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This paper attempts to investigate recent urban space-making practices and imaginaries of two different civic actors: Swakopmund City Tour, operated by Namibian Germans depicting the history of Swakopmund linked to German heritage, and a group of Herero activists around Swakopmund Genocide Museum, challenging the monopoly in framing representations of urban heritage and history, and presenting alternative memory narratives. The aim is to explore how the official memory is dealt with in present day-remembrance policies and practices, and how it is challenged by alternative memory driven by Herero activists. Conceptually, the notion of a mnemoscape (Kössler, 2012) is used, including both intangible and tangible aspects of the remembrance of collective experience. Methodologically, the paper is largely based on the outcomes of a short fieldwork in the urban environment of Swakopmund in 2022.

This paper interrogates the role of the British colonial enterprise in the evolution and development of Kafanchan town. The research employs content analysis of both primary and secondary sources in order to reconstruct the history of the town. Findings from the study trace the evolution and development of Kafanchan town to the construction of the railway line from Southern to Northern Nigeria that culminated in a station at an unsettled area of land: Kafanchan. The town evolved in response to the temporary sheds erected as quarters for construction workers and staff of the Nigerian Railways who belonged to diverse ethnic groups. Due to the strategic nature of this railway station, the population grew. This triggered the emergence of a settlement that was cosmopolitan right from its foundation.

This paper takes enclosure and commodification processes of “nature” one step beyond a political economy perspective conceptualising them from ontological notions of nature-culture relations. Taking the case of enclosure for large-scale commercial agriculture schemes and a game reserve in northeastern Ethiopia, the paper argues that enclosure and nature commodification are part of neoliberal environmental governance that has been built on the notion of subduing nature and subaltern groups into the power of capitalism. More specifically, while the economic and political dimensions of these processes are salient, the ontological notions of the natureculture dualism has been invoked by states in their justification of expropriating pastoralist lands, thus nullifying indigenous people’s claim to ancestral homelands. The data for this paper was collected from 2013 to 2016 through ethnographic fieldwork, mainly conducted by the authors. The findings show oscillating perceptions of humane-environment relations among the Afar pastoralists: from human-environment, conjointly constituted by humans and non-humans, to the utilitarian dualist approach of environmental use which is mainly caused by the infiltration of capitalist economy and state driven development and conservation projects.

This paper takes enclosure and commodification processes of “nature” one step beyond a political economy perspective conceptualising them from ontological notions of nature-culture relations. Taking the case of enclosure for large-scale commercial agriculture schemes and a game reserve in northeastern Ethiopia, the paper argues that enclosure and nature commodification are part of neoliberal environmental governance that has been built on the notion of subduing nature and subaltern groups into the power of capitalism. More specifically, while the economic and political dimensions of these processes are salient, the ontological notions of the natureculture dualism has been invoked by states in their justification of expropriating pastoralist lands, thus nullifying indigenous people’s claim to ancestral homelands. The data for this paper was collected from 2013 to 2016 through ethnographic fieldwork, mainly conducted by the authors. The findings show oscillating perceptions of humane-environment relations among the Afar pastoralists: from human-environment, conjointly constituted by humans and non-humans, to the utilitarian dualist approach of environmental use which is mainly caused by the infiltration of capitalist economy and state driven development and conservation projects.

This paper takes enclosure and commodification processes of “nature” one step beyond a political economy perspective conceptualising them from ontological notions of nature-culture relations. Taking the case of enclosure for large-scale commercial agriculture schemes and a game reserve in northeastern Ethiopia, the paper argues that enclosure and nature commodification are part of neoliberal environmental governance that has been built on the notion of subduing nature and subaltern groups into the power of capitalism. More specifically, while the economic and political dimensions of these processes are salient, the ontological notions of the natureculture dualism has been invoked by states in their justification of expropriating pastoralist lands, thus nullifying indigenous people’s claim to ancestral homelands. The data for this paper was collected from 2013 to 2016 through ethnographic fieldwork, mainly conducted by the authors. The findings show oscillating perceptions of humane-environment relations among the Afar pastoralists: from human-environment, conjointly constituted by humans and non-humans, to the utilitarian dualist approach of environmental use which is mainly caused by the infiltration of capitalist economy and state driven development and conservation projects.

This paper takes enclosure and commodification processes of “nature” one step beyond a political economy perspective conceptualising them from ontological notions of nature-culture relations. Taking the case of enclosure for large-scale commercial agriculture schemes and a game reserve in northeastern Ethiopia, the paper argues that enclosure and nature commodification are part of neoliberal environmental governance that has been built on the notion of subduing nature and subaltern groups into the power of capitalism. More specifically, while the economic and political dimensions of these processes are salient, the ontological notions of the natureculture dualism has been invoked by states in their justification of expropriating pastoralist lands, thus nullifying indigenous people’s claim to ancestral homelands. The data for this paper was collected from 2013 to 2016 through ethnographic fieldwork, mainly conducted by the authors. The findings show oscillating perceptions of humane-environment relations among the Afar pastoralists: from human-environment, conjointly constituted by humans and non-humans, to the utilitarian dualist approach of environmental use which is mainly caused by the infiltration of capitalist economy and state driven development and conservation projects.

