Die Sprachen, die sich gleichzeitig mit den menschlichen Gemeinschaften entwickeln, eignen wir uns nicht nur an und benutzen sie, sondern wir erforschen sie auch. Die Erforschung der Sprachen hat auf allgemeiner Ebene weltweit eine sehr lange Tradition. Auf ihre Entwicklung haben einen bedeutenden Einfluss nicht nur die „traditionellen“ Wissenschaftsdisziplinen wie zum Beispiel die Linguistik, die Literaturwissenschaft, die Pädagogik oder die Geschichtswissenschaften, sondern auch sich stetig etablierende neuere Wissenschaften, zu denen etwa die Soziolinguistik, die Psycholinguistik, die Kontakt- oder Areallinguistik oder die Fremdsprachendidaktik gehören. Wie zum Teil bereits durch einige soeben genannte wissenschaftliche Disziplinen angedeutet, wird die Erforschung der Sprachen durch die gesellschaftspolitische Entwicklung eines konkreten soziokulturellen und regional eingeschränkten Umfelds während einer bestimmten zeitlich begrenzten Epoche beeinflusst. Eine der wichtigsten Herausforderungen für die heutige Gesellschaft ist neben der Entwicklung einer funktionellen Mehrsprachigkeit des Einzelnen auch die Respektierung sprachlicher wie kultureller Vielfalt, die Wahrnehmung der Sprache als identitätsbestimmendes und identitätsentwickelndes Phänomen sowie als wichtiger Bestandteil unseres gemeinsamen kulturellen Erbes.
In diesem Verständnis wurde die Konferenz Deutsch ohne Grenzen zum Anlass für eine internationale wissenschaftliche Diskussion über die aktuelle Entwicklung im Bereich der multidimensional und transnational aufgefassten germanistischen Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft, ausgewählter Gesellschaftswissenschaften sowie der Didaktik im Fach Deutsch als Fremdsprache im europäischen Kontext.
Der vierteilige Sammelband beinhaltet den Großteil der im Verlauf dieser Konferenz präsentierten theoretischen und empirischen Beiträge, die im September 2014 an der Pädagogischen und an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Südböhmischen Universität in České Budějovice stattgefunden hat. Ihr Hauptorganisator war der Germanistenverband der Tschechischen Republik. An der Konferenz nahmen 142 Fachleute aus elf Ländern teil. [...]
Der vorliegende Teil des Konferenzbandes enthält Beiträge aus der Sektion Didaktik Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Diese Beiträge harmonisieren mit der aktuellen Entwicklung im Bereich des Fremdsprachenunterrichts, der durch eine Reihe von Faktoren beeinflusst wird, u. a. durch die neuesten Befunde der Wissenschaften, die sich mit der Erforschung der Lernprozesse und des Sprachenunterrichts befassen, ebenso wie durch politische, sprachpolitische oder wirtschaftliche Faktoren. In Europa gewinnen die Fremdsprachenkenntnisse in den letzten Jahrzehnten zunehmend an Bedeutung. Das hat zur Folge, dass neue Sichtweisen auf den Fremdsprachenunterricht und dessen Erforschung gesucht werden und sich etablieren.
Die einzelnen Studien reflektieren den aktuellen Stand der theoretischen und der empirischen Forschung auf dem Gebiet der Fremdsprachendidaktik in ihrem breiten Forschungsspektrum sowie die Implikationen von deren Ergebnissen für den Fremdsprachenunterricht. Sie fokussieren nicht nur auf Lern- und Lehrprozesse bei Fremdsprachen auf allgemeiner Ebene, sondern akzentuieren im Hinblick auf den Konferenzschwerpunkt auch Fragen des Deutschunterrichts. Deutsch wird in letzter Zeit im gesamteuropäischen Kontext zu einer typischen zweiten Fremdsprache (L3) auf Primar- wie Sekundarstufe. Der Band enthält aber auch Studien, die hemen wie Deutschunterricht für Vorschulkinder oder aber für tschechische Germanistik- oder DaF-Studierende bearbeiten. Des Weiteren werden hier Studien zu folgenden hemen präsentiert: früher Fremdsprachenunterricht, Mehrsprachigkeit, Professionalisierung der FremdsprachenlehrerInnen, Entwicklung von sprachlichen Fertigkeiten, Aussprache und Grammatik im Deutschunterricht, Motivation, Analyse von Fremdsprachenlehrwerken, (inter)kulturelle Aspekte des Deutschunterrichts, literarische Texte und bildende Kunst im Deutschunterricht, Arbeit mit Fehlern und kontrastive Linguistik.
