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Begin New Search Political Geography Africa Content Type Journal Article

981. Tragedy, Surrogation and the Significance of African- American Culture in Postunification Germany: An Interpretation of Schultze Gets the Blues

Author:
Robert Pirro
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
In the aftermath of unification, the loss of job security and other forms of social support under East Germany's comprehensive (if increasingly inefficient and corrupt) system of welfare state paternalism, coupled with a newfound dependence on West German financial largesse, not only disoriented former East Germans, but also led to pressures on them to repress their past experiences of solidarity and distinctiveness. Schultze Gets the Blues, the critically acclaimed box office hit from director Michael Schorr, relates the story of a retired mineworker and accordionist for a town band in the economic backwaters of eastern Germany who undergoes a lifechanging conversion to the Cajun folk music of Zydeco. Drawing from Joseph Roach's notion of surrogation and Cornel West's articulation of an African-American tragic sensibility, this article casts Schultze in the role of a postunification mediating figure reconciling East German solidarity and localism with West German individualism and multiculturalism.
Political Geography:
Africa, America, and Germany

982. The Internationalization of Oil Violence in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

Author:
Victor Ojakorotu
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
This paper unpacks the crisis in the Niger Delta of Nigeria with reference to its external dimensions by which is meant the involvement of international non-governmental organisations in the politics of local environmental governance. It takes as its point of departure the events (in the 1990s) that underpinned the international community's engagement with an issue that could have been regarded as Nigeria's domestic affair and follows with an assessment of the impact of internationalisation of the crisis on the major actors in the region. It is noted that the crisis in the Niger Delta has been predicated for over four decades on a number of complex issues in Nigeria's geo-political landscape. The emergence of organized pressure groups (in the early 1990s) and their protestations against human rights abuses and environmental problems in the region added a 'new' dimension to the crisis. In tackling its thematic concern, this paper interrogates the involvement of the international civil society in the Niger Delta and concludes with an appraisal of the extent to which the internationalisation of the crisis engendered both attitudinal and policy shifts on the part of the main actors.
Topic:
Political Violence, Civil Society, and Oil
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

983. International Election Observers in Africa: The Case of Ethiopia

Author:
Wondwosen Teshome B.
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
The question of inviting international election observers to monitor an election is one of the most controversial issues in Africa. Most of the time, the presence of international election monitors in emerging democracies is important to measure whether or not an election is conducted in a free and fair manner. But, sometimes it is regarded as the violation of a nation's sovereignty.
Topic:
Democratization and International Organization
Political Geography:
Africa and Ethiopia

984. Keeping the Peace in Africa: Why "African" Solutions Are Not Enough

Author:
Paul D. Williams
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Since the early 1990s, a variety of African and Western governments alike have often suggested that finding "African solutions to African problems" represents the best approach to keeping the peace in Africa. Not only does the empirical evidence from post-Cold War Africa suggest that there are some fundamental problems with this approach, it also rests upon some problematic normative commitments. Specifically in relation to the problem of armed conflict, the "African solutions" logic would have at least three negative consequences: it would undermine the UN; it would provide a convenient excuse for powerful Western states that wished to avoid sending their own soldiers to peace operations in Africa; and it would help African autocrats fend off international, especially Western, criticism of their policies. After providing an overview of the constituent elements of the "African solutions" approach, this article sets out in general terms the central problems with it before turning to a specific illustration of how these problems affected the international responses to the ongoing war in Darfur, Sudan. Instead of searching for "African solutions", policymakers should focus on developing effective solutions for the complex challenges raised by the issue of armed conflict in Africa. To this end, Western states in general and the P-3 in particular should give greater support to conflict management activities undertaken by the United Nations, develop clearer guidelines for how these should relate to regional initiatives, and facilitate the efforts of civic associations to build the foundations for stable peace in the continent's war zones.
Topic:
Cold War and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and Darfur

