Charlotte A. Quinn and Frederick Quinn
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195063868
- eISBN:
- 9780199834587
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195063864.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Islam is spreading rapidly in sub‐Saharan Africa, home of more than 150 million Muslims. African Islam is local Islam, responsive to local histories in cultures as diverse as the countries considered ...
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Islam is spreading rapidly in sub‐Saharan Africa, home of more than 150 million Muslims. African Islam is local Islam, responsive to local histories in cultures as diverse as the countries considered in this study – Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa. Islam provides a source of communal identity to those experiencing rapid change, populations affected by secularization, unemployment, corrupt and ineffectual governments, and the intrusions of global media. The spread of Islam ascends as respect for the state declines. Ironically, the same Muslim believers who rail against Western materialism are keen on adopting the most modern technologies to communicate with members, and to find access to employment and economic opportunities in the West. As for Islamic fundamentalists (Islamists) the danger is that given Africa's porous borders and weak state structures, such groups can move about easily, feeding on popular discontent. Often more political than theological in aspirations, there is no certainty that the Islamist position will advance in Africa. Opposition includes central governments, many of them with Muslims in key positions, and numerous traditional Islamic rulers and brotherhoods, more moderate in outlook. The extent to which imposition of Sharia, traditional Islamic law, is introduced in a country can be a barometer of the extent of Islamic influence. This timely study is based on extensive field research, including oral interviews, the study of contemporary local sources, and historical research by two scholars with long familiarity with the subject.Less
Islam is spreading rapidly in sub‐Saharan Africa, home of more than 150 million Muslims. African Islam is local Islam, responsive to local histories in cultures as diverse as the countries considered in this study – Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, and South Africa. Islam provides a source of communal identity to those experiencing rapid change, populations affected by secularization, unemployment, corrupt and ineffectual governments, and the intrusions of global media. The spread of Islam ascends as respect for the state declines. Ironically, the same Muslim believers who rail against Western materialism are keen on adopting the most modern technologies to communicate with members, and to find access to employment and economic opportunities in the West. As for Islamic fundamentalists (Islamists) the danger is that given Africa's porous borders and weak state structures, such groups can move about easily, feeding on popular discontent. Often more political than theological in aspirations, there is no certainty that the Islamist position will advance in Africa. Opposition includes central governments, many of them with Muslims in key positions, and numerous traditional Islamic rulers and brotherhoods, more moderate in outlook. The extent to which imposition of Sharia, traditional Islamic law, is introduced in a country can be a barometer of the extent of Islamic influence. This timely study is based on extensive field research, including oral interviews, the study of contemporary local sources, and historical research by two scholars with long familiarity with the subject.
Sandra F. Joireman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199782482
- eISBN:
- 9780199897209
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782482.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Governments, farmers, homeowners, and academics around the world agree that property rights are important. But what happens when the state fails to enforce them? This book describes how a variety of ...
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Governments, farmers, homeowners, and academics around the world agree that property rights are important. But what happens when the state fails to enforce them? This book describes how a variety of non-state actors define and enforce property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa when the state is weak or absent. Examining the roles played by traditional leaders, entrepreneurial bureaucrats, NGOs, and specialists in violence, this text argues that organic institutions can be helpful or predatory, depending on their incentives and context. Because organically developed institutions are not assumed to be either good or bad, the book develops a set of measurement criteria to assess which types of property regimes and enforcement mechanisms are helpful and which are harmful to social welfare. It focuses on the politics of property rights enforcement in both rural and urban communities in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Describing what happens in specific communities, the book provocatively challenges the fallacy of legalism—the idea that changes in property law will lead to changes in property rights on the ground—arguing instead that states which change their property laws face challenges in implementation when they do not control the authority structures in local communities. The book provides new information about competitors to state power in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges of providing secure and defensible property rights.Less
Governments, farmers, homeowners, and academics around the world agree that property rights are important. But what happens when the state fails to enforce them? This book describes how a variety of non-state actors define and enforce property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa when the state is weak or absent. Examining the roles played by traditional leaders, entrepreneurial bureaucrats, NGOs, and specialists in violence, this text argues that organic institutions can be helpful or predatory, depending on their incentives and context. Because organically developed institutions are not assumed to be either good or bad, the book develops a set of measurement criteria to assess which types of property regimes and enforcement mechanisms are helpful and which are harmful to social welfare. It focuses on the politics of property rights enforcement in both rural and urban communities in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. Describing what happens in specific communities, the book provocatively challenges the fallacy of legalism—the idea that changes in property law will lead to changes in property rights on the ground—arguing instead that states which change their property laws face challenges in implementation when they do not control the authority structures in local communities. The book provides new information about competitors to state power in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges of providing secure and defensible property rights.
