Editorial: African women's struggles in a gender perspective

International audienc

Street Parliaments. Publica spaces of Speech and Citizenship in Africa.

Programma di ricerca sui nuovi spazi di discussione politica in Africa subsaharian

Autochtony as Capital in a Global Age

For a little over a decade we have been witnessing a profusion of discourses on autochthony — that is, an original belonging to a group or territory — in many parts of the world. A global approach to this question first requires a look at the principle of autochthony and its genealogy. Starting from African examples, places of prolific expression of the phenomenon, this article shows how autochthony plays the role of capital that can be invested, valued and profited from. The structure of this capital carries within itself the seeds of conflict. The article analyses how the stabilization of its value requires the execution of specific strategies. Among these strategies, I will focus in greater depth on voting. The relationship between capital, autochthony and elections will thus bring us back to debates that animate political science: in new municipalities, autochthony as capital is at the heart of candidate selection, suffrage, political participation and citizenship

Le Lions Clubs au Bénin : un club caritatif qui pratique une liturgie à dessein politique

Comparer les réunions et le protocole du Lions Clubs à un rite offre l’occasion de mesurer la portée politique de cette communauté et de mesurer les effets que les réunions provoquent en dehors de ce cercle. L’observation permet également d’appréhender l’importance du Lions Clubs en Afrique où il ne peut être réduit à un lieu de rencontre entre riches séduits par l’ostentation et à la recherche de nouveaux profits. Les « Lions » sont comparés par la population à des diplomates, parce qu’ils portent des uniformes et des décorations et parce qu’ils sont reçus par les plus hautes autorités politiques des États. Depuis l’Occident, ce comportement est considéré comme une caricature de la gouvernance. Pourtant les réunions sont, pour les membres, des moments de travail et de rencontre qui ressemblent à une religion politique par leur but caché qui est de conquérir l’indépendance de l’Afrique au sein du Lions Clubs. Cet objectif est facilité par l’explosion du nombre de membres africains qui attestent du mouvement social sévissant au sommet de la société. L’élite africaine, en transformant la mission caritative en un rassemblement politique, propose un nouveau panafricanisme.The comparison of meetings and protocol of the Lions Clubs in a ritual, offers an opportunity to measure the political impact of this community and the effect the meetings have outside the circle. The study also allows us to understand the importance of the Lions Clubs in Africa, where it cannot be reduced to a meeting of wealthy people seduced by the opulence and the opportunity to find new sources of profit. Lions are compared by population to diplomats because of their appearance, wearing uniforms and medals and are received by the highest political authorities from other nations. In the West this behaviour is seen as a caricature of governance but for members the meetings offer occasions for work and friendship. This appears like political religion because of the hidden goal: to conquer the independence of Africa in the Lions Clubs. This objective is facilitated by the explosion in the number of African members showing the social movement that rages at the top levels of society. The African elite, by its transformation of charity into political rally, proposes a new form of pan-Africanism