The present paper is the result of a scientific venture into the discursive construction of separatism in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, which separatists refer to as Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia. My study aims specifically at identifying the linguistic and rhetorical strategies separatist leaders use in order to create a sense of unity amongst all English-speaking Cameroonians and make them join the fight for independence. To achieve this aim, I have analysed speeches authored between 2010 and 2015 by two Anglophone Cameroonian separatist leaders. The analysis of the speeches, which followed the Discourse Historical Approach (Wodak et al. 2009), reveals that Southern Cameroonian nationalists try to achieve unity by resorting to strategies such as nomination, predication, and argumentation through topoi. These strategies were realised by means of linguistic resources including lexicon, imperatives, deontic and epistemic modals.

The present paper is the result of a scientific venture into the discursive construction of separatism in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, which separatists refer to as Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia. My study aims specifically at identifying the linguistic and rhetorical strategies separatist leaders use in order to create a sense of unity amongst all English-speaking Cameroonians and make them join the fight for independence. To achieve this aim, I have analysed speeches authored between 2010 and 2015 by two Anglophone Cameroonian separatist leaders. The analysis of the speeches, which followed the Discourse Historical Approach (Wodak et al. 2009), reveals that Southern Cameroonian nationalists try to achieve unity by resorting to strategies such as nomination, predication, and argumentation through topoi. These strategies were realised by means of linguistic resources including lexicon, imperatives, deontic and epistemic modals.

The present paper is the result of a scientific venture into the discursive construction of separatism in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, which separatists refer to as Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia. My study aims specifically at identifying the linguistic and rhetorical strategies separatist leaders use in order to create a sense of unity amongst all English-speaking Cameroonians and make them join the fight for independence. To achieve this aim, I have analysed speeches authored between 2010 and 2015 by two Anglophone Cameroonian separatist leaders. The analysis of the speeches, which followed the Discourse Historical Approach (Wodak et al. 2009), reveals that Southern Cameroonian nationalists try to achieve unity by resorting to strategies such as nomination, predication, and argumentation through topoi. These strategies were realised by means of linguistic resources including lexicon, imperatives, deontic and epistemic modals.

The present paper is the result of a scientific venture into the discursive construction of separatism in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, which separatists refer to as Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia. My study aims specifically at identifying the linguistic and rhetorical strategies separatist leaders use in order to create a sense of unity amongst all English-speaking Cameroonians and make them join the fight for independence. To achieve this aim, I have analysed speeches authored between 2010 and 2015 by two Anglophone Cameroonian separatist leaders. The analysis of the speeches, which followed the Discourse Historical Approach (Wodak et al. 2009), reveals that Southern Cameroonian nationalists try to achieve unity by resorting to strategies such as nomination, predication, and argumentation through topoi. These strategies were realised by means of linguistic resources including lexicon, imperatives, deontic and epistemic modals.

The paper appraises the existing framework for peace building in West Africa under the auspices of ECOWAS as the multilateral platform for south-south cooperation, with specific focus on Liberia and Sierra-Leone. The critical question for interrogation in the paper is the extent to which south-south cooperation framework (both multilateral and bilateral) has been successfully utilized in post-conflict reconstruction and development in West Africa. The paper argues that unlike in other climes, post-conflict reconstruction in West Africa usually involves multiple complex emergencies arising from the collapse of central administration (failed state phenomenon) and its attendant consequences. Under these circumstances, relative success has been recorded in multilateral regional cooperation in peace building and post-conflict reconstruction. The capacity for sustained post-conflict reconstruction through regional framework, is however weak due to political and economic constraints. A significant factor in the success story recorded in West Africa peace building project is the immense contribution of Nigeria, in strengthening ECOWAS multilateral peace-building initiatives in West Africa. The paper concludes that the West African experience has demonstrated the necessity of South-South and Triangular Cooperation as a more viable approach to peace building and post-conflict reconstruction.

The paper appraises the existing framework for peace building in West Africa under the auspices of ECOWAS as the multilateral platform for south-south cooperation, with specific focus on Liberia and Sierra-Leone. The critical question for interrogation in the paper is the extent to which south-south cooperation framework (both multilateral and bilateral) has been successfully utilized in post-conflict reconstruction and development in West Africa. The paper argues that unlike in other climes, post-conflict reconstruction in West Africa usually involves multiple complex emergencies arising from the collapse of central administration (failed state phenomenon) and its attendant consequences. Under these circumstances, relative success has been recorded in multilateral regional cooperation in peace building and post-conflict reconstruction. The capacity for sustained post-conflict reconstruction through regional framework, is however weak due to political and economic constraints. A significant factor in the success story recorded in West Africa peace building project is the immense contribution of Nigeria, in strengthening ECOWAS multilateral peace-building initiatives in West Africa. The paper concludes that the West African experience has demonstrated the necessity of South-South and Triangular Cooperation as a more viable approach to peace building and post-conflict reconstruction.