Eastern Dan-French dictionary, preceded by a grammar sketch, is the first and only dictionary of this language spoken in Western Côte d'Ivoire by half a million people. Both in dictionary and in the grammar sketch, lexical and grammatical tones are marked throughout. Polysemy and idiomatics are broadly represented, dictionary entries include abundant illustrative examples reflecting the cultural specifics of Dan. The dictionary has a French-Dan index. The publication is oriented both to Dan languages learners and professional linguists; it can be also used by the native speakers of Dan.
Western Dan-French dictionary is the first and only dictionary of this language spoken in Western Côte d'Ivoire by half a million people. In the Dictionary, lexical and grammatical tones are marked throughout. Polysemy and idiomatics are broadly represented, dictionary entries include abundant illustrative examples reflecting the cultural specifics of Dan. The dictionary has a French-Dan index. The publication is oriented both to Dan languages learners and professional linguists; it can be also used by the native speakers of Dan.
Indigenous knowledge is the dynamic information base of a society, facilitating communication and decision-making. It is the cornerstone of many modern-day innovations in science and technology. It is also a ready and valuable resource for sustainable and resilient livelihoods, and attracts increasing public interest due to its applications in bio-technology, health, bioprospecting, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food preparation, mathematics and astronomy. INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE OF NAMIBIA is a fascinating compendium aimed at a wide readership of academics and students, government officials, policy makers, and development partners. The 17 chapters examine the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants for treating HIV/AIDS, malaria, cancer, and other microbial infections of humans and livestock; indigenous foods; coping and response strategies in dealing with human-wildlife conflicts, floods, gender, climate change and the management of natural resources. A new rationalisation of adolescent customary and initiation ceremonies is recommended in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic; and a case study of the San people of Namibia speaks to the challenges of harmonising modern education with that of indigenous people.
Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History brings together the work of experienced academics and a new wave of young Namibian historians - architects of the past - who are working on a range of public history and heritage projects, from late nineteenth century resistance to the use of songs, from the role of gender in SWAPO's camps to memorialisation, and from international solidarity to aspects of the history of Kavango and Caprivi. In a culturally and politically diverse democracy such as Namibia, there are bound to be different perspectives on the past, and history will be as plural as the history-tellers. The chapters in this book reflect this diversity, and combine to create a remarkable collection of divergent voices, providing alternative perspectives on the past. Re-Viewing Resistance in Namibian History writes 'forgotten' people into history; provides a reading of the past that reflects the tensions and competing identities that pervaded 'the struggle'; and deals with 'heritage that hurts'.
This edited volume is about the rekindled investment in the figure of the first president Julius K. Nyerere in contemporary Tanzania. It explores how Nyerere is remembered by Tanzanians from different levels of society, in what ways and for what purposes. Looking into what Nyerere means and stands for today, it provides insight into the media, the political arena, poetry, the education sector, or street-corner talks. The main argument of this book is that Nyerere has become a widely shared political metaphor used to debate and contest conceptions of the Tanzanian nation and Tanzanian-ness. The state-citizens relationship, the moral standards for the exercise of power, and the contours of national sentiment are under scrutiny when the figure of Nyerere is mobilized today. The contributions gathered here come from a generation of budding or renowned scholars in varied disciplines - history, anthropology and political science. Drawing upon materials collected through extensive fieldwork and archival research, they all critically engage the existing literature about Tanzania and prevailing political narratives to explore how nationhood is (re)imagined in Tanzania today through assent and contest.
This is a commemorative volume devoted to the late Professor Willfried F. Feuser, a literary icon and a comparatist of no mean repute. Though German by origin, Professor Feuser showed great concern to the Africanist agenda of self-realisation, and therefore devoted the greatest part of his productive academic life to the cultural revival and socio-economic emancipation of Africa and the Diaspora through his scholarly publications. This book contains 20 essays on a wide range of issues in literary criticism.