Edward Miguel
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195305197
- eISBN:
- 9780199783519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195305191.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This essay begins with a discussion of the recent social science literature on the impact of ethnic, racial, and religious divisions, and then proposes a set of policies that less-developed countries ...
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This essay begins with a discussion of the recent social science literature on the impact of ethnic, racial, and religious divisions, and then proposes a set of policies that less-developed countries should follow to help them overcome ethnic conflict. It advocates the adoption of “nation-building” policies that foster the development of a common national identity. The case of Tanzania, and the contrast of Tanzania with its East African neighbor, Kenya, is the focus of this essay. It is argued that Tanzania’s serious approach to forging a common national identity attractive across ethnic groups — which takes the form of extensive linguistic, educational, and institutional reforms — offers a model for other less-developed countries that inherited ethnic divisions in the post-independence period. An overview of empirical evidence based on original field data collection is presented, which shows that this nation-building approach has allowed ethnically diverse communities in rural Tanzania to achieve considerable success in local fund-raising for primary schools, while ethnically diverse Kenyan communities have largely failed in this task.Less
This essay begins with a discussion of the recent social science literature on the impact of ethnic, racial, and religious divisions, and then proposes a set of policies that less-developed countries should follow to help them overcome ethnic conflict. It advocates the adoption of “nation-building” policies that foster the development of a common national identity. The case of Tanzania, and the contrast of Tanzania with its East African neighbor, Kenya, is the focus of this essay. It is argued that Tanzania’s serious approach to forging a common national identity attractive across ethnic groups — which takes the form of extensive linguistic, educational, and institutional reforms — offers a model for other less-developed countries that inherited ethnic divisions in the post-independence period. An overview of empirical evidence based on original field data collection is presented, which shows that this nation-building approach has allowed ethnically diverse communities in rural Tanzania to achieve considerable success in local fund-raising for primary schools, while ethnically diverse Kenyan communities have largely failed in this task.
Dirk Hartmann
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198296454
- eISBN:
- 9780191600036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198296452.003.0026
- Subject:
- Political Science, Reference
This chapter on elections and electoral systems in Kenya follows the same format as all the other country chapters in the book. The first section is introductory and contains a historical overview, ...
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This chapter on elections and electoral systems in Kenya follows the same format as all the other country chapters in the book. The first section is introductory and contains a historical overview, discussion of the evolution of electoral provisions, an account of the current electoral provisions, and a comment on the electoral statistics. The second section consists of ten tables. These are: 2.1 Dates of National Elections, Referendums, and Coups d’Etat (there have been no referendums or coups d’états); 2.2 Electoral Body 1963–1997 (data on population size, registered voters, and votes cast); 2.3 Abbreviations (abbreviations and full names of political parties and alliances used in tables 2.6, 2.7, and 2.9); 2.4 Electoral Participation of Parties and Alliances 1963–1997 (participation of political parties and alliances in chronological order and including the years and number of contested elections); 2.5 Referendums (none held); 2.6 Elections for Constitutional Assembly (none held); 2.7 Parliamentary Elections 1963–1997 (details of registered voters and votes cast for the House of Representatives (Lower Chamber) and Senate 1963–1966, and the National Assembly 1969–1997); 2.8 Composition of Parliament 1963–1997 (House of Representatives (Lower Chamber) 1963–1966, and the National Assembly 1969–1997; 2.9 Presidential Elections 1969–1997 (details of registered voters and votes cast nationally and regionally); and 2.10 List of Power Holders 1963–1998.Less
This chapter on elections and electoral systems in Kenya follows the same format as all the other country chapters in the book. The first section is introductory and contains a historical overview, discussion of the evolution of electoral provisions, an account of the current electoral provisions, and a comment on the electoral statistics. The second section consists of ten tables. These are: 2.1 Dates of National Elections, Referendums, and Coups d’Etat (there have been no referendums or coups d’états); 2.2 Electoral Body 1963–1997 (data on population size, registered voters, and votes cast); 2.3 Abbreviations (abbreviations and full names of political parties and alliances used in tables 2.6, 2.7, and 2.9); 2.4 Electoral Participation of Parties and Alliances 1963–1997 (participation of political parties and alliances in chronological order and including the years and number of contested elections); 2.5 Referendums (none held); 2.6 Elections for Constitutional Assembly (none held); 2.7 Parliamentary Elections 1963–1997 (details of registered voters and votes cast for the House of Representatives (Lower Chamber) and Senate 1963–1966, and the National Assembly 1969–1997); 2.8 Composition of Parliament 1963–1997 (House of Representatives (Lower Chamber) 1963–1966, and the National Assembly 1969–1997; 2.9 Presidential Elections 1969–1997 (details of registered voters and votes cast nationally and regionally); and 2.10 List of Power Holders 1963–1998.
