Significations of oil in Africa or: What (more) can anthropologists contribute to the study of oil?

Forum: Anthropology of oil and the resource curse For half a century, oil production has been a key factor in the development of a small number of African states south of the Sahara. Only now, however, it is  ecoming a source of substantial social, economic and cultural transformation for an increasing number of new African oil states. This is partly due to the fact  that political instability in the Near and Middle East, the inexorable move towards or even passing of ‘peak oil’, the growing demand for oil due to ever  increasing consumption in the emerging countries, and the related rise of crude oil prices have given new importance to African oil. Even hitherto unprofitable deposits in Africa are now seen as an economically and geo-strategically important resource. It is estimated that the share of African oil to  worldwide production could rise from currently 13–18 percent to 25 per cent by 2015. This brief intervention will look at existing studies on (African) oil and ask how social and cultural anthropology could further contribute to the analysis of this socially, politically and economically important conjuncture in world history

Crude Moves: Oil, Power, and Politics in Niger

In this article, we analyse the political and social process through which Niger has emerged as a new oil state since 2008. Instead of viewing the situation as a clear-cut resource-curse scenario, we see oil as an important, but by no means determining factor in the country’s current political workings. Analysing the main features and narratives of the Nigerien political game in this time of incipient oil production, we first of all observe how various political actors, including the government, political parties, civil society, and wealthy businesspeople, transform oil into a political resource by developing particular notions, images, and meanings of it, including scenarios of a resource curse or resource blessing. We thus argue that in the formative moment of Niger becoming a new oil state, oil appears as an idiom within which Niger’s current political and social processes are framed.In diesem Artikel analysieren wir die politischen und sozialen Prozesse, die das westafrikanische Land Niger seit dem Jahr 2008 zu einem neuen Erdölstaat gemacht haben. Die Förderung von Erdöl hat zwar nicht das Szenario eines „Ressourcenfluchs“ ausgelöst, aber sie ist durchaus zu einem wesentlichen Faktor in der aktuellen politischen Situation des Landes geworden. Die Analyse der politischen Praxis und ihrer Narrative im Ölstaat Niger zeigt, wie unterschiedliche Akteure, darunter die Regierung, politische Parteien, die Zivilgesellschaft und Geschäftsleute, das Erdöl in eine politische Ressource verwandeln, indem sie ihm bestimmte Bilder und Bedeutungen, zu denen u.a. die Szenarien eines Fluchs oder Segens gehören, zuordnen. Wir zeigen, dass im Moment der Genese des Ölstaates Niger das Erdöl zu einem Idiom wird, in dem aktuelle politische und soziale Prozesse des Landes verhandelt werden

Land tenure, food security, gender and urbanization in Northern Ghana

Links between land tenure and food and nutritional insecurity are receiving increased attention. Nevertheless, urban and periurban dwellers face challenges in accessing land to produce food for subsistence and sale. An ethnographic study and food and nutrition insecurity survey were conducted between October 2013 and November 2014 in Tamale, Northern Region of Ghana, to explore the dynamic and recursive links between land access, food access and the ability to maintain resources to meet long-term needs. Results showed that infra structural development and agriculture compete for land. The shortage of land for agricultural purposes was pronounced in urban areas (20%) than in periurban areas (1.3%) and rural areas (0%). Food insecure households were more likely to name a lack of land than anything else as the primary reason for their inability to grow crops (Fisher’s exact probability = 0.040). Urban and periurban dwellers cope with the constraints posed in the communal tenure system by using strategies such as urban–periurban-rural migrant farming and buffer zone cultivation. The role of women in providing nutritious soups is especially important, and they use various mechanisms to circumvent their lack of access to land and provide food for the household. Political, economic and cultural elements thus interact to constitute the link between land and food

The social nature of environmental knowledge among the nomadic WoÉ - aaÉ"e of Niger

Pastoral nomads such as West Africa's WoÉ - aaÉ"e are renowned for the impressive environmental knowledge they apply to successfully raise animal herds in arid and variable environments. We looked at such herders' knowledge not as based on individual learning and expertise but as ultimately social in the sense that it is formed, made available, and linked to pastoral decision making in the public and interactive space of permanent talking, discussing, and negotiating among peers. Drawing on theoretical ideas from science and technology studies, a number of concrete social situations of information management and pastoral decision making were explored in detail to reveal the distinctly social character of WoÉ - aaÉ"e knowledge. Special emphasis has been given to the institutional framework of knowledge exchange; the blending of moral values and empirical facts in particular statements of knowledge; the dialogic and collaborative nature of information procurement and assessment; and the contingency of decisions reached after lengthy rounds of discussion among herders