The Last Of The Virgins
(2015)
Evelyn Ndangeh, a pretty Cameroonian teenager brought up in a strict Christian home, vows to preserve her maidenhood until she gets married to a man she truly loves. While in Our Lady of Lourdes College Mankon, she is approached by Lesley Njapa a student of Cameroon Protestant College Bali, after a student of CCAST Bambili. Evelyn turns him down only to find later that she can't stay alone without a man who must be none other than Lesley. Evelyn begins frantic moves to entice Lesley but on meeting him it seems too late though she gets close to his heart. Tragedy strikes when Lesley is involved in a motor accident. Evelyn arrives Bamenda general hospital wailing and settles beside Lesley to console and comfort him in his agony. Anxiety builds up to a crescendo and a medical team is mobilised to save Lesley's life.
According to Fossungu, we need healthy competition for progress. Competition that is not geared toward progress is negative competition. No competition or the absence of self-help is negative competition. With factories competing healthily, consumers have a variety of quality goods and services from which to choose. The entire community benefits when people in any grouping are competing positively; thus making the rules of competition graphical. The central focus of this book is the extent to which Canadian regulations apply without discrimination to all of Canada and to everyone, individuals and corporations alike. A swift answer is affirmative. But is that really it? The book is also about voluntary slavery, which is worse than forced enslavement. Drawing on Ignorance Theory, the book argues that the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to be ignorant of one's ignorance. He who does not know what he does not know will never know. Voluntary African slaves generally employ 'One Has No Choice' (On n'a pas le choix) to cloak their having chosen not to secure their rights. Fossungu demonstrates why he considers this an escapist way of shying away from doing the normal thing, thus giving the dictator or oppressor reason to dictate and oppress with impunity. This is Fossungu at his provocative and controversial best.
One Eternal Sleep
(2015)
In this volume Bill F. Ndi portrays life, death, and dying as one great adventure through which one would explore the limitless bounds of Life. At its best, the collection echoes the words of anthropologist Francis B. Nyamnjoh when he underlines that, 'one is only dead to particular context as a way of making oneself alive to prospective new contexts.' Ndi in this collection invites the reader to learn the art of living through the art of dying and accepting death.
Issue Two of Women in Islam includes investigations of social issues, profiles of inspiring women, book and film reviews, poetry, and opinion pieces. The theme of the dossier, The Female Body: A Contested Land, focuses on womens bodies, including articles on FGM, sexual harassment, and how art can challenge repressive social norms. Another section focuses on masculinity and the ways men can support women in the struggle for equality. Other highlights include profiles of Somali singer and politician Saado Ali Warsame, an analysis of Sudans discriminatory legal system, and a portrait of a Muslim society in Sumatra where religion and matriarchal traditions coexist.
Contemporary Oral Literature Fieldwork is based on rich research experience dating back to the 1990s. The book is written against the backdrop of Africa's confusion with regard to the place of oral literature in the face of the rest of the world, where oral literature exists in conjunction with new literary forms. Wasamba argues that the oral and the written literatures are complementary literary forms. Throughout the work, the author underscores the universal dimension of oral literature as he demonstrates its particular attributes.
This publication addresses the extent to which social work curricula in Kenya prepares graduates to handle issues of poverty and social development, the specific knowledge and skills that they are equipped with an existing gaps therein. In addition, the challenges that confront the training and practice of social workers and what needs to be done to ensure that there is an enabling environment for social work education and practice in the country have also been addressed. The publication, which is the outcome of a study on the promotion of professional social work towards social development and poverty reduction in East Africa, analyses the role that professional social work plays in the efforts to reduce poverty, enhance social development and realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Kenya. Consequently, emphasis has been laid on the status of professional social work education and practice in preparing social workers to address issues of poverty and MDGs in the country. Cross cutting gender issues that impact on social work education and practice which in turn affect the efforts to address poverty in Kenya have also been analysed. Given that the time span for MDGs was to end in 2015, the authors envisage that the lessons learnt through this study, and the gains made with regard to MDGs should not end in the set time span but rather, that social work educators and practitioners, together with other stakeholders in policy formulation and implementation, still have more to of in making sure that these gains are consolidated into social work training and practice, with additional efforts being made towards sustainable poverty reduction efforts in Kenya.