985. Global (Re)vision: Musical Imagination in African America

Author:
Ingrid Monson
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
African American music has always been global, for it would never have come into being without that international trade in human beings known as the Atlantic slave trade. As historians of the slave trade have noted, Americans of African descent came from a variety of ethnic groups primarily from Central and West Africa. Many stopped first in the Caribbean before being transported for sale in various American cities of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. In the United States, unlike in the Caribbean, large groups of enslaved Africans from the same cultural group often did not reside together, which resulted in a synthesizing of diverse African cultural practices and values. People taken from what was then known as Senegambia (present day Senegal and Guinea) predominated numerically in the 17th century, but by the end of the North American slave trade approximately 40% of Africans in America came from central Africa (present day Cameroon, Gabon, both Congos, Central African Republic, Angola), 30% from the Gold Coast and Bight of Benin (present day Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin), 15% from Senegambia, and 15% from elsewhere on the continent. As Robert Farris Thompson's book Flash of the Spirit noted long ago, many traces of Yoruba, Kongo, and Mande cultural expression, religion, and visual arts can be found in North America.
Political Geography:
Africa, America, North America, and Nigeria

986. Response to Monson - 1

Author:
Miriam Larson
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Macalester International
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
I am very pleased to have been invited to be part of this Roundtable and it has been a special pleasure to respond to the insights Professor Monson has offered about music and globalization. As a student of music and of critical race studies, I have encountered very little work that brings together these two fields so fluently. In particular, Professor Monson's critical analysis of Malian and African-American music suggests that music participants, including musicians, listeners, businesspeople, and so on, have the potential to change the inequalities that exist in our musical cultures. In my critical race studies courses, the application of critical theory to everyday practice is known as “praxis.” In other words, a frequent discussion question is how to apply critical analysis to everyday life in order to address the inequalities that exist in our world. Unlike many areas in academia, music departments are actively involved in teaching both analytical and technical aspects of musical performance. However, while the proximity of analysis and practice have the potential to form a critical praxis, music students are rarely challenged with reading material that integrates social critique with musical analysis as provocatively as Professor Monson does, and even less frequently are they encouraged to apply this analysis to their playing and performing.
Political Geography:
Africa and America

987. Counter-Terrorism and the National Security of African States:Points of Convergence and Departure

Author:
Andrew Atta-Asamoah
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Security Sector Management
Institution:
Centre for Security Sector Management
Abstract:
Africa's recognition of the threat of terrorism to the continent has culminated in the galvanisation of national, regional and international efforts towards counter-terrorism. By addressing the safety of citizens, protection of territorial integrity and preservation of the primacy of states, these efforts converge with the classical demands of the national security of African states. However, certain practical fallouts from the implementation of these measures - such as human rights abuses - diverge from the overarching purpose of national security of states and undermine national cohesion and democratic principles. This article juxtaposes post-9/11 counter-terrorism efforts in Africa and the national security of African states arguing that more effective implementation strategies supporting counter-terrorism initiatives in Africa will not only help rid the continent of terrorist activities and associated threats but also help combat other criminal aspects of African society and security threats. However, if the drivers of Africa's counter-terrorism agenda do not steer initiatives clear of parochial politics and religion, the security of African states will be undermined by counter-terrorism.
Topic:
Security and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Africa

988. Choosing Strategic African Partners: How Heavy are the Anchors?

Author:
Alex Vines
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
A televised post-election crisis in Kenya demands a government response, but where are the west's partners in Africa and what are the strategic interests? And as several more states prepare to vote, which are the ones to watch?
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

989. Rethinking the "Third World": Talking with Lakhdar Brahimi

Author:
Forrest D. Colburn
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has a distinguished history in the politics of what has long been known as the "Third World," most of which were once beleaguered colonies of Europe. After the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955--the first coming together of the non-aligned movement--Lakhdar was sent to Indonesia by the National Liberation Front of Algeria to open its first office in Asia.
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Indonesia, Asia, and Algeria

990. "The Globalizers: The IMF, the World Bank, and Their Borrowers"

Author:
Joseph P. Joyce
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Woods is an insightful and thoughtful authority on the Bretton Woods institutions. In this book she examines their activities and focuses on their engagements with Mexico, Russia, and the sub-Saharan African nations.
Political Geography:
Africa, Russia, and Mexico

991. Freeing All God's Children

Author:
Clifford Bob
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:
Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:
Each year since 1999 the U.S. State Department has issued a lengthy report on violations of religious freedoms around the world. In recent years, Human Rights Watch and other major rights organizations have made religious persecution one of their major foci. And the world media now pays significant attention to violations of worship rights. As a result, countries such as Sudan, China, North Korea, Uzbekistan, and others have faced international pressure for their repression of various faiths, especially Christianity.
Topic:
Non-Governmental Organization and Religion
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, China, Sudan, North Korea, and Uzbekistan

