Sino-pessimism on the rise in Cameroon as Chinese sex labour migrants gain popularity

Basile Ndjio says that the influx of young Chinese sex labour migrants is shifting perceptions of Sino-African relations in Cameroon

Homosexuality, politics and Pentecostal nationalism in Zambia

Building upon debates about the politics of nationalism and sexuality in post-colonial Africa, this article highlights the role of religion in shaping nationalist ideologies that seek to regulate homosexuality. It specifically focuses on Pentecostal Christianity in Zambia, where the constitutional declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation has given rise to a form of ‘Pentecostal nationalism’ in which homosexuality is considered to be a threat to the purity of the nation and is associated with the Devil. The article offers an analysis of recent Zambian public debates about homosexuality, focusing on the ways in which the ‘Christian nation’ argument is deployed, primarily in a discourse of anti-homonationalism, but also by a few recent dissident voices. The latter prevent Zambia, and Christianity, from accruing a monolithic depiction as homophobic. Showing that the Zambian case presents a mobilisation against homosexuality that is profoundly shaped by the local configuration in which Christianity defines national identity – and in which Pentecostal-Christian moral concerns and theo-political imaginations shape public debates and politics – the article nuances arguments that explain African controversies regarding homosexuality in terms of exported American culture wars, proposing an alternative reading of these controversies as emerging from conflicting visions of modernity in Africa

‘Shanghai Beauties’ and African Desires: Migration, Trade and Chinese Prostitution in Cameroon

Cet article examine l’attitude ambivalente des Camerounais à l’égard des prostituées chinoises qui sont devenues des actrices majeures du commerce du sexe au Cameroun. Il suggère en particulier que ‘les beautés de Shanghai’, que les Camerounais appellent ainsi habituellement ces travailleuses du sexe venues de la Chine, font partie des produits bon marché et dépréciés que la Chine exporte vers le Cameroun à travers ses réseaux commerciaux bien organisés, lesquels sont en grande partie contrôlés par des commerçants chinois de l’étranger. La perception ambivalente des Camerounais vis-à-vis de ces travailleuses du sexe peut donc être vue comme le reflet d’une ambivalence plus généralisée concernant les importations Chinoises.European Journal of Development Research (2009) 21, 606–621. doi:10.1057/ejdr.2009.31

Sexual Orientation, (Anti-)discrimination and Human Rights in a 'Christian Nation': The Politicization of Homosexuality in Zambia

Zambia has recently witnessed heated public and political debates over issues of homosexuality and gay or LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) rights. This article explores these debates with particular reference to the new draft constitution and the role of the Human Rights Commission (HRC). Homosexuality and LGBTI rights became heavily politicized during the constitutional review process. Discussions emerged not only about the penal code that prohibits same-sex practices, but also about the anti-discrimination clause in the constitution. The HRC explicitly warned against an inclusive formulation of this clause to prevent it from being applied to sexual orientation. Offering a critical historical and religio-political reconstruction of the politicization of homosexuality in the constitutional review process and examining the ambivalent contribution of the HRC, this article analyses these dynamics in relation to the political imagination of Zambia as a Christian nation. It argues that the ambivalent contribution of the HRC must be understood as a complex negotiation of the moral and religious sensibilities in society, and of popular political and religious rhetoric. However, the analysis also demonstrates how the logic of the Christian nation, and its subsequent moral geography, has begun to be subverted by a marginal yet important counter-narrative

The Empire Speaks Back: Zambian Responses to European Union LGBTI Rights Diplomacy

This chapter critically examines Zambian responses to European interventions with regard to the human rights of sexual minorities in the country. It specifically focuses on one particular incident, occurring in 2013. The chapter, first, discusses the background and context of this incident, which emerged after the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Zambia launched a call for funding proposals specifically mentioning the promotion of LGBTI rights. This is discussed in relation to wider EU involvement with Africa, especially in the area of politics of sexuality. Second, the chapter discusses the way in which Zambian political and religious leaders responded to the EU call for proposals, providing a critical analysis of the discourse of “Zambian Christian values” and “traditional beliefs”, as well as the invocation of democracy and human rights, by prominent spokespersons. We conceptualize the Zambian response in a postcolonial framework as a case of “the empire speaking back”, while drawing critical attention to the ambiguity of this

Where does fortune come from? Agrarian work ethics and luck in Togo

Through the analysis of the biographical trajectories of three Togolese men of different generations, this paper explores the changing and ambiguous relation between notions of fortune and agricultural work in south-western Togo. Comparing their different work ethics, I will discuss which factors people of different generations and different economic conditions considered legitimate in enhancing individual success and fortune, the ambiguous moral discourses that historically have imbued agricultural activities, and their relations with other forms of accumulation more or less connected with the use or abuse of occult means. I would suggest that, far from being one the opposite of the other, work ethics and notions of fortune become part of the same moral discourse that people elaborate in order to legitimize (or delegitimize) given forms of accumulation and to make sense of new and old inequalities