The paper appraises the existing framework for peace building in West Africa under the auspices of ECOWAS as the multilateral platform for south-south cooperation, with specific focus on Liberia and Sierra-Leone. The critical question for interrogation in the paper is the extent to which south-south cooperation framework (both multilateral and bilateral) has been successfully utilized in post-conflict reconstruction and development in West Africa. The paper argues that unlike in other climes, post-conflict reconstruction in West Africa usually involves multiple complex emergencies arising from the collapse of central administration (failed state phenomenon) and its attendant consequences. Under these circumstances, relative success has been recorded in multilateral regional cooperation in peace building and post-conflict reconstruction. The capacity for sustained post-conflict reconstruction through regional framework, is however weak due to political and economic constraints. A significant factor in the success story recorded in West Africa peace building project is the immense contribution of Nigeria, in strengthening ECOWAS multilateral peace-building initiatives in West Africa. The paper concludes that the West African experience has demonstrated the necessity of South-South and Triangular Cooperation as a more viable approach to peace building and post-conflict reconstruction.

Apart from compacting the entire world into a global village, the phenomenal breakthrough in technology, with its universally acknowledged impact of fast-tracking an unprecedented knowledge expansion, has, in turn, made the entire gamut of human society and life primarily knowledge-driven to such an extent that the most fundamental to the minutest human activities are now propelled by technology-inspired knowledge. Given its quest for development, Africa is inevitably within the fray of this critical bend in human history. However, the extent to which this seemingly beneficial development has influenced the thinking trajectory and perception of African youths vis-à-vis their preparedness for the task of development is open to debate. In this context the present paper argues that, in spite of its admittedly beneficial impact, the technology and knowledge expansion has far-reaching negative implications for the socialisation, psychological satisfaction and potential of African youths to contribute effectively to the nation-building process. Identifying family values, language and indigenous marriage system as the hardest-hit African cultural elements, the paper essentially posits that the technology and knowledge expansion represents a furtherance of cultural imperialism, having increased the African youth’s propensity for Western values such that their life-defining decisions are mainly shaped by Western culture as against their indigenous African culture. It concludes that the emergent reality is a deepening of the intensity of underdevelopment of Africa and a widening of the gulf between the Continent and other leading regions of the world, thus expanding the frontiers of African paradoxical contradiction, namely a mix-grill of knowledge expansion and underdevelopment.

Apart from compacting the entire world into a global village, the phenomenal breakthrough in technology, with its universally acknowledged impact of fast-tracking an unprecedented knowledge expansion, has, in turn, made the entire gamut of human society and life primarily knowledge-driven to such an extent that the most fundamental to the minutest human activities are now propelled by technology-inspired knowledge. Given its quest for development, Africa is inevitably within the fray of this critical bend in human history. However, the extent to which this seemingly beneficial development has influenced the thinking trajectory and perception of African youths vis-à-vis their preparedness for the task of development is open to debate. In this context the present paper argues that, in spite of its admittedly beneficial impact, the technology and knowledge expansion has far-reaching negative implications for the socialisation, psychological satisfaction and potential of African youths to contribute effectively to the nation-building process. Identifying family values, language and indigenous marriage system as the hardest-hit African cultural elements, the paper essentially posits that the technology and knowledge expansion represents a furtherance of cultural imperialism, having increased the African youth’s propensity for Western values such that their life-defining decisions are mainly shaped by Western culture as against their indigenous African culture. It concludes that the emergent reality is a deepening of the intensity of underdevelopment of Africa and a widening of the gulf between the Continent and other leading regions of the world, thus expanding the frontiers of African paradoxical contradiction, namely a mix-grill of knowledge expansion and underdevelopment.

Apart from compacting the entire world into a global village, the phenomenal breakthrough in technology, with its universally acknowledged impact of fast-tracking an unprecedented knowledge expansion, has, in turn, made the entire gamut of human society and life primarily knowledge-driven to such an extent that the most fundamental to the minutest human activities are now propelled by technology-inspired knowledge. Given its quest for development, Africa is inevitably within the fray of this critical bend in human history. However, the extent to which this seemingly beneficial development has influenced the thinking trajectory and perception of African youths vis-à-vis their preparedness for the task of development is open to debate. In this context the present paper argues that, in spite of its admittedly beneficial impact, the technology and knowledge expansion has far-reaching negative implications for the socialisation, psychological satisfaction and potential of African youths to contribute effectively to the nation-building process. Identifying family values, language and indigenous marriage system as the hardest-hit African cultural elements, the paper essentially posits that the technology and knowledge expansion represents a furtherance of cultural imperialism, having increased the African youth’s propensity for Western values such that their life-defining decisions are mainly shaped by Western culture as against their indigenous African culture. It concludes that the emergent reality is a deepening of the intensity of underdevelopment of Africa and a widening of the gulf between the Continent and other leading regions of the world, thus expanding the frontiers of African paradoxical contradiction, namely a mix-grill of knowledge expansion and underdevelopment.

