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The democratic reforms introduced in many sub-Saharan African countries during the 1990s involved the restoration of multipartism. The re-emergence of party politics spurred a number of analyses of the continent's new parties & party systems, largely based on theories & concepts derived from the study of advanced democracies. The article reviews & critically examines recent works on Africa's parties & party systems by presenting the dominant themes & issues & by investigating the utility of Western-derived models for the analysis of new multiparty regimes. In spite of a quantitative increase & a qualitative improvement in the study of Africa's parties & party systems, the latter still suffers a scarcity of empirical & theoretical investigations. At the same time, the use of political science tools for the study of party politics south of the Sahara is part of a broader positive trend towards a better integration of the analysis of African politics with that of politics in other world areas. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

African States have been the first supporters of the ICC and are the most numerous group among the ICC Member States. Nevertheless, in recent years, the African Union (AU) and numerous African States perceive the ICC as an instrument of a new form of colonialism of the main Powers, which encroach African States sovereignty through the ICC judicial activities. After the indictment of former Sudanese President Al Bashir, the AU urged the UN Security Council to defer the ICC proceedings as it impedes efforts to secure a lasting peace in that country; it decided that its Member States shall not comply with the Al Bashir arrest warrant, and developed a strategy for "collective withdrawal". Given this backdrop, the paper first connects of this ICC's "crisis" to the general crisis of multilateralism Then it focuses on the "positive" effects of the African criticism on the development of the ICC most recent judicial activities. It also analyses whether the mentioned Africa Union/African States' criticism is an effort to claim their own role in managing African affairs and African crimes, and to become a more fundamental part of international politics and institutions. Finally, it ascertains whether the principle of "positive complementarity" may become a useful tool to solve the conflict between the ICC and African States.

For this paper I shall look at ways of coordinating politics and entertainment, or in slightly other terms aesthetics and politics, as they have been used to construct ancient tragedy as a means to the good society. In my title this aspect of tragedy is identified as "home", to indicate tragedy's preoccupation with community. This is a note repeatedly struck in discourse about tragedy, both by the earliest commentators and by those negotiating the development of the nation-state, and of political reform, in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This essay thus first considers some of the different ways in which tragedy has been associated with the goal of the good community, by the theoretical works of Plato, Aristotle, Schlegel, Williams and Eagleton, as well as by harnessing productions and performances to the political effort of nation-building. The essay will then contrastingly explore tragedy's "homelessness", the ways in which it uproots its characters and sets them in restless motion. These latter reflections are prompted by recent receptions of tragedy that have responded to the global migrant crisis, and that are thus in dialogue with earlier critical understandings of tragedy which were more likely to foreground a sense of civic identity associated with the polis. I thus consider productions of Aeschylus' Suppliant Women in Syracuse and Edinburgh, and the new ancient trilogy, acted by Syrian women refugees, which has unfolded since 2013, in the Middle East and Europe, under the creative guidance of Omar Abu Saada and Mohammad Al Attar. The new focus is born of and gives voice to new global realities. Barbara Goff is Professor of Classics at the University of Reading, UK. She has published extensively on Greek tragedy and its reception, especially in postcolonial contexts. Her most important books include Your Secret Language: classics in the British colonies of West Africa (London: Bloomsbury, 2013), Crossroads in the Black Aegean: Oedipus, Antigone, and dramas of the African diaspora (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), and The Noose of Words: Readings of Desire, Violence and Language in Euripides' Hippolytos (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Her most recent publication is a collection, co-edited with Introduction, titled Classicising Crisis: the modern age of revolutions and the Greco-Roman repertoire (London: Routledge, 2020). Keywords: tragedy, exile, home, refugee, Syria