Zähes Ringen: Öl, Macht und Politik in Niger

In this article, we analyse the political and social process through which Niger has emerged as a new oil state since 2008. Instead of viewing the situation as a clear-cut resource-curse scenario, we see oil as an important, but by no means determining factor in the country’s current political workings. Analysing the main features and narratives of the Nigerien political game in this time of incipient oil production, we first of all observe how various political actors, including the government, political parties, civil society, and wealthy businesspeople, transform oil into a political resource by developing particular notions, images, and meanings of it, including scenarios of a resource curse or resource blessing. We thus argue that in the formative moment of Niger becoming a new oil state, oil appears as an idiom within which Niger’s current political and social processes are framed.In diesem Artikel analysieren wir die politischen und sozialen Prozesse, die das westafrikanische Land Niger seit dem Jahr 2008 zu einem neuen Erdölstaat gemacht haben. Die Förderung von Erdöl hat zwar nicht das Szenario eines „Ressourcenfluchs“ ausgelöst, aber sie ist durchaus zu einem wesentlichen Faktor in der aktuellen politischen Situation des Landes geworden. Die Analyse der politischen Praxis und ihrer Narrative im Ölstaat Niger zeigt, wie unterschiedliche Akteure, darunter die Regierung, politische Parteien, die Zivilgesellschaft und Geschäftsleute, das Erdöl in eine politische Ressource verwandeln, indem sie ihm bestimmte Bilder und Bedeutungen, zu denen u.a. die Szenarien eines Fluchs oder Segens gehören, zuordnen. Wir zeigen, dass im Moment der Genese des Ölstaates Niger das Erdöl zu einem Idiom wird, in dem aktuelle politische und soziale Prozesse des Landes verhandelt werden

Zähes Ringen: Öl, Macht und Politik in Niger

In this article, we analyse the political and social process through which Niger has emerged as a new oil state since 2008. Instead of viewing the situation as a clear-cut resource-curse scenario, we see oil as an important, but by no means determining factor in the country’s current political workings. Analysing the main features and narratives of the Nigerien political game in this time of incipient oil production, we first of all observe how various political actors, including the government, political parties, civil society, and wealthy businesspeople, transform oil into a political resource by developing particular notions, images, and meanings of it, including scenarios of a resource curse or resource blessing. We thus argue that in the formative moment of Niger becoming a new oil state, oil appears as an idiom within which Niger’s current political and social processes are framed.In diesem Artikel analysieren wir die politischen und sozialen Prozesse, die das westafrikanische Land Niger seit dem Jahr 2008 zu einem neuen Erdölstaat gemacht haben. Die Förderung von Erdöl hat zwar nicht das Szenario eines „Ressourcenfluchs“ ausgelöst, aber sie ist durchaus zu einem wesentlichen Faktor in der aktuellen politischen Situation des Landes geworden. Die Analyse der politischen Praxis und ihrer Narrative im Ölstaat Niger zeigt, wie unterschiedliche Akteure, darunter die Regierung, politische Parteien, die Zivilgesellschaft und Geschäftsleute, das Erdöl in eine politische Ressource verwandeln, indem sie ihm bestimmte Bilder und Bedeutungen, zu denen u.a. die Szenarien eines Fluchs oder Segens gehören, zuordnen. Wir zeigen, dass im Moment der Genese des Ölstaates Niger das Erdöl zu einem Idiom wird, in dem aktuelle politische und soziale Prozesse des Landes verhandelt werden

Living Off Uncertainty: The Intelligent Animal Production of Dryland Pastoralists

Malgré les importants progrès réalisés suite à la remise en question des modèles d′équilibre appliqués à l′écologie pastorale, le pastoralisme reste largement considéré comme une stratégie d′ajustement permettant tout juste aux éleveurs de survivre à partir de ressources ‘insuffisantes’. Cette position trouve son origine dans une approche adoptée depuis longtemps par les disciplines qui façonnent la planification du développement pastoral (gestion des ressources naturelles, écologie pastorale, zootechnie) qui consiste à s′appuyer sur des outils analytiques basés sur des statistiques standardisées et des valeurs moyennes. Pourtant, le pastoralisme se comprend mieux comme un système de production sui generis, qui exploite délibérément les concentrations fluctuantes de substances nutritives, ce dernier point constituant la principale caractéristique des terres arides; comme un système conçu pour maximiser la valeur de la production tout en stabilisant ses performances dans des environnements où ‘l’incertitude’ est exploitée pour la production. Les valeurs moyennes et statistiques standardisées ne permettent pas de prendre en compte la répartition non-uniforme (sur laquelle repose la production pastorale dans les milieux arides) et par conséquent ne doivent pas constituer les seules sources de la planification du développement pastoral.