In multilingual South Africa, language use is more often than not a matter of choice than of ability. The application of indigenous languages like isiXhosa seems nevertheless less preferable in certain social contexts such as the job environment, where English is seen as the language of “success and status” (Casale and Posel 2010: 58). This paper probes the relationship between an isiXhosa language identity and career chances for university graduates. It examines, in a micro study, how young graduates from Fort Hare University in East London perceive the role and conception of English and isiXhosa for identity construction with a focus on employment opportunities. This view is contrasted with local employers’ perceptions on the matter. The interviews show that the dominance of English in the workplace as a global and “neutral” language remains largely unquestioned. In conclusion, the paper provides suggestions for further research into the role of indigenous languages in the South African business environment, on a broader scale.

In multilingual South Africa, language use is more often than not a matter of choice than of ability. The application of indigenous languages like isiXhosa seems nevertheless less preferable in certain social contexts such as the job environment, where English is seen as the language of “success and status” (Casale and Posel 2010: 58). This paper probes the relationship between an isiXhosa language identity and career chances for university graduates. It examines, in a micro study, how young graduates from Fort Hare University in East London perceive the role and conception of English and isiXhosa for identity construction with a focus on employment opportunities. This view is contrasted with local employers’ perceptions on the matter. The interviews show that the dominance of English in the workplace as a global and “neutral” language remains largely unquestioned. In conclusion, the paper provides suggestions for further research into the role of indigenous languages in the South African business environment, on a broader scale.

In multilingual South Africa, language use is more often than not a matter of choice than of ability. The application of indigenous languages like isiXhosa seems nevertheless less preferable in certain social contexts such as the job environment, where English is seen as the language of “success and status” (Casale and Posel 2010: 58). This paper probes the relationship between an isiXhosa language identity and career chances for university graduates. It examines, in a micro study, how young graduates from Fort Hare University in East London perceive the role and conception of English and isiXhosa for identity construction with a focus on employment opportunities. This view is contrasted with local employers’ perceptions on the matter. The interviews show that the dominance of English in the workplace as a global and “neutral” language remains largely unquestioned. In conclusion, the paper provides suggestions for further research into the role of indigenous languages in the South African business environment, on a broader scale.

In this paper, I have argued that, instead of being pushed aside by the modern power elites – as was widely predicted both by modernisation theorists and their critics – chieftaincy has displayed remarkable dynamics and adaptability to new socio-economic and political developments, without becoming totally transformed in the process. Chiefdoms and chiefs have become active agents in the quest by the new elites for ethnic, cultural symbols as a way of maximising opportunities at the centre of bureaucratic and state power, and at the home village where control over land and labour often require both financial and symbolic capital. Chieftaincy, in other words, remains central to ongoing efforts at developing democracy and accountability in line with the expectations of Africans as individual ‘citizens’ and also as ‘subjects’ of various cultural communities. The paper uses Cameroon and Botswana as case studies, to argue that the rigidity and prescriptiveness of modernist partial theories have left a major gap in scholarship on chiefs and chieftaincy in Africa. It stresses that studies of domesticated agency in Africa are sorely needed to capture the creative ongoing processes and to avoid overemphasising structures and essentialist perceptions on chieftaincy and the cultural communities that claim and are claimed by it. Scholarship that is impatient with the differences and diversities that empirical research highlights, runs the risk of pontification or orthodoxy. Such stunted or reductionist scholarship, like rigid notions of liberal democracy, is akin to the behaviour of a Lilliputian undertaker who would rather trim a corpse than expand his/her coffin to accommodate a man-mountain, or a carpenter whose only tool is a huge hammer and to whom every problem is a nail.

The paper analyzes the role of the Land Commission and the Governance Commision in the post-conflict institutional and political landscape in Liberia. Problems related to land still have a high conflict potential in the country, and are interconnected with different fields and aspects of peacebuilding and development. Bad governance is frequently mentioned as one of the causes of the civil war, and governance reform is a large-scale, ambitious project with a crucial impact on the way the country will be administered in the future. Both issues are highly sensitive and belong to the very core of state sovereignty. The paper focuses on the similarities and differences in the functioning of these two bodies in the context of power relations that shape the current political landscape in Liberia, especially with regard to the involvement of internal and external actors.