In Ghana, health decentralization processes are promoted since first years of 2000, and they are developed and organized on the base of administrative decentralization. Two of the most important health decentralization and health promotion projects are the Community Based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), that are spreading within African continent with different forms. In this paper I want to outline the structure and the characteristics of these projects, to observe qualitative and quantitative influence they present in a local and rural context like Jomoro District (Western Region, Ghana), and to analyze the current management of Ghanaian Public Health. Nevertheless, it is relevant observing the integration politics between biomedicine and other therapeutic traditions presented in the social context, to outline a complete description of health system. Decentralisation and integration politics are important programmes promoted by Ministry of Health. Therefore, after a short presentation of legitimation processes of traditional medicine, I"ll investigate the current professionalization politics of traditional healers and integration between different medical resources proposed by the Ministry of Health. This Kind of integration is very different from the "informal integration" present in a local context (Jomoro District), and induces to underline a radical dichotomy between politics and practices. At the end, the aim is to investigate reductionism of ministerial programs related to traditional medicine, apparent inclusionism of Ghanaian health politics, very distant from social actors" behaviors, and to debate on democratisation and privatization processes following current ri-definitions of health systems. ; In Ghana, health decentralization processes are promoted since first years of 2000, and they are developed and organized on the base of administrative decentralization. Two of the most important health decentralization and health promotion projects are the Community Based Health Planning and Service (CHPS) and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), that are spreading within African continent with different forms. In this paper I want to outline the structure and the characteristics of these projects, to observe qualitative and quantitative influence they present in a local and rural context like Jomoro District (Western Region, Ghana), and to analyze the current management of Ghanaian Public Health. Nevertheless, it is relevant observing the integration politics between biomedicine and other therapeutic traditions presented in the social context, to outline a complete description of health system. Decentralisation and integration politics are important programmes promoted by Ministry of Health. Therefore, after a short presentation of legitimation processes of traditional medicine, I"ll investigate the current professionalization politics of traditional healers and integration between different medical resources proposed by the Ministry of Health. This Kind of integration is very different from the "informal integration" present in a local context (Jomoro District), and induces to underline a radical dichotomy between politics and practices. At the end, the aim is to investigate reductionism of ministerial programs related to traditional medicine, apparent inclusionism of Ghanaian health politics, very distant from social actors" behaviors, and to debate on democratisation and privatization processes following current ri-definitions of health systems.

The article analyzes the debate on "racial" or "ethnic voting" in postapartheid South Africa, looking at its implications for democratic theory. A critical review is offered of "sociological" (culture- & class-based) as well as "psychological" & political communication explanations for the unexpected tendency of the 'coloured' voters in the Cape area to "betray" the African National Congress & line up with the white electorate after 1993. An alternative explanation is also offered that seeks to combine elements from the theory of cleavages, class voting theory, & the Downsian theory of elections. It is based on the application of some recent developments of European & American rational choice sociology to the genesis of voting preferences, as well as on the concept of language repertoire & central place theory. Finally, some possible adjustments to the liberal democratic model in contexts marked by economic, language, culture, & geographic differentials are recommended from within the theoretical framework of the neo-contractarian views of democracy. 8 Tables, 2 Figures, 72 References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper analyzes the achievable strategic role that the porto of Porto Empedocle (sinergy by Agrigento, its "city mother") could have. This marginal city, localized in the center of the African side of the Sicily, is far from European politics, but this situation could change. It's necessary to improve the sea routes and to activate the disused railway line from Porto Empedocle to Castelvetrano (near Trapani). This solution will help the accessibility of Agrigento and the development of the little coastal towns organized in a slow and sustainable network. ; Lo scritto analizza il possibile ruolo strategico che il porto di Porto Empedocle (in sinergica con la sua città-madre, Agrigento). Questa piccola e marginale cittadina, baricentro geografico del fronte africano della Sicilia, è lontana dalle politiche europee. Ma la situazione potrebbe evolversi attraverso una serie di azioni sinergiche. Tra queste, l'attivazione di percorsi via mare e la ri-attivazione della rete ferroviaria dismessa che da Porto Empedocle giungeva a Castelvetrano. Tutto ciò migliorerà l'accessibilità di Agrigento e lo sviluppo di Porto Empedocle, nodo di una possibile rete di piccoli comuni, lenta e sostenibile. ; The paper analyzes the achievable strategic role that the porto of Porto Empedocle (sinergy by Agrigento, its "city mother") could have. This marginal city, localized in the center of the African side of the Sicily, is far from European politics, but this situation could change. It's necessary to improve the sea routes and to activate the disused railway line from Porto Empedocle to Castelvetrano (near Trapani). This solution will help the accessibility of Agrigento and the development of the little coastal towns organized in a slow and sustainable network.