When voters enthusiastically turn up to cast their vote during general elections, they expect that their action would meaningfully change their lives. But in most of Africa, even when elections are held on a regular basis, voters are quite often disappointed by the performance of their leaders who use the new positions as an opportunity to loot public resources and consolidate power. It is almost as if elections are of minimal value to the populace. Notwithstanding this trend, when they are free and fair, general elections can be transformative. They can bring into the political arena men and women of integrity committed to service and account-ability. Inspired by the determination to have inclusive governance and the advancement of democracy, Kenya's 2013 General Election: Stakes, Practices and Outcomes asks important questions related to political participation, coalition building, politics of identity, the international criminal court, electoral systems and institutions, and the judiciary. The papers are written by mainly Kenyan academics and civil society actors who examine the drivers of the 20?3 general elections and the sources of the mandate to lead.This book is part of publications by Twaweza Communications on democratic practice and accountable governance in Kenya.
Bites of Insanity
(2015)
In this collection of poems Nsah Mala casts a critical compassionate gaze at the predicaments in the lives of present day Cameroonians. The poet lambasts power abuse in Cameroon and Africa. He decries the lost glory of traditional values sacrificed at the altar of ingratiation and materialism. Insalubrities are condemned, ignorance and its ramifications satirised, and wanton destruction of the environment indicted. With a fascinating richness of imagery, Mala conveys the disillusionment, bitterness and traumas of ordinary Cameroonians - young and old - debased with impunity by the lethal and sterile grip on power of the high and might. The moral depravity and human frailties mused about in this exceptionally compelling collection have no room in Mala's paradise of Cameroon.
Unmasking Social Science Imperialism : Globalization Theory As A Phase Of Academic Colonialism
(2015)
Contemporary social science is a product of the capitalist world-system and Eurocentrism is constitutive of the geoculture of this system characterized by the parochiality of its universalism, assumptions about the superiority of Western civilization and imposition as the sole theory of global progress. The creation of these structures of knowledge, specifically the institutionalization of the social sciences, is a phenomenon that is inextricably linked to the very formation and maturation of Europe's capitalist world system or imperialism. There is therefore nothing that is natural, logical, or accidental about the institutionalization of the social sciences. These Europeanized structures of knowledge are imposed ways of producing knowledge of the world. This Eurocentrism of social science has justifiably come under increasingly vigorous scrutiny, especially in the period since 1945 with the formal decolonization of Africa, Asia, and much of the Caribbean. This book forcefully argues that if social science is to make any progress in the twenty-first century, it must overcome its Eurocentric heritage that has distorted social analyses and its capacity to deal with the problems of the contemporary world and embrace other non-Western funds of knowledge production.
Between Rhetoric and Reality : The State and Use of Indigenous Knowledge in Post-Colonial Africa
(2015)
Since time immemorial, indigenous peoples around the world have developed knowledge systems to ensure their continued survival in their respective territories. These knowledge systems have always been dynamic such that they could meet new challenges. Yet, since the so-called enlightenment period, these knowledges have been supplanted by the Western enlightenment science or colonial science hegemony and arrogance such that in many cases they were relegated to the periphery. Some Euro-centric scholars even viewed indigenous knowledge as superstitious, irrational and anti-development. This erroneous view has, since the colonial period, spread like veld fire to the extent of being internalised by some political elites and Euro-centric academics of Africa and elsewhere. However, for some time now, the potential role that indigenous peoples and their knowledge can play in addressing some of the global problems haunting humanity across the world is increasingly emerging as part of international discourse. This book presents an interesting and insightful discourse on the state and role that indigenous knowledge can play in addressing a tapestry of problems of the world and the challenges connected with the application of indigenous knowledge in enlightenment science-dominated contexts. The book is not only useful to academics and students in the fields of indigenous studies and anthropology, but also those in other fields such as environmental science, social and political ecology, development studies, policy studies, economic history, and African studies.
