5,228 research outputs found
Civil Society Space in Africa
If there is an event or a series of events that demonstrate the need to protect democracy and reclaim the space for civil society; it is none other than the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East. These have reaffirmed the crucial point in democratic and transitional studies; that is; that economic development without political and social progress is not sustainable. By all standards and indices, North Africa was always rated highly in terms of economic performance, yet simmering underneath was a revolution as a result of the closure of the public sphere. So when in 2011, popular uprisings spread like bushfire in that region, many in academia, media, civil society and governments were caught unprepared. Change came from unexpected circles, challenging assumed doctrines and theories associated with the functionality of organised formations
The Legislative Environment for Civil Society In Africa A Synthesis Report
This paper is therefore a discussion of the legislative environment under which civil society, in particular organized formations, operate in Africa. It is based on twelve African countries (Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). In all these countries we studied civil/state relations, existing NGO laws and NGO policies, including other laws that have an impact on NGOs, national constitutions, processes and the general political economy of the third sector. The merging findings point to some interesting conclusions. More studies are underway in Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Swaziland. The findings from these will be integrated into the current paper. This paper is therefore work in progress -- nevertheless the countries studied already are significant to begin a discourse on state/civil society relations, public spaces, and the general legislative environment for citizens and their formations. One of the emerging findings is that the political context determined the emergence of these legal instruments
Livelihoods, Land and Political Economy: Reflections on Sam Moyoâs Research Methodology
This article focuses on the methodological lessons from Sam Moyoâs scholarship. Samâs research is characterised by a combination of detailed empirical investigation, deep knowledge of the technical and practical aspects of agricultural production and farming livelihoods, and bigpicture political economy analysis and theory. Samâs method is an insightful contemporary application of the method originally set out in Marxâs Grundrisse. Many contemporary explorations of agrarian political economy fail to sustain the important tension and dialectical debate, between diverse empirical realities and their âmultiple determinations and relationsâ and wider theorisation of the âconcreteâ features of emergent processes of change. The implications of Samâs methodological approach for the analysis of Zimbabweâs land reform are discussed, especially in relation to the land occupations and the politics of agrarian reform since 2000
An evaluation of the ânew history" phenomenon
An evaluation of the "New History" approach to the teaching of history as a subject on the educational curriculum.The purpose of this article was to evaluate the âNew Historyâ approach. This paper explores the argument that the new âNew History" phenomenon was an attempt to rejuvenate an interest in History. The âNew Historyâphenomenon was launched because of the fear that History was in danger as it faced possible extinction from the curriculum. Basically, the proponents of the phenomenon believed that History was in the intensive care unit and had lost popularity among stakeholders. Some of the comments given by scholars like Haydn, Arthur and Hunt (1997:25) were that History was, "... a desiccated and stultifying subject of dubious relevance and little clear purposeâ. The study was purely qualitative. Curriculum document analysis, classroom observations, and in- depth interviews were used as data collection methods. The study revealed that the possibility of negative attitudes towards History by pupils is primarily due to the teacher centred methods used. It is recommended that the progressive teaching methods such as document study, research projects, role playing, field work, debates, interviews and discussions, which are pupil centred, should be used to stimulate pupils â interest in the subject
Are cash budgets a cure for excess fiscal deficits (and at what cost)?
This paper investigates the effect of recent reforms of budgetary institutions in Uganda and Zambia. We argue that cash budgeting has brought clear benefits in terms of improved expenditure control with regard to line ministries. However, contrary to what is often suggested, adoption of a cash budget has not provided a means for top politicians in either country to âtie their handsâ with respect to intervention in fiscal policy decisions. In Uganda improved fiscal policy outcomes have, in fact, been achieved as a result of (and not in spite of) discretionary interventions by top politicians. In Zambia, a strict rule imposing a balanced budget on a monthly basis both ineffective as a commitment device and costly in terms of increased volatility of expenditures.