ABSTRACT: With the Third Punic War, Scipio Emiliano had settled the African question, constituting a province which still had good relations with the kingdom of Numidia ruled by Massinissa, whose politics had attracted Roman merchants and businessmen to Africa, romans and italics. attracted by African riches, Rome was therefore grateful for the relations it had with Numidia. the kingdom after the death of Massinissa had passed to the eldest son Mecipsa, on the latter's death, the kingdom was disputed by the three main heirs, among them, the most unscrupulous was Giugurta, adopted son of Mecipsa, thus a long struggle for supremacy broke out. This article deals with the period of the Roman conquest in North Africa, with particular dedication to the period post- Massinissa and the analysis of the politico-social scenario of Numidia. What role did Giugurta play? How did Rome respond to this threat? RIASSUNTO: Con la terza guerra punica, Scipione Emiliano sbarcò sul territorio di Cartagine, dopo questa grandiosa vittoria, l'Africa del Nord divenne provincia romana, Roma e Numidia avevano sempre mantenuto buoni rapporti, infatti la politica di Massinissa aveva atterrato in Africa commercianti e uomini d'affari, romani ed italici attratti dalle ricchezze africane, dunque Roma era contenta dei rapporti che interattiva con la Numidia, il regno dopo la morte di Massinissa era passato al figlio maggiore Mecipsa, alla morte di quest'ultimo, il regno fu conteso dai tre principali eredi, tra i quali il più spregiudicato era Giugurta, figlio adottivo di Mecipsa, scoppiò cosi una lunga lotto per la supremazia. Nel presente articolo sono trattati i momenti della conquista romana in Nord-Africa, con particolare dedizione al periodo post-massinissiano e all'analisi dello scenario politico-sociale della Numidia. Quale il ruolo giocato da Giugurta ? Come Roma rispose a tale minaccia?

A new era of multiparty politics in Kenya began in December 1991, when President Daniel Arap Moi repealed the constitutional clause that enshrined the Kenya African National Union (KANU) as the sole political party. Despite widespread unpopularity, Moi won the presidential elections and his party secured a majority in parliament in the following two general elections, held in December 1992 and December 1997. This doctoral thesis is structured in five parts. The first part takes a historical perspective of African's Civil Movements and seeks to put into context of African's State. The second part takes a historical reconstruction of Kenya's Political Transiction. The third part traces and analyses the rule of Civil Association and particulary and examines and analyses NCEC's activities in its quest for constitutional reforms. The fourth part examines as aid donors played a central part not only in initially advancing the cause of multipartyism. The last part analyses the political role of NGOs.

