Suchergebnisse

"This book examines the history of community relations across the Kenya-Uganda border using the case of the Bukusu and the Bagisu. From this microcosmic level, the book explores the social, economic, and political relations that have evolved between the two communities and states over time"--

In the contemporary world, discourse on global cultural flows and related outcomes has moved to the center stage in scholarly research and activist realms. In this discourse, especially that related to fundamental world views on globalization and to the links between different communities of the world, the space that popular music occupies is very central.(...) While there is nothing particularly new about the foregoing global trend, its significance in cultural and political debates, at least in Africa and Kenya in particular, has scarcely been appreciated. Little attention has been paid by scholars to an interesting dimension of popular music as a means of making history, interpreting reality and also as a medium that is directed at transforming the present reality in order to realize a better future for the people. (...) This paper focuses specifically on the Kenyan context to contest the foregoing position. Its argument rests on the axiom that whereas it has become normal in the writings on civil society, democratization and so on, to emphasize forms of cultural expressions that are perceived to be avowedly more understood in political circles than others, the space of popular music cannot be under-estimated. It is beneath the dialectics of production and consumption of this popular music with all its contradictions that the fertile intellectual arena on its potent marginalization could be resuscitated. The paper, addressing popular music from a historical perspective, takes into account its dynamic interplay as an aural percept, experience, social practice, individual and cultural expression and as a means of creatively adapting to perceived material conditions to reveal the complex and vital role of popular music as a system for the enactment and negotiation of emergent patterns of identity under conditions of pervasive social, political and economic change. (Afr Dev/DÜI)

Intellectual discourses on regional integration in Africa have continued to generate diverse and often contradictory debates and responses. A common convergence in these debates, as they have increasingly come to be associated with the current process of globalisation, is that regional integration is not only desirable but also necessary. The latter consensus seems to be justified on the premise that individual states cannot readily achieve their social, economic and political goals in isolation from their neighbours. Thus, the desirability of promoting regional integration continue to be widely acknowledged by multilateral agencies, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), national governments and academics on the continent. The concept of Pan-East Africanism, seen as the new initiative to integrate the East African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania is contextualized within the emerging global realities and trends. This paper sets out to review the state of regional integration efforts in East Africa. Viewed within the context of Pan-East Africanism, the paper explores some of the theoretical and methodological backgrounds informing current research on regional integration. Away from the often-accepted state-centric and mainly economistic theoretical formulations, the paper offers some critical reflections on regional integration based on the new emerging borderland perspectives. It specifically argues that people centred top-up theoretical perspectives offer a more informed and practical approach to regional integration in East Africa. ; - Globalisation and Regional Integration in Africa: An Introduction - African Regional Integration: Pre-colonial and Colonial Debates - Economism, Regionalism and the Theoretical Debates in the Post-Independent Period - Pan East Africanism and Borderland Perspectives: Rethinking alternatives - Conclusion - References

A history of electoral violence and human rights violationsExplaining political violence in Kenya; Legitimacy of State institutions; A culture of impunity; Dealing with electoral-related violations; Notes; References; The Circus Comes to Town: Performance, Religion and Exchange in Political Party Campaigns; From the Street Notebook; Enter the politics of money; Romance sweeps into the theatre of the absurd; Speech acts and allied dances in the street; The power of prayer, praying for power; "Kuuza sura, [ha]wataki kuuza sera": What didn't they sell?!; Conclusion; Notes; References.