992. Making Sense of a Senseless War

Author:
J. Peter Pham
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Human Rights and Human Welfare - Review Essays
Institution:
Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Abstract:
In a report on the United Nations-supervised disarmament process in Sierra Leone, veteran Washington Post correspondent Douglas Farah described the pathos of the ragged Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters: many were barely into their teens, straggling into a processing center in the diamond-rich eastern district of Kono with little more than ill-fitting rags draped over their emaciated bodies (Farah 2001). There was little evidence that these broken youths had, just a short while earlier, been part of one of the most brutal and effective insurgencies in the world, one whose strategy was predicated on terror in its most primordial expression. Farah's piece was headlined, “They Fought for Nothing, and That's What They Got,” a succinct description of a conflict that struck many as senseless, despite its heavy toll in lives and property.
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa, Washington, and Sierra Leone

993. Economic Freedom, Corruption, and Growth

Author:
Mushfiq us Swaleheen and Dean Stansel
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Cato Journal
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
This article adds to the empirical literature on the relationship between corruption and economic growth by incorporating the impact of economic freedom. We utilize an econometric model with two improvements on the previous literature: (1) our model accounts for the fact that economic growth, corruption, and investment are jointly determined, and (2) we include economic freedom explicitly as an explanatory variable. Using a panel of 60 countries, we find that for countries with low economic freedom (where individuals have limited economic choices), corruption reduces economic growth. However, in countries with high economic freedom, corruption is found to increase economic growth. Our results contradict the generally accepted view that corruption lowers the rate of growth. We use Osterfeld's (1992) distinction between expansive and restrictive corruption to explain our results. According to Osterfeld, corruption expands output if more bribes help the economy move toward greater free exchange. Thus, in economies where economic freedom is high, if bribing makes public officials less diligent in enforcing restrictions on firms' activities, output will increase. However, corruption will restrict output when bribes reduce competition and increase market rigidities. This outcome is more likely in countries where economic freedom is low due to widespread state ownership of assets (e.g., in China), monopolies and high tariff barriers granted to businesses owned by ruling elites and their cronies (e.g., the Philippines under Marcos and Indonesia under Suharto), and state-run marketing boards that are often the sole purchasers of agricultural products (e.g., in several African countries). An increase in corruption in these low economic freedom countries means even less competition and free exchange and leads to a fall in output. The policy implication of our finding is straightforward: The surest way to mitigate corruption and its adverse effects is to increase economic freedom.
Political Geography:
Africa

994. Informalising Readmission Agreements in the EU Neighbourhood

Author:
Jean-Pierre Cassarino
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
A number of factors explain why some EU member states, particularly France Italy and Spain are gradually opting for informal patterns of cooperation on readmission issues with Mediterranean and African countries. This adaptive inclination is more of a necessity than an option. It reflects the more urgent need of some EU member states to find flexible solutions for cooperation on readmission rather than to conclude bilateral readmission agreements. The agenda remains unchanged, but there has been a shift in priority actions with regard to these countries. The operability of cooperation on readmission has been prioritised over formalisation.
Political Geography:
Africa, Canada, Shanghai, France, Spain, and Italy

995. The “Social Market Economy” and its Impact on German European Policy in the Adenauer Era, 1949-1963

Author:
Guido Thiemeyer
Publication Date:
06-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
German Politics and Society
Institution:
German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:
This article focuses on the economic aspects of German European policy in the 1950s and raises the question whether the economic system of the Federal Republic of Germany, “Soziale Marktwirtschaft” had any impact on the European policy of the West German state. It argues that Social Market Economy as defined by Ludwig Erhard influenced German European policy in certain aspects, but there was a latent contradiction between the political approach of Konrad Adenauer and this economic concept. Moreover, this article shows that West German European policy was not always as supportive for European unity as it is often considered.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Economics
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Germany

