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Abdelali Doumou
CODESRIA, 1987, 172 p
ISBN 2-86978-001-x
The ‘counter-revolution’ in Development Economics in the 1980s fundamentally altered the way the state ‘thinks’, which is evident in the state’s retrenchment and reconstitution of the state’s relationship to its citizens. The combination of deflationary macroeconomic policies and a residual approach to social policy, broadly, and social provisioning, more specifically, fundamentally altered the post-colonial trajectory of public policy in Africa. Despite the neoliberal ascendance that nurtured the more residual direction of social policy, the contention for an alternative vision of social policy remained and advanced with vigour. Specific contributions range from the deployment of social policy in framing the nation-building project, endogenous mutual support institutions, land and agrarian reform as a social policy instrument, the gender dynamics of social policy, and the mechanism enabling the spread of cash transfer schemes on the continent.
Les matérialités contemporaines du religieux aux frontières du privé
Dans les sociétés ouest-africaines, l’espace public est fortement imprégné de religiosités. Il s’y édicte une kyrielle de conduites à tenir susceptibles d’influencer les croyants. Comprendre ces dynamiques religieuses implique de saisir comment ces normes pénètrent la vie privée des individus, et comment les croyants – chrétiens et musulmans – se saisissent de ces normes, les mettent en scène ou les détournent dans leur quotidien. Fruit d’un travail collectif mené dans l’ANR « Priverel », en partenariat avec les universités de Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Abomey Calavi (Bénin) et Gaston Berger (Saint-Louis, Sénégal), cet ouvrage s’appuie sur la notion « d’espace privé religieux » pour analyser l’appropriation par les croyants des normes religieuses au Bénin, au Burkina Faso, en Côte d’Ivoire et au Sénégal.
Law and justice in a Multicultural Society: The case of Mozambique (Printed)
This book presents the main results of a research project on the systems of justice in Mozambique, undertaken under the auspices of the country’s Supreme Court, in academic partnership with the Center for African Studies at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique and the Centre for Social Studies at the School of Economics, Coimbra University, Portugal. It is dedicated to the memory of the internationally renowned Mozambican economist and Professor of Development Studies, José Guilherme Negrão. Although he died prematurely, Negrão collaborated in this project, and authored the final chapter dealing with the vexed question of land.
Until the onset of Portuguese colonisation towards the end of the nineteenth century, the peoples of Mozambique did not live under a single political entity. Rather, they existed as independent entities with various forms of political and social organisation. The twentieth century saw a consolidation of colonial rule, and important changes in the organisation of power. After independence, new Eurocentric political-legal cultures were added to the existing mix of legal orders. The distinctions between the colonial law and indigenous customary law became increasingly blurred, such that Mozambique now constitutes a heterogeneous state composed of a mosaic of legal hybrids, incorporating local/indigenous customary practices and religious law, as well as state civil law.
Departing from a broad understanding of law in Mozambique, this work analyses the complex network of judicial systems by interrogating the roles of the entities intervening in the system in colonial and postcolonial contexts. The main objective is to promote an empirically sound and dynamic understanding of the relationships between the multiple judicial entities present in the country within the context of cultural transformation in Africa. Overall, the book is intended as a contribution to current debates on the formation of the state in Mozambique from the nineteenth century.
The authors further considers the alternative mechanisms of conflict resolution taking place in the complexity of different legal rationalities: the remains of the Portuguese legal codes, socialist policies, customary law, religious systems and Western constitutionalism.
In a brilliant study of the rise of contemporary political Islam, distinguished political scientist Mahmood Mamdani brings his expertise to bear on a question many Americans have been asking since 9/11 : how did this happen ?
Mahmood Mamdani’s conclusions are as incontrovertible as they are highly provocative. He dispels the idea of “good” (secular, westernized) Muslims, and “bad” (primitive, fanatical) Muslims, underlining the fact that Islam is not a politically based religion. Focusing on the reasons Islam has become politicized, Mamdani shows how the American government’s indirect, post–Vietnam-era sponsorship of terrorist leaders in Indochina and Africa began as a way of dealing with the perceived threat of spreading Soviet influence in these regions. He reminds us how President Reagan openly supported the contras in Nicaragua—calling them the “moral equivalents” of the Founding Fathers—and eagerly embraced the mujahideen of Afghanistan. He explains how America’s rigidly supportive policies toward Israel have fuelled the problems in the Middle East. Finally, he makes clear how the West’s distorted political analysis of Islam and its activities continue to dangerously skew its response to them.
Economic Liberation and development in Africa (Printed)
In this endnote address delivered at the 11th General Assembly of CODESRIA, held in Maputo in 2005, Jomo Kwame Sundaram notes that over three decades of economic stagnation, contraction and increased poverty have taken a huge toll on Africa’s economic, social and political fabric; and pro-active efforts are urgently required in order to build new capacities and capabilities for development. He argues that much of the ostensible conventional wisdom regarding African development and poverty is often both erroneous and harmful.
Even the IMF has acknowledged that international financial liberalization has exacerbated volatility. Worse still, there is strong evidence that some of the economic policy advice given to, and conditionalities imposed on governments in Africa have reflected vested interests and prejudice. In view of these, and the fact that economic growth and development do not necessarily reduce poverty and inequalities, Sundaram calls for greater ‘policy space’ for African governments to choose or design their own development strategies, as well as develop and implement more appropriate development policies.
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