The paper analyzes the role of the Land Commission and the Governance Commision in the post-conflict institutional and political landscape in Liberia. Problems related to land still have a high conflict potential in the country, and are interconnected with different fields and aspects of peacebuilding and development. Bad governance is frequently mentioned as one of the causes of the civil war, and governance reform is a large-scale, ambitious project with a crucial impact on the way the country will be administered in the future. Both issues are highly sensitive and belong to the very core of state sovereignty. The paper focuses on the similarities and differences in the functioning of these two bodies in the context of power relations that shape the current political landscape in Liberia, especially with regard to the involvement of internal and external actors.

In this paper, I have argued that, instead of being pushed aside by the modern power elites – as was widely predicted both by modernisation theorists and their critics – chieftaincy has displayed remarkable dynamics and adaptability to new socio-economic and political developments, without becoming totally transformed in the process. Chiefdoms and chiefs have become active agents in the quest by the new elites for ethnic, cultural symbols as a way of maximising opportunities at the centre of bureaucratic and state power, and at the home village where control over land and labour often require both financial and symbolic capital. Chieftaincy, in other words, remains central to ongoing efforts at developing democracy and accountability in line with the expectations of Africans as individual ‘citizens’ and also as ‘subjects’ of various cultural communities. The paper uses Cameroon and Botswana as case studies, to argue that the rigidity and prescriptiveness of modernist partial theories have left a major gap in scholarship on chiefs and chieftaincy in Africa. It stresses that studies of domesticated agency in Africa are sorely needed to capture the creative ongoing processes and to avoid overemphasising structures and essentialist perceptions on chieftaincy and the cultural communities that claim and are claimed by it. Scholarship that is impatient with the differences and diversities that empirical research highlights, runs the risk of pontification or orthodoxy. Such stunted or reductionist scholarship, like rigid notions of liberal democracy, is akin to the behaviour of a Lilliputian undertaker who would rather trim a corpse than expand his/her coffin to accommodate a man-mountain, or a carpenter whose only tool is a huge hammer and to whom every problem is a nail.

In this paper, I have argued that, instead of being pushed aside by the modern power elites – as was widely predicted both by modernisation theorists and their critics – chieftaincy has displayed remarkable dynamics and adaptability to new socio-economic and political developments, without becoming totally transformed in the process. Chiefdoms and chiefs have become active agents in the quest by the new elites for ethnic, cultural symbols as a way of maximising opportunities at the centre of bureaucratic and state power, and at the home village where control over land and labour often require both financial and symbolic capital. Chieftaincy, in other words, remains central to ongoing efforts at developing democracy and accountability in line with the expectations of Africans as individual ‘citizens’ and also as ‘subjects’ of various cultural communities. The paper uses Cameroon and Botswana as case studies, to argue that the rigidity and prescriptiveness of modernist partial theories have left a major gap in scholarship on chiefs and chieftaincy in Africa. It stresses that studies of domesticated agency in Africa are sorely needed to capture the creative ongoing processes and to avoid overemphasising structures and essentialist perceptions on chieftaincy and the cultural communities that claim and are claimed by it. Scholarship that is impatient with the differences and diversities that empirical research highlights, runs the risk of pontification or orthodoxy. Such stunted or reductionist scholarship, like rigid notions of liberal democracy, is akin to the behaviour of a Lilliputian undertaker who would rather trim a corpse than expand his/her coffin to accommodate a man-mountain, or a carpenter whose only tool is a huge hammer and to whom every problem is a nail.

The paper analyzes the role of the Land Commission and the Governance Commision in the post-conflict institutional and political landscape in Liberia. Problems related to land still have a high conflict potential in the country, and are interconnected with different fields and aspects of peacebuilding and development. Bad governance is frequently mentioned as one of the causes of the civil war, and governance reform is a large-scale, ambitious project with a crucial impact on the way the country will be administered in the future. Both issues are highly sensitive and belong to the very core of state sovereignty. The paper focuses on the similarities and differences in the functioning of these two bodies in the context of power relations that shape the current political landscape in Liberia, especially with regard to the involvement of internal and external actors.

This paper has critically examined the causes and contexts of the protracted crises in Jos Plateau State, Nigeria since 1994. The paper traces the emergence and perpetuation of the conflict to the imposition of an exploitative and competitive colonial system sustained by mass labour migration, ethnic-politics and religious contestations. At the centre of these violent eruptions are the groups’ dynamics that the conflict has created: The Indigene versus Settler problematic as well as the Christian versus Muslims militias. The crises in Jos are resource and identity-based in a contest over the native, political and economic soul of the ancient Tin-city. The various attempts made by the State and other non-State actors at finding lasting solutions to these ensuing huge human and material loss in this circle of violence have largely been insincere as they are also politicized. The Conflict perspectives as well as the Ethnic and Resource Mobilization paradigm were adopted in an attempt to understanding the Jos crises.