Characteristics of Early Ecclesiastical Architecture in Lagos State in Nigeria
Considering the fact that the period between 1854 and 1929AD has been identified as the first phase of
emergence and development of ecclesiastical architecture in Nigeria, this, therefore, became the earliest period
and this study examined the characteristics of the church buildings during this period. Among the churches that
were built during this period, five were significantly prominent and still exist. This study examined two because
those buildings shared similar characteristics. As the study was an explorative one and historical in nature it
adopted qualitative method of non-participant observation, historical and unstructured interview methods of
gathering data using descriptive method of analysis. This study found that Churches were dominated by foreign
established missions as indigenous ones were yet to evolve. Gothic style dominated the period characterised by
its usual strong focus on verticality, pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, large stained glass windows,
ornaments and pinnacles. Construction works and financing relied heavily on foreign input. It also noted that
construction materials were imported and the church buildings were more of foreign monuments rather than
industrial or make-shift. Nigerian cultural, geographical, geological, climatic, existing religious and social
factors were not major considerations. The study concluded that the characteristics of the early church buildings
were significantly at variance with the current trends
Setting the development agenda US foundations and the NPO sector in South Africa
Student Number: 0004062T
Doctor of Philosophy
Faculty of Humanities and Social SciencesThis thesis discusses the impact that the Ford, Mott, Kellogg and Open Society Foundations had on civil society organisations in South Africa in setting development priorities. The
thesis tested first, the hypothesis that donors set the agenda for their grantees. Secondly, the thesis tested the assumption that aid facilitates granteesâ submission to donor interests. And
in the process grantees lose their identity and focus. The research found that most of civil society organisations (CSOs) depended on international donors, in particular, foundations,for their operations. There was little mobilisation of resources from local citizens. As a result, CSOs were vulnerable to donor conditionalities and agendas. The four case studies and their selected beneficiaries show that most CSOs were not sustainable. If donors withdrew their support, a number of their grantees would curtail their work, close down or
lose their vision and mission. In some cases CSOs changed their missions to follow the money, nevertheless, changing contexts and demands were also relevant factors. Although lack of sustainability for CSOs and their greater dependency on international donors made their agendas questionable, it also provided independence from internal political interference. CSOs also appeared more accountable to donors than to the constituencies they served. The Kellogg Foundation insisted that organisations had to toe the line to
implement the Foundationâs agenda or risk losing funding. George Soros of the Open
Society Foundation also called the shots. He set the agenda and his Foundations
implemented it. This showed the power of direct intervention by a living donor who
operated as a Programme Officer for all his foundations. The question of donor-dependency is closely linked to that of leadership. A number of organisations with good leaders attracted many donors. However the increase in donors, did not sustain these organisations, instead it made them vulnerable to many different donor
demands. Thus, donor diversification was both an asset and a threat. However, good
leadership prevented CSOs from collapse from lack of transparency, accountability and effectiveness. A temptation to âwant to look like donorsâ, a process that is called
âisomorphismâ by DiMaggio and Powell (1991) characterised many CSOs resulting in them
losing their identity, mission and vision.
There were positive aspects that international Foundations achieved in supporting civil society foundations. The Open Society Foundation worked to open up closed societies. It supported efforts that aimed at fostering democratic ideals, rule of law, social justice and open societies. The Ford Foundation supported efforts that strengthened civil society, promoted social justice and democracy. The Mott Foundation strengthened the capacity of the non-profit sector by developing in-country philanthropy. And the Kellogg Foundation
supported community initiatives that aimed to tackle the causes of poverty.
A negative development; however was that Foundations cultivated the culture of receiving rather than giving among their grantees. For this reason, the thesis suggested the development of âcommunity philanthropyâ to sustain the non-profit (NPO) sector. Community philanthropy has the advantage of mobilising resources from domestic sources and taping into levels of social capital. Building on domestic sources would encourage a bottom up approach to development. I argue that local self-help initiatives such as stokvels,
burial societies and saving clubs could serve as bases for the sustainability of the non-profit sector which suffered from donor dependency, unsustainability and poor leadership. Such an approach would make development âpeople-centeredâ and encourage social responsibility among citizens to support their NPOs and its development initiatives
Mapping spatial locational trends of informal economic enterprises using mobile geographic information data in the city of in Harare, Zimbabwe
Abstract: Spatial planning for informal economic enterprises globally and cities of the developing world such Harare in particular is made difïŹcult by the lack of appropriate data. In most cases, informal economic enterprises are discussed descriptively and statistically, leaving out their spatial characteristics. This makes the orderly planning for the enterprises very difïŹcult if not impossible, espe- cially given that the informal economy dominates the economies of most developing countries. This article presents geographic information data that was collected by means of mobile geo- graphic positioning systems over time. In the absence of any other spatial datasets in the City of Harare, this unique data is handy in revealing spatial locational trends of informal economic enter- prises and the preferred locational behaviour of informal economic entrepreneurs in the city. Spatial planning for informal economic enterprises globally and cities of the developing world such Harare in particular is made difïŹcult by the lack of appropriate data. In most cases, informal economic enterprises are discussed descriptively and statistically, leaving out their spatial characteristics. This makes the orderly planning for the enterprises very difïŹcult if not impossible, espe- cially given that the informal economy dominates the economies of most developing countries. This article presents geographic information data that was collected by means of mobile geo- graphic positioning systems over time. In the absence of any other spatial datasets in the City of Harare, this unique data is handy in revealing spatial locational trends of informal economic enter- prises and the preferred locational behaviour of informal economic entrepreneurs in the city
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