The Human Rights topic is increasing its relevance in the field of legal studies and in the agenda of inter/transnational actors. The Sociology of Law is deeply engaged in this dialogue, but some of its contributions seem to share a common lack of concern about the dimensions of cultural legitimacy and politics of imagination. Refusing the "simplistic" vision of «legal transplants», the approach in term of regionalization and the genealogical theories (i.e. the so called generations of human rights), the thesis aims to outline a multidisciplinary frame, trying to merge the anthropological and the socio-legal knowledge to shed light on the «anthropologies of human rights». The use of the plural suggests several orders of realities: firstly, it reflects the high fragmentation which characterizes the epistemological and methodological debate of contemporary anthropology, as a disciplinary field. An "internal" multiplication of points of view which becomes even more striking in its interactions whit the HR subject and its own kind of internal dissemination. Secondly (and consequently), it enlightens that the "pluralisation" of human rights discourse could be better understood as a proliferation of world-visions and axiologies. In this second meaning, the summoned «anthropologies» have to be intended in term of theories on human beings, on social reality and social order, shaped by cultural assumptions, taken-for-granted and (shared) symbolical repertoires. Deeply merged within every manifestation of the «humanitarian transnational narration», these world-versions need to be studied as sources of influence and inspiration for legal claims, texts and declarations that build the corpus of international humanitarian law. Lastly, this plurality which stems from the relationship between the macro-narrative of the International Bill of Human Rights and its situated appropriations points out the potentiality of a cultural analysis of the social life of (human) rights in avoiding the dichotomist models (universalism versus relativism, global versus local and so on) in favor of a representation in term of narrative encounters between different conceptions of human dignity, human beings, normative orders and social realities. To grasp this mutual and multilayered overlapping, the first part of the thesis builds an analytical framework destined to be applied, in the second part, to the specific context of the «African system of human rights». This choice was dictated by the peculiarities which seem to distinguish it from others regional systems: amongst these features, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights deserves a special place, considered its aspects of relevant innovation and creativity as well its signs of criticism and its lack of real efficacy. In the first chapter we start from the general liaison between Law and Culture, looking for a «relational paradigm» which rejects determinist or reductionist presentations of this organic link. Adopting a pluralist point of view (centered on the idea of «normative pluralism» preferred to the classical one in term of «legal pluralism»), we borrow some insights from early anthropological researches on «primitive law» and on the co-existence of plural normative orders in colonial settings. The second chapter deals with the concept of «legal culture», trying to discuss a cardinal notion of sociology of law that often pretend to exhaustively grasp the complexity of law/culture nexus. We explore the richness and the pitfalls of influent theorizations about this topic, sorting out three dimensions which seem to require a deeper engagement: the power, the (construction of the) collective identities and the pluralism. In strict dialogue with the studies on «legal consciousness» and «legal socialization», we move towards a textual description of culture. The third chapter sketches a theory of culture in term of cognitive and normative interface between men and the meaningful world they try to create (and to live in). Borrowing from Clifford Geertz the fundamental ideas about the «social traffic of meanings», the textual dimension of cultures and the law as a way of world-making – or better, of imaging the reality –, we keep developing our model in a more comprehensive perspective which dismisses the "literary" constraints entrenched in the idea of «text». The forth chapter deals with some assumptions of the so-called «narrative paradigm», trying to "dissolve" the persisting rigidities of the textual frame into a larger and (more) universal human ability: the narrative competence. We examine the coalescence between narrative attitude and normative attitude, stressing the similarities and the constitutive power of both of them. Starting from narration as a meta-model for the social construction of reality, we move towards the specificities of «legal narration» as expression of the legal construction of social reality. This narrative standpoint can be synthesized as follow: the human skill to produce, to understand and to manipulate tales (and other sources of narrative production) is the key that ensures the transmission and the socializations of cultural meanings, representations and symbols. Trough the narrativization of culture it becomes easier to conceive the narrativization of legal cultures as shared, contested, polyphonic repertories of legal and social ideas. In the fifth chapter we start applying our theoretical framework to the human rights topic. We begin with a preliminary set of issues regrouped under the label of «spatial problematic». It underlines the paradox of the Universalist project, with its claims of cultural independence and planetary applicability on the one hand, and the need of cultural resonance and local relevance on the other. We explore critical contributions about the «globalization talk», which stress some traps of this overriding way of representing social and socio-legal phenomena in the contemporary world. Aiming to reject monodimensional explanations, we merge the «rhetoric of flaws» with the sensibility for «friction events» generated by and trough the encounters between transnational narratives and specific local (and cultural) settings. The concept of «vernacularization» helps us to conceive these interactions/intersections between global flows and punctual frictions. The sixth chapter introduces the main elements of the African context, starting from a sketched portrait of what we define its «radical normative pluralism». In order to cope with the complex reality of the African human rights system, we outline a historical (and political) description of the events that preceded the creation of the Organization for the African Unity, the institutional body which had the main responsibility in the consolidation of the system itself. We also examine various "legal" precedents (the so-called Lagos Law, the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples and so on) which influenced the elaboration of the African Charter with their moral and political authority. Whit the seventh chapter we finally land the heart of our topic: the narrative analysis of the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights. After a quick identification of the focal features of the document, we approach the meaningful core of the Charter: the organic/holistic relationship between individual human rights and collective dimension of peoples' (human) rights. We split our investigation in two different but related paths: the individual/people pole and the rights/duties pole, assuming they are two dissimilar strategies to arrange this underlying "cohabitation". We also draw to several pronunciations of the African Commission of human and peoples' rights exploring the potential meanings of people and peoples' rights to clarify the official/institutional position on the subject. Anthropological and sociological studies on the ongoing modifications of collective frames of reference (the family, the ethnic group and other strategies of kinship allegiance) in contemporary Africa are employed to complete our inquiry. In the eighth chapter we (temporary) leave the African Charter in favor of other documents and protocols produced by the African system, strictly related to the «culture variable»: the Pan-African Cultural Manifesto, the Cultural Charter for Africa and the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance. After that, we approach three other texts more engaged on the promotion and protection of human rights for specific categories of people: the African Charter on the rights and welfare of the child, the Protocol to the African Charter on human and peoples' rights on the rights of women in Africa and the African Youth Charter. Our aim is to show how cultural assumptions about the subjects concerned shape or influence the normative prescriptions designed to protect them. The ninth chapter, finally, outlines a general evaluation of our analytical model trough the exploration of its weakness and its points of strength. It shows the hermeneutical advantages provided by the «gius-narrative» key, which enabled us to trace and emphasize the links between myths and foundational narratives of social groups and theirs normative constructions. It also stresses the need for a cultural study of social life of human rights, to (try to) grasp the many faces that the struggle for human rights is showing in its continuous spread around the world.