This paper has critically examined the causes and contexts of the protracted crises in Jos Plateau State, Nigeria since 1994. The paper traces the emergence and perpetuation of the conflict to the imposition of an exploitative and competitive colonial system sustained by mass labour migration, ethnic-politics and religious contestations. At the centre of these violent eruptions are the groups’ dynamics that the conflict has created: The Indigene versus Settler problematic as well as the Christian versus Muslims militias. The crises in Jos are resource and identity-based in a contest over the native, political and economic soul of the ancient Tin-city. The various attempts made by the State and other non-State actors at finding lasting solutions to these ensuing huge human and material loss in this circle of violence have largely been insincere as they are also politicized. The Conflict perspectives as well as the Ethnic and Resource Mobilization paradigm were adopted in an attempt to understanding the Jos crises.

This paper has critically examined the causes and contexts of the protracted crises in Jos Plateau State, Nigeria since 1994. The paper traces the emergence and perpetuation of the conflict to the imposition of an exploitative and competitive colonial system sustained by mass labour migration, ethnic-politics and religious contestations. At the centre of these violent eruptions are the groups’ dynamics that the conflict has created: The Indigene versus Settler problematic as well as the Christian versus Muslims militias. The crises in Jos are resource and identity-based in a contest over the native, political and economic soul of the ancient Tin-city. The various attempts made by the State and other non-State actors at finding lasting solutions to these ensuing huge human and material loss in this circle of violence have largely been insincere as they are also politicized. The Conflict perspectives as well as the Ethnic and Resource Mobilization paradigm were adopted in an attempt to understanding the Jos crises.

This article explores an early episode in the history of tropical medicine in colonial Lagos, British West Africa. It probes into the activities and outputs of scientists who operated within the Medical Research Institute (MRI) as a way to further complicate the agendas of tropical medicine. Scientists of the MRI undertook biomedical experimentation with a profound understanding of metropolitan and local imperatives as both determined the extent to which they contributed to popular discourses. The present paper explores the extent to which metropole-colony relations triggered local scientists at the MRI to resort to all available means, including human experimentation, in the course of ambitious scientific projects. In certain other contexts, international and local motivations converged to sway the ambivalent postures of colonial scientists to biomedical experimentation.

This article explores an early episode in the history of tropical medicine in colonial Lagos, British West Africa. It probes into the activities and outputs of scientists who operated within the Medical Research Institute (MRI) as a way to further complicate the agendas of tropical medicine. Scientists of the MRI undertook biomedical experimentation with a profound understanding of metropolitan and local imperatives as both determined the extent to which they contributed to popular discourses. The present paper explores the extent to which metropole-colony relations triggered local scientists at the MRI to resort to all available means, including human experimentation, in the course of ambitious scientific projects. In certain other contexts, international and local motivations converged to sway the ambivalent postures of colonial scientists to biomedical experimentation.

This article explores an early episode in the history of tropical medicine in colonial Lagos, British West Africa. It probes into the activities and outputs of scientists who operated within the Medical Research Institute (MRI) as a way to further complicate the agendas of tropical medicine. Scientists of the MRI undertook biomedical experimentation with a profound understanding of metropolitan and local imperatives as both determined the extent to which they contributed to popular discourses. The present paper explores the extent to which metropole-colony relations triggered local scientists at the MRI to resort to all available means, including human experimentation, in the course of ambitious scientific projects. In certain other contexts, international and local motivations converged to sway the ambivalent postures of colonial scientists to biomedical experimentation.

This article explores an early episode in the history of tropical medicine in colonial Lagos, British West Africa. It probes into the activities and outputs of scientists who operated within the Medical Research Institute (MRI) as a way to further complicate the agendas of tropical medicine. Scientists of the MRI undertook biomedical experimentation with a profound understanding of metropolitan and local imperatives as both determined the extent to which they contributed to popular discourses. The present paper explores the extent to which metropole-colony relations triggered local scientists at the MRI to resort to all available means, including human experimentation, in the course of ambitious scientific projects. In certain other contexts, international and local motivations converged to sway the ambivalent postures of colonial scientists to biomedical experimentation.

Abstract African development will remain intractable in a world where Africans are conceived as constituting disorganised data subject to the supposedly organising gaze of knowledgeable Others. African people are increasingly datafied dehumanised and denied self-knowledge, self-mastery, self-organisation and data sovereignty. Arguing for more attention to questions of data sovereignty, this paper notes that the Internet of Things and Big Data threaten the autonomy, privacy, data and national sovereignty of indigenous Africans. It is contended that decolonial scholars should unpack ethical implications of theorising indigenous people in terms of relational theories that assume absence of distinctions between humans and nonhumans. Deemed to be indistinct from nonhumans/animals, Africans would be inserted or implanted with remotely controlled intelligent tracking technological devices that mine data from their brains, bodies, homes, cities and so on. Key words: relationality, Big Data, Internet of Things, coloniality, research

This paper, based on the analysis of archive documents, biographical interviews and participant observation, focuses on the social and narrative construction of collective cultural identity of so-called Namibian Czechs living in Namibia. These represent a group of originally fifty-six Namibian child war refugees who received asylum and were educated in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991. In order to understand their complex identity special attention has been paid to the dual education of the children in Czechoslovakia, to the role of the Czech language and the symbolical narratives in the construction of their collective cultural identity and to diverse discursive and social practices through which they shape, maintain, and reproduce their Czechness – both situationally in social interactions and narratively in a form of communicative memory.