Blot On The Landscape
(2015)
This Book is the outcome of a long project begun thirty years ago. It is a book on the makings of pan-Africanism through the predicaments of being black in a world dominated by being white. The book is a tribute and celebration of the efforts of the African-American and African-Caribbean Diaspora who took the initiative and the audacity to fight and liberate themselves from the shackles of slavery. It is also a celebration of those Africans who in their own way carried the torch of inspiration and resilience to save and reconstruct the Free Humanism of Africa. As a story of the rise from the shackles of slavery and poverty to the summit of Victors of their Renaissance Identity and Self-Determination as a People, the book is the story of African refusal to celebrate victimhood. The book also situates women as central actors in the Pan-African project, which is often presented as an exclusively masculine endeavour. It introduces a balanced gender approach and diagnosis of the Women actors of Pan-Africanism which was very much lacking. The problem of balkanisation of Africa on post-colonial affiliations and colonial linguistic lines has taken its toll on Africa's building of its common identity and personality. The result is that Africans are more remote to each other in their pigeon-hole-nation-states which put more restrictions for African inter-mobility, coupled by education and cultural affiliations, the communication and transportation and trading networks which are still tied more to their colonial masters than among themselves. This book looks into the problem of the new wave of Pan-Africanism and what strategies that can be proposed for a more participatory Pan-Africanism inspired by the everyday realities of African masses at home and in the diaspora. This book is the first book of its kind that gives a comprehensive and multidimensional coverage of Pan-Africanism. It is a very timely and vital compendium.
Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africas diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africas multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continents long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.
This book makes a rare contribution towards the preservation and promotion of ukhaliro wa bene Malawi (Malawian culture) that is fast waning. This dilution of culture was put in motion by the British colonial masters and got exacerbated with the inception of democratic governance in 1994. There is need for concerted efforts amongst various practitioners and stakeholders, led by the government itself, if the situation is to be put under control. Otherwise, sooner or later, it will simply be remote history that long time ago, there was a unique culture in Malawi. The book is a collection of twenty short stories that generally promote such themes as nkharo yiwemi (good behaviour); uheni wa chigolo na sanje (the bad side of selfishness and jealousy); kulimbikira pa vinthu (hard working spirit); and uheni wa mitala (the folly of polygamy), among others. The strength of the book lies in the fact that there is room for the reader to draw their own lessons based on their understanding of a particular story, in addition to the lesson already highlighted there-in. The book is a must read for all, young and old, especially those interested in understanding the societal values, not only about Malawi, but of Africa as a whole.
'In Who's Afraid of Mongo Wa Swolenka? a book launch is planned which, from information given to His Royal Excellency Gbadarango Binyambutu Buthablaisi, by a traitorous intellectual seeking preferment; and by his security agents, is a campaign led by disgruntled writers and intellectuals of Nubialand for the return of their exiled colleague and international award winner, Professor Mongo Wa Swolenka. How the celebrated leader of Nubialand and master of gunocratic politics responds to the prevailing circumstances is the nerve centre of dialogue, action and morality in the play.' - John Nkemngong Nkengasong, Writer and critic, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon
Africa Reunite or Perish
(2015)
Africa Reunite or Perish is a daring and timely book that explores the essence and nefariousness of neocolonialism in a purportedly independent Africa. The book shows how Africa spends billions of dollars in pseudo threats among African countries due to colonially-entrenched fear and war mongering. The book is emphatic on deconstruction and decolonisation as a categorical imperative for the reunification of Africa beyond the narrow confines of current nation states. Mhango takes a diagnostic-cum-prognostic approach in discussing Africa's predicaments, and in identifying and proposing solutions to problems confronting Africans. The book ascertains Africa's untapped potentials by proving how Africa can live without the infamy of excruciating dependency and beggarliness. It makes a compelling case for African unity beyond the tokenism of officialdom. It prescribes a truly pan-African driven reunification of Africa as the only means of reclaiming the glory she used to enjoy before she was savagely partitioned.
100 years since the end of German colonial rule in Namibia, the relationship between the former colonial power and the Namibian communities who were affected by its brutal colonial policies remains problematic, and interpretations of the past are still contested. This book examines the ongoing debates, conflicts and confrontations over the past. It scrutinises the consequences of German colonial rule, its impact on the descendants of victims of the 190408 genocide, Germanys historical responsibility, and ways in which post-colonial reconciliation might be achieved.