Terence O. Ranger (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195174779
- eISBN:
- 9780199871858
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174779.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
In recent decades, Christianity has acquired millions of new adherents in Africa, the region with the world's fastest expanding population. What role has this development of evangelical Christianity ...
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In recent decades, Christianity has acquired millions of new adherents in Africa, the region with the world's fastest expanding population. What role has this development of evangelical Christianity played in Africa's democratic history? To what extent do its churches affect its politics? Taking a historical view and focusing specifically on the events of the past few years this book seeks to explore these questions, offering individual case studies of six countries: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, and Mozambique. Unlike most analyses of democracy which come from a secular Western tradition, the contributors to this book, who are mainly younger scholars based in Africa, employ both field and archival research to develop their data and analyses.Less
In recent decades, Christianity has acquired millions of new adherents in Africa, the region with the world's fastest expanding population. What role has this development of evangelical Christianity played in Africa's democratic history? To what extent do its churches affect its politics? Taking a historical view and focusing specifically on the events of the past few years this book seeks to explore these questions, offering individual case studies of six countries: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, and Mozambique. Unlike most analyses of democracy which come from a secular Western tradition, the contributors to this book, who are mainly younger scholars based in Africa, employ both field and archival research to develop their data and analyses.
Terence O. Ranger
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195174779
- eISBN:
- 9780199871858
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174779.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This concluding chapter presents comments on more recent developments in four of the cases presented in this book: northern Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Topics covered include Islam in ...
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This concluding chapter presents comments on more recent developments in four of the cases presented in this book: northern Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Topics covered include Islam in northern Nigeria, political change in Zambia, political change in Kenya, and political change in Zimbabwe.Less
This concluding chapter presents comments on more recent developments in four of the cases presented in this book: northern Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Topics covered include Islam in northern Nigeria, political change in Zambia, political change in Kenya, and political change in Zimbabwe.
Adrienne LeBas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546862
- eISBN:
- 9780191728594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546862.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Chapter 4 examines the different paths that state–labor relations took in the book’s two other cases, Zambia and Kenya. As in Zimbabwe, the Zambian state passed legislation that strengthened and ...
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Chapter 4 examines the different paths that state–labor relations took in the book’s two other cases, Zambia and Kenya. As in Zimbabwe, the Zambian state passed legislation that strengthened and centralized the labor movement, and the ruling party saw trade unions as partners in governance. In the decades following independence, this party–union alliance was challenged by grassroots strike activity and by greater confrontation between the state and labor leaders over economic policy. In Kenya, the labor control regime was markedly different than in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The state never viewed trade unions as an effective instrument of control, nor did they make any attempt to centralize union structures. Union membership remained low, and unions were fragmented and had little shopfloor presence. The chapter argues that these differences in labor regimes led to very different associational landscapes in these two countries.Less
Chapter 4 examines the different paths that state–labor relations took in the book’s two other cases, Zambia and Kenya. As in Zimbabwe, the Zambian state passed legislation that strengthened and centralized the labor movement, and the ruling party saw trade unions as partners in governance. In the decades following independence, this party–union alliance was challenged by grassroots strike activity and by greater confrontation between the state and labor leaders over economic policy. In Kenya, the labor control regime was markedly different than in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The state never viewed trade unions as an effective instrument of control, nor did they make any attempt to centralize union structures. Union membership remained low, and unions were fragmented and had little shopfloor presence. The chapter argues that these differences in labor regimes led to very different associational landscapes in these two countries.
Adrienne LeBas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546862
- eISBN:
- 9780191728594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546862.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Chapter 6 argues that civic life in both Zambia and Kenya was characterized by weak social ties, which impeded party-building before and after democratic transitions began. The structure of these ...