This paper, based on the analysis of archive documents, biographical interviews and participant observation, focuses on the social and narrative construction of collective cultural identity of so-called Namibian Czechs living in Namibia. These represent a group of originally fifty-six Namibian child war refugees who received asylum and were educated in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991. In order to understand their complex identity special attention has been paid to the dual education of the children in Czechoslovakia, to the role of the Czech language and the symbolical narratives in the construction of their collective cultural identity and to diverse discursive and social practices through which they shape, maintain, and reproduce their Czechness – both situationally in social interactions and narratively in a form of communicative memory.

This paper, based on the analysis of archive documents, biographical interviews and participant observation, focuses on the social and narrative construction of collective cultural identity of so-called Namibian Czechs living in Namibia. These represent a group of originally fifty-six Namibian child war refugees who received asylum and were educated in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991. In order to understand their complex identity special attention has been paid to the dual education of the children in Czechoslovakia, to the role of the Czech language and the symbolical narratives in the construction of their collective cultural identity and to diverse discursive and social practices through which they shape, maintain, and reproduce their Czechness – both situationally in social interactions and narratively in a form of communicative memory.

This paper, based on the analysis of archive documents, biographical interviews and participant observation, focuses on the social and narrative construction of collective cultural identity of so-called Namibian Czechs living in Namibia. These represent a group of originally fifty-six Namibian child war refugees who received asylum and were educated in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991. In order to understand their complex identity special attention has been paid to the dual education of the children in Czechoslovakia, to the role of the Czech language and the symbolical narratives in the construction of their collective cultural identity and to diverse discursive and social practices through which they shape, maintain, and reproduce their Czechness – both situationally in social interactions and narratively in a form of communicative memory.

As part of the measures to deal with the rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria, entrepreneurship programmes were incorporated into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, which was initially meant to promote common national awareness among graduate youths. While this experiment created a problem due to the NYSC posting policy, the empowerment programmes face other challenges that constrain their outcome. The posting policy privileged the allocation of graduate youths to work establishments where many of them are either under-utilised or incompetent. The NYSC empowerment programmes, on the other hand, grappled with the problems of corruption by job empowerment agencies, the negative attitude of corps members towards vocational and technical skill acquisition and inadequate resources to assist corps members who want to put their business plans into practice. The present paper concludes that the NYSC posting policy and empowerment programmes offer corps members little chance for the acquisition of relevant skills needed for self-development and is unable to properly address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria.

As part of the measures to deal with the rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria, entrepreneurship programmes were incorporated into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, which was initially meant to promote common national awareness among graduate youths. While this experiment created a problem due to the NYSC posting policy, the empowerment programmes face other challenges that constrain their outcome. The posting policy privileged the allocation of graduate youths to work establishments where many of them are either under-utilised or incompetent. The NYSC empowerment programmes, on the other hand, grappled with the problems of corruption by job empowerment agencies, the negative attitude of corps members towards vocational and technical skill acquisition and inadequate resources to assist corps members who want to put their business plans into practice. The present paper concludes that the NYSC posting policy and empowerment programmes offer corps members little chance for the acquisition of relevant skills needed for self-development and is unable to properly address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria.

As part of the measures to deal with the rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria, entrepreneurship programmes were incorporated into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, which was initially meant to promote common national awareness among graduate youths. While this experiment created a problem due to the NYSC posting policy, the empowerment programmes face other challenges that constrain their outcome. The posting policy privileged the allocation of graduate youths to work establishments where many of them are either under-utilised or incompetent. The NYSC empowerment programmes, on the other hand, grappled with the problems of corruption by job empowerment agencies, the negative attitude of corps members towards vocational and technical skill acquisition and inadequate resources to assist corps members who want to put their business plans into practice. The present paper concludes that the NYSC posting policy and empowerment programmes offer corps members little chance for the acquisition of relevant skills needed for self-development and is unable to properly address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria.

As part of the measures to deal with the rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria, entrepreneurship programmes were incorporated into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, which was initially meant to promote common national awareness among graduate youths. While this experiment created a problem due to the NYSC posting policy, the empowerment programmes face other challenges that constrain their outcome. The posting policy privileged the allocation of graduate youths to work establishments where many of them are either under-utilised or incompetent. The NYSC empowerment programmes, on the other hand, grappled with the problems of corruption by job empowerment agencies, the negative attitude of corps members towards vocational and technical skill acquisition and inadequate resources to assist corps members who want to put their business plans into practice. The present paper concludes that the NYSC posting policy and empowerment programmes offer corps members little chance for the acquisition of relevant skills needed for self-development and is unable to properly address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria.

