Calendar and Ritual

Chaque lunaison chez les Mamprusi (nord du Ghana) est associée à une fête qui a lieu 19 jours après l’apparition de la nouvelle lune. Puisque 12 lunaisons ne correspondent pas à une année solaire, ces fêtes se déclinent par rapport aux activités de l’agriculture, de la chasse et de la pêche. Ce calendrier reflète les valeurs hiérarchiques de la société. Les 12 lunaisons de l’année solaire sont rangées en couples et hiérarchisées, l’ensemble étant subordonné à une lunaison hors couple du nom de « feu » qui peut détruire toutes les autres. Pendant les principales fêtes, la royauté depuis sa fondation est mise en scène de diverses façons, et les déplacements du roi dans l’espace qui environne son palais ne peuvent être compris qu’en fonction d’un cosmos ordonné où la personne sacrée du roi représente le soleil. Le temps se divise en périodes dont certaines sont bioo (dangereuses). Pendant ces périodes néfastes, certains interdits doivent être respectés. Ce concept de bioo lié à un système d’interdits permet d’unifier les diverses unités de temps et de mettre en valeur le roi.The Mamprusi (Northern Ghana) associate each lunation with the celebration of a specific festival on the 19th day after the sighting of the new moon. Since 12 lunations do not make a solar year, any given festival moves slowly across the seasons, hence independently of farming, hunting and fishing. The calendar mainly expresses a concern with a hierarchy and office. Normally hierarchically ordered in pairs, the approximately 12 lunations in a year are subordinate to a unpaired lunation, called « fire », capable of destroying the others. During major festivals, the names of deceased rulers are sung, and the king moves in a prescribed manner through the space in and near his palace: the court is part of an ordered cosmos wherein the monarch’s sacred person represents the sun. The passage of time reckoned in periods some of which are bioo (dangerous). During these recurring periods of danger, certain prohibitions must be observed. This concept of bioo and the related system of prohibitions unify the different intervals of measured time and emphasize the uniqueness of the king

Territorial Mobility and the Mamprusi Kingship

In December of 1965 I had recently returned from two years of fieldwork in northern Ghana. My supervisor, Prof. Meyer Fortes, invited me to accompany him and his wife Doris to a conference in the village of Sonchamp, outside Paris. There we were welcomed with wonderful hospitality by Germaine Dieterlen at her home. The three-day Sonchamp meeting was my first introduction to French anthropologists and it was a truly momentous occasion. As I remember it, the grown-ups, (ie. the more senior part..

(WP 2011-01) It Takes Two: The Incidence and Effectiveness of co-CEOs

This study examines the phenomenon of co-CEOs within publicly traded firms. Although shared executive leadership is not widespread, it occurs within some very prominent firms. We find that co-CEOs generally complement each other in terms of educational background or executive responsibilities. Our results show that firms most likely to appoint co-CEOs have lower leverage, a more limited firm focus, less independent board structure, fewer advising directors, lower institutional ownership and greater levels of merger activity. The governance structure of co-CEO firms suggest that co-CEOships can serve as an alternative governance mechanism, with co-CEO mutual monitoring substituting for board or external monitoring and co-CEO complementary skills substituting for board advising. An event study indicates that the market reacts positively to appointments of co-CEOs while a propensity score analysis shows that the presence of co-CEOs increases firm valuation

Nonprofit governance: Improving performance in troubled economic times

Nonprofit management is currently pressured to perform effectively in a weak economy. Yet, nonprofit governance continues to suffer from unclear conceptions of the division of labor between board of directors and executive directors. This online survey of 114 executive directors aims to provide clarification and recommendations for social administration

Institutions and facility mergers in the Italian education system: Models and case studies

In recent years, across Europe, the economic crisis has resulted in an increased pressure on education systems. Notably, Italy has been one of the countries that has experienced the most severe reduction in public expenditure in the education sector. In the described conditions, Italian governmental institutions have started to perform rationalisation actions, aimed at modifying the current configuration of the existing facilities offering educational services (either by entirely closing and merging some of them, or by downsizing or transferring capacities), in order to increase the affordability of the system while still providing a required minimum service level. These strategic choices may have a lasting impact; therefore, there is a need for appropriate decision support tools capable of assisting planners. For this reason, after a description of the context and a review of the current literature, this paper presents two novel mathematical models for addressing rationalisation decisions in the Italian education system. The usability of such models is tested by means of real-world case studies, offering interesting insights