La tesi tratta del rapporto tra Cina e India, i due giganti asiatici che stanno vivendo una relazione in continuo divenire, complicata dalle irrisolte questioni di confine e dalla condizione dei propri cittadini, stretti tra il controllo delle nascite e la mancanza di diritti civili e sociali. I due Paesi dal passato talvolta analogo, dal presente di contrasto e di collaborazione, stanno dettando le nuove regole dell'economia, della politica e della tecnologia mondiali, all'interno del Pianeta Cindia che sembra costituirsi. I rapporti con gli Stati Uniti, con il Giappone, con i Paesi dell'ASEAN e quelli del continente africano ricchi di materie prime, contribuiscono a delineare un futuro che, per il momento, appare ancora incerto. This thesis is about the relationship between China and India, the two Asian giants living a relation that is always changing, made more difficult by not solved border disputes and their citizens' conditions, held among the birth control and the lack of civil and social rights. The two countries, whom past is sometimes similar and present driven by contrasts and cooperation, are laying down the new global rules of economy, politics and technology, inside the Chindia Planet that seems to be constituting. Relationships with United States, Japan, ASEAN countries and the ones, rich of materials, inside the African continent, have a part in the delineation of a future that appears, for the moment, still uncertain.

From its colonial history, the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago inherited a uniquely diverse population of 1.3 million, including descendants of East Indians, Africans, Chinese, Syrians and Lebanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese and British, among others. The legacy of the British divide et impera, paired with the perceived ethnic diversity, has been marking and re-producing a deep "Us vs. Them" division, especially between the two major ethnic groups of East Indians (35.4%) and Africans (34.2%). For over forty years, the two ethnic groups have been struggling for political control through census counts and voting along ethnic lines. Although elections in the country have always served as "the critical arbiter in adjudicating the rival claims by the main ethno-cultural communities for power and privilege" (Premdas 2004: 19), the 2010 General Election seemed to have marked a turning point in the history of the nation. On May 24th, Trinidad and Tobago elected Kamla Persad-Bissessar, its first female Prime Minister and only the second person of East Indian origin to hold the PM office in 48 years of independence. Breaking out of the country's rigid bipolar political mould, Persad-Bissessar won as the leader of the People's Partnership, a new coalition party that comprised both East Indian and African political forces and movements. She defeated Patrick Manning's People's National Movement and succeeded in winning 29 seats out of the 41 in the House of Representatives. Taking this unprecedented political success as its starting point, this dissertation explores the discursive and political strategies behind Persad-Bissessar's election, analyzing a large corpus of textual and visual data from the People's Partnership campaign. The starting assumption is that Persad-Bissessar broadened her electorate not only by presenting a carefully engineered coalition party but also by discursively positing a new, inclusive identity space throughout the campaign and advocating a politics of inter-ethnic harmony in the country. Therefore, I set to analyze how Persad-Bissessar engaged in a multi-levelled discursive construction of identities, defining her role as the first woman PM candidate in the history of the country, legitimizing her coalition solution to political tribalisms, as well as fostering a wider national sense of belonging. As political communication has increasingly grown beyond the realm of verbal language, understanding Persad-Bissessar's political meaning-making required both the analysis of her election speeches as well as the study of a number of multimodal texts, such as video and printed ads as well as official portraits, which played a crucial role in the political advertising of her coalition. Within a Critical Discourse Analysis framework, I will combine the 'Discourse-Historical Approach' (Wodak and Meyer 2009) for the analysis of Persad-Bissessar's textual data and Kress and van Leeuwen's (1996) 'Visual Grammar' for the analysis of the visual data. Although the English-speaking Caribbean is home to the largest set of continuing democracies among postcolonial countries around the globe, political discourse from the archipelago is yet to receive adequate scholarly attention. The analysis of political discourse in Trinidad and Tobago has the potential to shed light on the complexities, struggles and contradictions of the postcolonial Trinidad and Tobago by integrating knowledge about historical sources and the social and political environment within which discourse as social practice is embedded. Starting from the analysis of political discourse, this work aims at offering a new, discursive perspective on ethnicity, identity and power in Trinidad and Tobago as well as increasing scholarly awareness for the development of a critical interpretative stance for political texts and talks beyond the Euro-American zone.