Having a road’ : Social and spatial mobility of persons of slave and mixed descent in post-independence Central Mali

Colonial and Global Histor

Researching the Aftermath of Slavery in Mainland East Africa: Methodological, Ethical, and Practical Challenges

This article examines ethical, practical, and methodological challenges in researching the aftermath of slavery in continental East Africa away from the coastal plantation belt. Interest in post-slavery there is recent and inspired by the apparent contrast with West Africa, where the issue is much more salient. The article explains this silence by highlighting politically-motivated avoidance of the issue in colonial sources and the preference of post-colonial historians for ‘useful’ pasts. Further, it questions the balance of successful integration and continuing marginalization reflected in the apparent obsolescence of slavery. It argues that tracing the trajectories of ex-slaves requires attention to all forms of social inequality and dependency, to the potential status implications for informants of speaking about slavery, and to the variety of terms and fields of meaning relevant to freedom, unfreedom and dependency. Recent research in this vein shows that slave antecedents remain a matter of aibu, shame, and that ex-slaves’ disappearance as a social category took lifelong efforts on their part. While the social valence of slave antecedents is relatively limited in mainland East Africa, slavery remains a problematic and painful heritage that demands great circumspection by researchers

Communicating war in Mali, 2012: On-offline networked political agency in times of conflict

The Arab Spring raised high expectations for political freedom, especially for situations in which the rapid development of ICT intersects with political oppression and rebellion, as was the case in Mali, West Africa. In 2012 the country’s northern part fell into the hands of ‘rebels’ and jihadists were on the rise. This article tries to understand the development of political agency in relation to the unprecedented access to new ICT of the Fulani nomads and urbanites in the Mopti region (Hayre), who engage increasingly with new actors and networks present in the war zone: ‘rebels’ and jihadists; the diaspora from that region; and the journalistic and academic communities who visit the region. We argue that political agency is emerging in the relation between (newly appearing) information networks in both the on- and off-line worlds. These networked societies are embedded in cultural and social historical specificities of the Sudan-Sahel zone in conflict.Africa's global connectionsCities, Migration and Global Interdependenc

Communicating war in Mali, 2012: On-offline networked political agency in times of conflict

The Arab Spring raised high expectations for political freedom, especially for situations in which the rapid development of ICT intersects with political oppression and rebellion, as was the case in Mali, West Africa. In 2012 the country’s northern part fell into the hands of ‘rebels’ and jihadists were on the rise. This article tries to understand the development of political agency in relation to the unprecedented access to new ICT of the Fulani nomads and urbanites in the Mopti region (Hayre), who engage increasingly with new actors and networks present in the war zone: ‘rebels’ and jihadists; the diaspora from that region; and the journalistic and academic communities who visit the region. We argue that political agency is emerging in the relation between (newly appearing) information networks in both the on- and off-line worlds. These networked societies are embedded in cultural and social historical specificities of the Sudan-Sahel zone in conflict.Africa's global connectionsCities, Migration and Global Interdependenc

P2X(3) receptors mediate visceral hypersensitivity during acute chemically-induced colitis and in the post-inflammatory phase via different mechanisms of sensitization

OBJECTIVES: Experiments using P2X3 knock-out mice or more general P2X receptor antagonists suggest that P2X3 receptors contribute to visceral hypersensitivity. We aimed to investigate the effect of the selective P2X3 antagonist A-317491 on visceral sensitivity under physiological conditions, during acute colitis and in the post-inflammatory phase of colitis. METHODS: Trinitrobenzene sulphonic-acid colitis was monitored by colonoscopy: on day 3 to confirm the presence of colitis and then every 4 days, starting from day 10, to monitor convalescence and determine the exact timepoint of endoscopic healing in each rat. Visceral sensitivity was assessed by quantifying visceromotor responses to colorectal distension in controls, rats with acute colitis and post-colitis rats. A-317491 was administered 30 min prior to visceral sensitivity testing. Expression of P2X3 receptors (RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry) and the intracellular signalling molecules cdk5, csk and CASK (RT-PCR) were quantified in colonic tissue and dorsal root ganglia. ATP release in response to colorectal distension was measured by luminiscence. RESULTS: Rats with acute TNBS-colitis displayed significant visceral hypersensitivity that was dose-dependently, but not fully, reversed by A-317491. Hypersenstivity was accompanied by an increased colonic release of ATP. Post-colitis rats also displayed visceral hypersensitivity that was dose-dependently reduced and fully normalized by A-317491 without increased release of ATP. A-317491 did not modify visceral sensitivity in controls. P2X3 mRNA and protein expression in the colon and dorsal root ganglia were similar in control, acute colitis and post-colitis groups, while colonic mRNA expression of cdk5, csk and CASK was increased in the post-colitis group only. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that P2X3 receptors are not involved in sensory signaling under physiological conditions whereas they modulate visceral hypersensitivity during acute TNBS-colitis and even more so in the post-inflammatory phase, albeit via different mechanisms of sensitization, validating P2X3 receptors as potential new targets in the treatment of abdominal pain syndromes.Annemie Deiteren, Laura van der Linden, Anouk de Wit, Hannah Ceuleers, Roeland Buckinx, Jean-Pierre Timmermans, Tom G. Moreels, Paul A. Pelckmans, Joris G. De Man, Benedicte Y. De Winte

Travelling hierarchies: roads in and out of slave status in a Central Malian Fulbe network

Based on rich and wide-ranging data, the thesis describes the sensitive issue of the contemporary emancipation trajectories of agro-pastoralist Fulbe in Central Mali. It explores how people are currently dealing with hierarchies they inherited from past master-slave relations and focuses on the relational dynamics between members of a network of migrants. The importance of mobility to identity is explored by analyzing the tensions that exist among migrants to reproduce or change hierarchical relations in post-slavery societies.</p

Travelling hierarchies: roads in and out of slave status in a Central Malian Fulbe network

Based on rich and wide-ranging data, the thesis describes the sensitive issue of the contemporary emancipation trajectories of agro-pastoralist Fulbe in Central Mali. It explores how people are currently dealing with hierarchies they inherited from past master-slave relations and focuses on the relational dynamics between members of a network of migrants. The importance of mobility to identity is explored by analyzing the tensions that exist among migrants to reproduce or change hierarchical relations in post-slavery societies.ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Travelling hierarchies: Moving in and out of slave status in a Central Malian FulBe network

Item does not contain fulltextBased on rich and wide-ranging data, the thesis describes the sensitive issue of the contemporary emancipation trajectories of agro-pastoralist Fulbe in Central Mali. It explores how people are currently dealing with hierarchies they inherited from past master-slave relations and focuses on the relational dynamics between members of a network of migrants. The importance of mobility to identity is explored by analyzing the tensions that exist among migrants to reproduce or change hierarchical relations in post-slavery societies.Universiteit Leiden, 22 september 2011Promotores : Bruijn, M.E. de, Pels, P.J.350 p

Citizenship struggles: Social movements and slavery in West Africa

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