African Agency Research Articles

The question of African agency in international relations

The subject of agency in Africa’s international relations (IR) is often shrouded in generalised accounts of Africa as a supplicant actor. Utilising examples from a variety of African states, this a...

Towards a conceptual framework for protection of personal information from the perspective of activity theory

Background: Personal information about individuals is stored by organisations including government agencies. The information is intended to be kept confidential and strictly used for its primary and legitimate purposes. However, that has not always been the case in many South African government agencies and departments. In recent years, personal information about individuals and groups has been illegally leaked for other motives, in which some were detrimental. Even though there exists a legislation, Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act, which prohibits such malpractices, illegally leaked information has however, not stopped or reduced. In addition to the adoption of the POPI Act, a more stringent approach is therefore needed in order to improve sanity in the use and management of personal information. Otherwise, the detriment that such malpractices cause too many citizens can only be on the increase.Objectives: The objectives of this study were in twofold: (1) to examine and understand the activities that happen with personal information leaks, which includes why and how information is leaked; and (2) to develop a conceptual framework, which includes identification of the factors that influence information leaks and breaches in an environment.Method: Qualitative research methods were followed in achieving the objectives of the study. Within the qualitative methods, documents including existing literature were gathered. The activity theory was employed as lens to guide the analysis.Result: From the analysis, four critical factors were found to be of influence in information leaks and breaches in organisations. The factors include: (1) information and its value, (2) the roles of society and its compliance to information protection, (3) government and its laws relating to information protection and (4) the need for standardisation of information usage and management within a community. Based on the factors, a conceptual framework was developed.Conclusion: This study can be used to guide implementation of information protection acts in any environment. It empirically contributes to societal awareness on how and why personal information is leaked and breached. Also, it will benefit academic domain, particularly in the use of activity theory.

A post-colonial reading of the Central African Film Unit’s (CAFU) comical films: colonialists and African perspectives

This article offers a post-colonial critique of colonialists and African perspectives of African spectatorship of comical films made by the Central African Film Unit in Rhodesia, present day Zimbabwe. The article deploys the post-colonial theory in order to unveil plural and separate Colonialists interpretations of African experiences of comical films. These readings dismantle the customary notion of a rigid, monolithic and homogeneous colonialist interpretation that has been peddled by forerunners in this area. The article also uses concepts of hybridity, resistance; appropriation and re-purposing that are espoused by the post-colonial theory in order to show African agency, not only in shaping the actual practice colonial film policy but also in inventing new meanings with regard to the cinema experience beyond the scope of colonial officials. Hence the article analyses how Africans turned the colonial comical film into a platform for opportunity, cultural recuperation and resistance.

O Arroz Africano na História do Novo Mundo

O arroz foi introduzido em várias regiões das Américas durante o período colonial. As plantações de arroz floresceram no sudoeste dos Estados Unidos e no Brasil do século XVIII. Fortemente atribuído à iniciativa europeia, estudos recentes sugerem que os escravos africanos proporcionaram mais do que mão-de-obra para o surgimento do arroz como cultura alimentar no hemisfério ocidental. Isso decorre do consenso escolar de que o arroz foi domesticado independentemente na África Ocidental há 3.000 anos e um reconhecimento adicional do seu papel como provisão em navios de escravos transatlânticos. Este artigo resume os resultados da pesquisa em apoio à agência africana no cultivo de arroz do Novo Mundo. Uma abordagem histórica comparativa da cultura do arroz atlântico sugere antecedentes culturais africanos. A discussão examina o papel dos escravos africanos cultivadores de arroz na transferência da semente e habilidades de cultivo críticas para iniciar o estabelecimento da safra nas Américas.

