Journal of Asian and African Studies recent issues

Son of the Soil: Reclaiming the Land in Zimbabwe

Nmoma, V. — 2008-07-04

The ZANU government of President Robert Mugabe has undertaken a credible measure of land redistribution but has yet to achieve a mutually beneficial land reform among the races in Zimbabwe. Mugabe's desire to alter the structure of economic power in a fair and equitable manner provides validity for land reform and redistribution. However, the government's political tactics in handling land reform along with parsimonious British funding significantly contributed to the failure of achieving the goal of a just, equitable and non-racial society. By conveying a portion of public land to private use, via leasehold contract, both sides stand to gain in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Niger Delta Oil, Development of the Niger Delta and the New Development Initiative: Some Reflections from a Socio-Legal Perspective

Ebeku, K. S.A. — 2008-07-04

Niger Delta oil contributes immensely to the well-being of the Nigerian State; yet the Niger Delta region remains underdeveloped and its indigenous inhabitants are among the poorest in Nigeria, leading the frustrated indigenous people to engage in frequent oil-related protests. Previous development bodies, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), have failed to bring development to the region for various reasons. This article seeks to consider the Consolidated Council on Social and Economic Development of Coastal States of the Niger Delta (COSEND) — a new development institution recently established by the Government of Nigeria to drive the development of the Niger Delta region — with a view to determining whether it could succeed where similar bodies had failed in the past.

Corruption Cleanups in Africa: Lessons from Public Choice Theory

Mbaku, J. M. — 2008-07-04

The study critiques the development literature's neglect of the role played by institutions in development, with special emphasis on corruption cleanups. Such neglect is especially problematic in view of the fact that corruption is a major constraint to wealth creation and economic growth in Africa. The policy limitations of traditional development models with respect to corruption can be remedied by incorporating insights from the theory of public choice into the design and execution of new anti-corruption programs. Such insights include the introduction of new and more relevant rules, reform of existing laws and institutions, provision of more effective and relevant incentive structures, and enforcement mechanisms to reduce the profitability of opportunism.

Intimate Partner Violence among Married Women in Kenya

Djamba, Y. K., Kimuna, S. R. — 2008-07-04

This study examines the prevalence and determinants of physical, sexual, and life threatening partner violence experienced by married women, using the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey data. We found that 40 percent of respondents have ever been abused by their husbands. Physical abuse was the most common form of abuse (36%) followed by sexual (13%) and life threatening (6%) abuses. Logistic regression results show significant effects of gender-power factors on each of the three dimensions of abuse. However, ethnicity is the most significant variable, suggesting that cultural norms play a major role in gender relations and wife abuse in Kenya.

Review Essay: Democratic Transitions: A Review Essay of George Carew's Democratic Transitions in Postcolonial Africa and Charles Tilly's Democracy

Gordon, J. A. — 2008-07-04

Book Review: Sumit Ganguly and Devin T. Hagerty (2006) Fearful Symmetry: India--Pakistan Crises in the Shadow of Nuclear Weapons. New Delhi: Oxford University Press/Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. pp. 223

Kirk, J. A. — 2008-07-04

Book Review: Richard Ballard, Adam Habib and Imraan Valodia (eds) (2006) Voices of Protest: Social Movements in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of Kwazulu Natal Press. pp. 245. US$39.95 (pbk)

Veriava, A. — 2008-07-04

Socio-environmental Marketing in Developing Nations: A Comparison of African and Asian Businesses

Oly Ndubisi, N. — 2008-05-16

Socio-environmental marketing practices have increased drastically in the last decade following the rising environmental consciousness worldwide. This research examines landscaping adoption by organizations in two developing countries in Asia and Africa (namely Malaysia and Nigeria), and the key dimensions of facilitators of adoption. Factor and discriminant analyses were conducted on the data collected from these organizations. The findings of the research are that economic climate, governmental intervention, competitive development, public scrutiny, favourable management attitude and intention, relative advantage, compatibility and ease of use are important factors of socio-environmental marketing adoption by the participating firms.

Holding the Centre: Workers and `Popular-Democratic' Politics in South Africa

Pillay, D. — 2008-05-16

The 2006 South African local election results confirm the approximately two-thirds support the African National Congress (ANC)-led Alliance — with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (COSATU) and the SA Communist Party (SACP) — received from those who voted in previous elections, a level of support that is also consistently reflected among COSATU members in surveys held during 1994, 1998 and 2004.¹ However, the low voter turnout means less than a quarter of all eligible voters voted for the ANC. As tensions between the ANC leadership under Thabo Mbeki and its working class allies mounted, this should ordinarily have presented an opportunity to build a Left alternative among a disgruntled working class majority — except that the basis for such an alternative, organized workers, seem resistant to an independent `working class politics'. Instead, they put all their energies into replacing the Mbeki leadership with that of his deputy, Jacob Zuma. By remaining within the Alliance, are the increasingly outspoken COSATU and SACP leadership being constrained by a relatively conservative union membership, arguably one of the beneficiaries of the democratic transition; or are workers merely responding to signals from a (largely compromised) leadership that `working class hegemony' can only be realized through a `popular-democratic' politics within the Alliance?