Milestones in Green Transition and Climate Compatible Development in Eastern and Southern Africa
(2015)
It is widely recognised that climate change poses significant serious threats to sustained economic growth and agricultural development, poverty reduction, food security and political stability globally. Nowhere are these challenges more marked than in Africa where two-thirds of all available land is classified either as desert or dry land, in relation to which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2013) has classified the continent as the most vulnerable to climate change variability. This anthology is a product of a call from OSSREA to collate evidence based researches in a book in a bid to assess how far countries in eastern and southern Africa are implementing the UNFCCC, Rio+20, Agenda 21 and other global and Africa-wide decisions concerning the need to address climate change. This will contribute to post-2015 development agenda for sustainable development goals (SDGs), in which climate change and disaster risk reduction will be priority areas of focus. We hope this book will serve as a valuable tool for experts, advisers and policymakers in pursing effective green growth policies and practices and achieving climate compatible development and in doing so inspire readers to choose a more sustainable pathway for humanity. It will also help in looking at climate change as both a challenge and opportunity for development. Further, this book aims at stimulating more research in climate compatible development and climate financing which have put most countries at crossroads.
The Rwandan justice system know as Gacaca, originally preserved by word of mouth was revived, documented, tested and used successfully to handle millions of legal cases in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi. This monograph begins by depicting the general picture of customary law and ponders on the practical challenges in the production of the modern Gacaca law in three versions: Kinyarwanda, French and English. The author demonstrates that translation involves language use and transfer, as well as communication within a cultural setting. The book amply demonstrates that linguistic, textual, contextual and cultural cues in translation should not be downplayed. It also shows that the cultural turn in translation has transformed and re-conceptualised the translation theory to integrate non-western thought about translation discipline since time immemorial. A major theme within the book is that teranslation as a mediating form between cultures and contexts should not overlook cultural differences because language is a marker of identity.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have minorities from the Indian sub-continent amongst their population. The East African Indians mostly reside in the main cities, particularly Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Mombasa, Kampala; they can also be found in smaller urban centres and in the remotest of rural townships. They play a leading social and economic role as they work in business, manufacturing and the service industry, and make up a large proportion of the liberal professions. They are divided into multiple socio-religions communities, but united in a mutual feeling of meta-cultural identity. This book aims at painting a broad picture of the communities of Indian origin in East Africa, striving to include changes that have occurred since the end of the 1980s. The different contributions explore questions of race and citizenship, national loyalties and cosmopolitan identities, local attachment and transnational networks. Drawing upon anthropology, history, sociology and demography, Indian Africa depicts a multifaceted population and analyses how the past and the present shape their sense of belonging, their relations with others, their professional and political engagement. This book is a must-read for contemporary researchers, students, policy practitioners as well as the general reader.
The volume constitutes Klaus Fiedler's crowning contribution to scholarship. Essays in the first half of the book focus on Malawian Christianity and how contrasting Powers, Gospel and Secular, engage each other, creating social, political and cultural conflict in the process. In the second half, Fiedler examines general missiological themes. These essays provide a broader missiological background, offering a theoretical framework necessary for appreciating the essays in the first half. He concludes with a chapter that reviews selected seminal books on themes under study. Throughout the volume Fiedler applies the 'restorationist revival theory' he constructed in The Story of Faith Missions, an earlier 1994 work putting emphasis on non classical missions and churches, not systematically covered in earlier scholarship. This volume, the first of its kind on Malawian Christianity, will long remain an indispensable text for those interested in Missiology and Malawian Christianity.
The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Eastern and Southern Africa have been at the forefront to developing new energy policies and programmes aimed at reaching the UN goal of Ensuring Access to Clean Energy for All by 2030. In the year 2006, the East African Community passed the EAC Strategy to Scale Up Access to Modern Energy Services, committing its Member States to reach the UN goal of -access to all- by 2030. The Inter-governmental Authority for Development adopted its Environmental and Natural Resources Policy in 2007 which includes issues of renewable energy. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa launched its Model Energy Programme in 2012, followed the same year by its comprehensive baselines database on renewable resources covering all its Member States. In the year 2009, the African Union General Assembly at its 12th Ordinary Session adopted the Policy on 'Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Africa'. The regional policies have been domesticated by Member Sates of the RECs. Although their targets are very ambitious, implementation programmes launched at national level are robust and producing results. Both in the policies and implementation programmes, gender issues have, however, not featured prominently. Noting this deficit, the Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa called for researchers to assess the extent to which energy policies in Eastern and Southern Africa have taken gender issues on board. This book is the product of that project. It has ten chapters that investigated the gender-energy nexus in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Swaziland, Sudan and Kenya. The book will prove useful to all policy makers, researchers and analysts who may be interested in strengthening the gender content of the programmes as we move towards 2030. We believe it triggers and helps policy makers and researchers to create platforms to use its findings, and those of others, to see how in gender terms those at the bottom of the energy access pyramid can be factored into these programmes, to make sure they are not left behind.