996. Hors-themes: The political analysis of a rebellion. A “governance through violence” in Northern Ivory Coast

Author:
Michel Galy
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
A la suite de travaux sur la « guerre nomade » ouest africaine, on s'interroge ici sur la sociologie politique d'un mouvement rebelle, entre ethnicité et internationalisation. Quels écarts entre les pratiques de violence discontinue envers les civils et les discours anti-discriminations, entre épuration ethnique larvée et positions révolutionnaires ? L'étude des strates successives du mouvement rebelle, des clans et groupes qui le composent aboutit à un « diagramme de pouvoirs » qui va des communautés locales aux alliances avec les pays voisins et aux soutiens occidentaux. Mais un approfondissement de la genèse du mouvement montre en fait certains caractères « post-modernes » de telles rebellions, où la sympathie plus ou moins manipulée de médias étrangers aboutit, via un sigle au début largement artificiel (MPCI), à une véritable co-création d'un mouvement politico-militaire, dont militaires, politiques et humanitaires occidentaux se sont emparés sans recul critique - notamment en refusant de connaître l'« idéologie mandingue », symétrique de « l'ivoirité » et justifiant par avance une violence conquérante. C'est aussi l'occasion, en termes foucaldiens, de jauger la « gouvernance par la violence » de la zone rebelle, mais aussi sa gouvernementalité : en termes d'informalisation des trafics en tous genres, de résistance des communautés villageoises, de persistance des factions militaires sous-tendues par les clivages de l'ethnicité ; enfin d'analyser les dilemmes politiques du mouvement rebelle, entre création d'un proto-Etat peu viable (ou son rattachement au Burkina), et ralliement - moyennant compensations -au processus de réintégration nationale, de désarmement et de participation au processus électoral.
Topic:
Governance
Political Geography:
Africa and Côte d'Ivoire

997. The African Union in Darfur: An African Solution to a Global Problem?

Author:
Adam Keith
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
Since 2003, Sudan’s central government has used proxy forces to slaughter thousands of civilians belonging to ethnic groups associated with the uprising taking place in the Darfur region. Serious outside pressure would likely be required to change the regime’s “preferences for repression,” as Sudan’s central government has concluded that, if unchecked, the uprising would threaten the regime’s survival. The African Union (AU) has been admirably engaged in the Darfur crisis but has ultimately proven ineffectual, hindered by poor resources and weak political will. At the same time, the Sudanese government’s intransigence and the diplomatic protection it has received from China have blunted the more ambitious steps taken by the United Nations Security Council. Ending the human rights violations that have plagued Darfur will require greater pressure from China on its partners in Khartoum, and this article concludes that advocacy from activist groups and the African Union itself could produce such an outcome.
Topic:
Genocide, Human Rights, Advocacy, African Union, and Proxy Groups
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, and Darfur

998. The Constitutional Protection of Socio-Economic Rights in Selected African Countries: A Comparative Evaluation

Author:
John Cantius Mubangizi
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
This article evaluates the extent to which a few selected African countries have incorporated socio-economic rights in their constitutions, the mechanisms through which such rights are realised, the challenges such realisation entails and the approach taken by the courts and other human rights institutions in those countries towards the realisation and enforcement of those rights. The survey examines South Africa, Namibia, Uganda and Ghana. Apart from the logical geographical spread, all these countries enacted their present constitutions around the same time (1990 to 1996) in an attempt to transform themselves into democratic societies. In a sense, these countries can be seen as transitional societies, emerging as they have done, from long periods of apartheid and foreign domination or autocratic dictatorships. The latter is true for Uganda and Ghana while the former refers to South Africa and Namibia. The article concludes that South Africa has not only made the most advanced constitutional provision for socio-economic rights, it has also taken the lead in the judicial enforcement of such rights, an experience from which the other countries in the survey can learn.
Topic:
Development, Government, and International Law
Political Geography:
Africa

999. Genomics, Insurance and Human Rights: Is there a Place for Regulatory Frameworks in Africa?

Author:
Vincent O. Nmehielle
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
This article examines the human rights dimension of genetic discrimination in Africa, exploring the place of regulatory frameworks while taking into account the disadvantaged position of the average African. This is in response to the tendency of insurance companies toward making health insurance decisions on the basis of individual genetic information, which could result in genetic discrimination or health insurance discrimination based on a person’s genetic profile. The author considers such questions as the intersection between human rights (right to life, health, privacy, human dignity and against genetic discrimination) in relation to the insurance industry, as well as the obligations of state and non-state actors to promote, respect, and protect the enjoyment of these rights. The article argues that African nations should not stand aloof in trying to balance the competing interests (scientific, economic and social) presented by the use of genetic information in the health care context and that ultimately it is the responsibility of states to develop domestic policies to protect their most vulnerable citizens and to prevent entrenched private discrimination based on an individual’s genes.
Topic:
Development, Government, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
Africa

1000. Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:
The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:
These Rules of Procedure and Evidence as first amended on 7 March 2003, are applicable pursuant to Article 14 of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and entered into force on 12 April 2002.
Topic:
Development, Government, and International Law
Political Geography:
Africa