The findings of “third wave” studies on democratic transitions in Southern Europe and Latin America from the 1970s suggested that a democratic outcome is most likely when contending parties are relatively equal and elites make a pact to navigate the transition process. However, later studies of post-communist transitions do not support this inference. This paper analyses the transition process in Mozambique, a former “Afro-communist” regime, during the early 1990s. The findings show that – contrary to the conclusions drawn from the “third wave” studies – in Mozambique the pact concluded in the context of the peace accord of 1992, which ended a sixteenyear civil war, had contradictory results in terms of democratisation. While the political situation has been relatively stable until recent years, the country has moved toward competitive authoritarian rule instead of full democracy. The main explanatory factor for this trend appears to be the cohesion of the ruling party, which in the case of Mozambique derives from its origins in armed liberation struggle. Renewed incidents of political violence over the last few years also cast doubt on the durability of political stability.

This paper’s objective is to give an account of the ongoing transition from liberal democracy to a new form of governance, defined by the Hungarian Prime-Minister, Viktor Orbán, as the “illiberal state.” The author examines the transformation of the political culture in two countries, which at first sight do not have much in common: Sierra Leone and Hungary. In order to better understand the nature, causes and possible consequences of this shift, she re-examines the path leading from the democratic transformation of the 1990s to the present-day changes. She concludes that the move towards illiberal democracy is not a sudden, irrational deviation from what preceded it but rather the direct consequence of the way democratization was conceived and implemented in the countries in question. From a local angle, the illiberal turn points at a double rupture: that of the contract between national governments and local civil societies. From a global perspective, it probably reflects a tectonic reorganisation of international power relations.

The presence and activities of the Gendarmerie is as old as French influence in Africa. Since the re-birth of multi-party politics during the 1990s in Cameroon, the military crackdown in erstwhile West Cameroon rekindled old memories of Gendarmerie brutality and popular reaction. As a paramilitary force, it was charged with the provision of security but instead instilled fear and insecurity in the West Cameroon state. This article examines the activities of the Gendarmerie and pays close attention to the tradition and origin of this paramilitary force in West Cameroon. What circumstances led to the introduction of the Gendarmerie in West Cameroon? What was the strength of the West Cameroon security forces before the introduction of the Gendarmerie in 1961? In providing answers to these questions we consulted documents from the National Archives Buea in Cameroon and secondary sources from libraries. These sources reveal that the Gendarmerie force was abhorred by many West Cameroonians. This was because of the brutality of Gendarmes on the civilian population, police and custom officers. The paper also contends that, although the Gendarmerie corps was out to ensure peace and security, it became more or less an insecure force to property and the lives of the West Cameroonian population, as well as to the police and custom officials in West Cameroon.

The findings of “third wave” studies on democratic transitions in Southern Europe and Latin America from the 1970s suggested that a democratic outcome is most likely when contending parties are relatively equal and elites make a pact to navigate the transition process. However, later studies of post-communist transitions do not support this inference. This paper analyses the transition process in Mozambique, a former “Afro-communist” regime, during the early 1990s. The findings show that – contrary to the conclusions drawn from the “third wave” studies – in Mozambique the pact concluded in the context of the peace accord of 1992, which ended a sixteenyear civil war, had contradictory results in terms of democratisation. While the political situation has been relatively stable until recent years, the country has moved toward competitive authoritarian rule instead of full democracy. The main explanatory factor for this trend appears to be the cohesion of the ruling party, which in the case of Mozambique derives from its origins in armed liberation struggle. Renewed incidents of political violence over the last few years also cast doubt on the durability of political stability.

The presence and activities of the Gendarmerie is as old as French influence in Africa. Since the re-birth of multi-party politics during the 1990s in Cameroon, the military crackdown in erstwhile West Cameroon rekindled old memories of Gendarmerie brutality and popular reaction. As a paramilitary force, it was charged with the provision of security but instead instilled fear and insecurity in the West Cameroon state. This article examines the activities of the Gendarmerie and pays close attention to the tradition and origin of this paramilitary force in West Cameroon. What circumstances led to the introduction of the Gendarmerie in West Cameroon? What was the strength of the West Cameroon security forces before the introduction of the Gendarmerie in 1961? In providing answers to these questions we consulted documents from the National Archives Buea in Cameroon and secondary sources from libraries. These sources reveal that the Gendarmerie force was abhorred by many West Cameroonians. This was because of the brutality of Gendarmes on the civilian population, police and custom officers. The paper also contends that, although the Gendarmerie corps was out to ensure peace and security, it became more or less an insecure force to property and the lives of the West Cameroonian population, as well as to the police and custom officials in West Cameroon.