Schooling in the Shadow of Death: Youth Agency and HIV/AIDS in Zambia

Bajaj, M. — 2008-05-16

This article explores how Zambian youth encounter HIV/AIDS in their schools and communities, and presents ways in which they demonstrate their agency in creating new language, identities, and self-conceptions in response to these encounters. Utilizing qualitative interviews, participant observation, and student diaries, this study suggests that the role and delivery of schooling must be re-examined given high teacher mortality, teacher misinformation, and young people's exposure to the disease outside of schools. Students' diverse experiences in and outside of school shape their knowledge and beliefs about HIV/AIDS in a time when all social institutions in Zambia have been affected by the disease.

Sector-wide Approaches and Mainstreaming Gender in Education in Ghana: A Study of Its Implementation and Effectiveness

Sinha, G., Shankar Nayak, B. — 2008-05-16

The article aims to provide a brief overview of the gender perspective in the Sector-wide Approaches (SWAp) and its ability to integrate gender equality concerns in education in Ghana. This approach has been strategically adopted by various aid agencies as an effective and efficient tool to ensure mainstreaming gender in different fields. In this article, we will try to analyse some of the ways in which mainstreaming gender has taken place through SWAp in the field of education in Ghana. It analyses the extent to which SWAp as a strategy has been able to mainstream gender in education in Ghana.

African Quest and Struggle for High Schools in Colonial Kenya: The Case of the Abortive Kiambu Local Native Council Central High School at Githunguri, 1926--34

Wamagatta, E. N. — 2008-05-16

By 1925, 30 years after Kenya became a British colony, there were no high schools for Africans in the colony. In 1926, the Africans decided to build their own high schools through their Local Native Councils (LNCs) but the Government refused to sanction the building of the schools and this led to a protracted struggle. The Kiambu LNC's abortive high school at Githunguri is used as a case study to examine not only why the Government vetoed the building of the schools, but also to show how this greatly undermined the expansion of African higher education in subsequent years.

Book Review: James T. Campbell (2006) Middle Passages: African America Journeys to Africa, 1787--2005. New York: Penguin Press

Essien, K. — 2008-05-16

Form of Urban Local Government in India

Aijaz, R. — 2008-04-09

The role of urban local governments in India has become extremely challenging. To ensure that demands of the urban population are addressed properly, the Indian government has initiated various policy reforms to strengthen local governments. This article describes the form of urban local government in India in the context of recent municipal reforms. Evolution of municipalities, their typology and constitution, legislation, duties, composition, management and finance practices are some aspects covered. It is concluded that municipalities in India are being empowered in various ways with the intention that they would emerge as viable units of governance at the local level.

China's Changing Political Economy with Malaysia and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Perspective

Ku, S. C.Y. — 2008-04-09

Malaysia was the first major Southeast Asian country to exchange diplomatic recognition with China. Since 1980, China began to change its relations with the world, including Malaysia and Southeast Asia. This article argues that China's increasing political economy with Malaysia and Southeast Asia is being pushed forward by three policy initiatives that started in the early 1980s. It examines China's three policy initiatives and the programs of China's relations with Malaysia and Southeast Asia. The article concludes that China's increasing political economy with Malaysia and with Southeast Asia will sustain as China continues its `going global' policy.

Gender and Employment in Rural Afghanistan, 2003--5

Maletta, H. — 2008-04-09

This article explores female employment in rural Afghanistan, based on the 2003 and 2005 Nationwide Risk and Vulnerability Assessments (NRVA) covering thousands of households. Rural female employment involves about a quarter of rural women and a quarter of rural households. Female employment rates are much lower across the conservative southern belt. A majority of rural working women are in wage jobs, paid much less than men. Few employed women have control over their earnings. Better-educated rural women have higher participation and lower unemployment, especially in medium and better-off households. Female unemployment rates are double men's rates. The article highlights priorities for research and policy implications.

Sustainable Village Organizations, the Successful Route to Sustainable Livelihoods? A Case Study in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan

Ur-rehman, M. — 2008-04-09

The study is based on the impact of development interventions on the rural households in the Abbottabad district of Pakistan. Methodological approaches used include a qualitative analysis of natural resource management and NGOs' impact on development activities and quantitative analysis of households' livelihood status and strategies. The key findings are that the role of social capital can ensure sustainable natural resource management and sustainable livelihood improvement activities. Formation of community-based organizations can lead to the formation of social capital that is much needed for other management and livelihood support activities. Also, natural resource management and livelihood improvement activities need to be interrelated with each other to involve the poor as they need incentives.