Experiences of a hidden population: life stories of refugees in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal

This paper analyses the complexity of the refugee experience in South Africa with particular reference to the city of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu–Natal. More specifically, this paper explores the life histories of refugees in Pietermaritzburg; analyses their experiences since entering South Africa; assesses the nature of support and assistance received; and reflects on the challenges encountered. The main method used was the life histories approach, whereby the refugees wrote their own stories, providing detailed information highlighting their experiences. After entry into South Africa various hardships were experienced. Refugees in South Africa are perceived by the public as criminals, ‘job stealers’ and are often used as a scapegoat for the country’s social problems. There are few livelihood opportunities to integrate fully into South African society. Assistance and support in Pietermaritzburg is poor, with a few Churches getting involved, but with limited resources. South Africa has been praised for its progressive human rights policies. However, South African Government agencies and the general populace have not progressed beyond the Constitutional rhetoric in terms of responding to undocumented migrants, especially refugees. There is an especially urgent need for a general understanding and awareness about refugees and their rights and associated obligations to be raised in public consciousness.

Ethiopia’s Asian Options: A Collage of African and Asian Entanglements

Africa–Asia relations are a controversial subject at the moment and many authors have attempted to shed light on what the renewed relations between Africa and Asia entail. Some have denounced what they see as a ‘New Scramble for Africa’, while others have identified the possibilities offered by these new South–South relations and have drawn attention to the impact of African agency in this new constellation. This article follows on from these discussions by reading the growing global dynamic as a collage of African and Asian entanglements. It is based on research conducted within the University of Frankfurt’s Inter-Centre programme on Africa’s Asian Options (AFRASO). In line with the programme’s empirical, comparative and trans-regional objectives, the three authors conduct research on the interactions between Africa and Asia.1

Theological Education for a Religiously Radicalized World: An African Pentecostal Assist

AbstractThe resurgence of Pentecostal Christianity at a time of increased religious radicalization in Africa is a disconcerting development. This problem is further compounded by the dearth of analytical research that explores the role theological education should play in preparing Pentecostalism to engage a religiously radicalized Africa. This paper offers a response in three ways: first, it reviews the legacy of missionary theological education and offers an overview of religion and state relations in Africa. Second, it discusses theological education and the implications of the rise of Pentecostalism in a context of religious radicalization. Third, it outlines how theological education could be reinvigorated to enable Pentecostalism to confront the challenges of religious radicalization in Africa. The paper concludes that theological education is a compelling stimulus that enables African Pentecostalism to promote peaceful coexistence and tolerance in ways that bear witness to the gospel of peace as well as reflect the African agency of faith.

Karsten Giese et Laurence Marfaing (éds). Entrepreneurs africains et chinois. Les impacts sociaux d’une rencontre particulière

In view of early prejudices about the passive or even disapproving reception of Chinese migrants by Africans, the state of the art underlines the importance and scope of African agency vis-a-vis Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in Africa. This has been underlined also by this volume, edited by Laurence Marfaing and Karsten Giese. They document an on-going research project which started six years ago at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA-Hamburg) and combines African and Sinolo...

Passive Hosts or Demanding Stakeholders? Understanding Mozambique’s Negotiating Power in the Face of China

Recent debates on African agency in China–Africa relations highlight how China provides African governments with an alternative to traditional donors that should allow African policy-makers to experiment with policy approaches and play a more assertive role in negotiations. However, how this is translated into negotiations between China and individual African countries remains unclear. This article uses the negotiation of a Chinese-funded construction project in Mozambique as the basis to discuss the extent to which the Mozambican public administration involved in project negotiation manages to align such projects with broader development goals in the construction sector. The case illustrates a clear tension between macro-economic development goals and project-level practices, and the findings suggest that explanations can be summarised as follows: first, the structural conditions that have shaped Mozambique’s negotiating strategies in development cooperation are not really altered when cooperating with China. Second, the liberal policies promoted in Mozambique have not focused on specific industries, leaving the public administration with a weak policy backdrop for negotiating local content in the construction sector. Third, the China Export-Import Bank has clear requirements for how their funding should be used in project implementation, and fourth, small and medium construction companies in Mozambique are relatively insignificant to the political elite, giving the public administration few incentives to promote long-term capacity building in the construction sector.