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Chapter 6 argues that civic life in both Zambia and Kenya was characterized by weak social ties, which impeded party-building before and after democratic transitions began. The structure of these ties differed. In Zambia, the loose cross-regional networks of organized labor provided likely opposition supporters with a focal point and a means of coordinating votes. In Kenya, on the other hand, civic life was atomized to the district level, which made the coordination of protest across space or across ethnic groups far more difficult. In Zambia, trade unions provided a mobilizing structure that allowed for a successful protest movement as opposition to the ruling party increased. In Kenya, the absence of this mobilizing structure led opposition leaders to rely on ethnic mobilization. In the two countries, different network structures had different implications for the coordination of protest, but they were similarly unsuited for the building of strong, durable opposition parties.Less
Chapter 6 argues that civic life in both Zambia and Kenya was characterized by weak social ties, which impeded party-building before and after democratic transitions began. The structure of these ties differed. In Zambia, the loose cross-regional networks of organized labor provided likely opposition supporters with a focal point and a means of coordinating votes. In Kenya, on the other hand, civic life was atomized to the district level, which made the coordination of protest across space or across ethnic groups far more difficult. In Zambia, trade unions provided a mobilizing structure that allowed for a successful protest movement as opposition to the ruling party increased. In Kenya, the absence of this mobilizing structure led opposition leaders to rely on ethnic mobilization. In the two countries, different network structures had different implications for the coordination of protest, but they were similarly unsuited for the building of strong, durable opposition parties.
Adrienne LeBas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546862
- eISBN:
- 9780191728594
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546862.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Chapter 8 examines opposition party development after the transition to multiparty politics in Zambia and Kenya. In Zambia, the mobilizing structures provided by labor allowed the opposition Movement ...
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Chapter 8 examines opposition party development after the transition to multiparty politics in Zambia and Kenya. In Zambia, the mobilizing structures provided by labor allowed the opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy to win the founding elections in 1991 by a large margin. In Kenya, on the other hand, opposition parties struggled to solve internal disagreements and mobilize constituencies across the lines of ethnicity and region. The opposition Forum for the Restoration of Democracy split prior to founding elections, leading to the fragmentation of the protest vote on ethnic lines. Up until 2002, the Kenyan ruling party was able to retain office due to opposition fragmentation. Despite these initial differences in opposition success, party systems in both countries have been characterized by high levels of fragmentation and volatility. This chapter argues that these political outcomes can partly be explained by weak party structures and personalized party decision-making in both countries.Less
Chapter 8 examines opposition party development after the transition to multiparty politics in Zambia and Kenya. In Zambia, the mobilizing structures provided by labor allowed the opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy to win the founding elections in 1991 by a large margin. In Kenya, on the other hand, opposition parties struggled to solve internal disagreements and mobilize constituencies across the lines of ethnicity and region. The opposition Forum for the Restoration of Democracy split prior to founding elections, leading to the fragmentation of the protest vote on ethnic lines. Up until 2002, the Kenyan ruling party was able to retain office due to opposition fragmentation. Despite these initial differences in opposition success, party systems in both countries have been characterized by high levels of fragmentation and volatility. This chapter argues that these political outcomes can partly be explained by weak party structures and personalized party decision-making in both countries.
Nitsan Chorev
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691197845
- eISBN:
- 9780691198873
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691197845.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This book looks at local drug manufacturing in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, from the early 1980s to the present, to understand the impact of foreign aid on industrial development. While foreign aid ...
