Response to The Making of Contemporary Africa: The Development of African Society Since 1800. 2nd ed. Bill Freund. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., Boulder, 1998. Original Book Review by William H. Worger, Volume 3, Issue 1 In a recent review that you published, Bill Worger produced comments on a book of mine so misleading as to require […]
by Mbye Cham Introduction For African cinema, the final decade of this century has been a mixed bag of promises, hopes, achievements, and continued struggle and frustration with the same set of issues and challenges that have always confronted filmmakers throughout the continent. Hopes and projections of political and economic renewal and transformation under the aegis […]
by James S. Wunsch Introduction What factors are required for viable, democratic, local governments in Africa? This is an important question for several reasons. First, in an era of continuing economic problems and structural adjustment, national governments have been forced to reduce the services they provide. While the private sector may pick-up some of these, […]
by Patricia J. Campbell Abstract Post-authoritarian regimes have struggled with the most appropriate way to deal with the former regimes’ human rights abuses.Several schools of though have emerged as to how this should be accomplished.Into this framework the South Africa model, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), is discussed.The TRC has completed its charge and […]
by Bruce Campbell and Sheona Shackleton Abstract Throughout Southern Africa there has been a move to decentralize natural resource management (NRM). Decentralization has taken many forms, resulting in different organizational structures for NRM. Fourteen case studies from eight countries can be classed into four types, depending on the key organizations for NRM: (1) district-level organizations; […]
by Michelle Cocks, Anthony Dold and Isla Grundy Abstract In most developing countries, community based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives have been adopted in an attempt to address the issue of environmental sustainability. This has largely come about due to an increasing recognition of the ineffectiveness of the state to achieve such sustainability. Within the […]
by Wellington Didibhuku Thwala Abstract In South Africa, the levels of unemployment and poverty are extremely high and two of South Africa’s most pressing problems. There is also a widely acknowledged need for housing and municipal infrastructure (water supply, sewerage, streets, stormwater drainage, electricity, refuse collection). There a need for physical infrastructure in both urban […]
by Jacobus A. du Pisani and Kwang-Su Kim Abstract The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was mandated to establish “the truth” about the causes, nature and extent of gross violations of human rights in the country between 1960 and 1994. This article assesses the significance of the TRC for historians and the writing […]
by Tristan Anne Borer Abstract This article argues that the question “Are South Africans reconciled?” is meaningless unless the sense in which the questioner is using the word reconciliation is made clear. Such questions do not get us far in understanding the truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) as one’s interpretation of the term “reconciliation” will […]
Read more "Reconciling South Africa or South Africans? Cautionary Notes from the TRC"
by Lyn Graybill and Kimberly Lanegran Abstract This essay identifies a number of problematic issues concerning transitional justice and restorative justice in particular and suggests that they can be fruitfully explored through thoughtful examination of the truth-seeking projects of this issue’s case countries: South Africa, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. One debate is whether political transitions […]
Read more "Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Issues and Cases"