Overcoming the ‘daily bludgeoning by apartheid’: black South African women writers, agency, and space

This article examines creative agency in the lives of four black South African women writers during South African apartheid: Miriam Tlali, Lauretta Ngcobo, Gladys Thomas, and Sindiwe Magona. Drawing theoretically on Mamphela Ramphele’s conceptualizations of space, it analyzes life review interviews with these writers, who were among the first black women to publish novels and poetry in apartheid South Africa, about the ways in which they came to understand themselves as writers and creative subjects within a political system that severely curtailed their political and creative expression. It considers agency a key tool for understanding how these authors transcended their received identities as laborers and reproducers of labor for the apartheid nation, to become authors of their own lives and works. In elucidating how writing increased personal agency for these writers, the article posits the concept of creative re-visioning – a subject’s ability to re-envision what is possible for her to achieve beyond received expectations for her life. It theorizes such creative re-visioning as a strategy of resistance during apartheid and an additional dimension to feminist conceptualizations of human agency.

POSTETHNOPHILOSOPHY: DISCOURSES OF MODERNITY AND THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

This work examines how the so-called postethnophilosophical phase in African philosophy − propounded by Osha (2011) − fits into the perceived trajectory of the discipline and its overriding emancipatory mandate. The work appropriates ideas from arguably the two most popular “posts”: postmodernism and postcolonialism. This is done to analyse how the postethnophilosophic turn (in its attempt to transcend the discourses of ethnophilosophy and to be postethnophilosophy) opens up new possibilities for African agency and the creation of knowledge. The work argues that postethnophilosophy should concern itself with the analytic task of unmasking the darker side of modernity in order to open up those horizons and experiences once held hostage by modernity and coloniality. It is within this context that a truly global and polycentric knowledge landscape can emerge. In its quest to expose and dismantle hegemonic discourses of colonial modernity, postethnophilosophy finds itself located within the same theoretical horizon occupied by postmodernism and postcolonialism, ready to benefit from their auto-critical habit.

Rentier peacekeeping in neo-patrimonial systems: The examples of Burundi and Kenya

ABSTRACTInternational peacekeeping in Africa has developed dynamically in the last decade. The majority of global missions are deployed to the continent, the largest regional contingent of troops comes from Africa, and the African Peace and Security Architecture has made significant progress. Peacekeeping is Africanized today more than at any time before. However, mainstream research has insufficiently paid attention to African agency in this context. This article sheds light on the often neglected influence of African politics on international peacekeeping missions. The focus is set on the consequences of neo-patrimonial political systems, which can use international peacekeeping missions as an opportunity to generate rents. It will be shown that such a rent-seeking approach is highly problematic for the troop-contributing as well as mission-hosting countries. Instead of curbing conflict, rentier peacekeeping is prolonging and exporting it. The empirical examples used are the Burundian and Kenyan involvement in peacekeeping in Somalia.

New directions for African security

ABSTRACTAfrican security, particularly conflict-related political violence, is a key concern in international relations. This forum seeks to advance existing research agendas by addressing four key themes: domestic politics and peacekeeping; security sector reform programs; peace enforcement; and the protection of civilians. Each of the articles in this forum makes a case for analyzing African agency when it comes to African security. As a way of introduction, this short article sets out the main debates and concludes by providing further directions for future research.

Probing strategy-project alignment: The case of the South African Social Security Agency

Public institutions, such as the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) increasingly function in multi-project environments to translate strategies successfully into service-delivery initiatives. However, this ‘projectification’ often causes projects to be designed and executed haphazardly. This can lead to budget and schedule overruns, and the general wastage of an organisation’s resources. Project failures often occur where organisations do not ensure that specific projects are aligned with their core strategies. The purpose of this article is to combine the theories and principles of organisation, management, strategic management, and project management in an effort to pinpoint core determinants that can help establish the extent to which an organisation manages the alignment of its strategic projects. In the present study, the author applied the principles of interdisciplinarity, systems thinking, and organisational integration. The combined core determinants that were uncovered were then used in an empirical investigation of SASSA. The purpose of this investigation is to identify particular challenges the organisation faces in aligning their strategies and projects successfully. Thereafter, a number of recommendations follow to address these challenges.