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This book looks at local drug manufacturing in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, from the early 1980s to the present, to understand the impact of foreign aid on industrial development. While foreign aid has been attacked by critics as wasteful, counterproductive, or exploitative, this book makes a clear case for the effectiveness of what it terms “developmental foreign aid.” Against the backdrop of Africa’s pursuit of economic self-sufficiency, the battle against AIDS and malaria, and bitter negotiations over affordable drugs, the book offers an important corrective to popular views on foreign aid and development. It shows that when foreign aid has provided markets, monitoring, and mentoring, it has supported the emergence and upgrading of local production. In instances where donors were willing to procure local drugs, they created new markets that gave local entrepreneurs an incentive to produce new types of drugs. In turn, when donors enforced exacting standards as a condition to access those markets, they gave these producers an incentive to improve quality standards. And where technical know-how was not readily available and donors provided mentoring, local producers received the guidance necessary for improving production processes. Without losing sight of domestic political-economic conditions, historical legacies, and foreign aid’s own internal contradictions, the book presents new insights into the conditions under which foreign aid can be effective.Less
This book looks at local drug manufacturing in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, from the early 1980s to the present, to understand the impact of foreign aid on industrial development. While foreign aid has been attacked by critics as wasteful, counterproductive, or exploitative, this book makes a clear case for the effectiveness of what it terms “developmental foreign aid.” Against the backdrop of Africa’s pursuit of economic self-sufficiency, the battle against AIDS and malaria, and bitter negotiations over affordable drugs, the book offers an important corrective to popular views on foreign aid and development. It shows that when foreign aid has provided markets, monitoring, and mentoring, it has supported the emergence and upgrading of local production. In instances where donors were willing to procure local drugs, they created new markets that gave local entrepreneurs an incentive to produce new types of drugs. In turn, when donors enforced exacting standards as a condition to access those markets, they gave these producers an incentive to improve quality standards. And where technical know-how was not readily available and donors provided mentoring, local producers received the guidance necessary for improving production processes. Without losing sight of domestic political-economic conditions, historical legacies, and foreign aid’s own internal contradictions, the book presents new insights into the conditions under which foreign aid can be effective.
Heather D Switzer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042034
- eISBN:
- 9780252050770
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042034.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
A host of international organizations promotes the belief that education will empower Kenya’s Maasai girls. Yet the ideas that animate their campaigns often arise from presumptions that reduce the ...
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A host of international organizations promotes the belief that education will empower Kenya’s Maasai girls. Yet the ideas that animate their campaigns often arise from presumptions that reduce the girls themselves to helpless victims of gender-related forms of oppression.
Heather D. Switzer’s interviews with over one hundred Kenyan Maasai schoolgirls challenge the widespread view of education as a silver bullet solution to global poverty. In their own voices, the girls offer incisive insights into their commitments, aspirations, and desires. Switzer weaves this ethnographic material into an astute analysis of historical literature, education and development documents, and theoretical literature. Maasai schoolgirls express a particular knowledge about themselves and provocative hopes for their futures. Yet, as Switzer shows, new opportunities force them to face, and navigate, new vulnerabilities and insecurities within a society that is itself in flux.
Daring in its conclusions and rich in detail, When the Light Is Fire evokes hope about schoolgirls even as it critiques the oversimplified, incomplete narratives about their potential and their place in the global economic order.Less
A host of international organizations promotes the belief that education will empower Kenya’s Maasai girls. Yet the ideas that animate their campaigns often arise from presumptions that reduce the girls themselves to helpless victims of gender-related forms of oppression.
Heather D. Switzer’s interviews with over one hundred Kenyan Maasai schoolgirls challenge the widespread view of education as a silver bullet solution to global poverty. In their own voices, the girls offer incisive insights into their commitments, aspirations, and desires. Switzer weaves this ethnographic material into an astute analysis of historical literature, education and development documents, and theoretical literature. Maasai schoolgirls express a particular knowledge about themselves and provocative hopes for their futures. Yet, as Switzer shows, new opportunities force them to face, and navigate, new vulnerabilities and insecurities within a society that is itself in flux.
Daring in its conclusions and rich in detail, When the Light Is Fire evokes hope about schoolgirls even as it critiques the oversimplified, incomplete narratives about their potential and their place in the global economic order.
Alok Bhargava
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199269143
- eISBN:
- 9780191710117
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269143.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This book provides a firm grounding in the concepts and issues across several disciplines including economics, nutrition, psychology and public health in the hope of improving the design of food ...
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This book provides a firm grounding in the concepts and issues across several disciplines including economics, nutrition, psychology and public health in the hope of improving the design of food policies in the developed and developing world. Using longitudinal (panel) data from India, Bangladesh, Kenya, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Pakistan, and extending the analytical framework used in economics and biomedical sciences to include multi-disciplinary analyses, this book shows how rigorous and thoughtful econometric and statistical analysis can improve understanding of the relationships between a number of socioeconomic, nutritional, and behavioural variables on a number of issues like cognitive development in children and labour productivity in the developing world. A chapter on the growing obesity epidemic is also included, highlighting the new set of problems facing not only developed but developing countries. The book also includes a glossary of technical terms.Less
This book provides a firm grounding in the concepts and issues across several disciplines including economics, nutrition, psychology and public health in the hope of improving the design of food policies in the developed and developing world. Using longitudinal (panel) data from India, Bangladesh, Kenya, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Pakistan, and extending the analytical framework used in economics and biomedical sciences to include multi-disciplinary analyses, this book shows how rigorous and thoughtful econometric and statistical analysis can improve understanding of the relationships between a number of socioeconomic, nutritional, and behavioural variables on a number of issues like cognitive development in children and labour productivity in the developing world. A chapter on the growing obesity epidemic is also included, highlighting the new set of problems facing not only developed but developing countries. The book also includes a glossary of technical terms.