Student Politics and Activism in Zimbabwe: The Frustrated Transition

Zeilig, L. — 2008-04-09

Student activism has made an important contribution to the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe. In the first years of independence students were among the most fearsome defenders of the regime. Three broad periods of student activism can be identified. The first pro-government period was followed by a violent break with the regime in 1988, the second period saw students declare that they were `the voice of the voiceless'. With the onset of structural adjustment programmes in the early 1990s, the privileged status of students in higher education was rapidly eroded. The third period emerged after 1995 as student activism converged with the urban revolt that was beginning to shake Zimbabwe. This article assesses the role of student activism in Zimbabwe.

Book Review: A.E Afigbo, (2006) The Abolition of the Slave Trade in Southeastern Nigeria, 1885--1950. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2006. pp 129 + Appendix, Index and Illustrations. ISBN: 9781580462426. Price: US$75 (hbk)

Hammond, L. — 2008-04-09

Book Review: Abani, Chris. Graceland. New York: Picador, 2005. 366 pages. ISBN-13: 978--0312425289. US$14 (pbk)

Hunt, K. — 2008-04-09

Book Review: James T. Campbell (2006) , Middle Passages:African American Journeys to Africa, 1787--2005. (NY: Penguin Press, 2006). ISBN: 978--1594200830, US$29.95 (hbk)

Essien, K. — 2008-04-09

Introduction: A New Politics of the Poor Emerges from South Africa's Shantytowns

Gibson, N. C. — 2008-01-21

Slum Upgrading in Nairobi within the Housing and Basic Services Market: A Housing Rights Concern

Huchzermeyer, M. — 2008-01-21

This article addresses the high level of commercialization of shelter and basic services in Nairobi, and its implication for slum upgrading in Kenya. The article is based on a review of published and grey literature, and on qualitative interviews with slum residents as well as with landlords, tenants and stakeholders in Nairobi's multi-storey tenements. The Kenyan government's conceptualization of slum upgrading inserts benefits into a highly distorted market, preventing a balanced realization of the internationally recognized elements of the right to housing, and raising fears of displacement among slum residents. An analysis of the wider tenement market confirms these fears, and suggests that market distortions must be addressed in order for slum upgrading to succeed.

Towards Delivery and Dignity: Community Struggle from Kennedy Road1

Bryant, J. — 2008-01-21

This article explores the rise of one of South Africa's largest and most sustained post-apartheid social movements, Abahlali baseMjondolo, Zulu for `the people who live in the shacks'. The Abahlali movement began with protests from Durban's Kennedy Road settlement against their local councillor, and has since grown into a densely networked, formal social movement. This article traces through an ethnographic account the decision to first protest at Kennedy Road and the process by which this protest spawned a larger movement.

A Politics of the Poor: Shack Dwellers' Struggles in Durban

Pithouse, R. — 2008-01-21

This article, written in response to recent arguments about whether or not shack dwellers can exercise historical agency, outlines the history of shack dwellers' struggles in the South African city of Durban. The sections looking at struggles under colonialism and apartheid and the nature of the post-apartheid deal with regard to housing draw on the extensive literature on these questions. The final section, which gives an outline of the emergence, nature and experience of the shack dwellers' movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, is written from a first-hand engagement. The article concludes that in contemporary Durban organized shack dwellers are constituting a major challenge to technocratic conceptions of democracy.

A Short Course in Politics at the University of Abahlali baseMjondolo

Patel, R. — 2008-01-21

Shackdweller communities are among the most impoverished and exploited on the planet. With nearly 1 billion people living in them, one might consider them to be hotbeds of radicalism. Yet, in fact, very few settlements have become disobedient. Using the work of S'bu Zikode of the Abahlali baseMjondolo Shackdwellers Movement (South Africa) and the work of Alain Badiou, I show how politics is lived in Durban's shacks, and show how Badiou's thoughts supplement a series of uniquely African instances of politics.

The Greatest Threat to Future Stability in Our Country Is the Greatest Strength of the Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement (SA) (Shackdwellers)1

Zikode, S. — 2008-01-21

In these two talks a theory of a politics of the poor is elaborated. It is noted that the poor have effectively been excluded from substantive citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa resulting in a permanent crisis in the ordinary lives of the poor. It is argued that there are many responses to this crisis, some of which are dangerous and some of which hold out some hope. A politics of the poor is put forward as the concretization of the latter. It is stressed that a politics of the poor should be a non-representative politics. Both electoral party politics and NGO substitutionism are rejected in favour of the development of popular democratic counter-power where people live and work. Genuine solidarity, it is argued, should be negotiated on this terrain rather than simply declared from above on the NGO terrain. It is made clear that this is predicated on a recognition of the intellectual work done in poor communities.

Sekwanel! Sekwanele! (Enough Is Enough!)1

Zikode, S. — 2008-01-21

Book Review: Samuel L. Leiter (ed.) (2007) Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Two Volumes. pp 1024. ISBN 0--313--33529-X (set) US$225.00 (hbk)

Pereira, K. — 2008-01-21