In the nineteen 60s and 70s, the University of Dar es salaam was recognised internationally as a great academic institution, and the site of anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, socialist studies and activism. With the onslaught of neo-liberalism beginning with Structural Adjustment Programmes in Tanzania in the mid 80s, the university was one of its prime targets; subjected to numerous pressures designed to extinguish the flames of revolutionary scholarship and activism. The establishment in 2008 of the Mwalimu Nyerere Chair on Pan - Africanism with Professor Issa Shivji as its first Chairman, and the annual Distinguished Nyerere Lectures Series inaugurating annual intellectual festivals was, in Professor Shivji's introduction to this volume of collected lectures, 'the resurrection of radical Pan-Africanism at the University of Dar es salaam.' The impact of the festivals and the lectures went well beyond the university community, as substantial number of the participants at these lectures and debates were citizen intellectuals, not part of the university community. The calibre of the distinguished lecturers speaks for itself; there could be no better representation of progressive African intellectuals honouring the legacy of Mwalimu Nyerere, than Professors Wole Soyinka, Samir Amin, Bereket Habte Selassie, Micere Githae Mugo and Thandika Mkandawire whose lectures are published in this book.
The Mind of Africa
(2015)
William Abraham studied Philosophy at the University of Ghana, and even more Philosophy at Oxford University. Thereafter, he gained permission to take part in the competitive examination and interview for a fellowship at All Souls' College. The examination was once described, with some exaggeration, as 'the hardest exam in the world!' It included a three-hour essay. Following his success in becoming the first African fellow of All Souls, his interest in African politics quickly developed into a Pan-African perspective. The Mind of Africa, written while he was still at All Souls, was a fruit of that enlarged perspective. After several years as a Fellow, he had occasion to visit Ghana in 1962. There Kwame Nkrumah, then President of Ghana, successfully persuaded him to return to Ghana to teach at the University of Ghana, Legon and he subsequently resigned from All Souls. In 1968, he went to the United States as a visiting professor. This was followed by invitations to teach at various academic institutions there, including Berkeley and Stanford. He subsequently settled in California, where he continued to teach and research philosophy in the University of California at Santa Cruz until his retirement. ...The Mind of Africa appeared at a time when a number of African countries were obtaining, or fighting for, their political freedom from their colonial rulers and becoming independent nations and expecting to build new societies in accordance with their own visions and conceptions, though not necessarily jettisoning all the features of their colonial heritage. Building new societies requires appropriate ideologies and philosophies fashioned within the crucible of their cultural and historical experiences. Thus, the relation between ideology and society is taken up at the very outset of the book... The Mind of Africa is important for Africa's future and identity.
Africa: Beyond Recovery
(2015)
Professor Thandika Mkandawire, the first to hold the Chair in African Development at the London School of Economics, delivered the thirty-second in the Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lecture series at the University of Ghana in 2013. In these lectures, combining with and imagination with down-to-earth political economy, he traces Africa's attempts at growth and development since the independence era, her attempts at recovery from a string of serious socio-political set-backs, and advocates for the role of universities as essential agents in the drive to sustained development.
Tumbuka is the dominant language in the Northern Region of Malawi. It is, however, also spoken in large pockets of Kasungu District in the Central Region and also in the Eastern Province of Zambia, and in Lundazi District in particular. Tonga, spoken in Nkhatabay and Nkhotakota, is like a cousin to Tumbuka with a close resemblance in their phonetics. Like other Bantu languages, Tumbuka is very expressive, but can also be very economic in communication or use of words, and yet clearly delivering the desired message. This can be done through the use of idioms, proverbs, or ideophones. This collection is on commonly used Tumbuka ideophones, where an ideophone shall mean 'a word describing a situation, or a state of affairs, or a set of actions - all in one word.' It is the intention of this collection to provoke both interest in the use of ideophones as a form of expression in literature and to expound on the richness of Bantu languages.