Jean Drèze
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198286363
- eISBN:
- 9780191718458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198286363.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the ...
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This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the international community. Public policy, by providing direct public support to the population in times of crisis, was key to this famine prevention success; neither higher economic growth, nor accelerated growth of agriculture, nor the rapid expansion of food production were by themselves adequate safeguards against famine. These African experiences offer ample lessons, including the importance of entitlement protection systems, initiative, and conduct of emergency operations by local or national institutions; the dependence of early response on political considerations, efficacy of cash support, interconnections between private trade and public distribution, and diversification of economic activities.Less
This chapter focuses on the success stories of famine prevention in a number of African countries, such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cape Verde, and Bostswana, that had received little attention from the international community. Public policy, by providing direct public support to the population in times of crisis, was key to this famine prevention success; neither higher economic growth, nor accelerated growth of agriculture, nor the rapid expansion of food production were by themselves adequate safeguards against famine. These African experiences offer ample lessons, including the importance of entitlement protection systems, initiative, and conduct of emergency operations by local or national institutions; the dependence of early response on political considerations, efficacy of cash support, interconnections between private trade and public distribution, and diversification of economic activities.
Amy Wilson and Nickson Kakiri
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732548
- eISBN:
- 9780199866359
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732548.003.0015
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and Pedagogy
This chapter highlights aspects of best practices of researchers and organizations when collaborating with deaf communities (such as in Brazil) to nurture them in achieving independence and enhanced ...
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This chapter highlights aspects of best practices of researchers and organizations when collaborating with deaf communities (such as in Brazil) to nurture them in achieving independence and enhanced quality of life. The authors’ joint study aimed to discover how outside funding institutions can aid the economic development of Kenyan deaf communities from the point of view of those communities. Community members identified problems of corruption and cultural misunderstandings, resulting in misuse of funding. They recommended community planning, management, and evaluation of projects, and that money from institutions go directly to communities, not via brokers, and deaf Kenyans be trained and thus empowered to make their own changes.Less
This chapter highlights aspects of best practices of researchers and organizations when collaborating with deaf communities (such as in Brazil) to nurture them in achieving independence and enhanced quality of life. The authors’ joint study aimed to discover how outside funding institutions can aid the economic development of Kenyan deaf communities from the point of view of those communities. Community members identified problems of corruption and cultural misunderstandings, resulting in misuse of funding. They recommended community planning, management, and evaluation of projects, and that money from institutions go directly to communities, not via brokers, and deaf Kenyans be trained and thus empowered to make their own changes.
Adrienne LeBas
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199546862
- eISBN:
- 9780191728594
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546862.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Why do strong opposition party organizations emerge in some democratizing countries, while those in others remain weak or quickly fragment on ethnic lines? This book offers an explanation for why ...
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Why do strong opposition party organizations emerge in some democratizing countries, while those in others remain weak or quickly fragment on ethnic lines? This book offers an explanation for why opposition parties vary in organizational form, cohesion, and mobilizational reach. The book draws upon an in-depth analysis of three countries in Anglophone Africa: Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Kenya. Though these countries share similar institutional frameworks, including electoral rules, party development has taken a different route in each. The explanation emphasizes the ways in which historical legacies interact with strategic choices to produce different trajectories of party development. In terms of the role of history, the book argues that strong opposition parties are more likely where authoritarian states relied on alliances with corporate actors like labor. In these contexts, ruling parties armed their allies, providing them with mobilizing structures and political resources that could later be used to challenge the state. Secondly, opposition parties are more likely to maintain their organizational cohesion and the commitment of activists when they use strategies and appeals that escalate conflict and reorient social boundaries around the lines of partisan affiliation. Polarization forges stronger parties, but it also increases the likelihood of violence and authoritarian retrenchment. The book provides an explanation of why democratization in the hybrid regimes of the late Third Wave may prove more conflictual and more protracted than earlier transitions to democracy.Less
Why do strong opposition party organizations emerge in some democratizing countries, while those in others remain weak or quickly fragment on ethnic lines? This book offers an explanation for why opposition parties vary in organizational form, cohesion, and mobilizational reach. The book draws upon an in-depth analysis of three countries in Anglophone Africa: Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Kenya. Though these countries share similar institutional frameworks, including electoral rules, party development has taken a different route in each. The explanation emphasizes the ways in which historical legacies interact with strategic choices to produce different trajectories of party development. In terms of the role of history, the book argues that strong opposition parties are more likely where authoritarian states relied on alliances with corporate actors like labor. In these contexts, ruling parties armed their allies, providing them with mobilizing structures and political resources that could later be used to challenge the state. Secondly, opposition parties are more likely to maintain their organizational cohesion and the commitment of activists when they use strategies and appeals that escalate conflict and reorient social boundaries around the lines of partisan affiliation. Polarization forges stronger parties, but it also increases the likelihood of violence and authoritarian retrenchment. The book provides an explanation of why democratization in the hybrid regimes of the late Third Wave may prove more conflictual and more protracted than earlier transitions to democracy.
