Botswana, Africa's Haven of Ethnic Peace and Harmony: Status and

This paper has the dual objectives to highlight some of the factors that account for the absence of ethnic tensions and conflict in Botswana since independence and to reflect on the future of ethnic relations in the country. It identfles factors such as the nature of ethnic relations during the colonial period, the nature of British indfrect rule, the relatively even development across regions occupied by different ethnic groups, deliberate government efforts to create national as opposed to tribal consciousness and the institutions of chieftaincy as having contributed to harmonious ethnic relations. An examinatn of the current situation, however, points to emerging disintegrative ethnic consciousness. This is evident from three factors: I) The political debates centred on ethnic representation in the House of Chiefs and the fairness of sections 77, 78, and 79 of the Constitution that are sweeping across the country; 2) the appointment of a Presidential Commission to review sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Constitution, and 3) the focus the subject of ethnicity has received in the print ,?ledia. It is concluded that Botswana is no longer safe from the ethnic strjfe, tensions and conflicts that have engulfed most other Africa countries, unless deliberate corrective measures are adopted by the state, drawing from other African countries to ident5.' what works and what does not work

Botswana, Africa's Haven of Ethnic Peace and Harmony: Status and Future Prospects

This paper has the dual objectives to highlight some of the factors that account for the absence of ethnic tensions and conflict in Botswana since independence and to reflect on the future of ethnic relations in the country. It identfles factors such as the nature of ethnic relations during the colonial period, the nature of British indfrect rule, the relatively even development across regions occupied by different ethnic groups, deliberate government efforts to create national as opposed to tribal consciousness and the institutions of chieftaincy as having contributed to harmonious ethnic relations. An examinatn of the current situation, however, points to emerging disintegrative ethnic consciousness. This is evident from three factors: I) The political debates centred on ethnic representation in the House of Chiefs and the fairness of sections 77, 78, and 79 of the Constitution that are sweeping across the country; 2) the appointment of a Presidential Commission to review sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Constitution, and 3) the focus the subject of ethnicity has received in the print ,?ledia. It is concluded that Botswana is no longer safe from the ethnic strjfe, tensions and conflicts that have engulfed most other Africa countries, unless deliberate corrective measures are adopted by the state, drawing from other African countries to ident5.' what works and what does not work

Personality profiles of cultures: aggregate personality traits

Personality profiles of cultures can be operationalized as the mean trait levels of culture members. College students from 51 cultures rated an individual from their country whom they knew well (N = 12, 156). Aggregate scores on Revised NEO Personality Inventory scales generalized across age and gender groups, approximated the individual-level Five-Factor Model, and correlated with aggregate self-report personality scores and other culture-level variables. Results were not attributable to national differences in economic development or to acquiescence. Geographical differences in scale variances and mean levels were replicated, with Europeans and Americans generally scoring higher in Extraversion than Asians and Africans. Findings support the rough scalar equivalence of NEO-PI-R factors and facets across cultures, and suggest that aggregate personality profiles provide insight into cultural differences

Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations : the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.peer-reviewe

Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions

The authors thank Susan Sprecher (USA), Del Paulhus (Canada), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany), Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa (Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi (Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with data collection and contributing significantly to the samples used in this study.Gender differences in the dismissing form of adult romantic attachment were investigated as part of the International Sexuality Description Project—a survey study of 17,804 people from 62 cultural regions. Contrary to research findings previously reported in Western cultures, we found that men were not significantly more dismissing than women across all cultural regions. Gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment were evident in most cultures, but were typically only small to moderate in magnitude. Looking across cultures, the degree of gender differentiation in dismissing romantic attachment was predictably associated with sociocultural indicators. Generally, these associations supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment, with smaller gender differences evident in cultures with high–stress and high–fertility reproductive environments. Social role theories of human sexuality received less support in that more progressive sex–role ideologies and national gender equity indexes were not cross–culturally linked as expected to smaller gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment.peer-reviewe

Managing Organizational Change in Higher Education: Lessons From the University of Botswana

A Journal article by Prof. Munyae Mulinge, a Lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in USIU- AfricaUtilizing data collected from a randomly selected sample of 360 academic and managerial staff, regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of acceptance of change among employees at the University of Botswana. The results showed moderate levels of employee acceptance of innovations and revealed that, of the four categories of substantive factors analyzed, managerial features were the most important determinants of acceptance of organizational change. It was concluded that management action is needed to boost the levels of acceptance of change and that a more participative approach to the management of the change process is necessary to guarantee the involvement of all stakeholders from the decision-making to the implementation and administration stages of the process

Managing Organizational Change in Higher Education : Lessons from the University of Botswana

A Journal article by Dr. Margaret M. Munyae, a Lecturer at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in USIU- AfricaUtilizing data collected from a randomly selected sample of 360 academic and managerial staff, regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of acceptance of change among employees at the University of Botswana. The results showed moderate levels of employee acceptance of innovations and revealed that, of the four categories of substantive factors analyzed, managerial features were the most important determinants of acceptance of organizational change. It was concluded that management action is needed to boost the levels of acceptance of change and that a more participative approach to the management of the change process is necessary to guarantee the involvement of all stakeholders from the decision-making to the implementation and administration stages of the process

The Ethnicization of the State and the Crises of African Development: The Kenyan Experience

(The Journal of Cultural Studies, 2000 2(1): 141-159

The Centrality of a Historical Perspective to the Analysis of Modern Social Problems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Tale From Two Case Studies

A Journal article by Prof. Munyae Mulinge and Dr. Margaret Mulinge, Lecturers at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in USIU- AfricaThis paper advances the view that the analyses of the origins and persistent growth of the social problems affecting most sub-Saharan African countries today must proceed from a historical perspective. It is argued that for sociologists, social workers, political scientists, policy makers, administrators and social scientists in general to provide well-rounded accounts of thebirth and spread of social problems and develop well-informed policies for the alleviation of the same, they must not overlook the role played by history. The authors utilise the cases of ethnicity and corruption to demonstrate that historical forces, particularly those associated with the process of colonisation, are pertinent to the understanding of social problems in the African continent. The outcomes of the social, economic and political restructuring accompanying colonisation such as the policy of divide and rule, the creation of a new economic order, the discriminatory allocation of resources and the emergence of a new political culture are considered to be central to the comprehensive explanation of ethnic tensions and conflicts and/or corruption. Because such outcomes have a legacy that has been extended to the neo-colonial period, it is concluded that these and/or other related factors are essential components in the explanation of today's social problems