Ravi Kanbur and Anthony J. Venables
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199278633
- eISBN:
- 9780191602191
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199278636.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Uses data on individual earnings in manufacturing industry for five African countries in the early 1990s to test whether firms located in the capital city pay higher wages than firms located ...
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Uses data on individual earnings in manufacturing industry for five African countries in the early 1990s to test whether firms located in the capital city pay higher wages than firms located elsewhere, and whether such benefits accrue to all or only certain types of workers. Earnings equations are estimated that take into account worker characteristics (education and tenure) and relevant firm characteristics (notably size and whether foreign owned). Any location effect identified is therefore additional to appropriate control variables.Less
Uses data on individual earnings in manufacturing industry for five African countries in the early 1990s to test whether firms located in the capital city pay higher wages than firms located elsewhere, and whether such benefits accrue to all or only certain types of workers. Earnings equations are estimated that take into account worker characteristics (education and tenure) and relevant firm characteristics (notably size and whether foreign owned). Any location effect identified is therefore additional to appropriate control variables.
Kai Kresse
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627868
- eISBN:
- 9780748652976
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627868.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This book provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of ...
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This book provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an ‘anthropology of philosophy’, a project that is spelt out in the opening chapter. Entry points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection. In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, and common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers.Less
This book provides an approach to the anthropological study of philosophical discourses in the Swahili context of Mombasa, Kenya. In this historically established Muslim environment, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, philosophy is investigated as social discourse and intellectual practice, situated in everyday life. This is done from the perspective of an ‘anthropology of philosophy’, a project that is spelt out in the opening chapter. Entry points and guidelines for the ethnography are provided by discussions of Swahili literary genres, life histories, and social debates. From here, local discourses of knowledge are described and analysed. The social environment and discursive dynamics of the Old Town are portrayed, firstly, by means of following and contextualising informal discussions among neighbours and friends at daily meeting points in the streets; and secondly, by presenting and discussing in-depth case studies of local intellectuals and their contributions to moral and intellectual debates within the community. Taking recurrent internal discussions on social affairs, politics, and appropriate Islamic conduct as a focus, this study sheds light on local practices of critique and reflection. In particular, three local intellectuals (two poets, one Islamic scholar) are portrayed against the background of regional intellectual history, Islamic scholarship, and common public debates and private discussions. The three contextual portrayals discuss exemplary issues for the wider field of research on philosophical discourse in Mombasa and the Swahili context on the whole, with reference to the lives and projects of distinct individual thinkers.
Sandra F. Joireman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199782482
- eISBN:
- 9780199897209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782482.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Bureaucratic entrepreneurs are officials operating outside their legitimate area of responsibility. They provide services in exchange for payment and trade on their recognition as authority figures ...
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Bureaucratic entrepreneurs are officials operating outside their legitimate area of responsibility. They provide services in exchange for payment and trade on their recognition as authority figures in one area to make a profit in another. We see bureaucratic entrepreneurs operating as a separate enforcement regime in many parts of Africa. Attention is given to the role of chiefs in Kenya who have been specifically forbidden from adjudicating property disputes, yet do so with frequency in both rural and urban areas, and to elected Local Council I officials in Uganda who act as judges and registrars of land, in spite of a recent law providing alternative formal mechanisms for doing so. Their actions focus a discussion on law and social norms. This chapter presents a different perspective on authority and property as bureaucratic entrepreneurs use both their positions with the state and the weakness of the state to promote their own interests or social norms, which are in conflict with law. In some cases (Uganda), this can result in positive outcomes and the definition of property rights, while in the case of Kenya, the societal impact appears to be negative.Less
Bureaucratic entrepreneurs are officials operating outside their legitimate area of responsibility. They provide services in exchange for payment and trade on their recognition as authority figures in one area to make a profit in another. We see bureaucratic entrepreneurs operating as a separate enforcement regime in many parts of Africa. Attention is given to the role of chiefs in Kenya who have been specifically forbidden from adjudicating property disputes, yet do so with frequency in both rural and urban areas, and to elected Local Council I officials in Uganda who act as judges and registrars of land, in spite of a recent law providing alternative formal mechanisms for doing so. Their actions focus a discussion on law and social norms. This chapter presents a different perspective on authority and property as bureaucratic entrepreneurs use both their positions with the state and the weakness of the state to promote their own interests or social norms, which are in conflict with law. In some cases (Uganda), this can result in positive outcomes and the definition of property rights, while in the case of Kenya, the societal impact appears to be negative.
Sandra F. Joireman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199782482
- eISBN:
- 9780199897209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782482.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
When the state does not enforce property rights, people will hire specialists in violence to do so. This is one example of a larger trend of the privatization of security that is occurring at ...
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When the state does not enforce property rights, people will hire specialists in violence to do so. This is one example of a larger trend of the privatization of security that is occurring at multiple levels in Africa. States hire private security companies to protect valuable natural resource extraction operations, and wealthy people hire private security firms to protect their homes and land. However, there are consequences to this privatization of security. The second part of the chapter addresses the unique problem of property protection by specialists in violence in Accra, Ghana, where young men called Land Guards act informally to secure property rights from encroachment. Land Guards fill the need for security of property rights, but they also bring with them negative externalities. Privatized security for the protection of property rights in major urban areas of Africa challenges our current understanding of the political geography of power in Africa and the Weberian understanding of the stateLess
When the state does not enforce property rights, people will hire specialists in violence to do so. This is one example of a larger trend of the privatization of security that is occurring at multiple levels in Africa. States hire private security companies to protect valuable natural resource extraction operations, and wealthy people hire private security firms to protect their homes and land. However, there are consequences to this privatization of security. The second part of the chapter addresses the unique problem of property protection by specialists in violence in Accra, Ghana, where young men called Land Guards act informally to secure property rights from encroachment. Land Guards fill the need for security of property rights, but they also bring with them negative externalities. Privatized security for the protection of property rights in major urban areas of Africa challenges our current understanding of the political geography of power in Africa and the Weberian understanding of the state
Sandra F. Joireman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199782482
- eISBN:
- 9780199897209
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782482.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Accepted wisdom regarding the geography of power in most African countries holds that power radiates outward from the center, with the strength of the state most pronounced in the capital and often ...
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Accepted wisdom regarding the geography of power in most African countries holds that power radiates outward from the center, with the strength of the state most pronounced in the capital and often barely discernable in the hinterland. With the intense urbanization in many African countries over the past decade we are increasingly seeing areas and populations that are geographically proximate to the center of power, yet as beyond state control as the geographic hinterland. Urban informal settlements are “pockets of statelessness” within capital cities that often have neither formal political representation nor basic public goods. This chapter explores the persistence of one of these “pockets of statelessness,” the Kibera slum community in urban Nairobi, and identifies why attempts to title and enforce property rights there have been bypassed. Four competing enforcement regimes (state courts, NGOs, bureaucratic entrepreneurs, and gangs) are identified within Kibera, and their effectiveness with regard to social welfare is evaluated.Less
Accepted wisdom regarding the geography of power in most African countries holds that power radiates outward from the center, with the strength of the state most pronounced in the capital and often barely discernable in the hinterland. With the intense urbanization in many African countries over the past decade we are increasingly seeing areas and populations that are geographically proximate to the center of power, yet as beyond state control as the geographic hinterland. Urban informal settlements are “pockets of statelessness” within capital cities that often have neither formal political representation nor basic public goods. This chapter explores the persistence of one of these “pockets of statelessness,” the Kibera slum community in urban Nairobi, and identifies why attempts to title and enforce property rights there have been bypassed. Four competing enforcement regimes (state courts, NGOs, bureaucratic entrepreneurs, and gangs) are identified within Kibera, and their effectiveness with regard to social welfare is evaluated.