Chinese And African Migrant Entrepreneur'S Articulation Shaped By African Agency

Much has been written on the relationship of China and Africa in the past decade. However, the subject of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in Africa and their articulation with African counterparts was little explored up to the early 2010s. Apparently, this research gap has been closed, as shown by four publications in recent years: three edited volumes and one monography, focusing on this subject. In view of early prejudices on the passive or even disapproving reception of Chinese migrants by Africans, the state of the art underlines the importance and scope of African agency vis a vis Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in Africa. Book Review Article of: (1) Giese, Karsten, Marfaing, Laurence (eds) (2016) : Entrepreneurs Africains et Chinois. Les impacts sociaux d'une rencontre particuliere. Paris : Karthala, 2016. 384 pp. (2) Gadzala, Aleksandra W. (ed) (2015): Africa and China: how Africans and their governments are shaping relations with China. Lanham/Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, xxix + 266 pp. (3) Mohan, Giles, Lampert, Ben et al (eds) (2014): Chinese Migrants and Africa's Development : new imperialists or agents of change? London: Zed books, vi + 185 pp. (4) French, Howard W. (2015): China's Second Continent: how a million migrants are building a new empire in Africa. London: Penguin Random House / New York: Knopf, xi + 304 pp.

Chinese and African migrant entrepreneur's articulation shaped by African agency

Chinese and African migrant entrepreneur's articulation shaped by African agency

Insecurity in South African Social Security: An Examination of Social Grant Deductions, Cancellations, and Waiting

In 2012, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) contracted a private company, Cash Paymaster Services (CPS), to design a standardised national social assistance payment and registration system. The national card-based biometric enrolment and payment system was advanced as a way to make social grant payment more secure – for claimants, the state, and the national fiscus. In practice, however, it translated into forms of insecurity, which served to promote and reproduce precarity. This article considers some of these insecurities, with a focus on the three most pervasive: the cancellation of grants, the expansive, unauthorised monetary deductions from claimants’ accounts, and the new kinds of waiting that the system introduced.

A organização da unidade africana como expressão do projeto político continental no pós-independência: disputa e reivindicações

O objetivo desse artigo é destacar o papel da agência africana nos âmbitos regional e internacional no contexto das primeiras independências do continente para compreender seus objetivos e apresentar uma resposta à ideia simplista de que a África está condenada a ser uma grande vítima das injustiças pelas quais passou. Nesse sentido, a Organização da Unidade Africana (OUA) será o objeto de estudo desse artigo tendo em vista que sua criação foi, no contexto considerado, a primeira resposta dos países africanos aos problemas locais e internacionais que estavam vivenciando. A análise das cúpulas da organização de 1963 a 1976 será realizada considerando não apenas os grandes objetivos comuns entre os seus membros, mas também as suas disputas de interesses e, principalmente, o embate entre Egito e Gana pela liderança do continente. As fontes pesquisadas foram as declarações da OUA e a bibliografia especializada no assunto que discute o contexto no qual as cúpulas se realizaram, bem como as principais questões políticas africanas e internacionais da época. Por fim, conclui-se que a OUA foi capaz de mostrar para os demais países do mundo que a agência africana não poderia mais ser negligenciada no sistema internacional devido à relevância política do continente.>

Modern post-colonial approaches to citizenship: Kwame Nkrumah’s political thought on Pan-Africanism

This project of critical citizenship studies and comparative political theory utilizes a framework of multiple modernities in order to deeply explore the ontological foundations and complexities of a non-Western conception of citizenship and nationhood: political pan-Africanism. It does so through a study of the political thought of Kwame Nkrumah, a deeply influential political theorist and actor, in the context of the Gold Coast’s struggle for independence and in the initial years of Ghanaian post-colonialism. How did Nkrumah conceive of Pan-Africanist citizenship and nationhood in political and ontological terms? How does this relate to both modern conceptions of citizenship as tied to the nation-state and traditional Ghanaian conceptions of citizenship and belonging? After considering these questions, this paper explores how Nkrumah’s vision of Pan-Africanism was influenced by, yet contradicted central tenets of, Western political thought and modernity. It explores the theoretical and practical tensions inherent between this non-Western conception of the nation and the dominance of aspects of ‘Western’ modernity. Exploring these questions through the lens of Nkrumah’s political thought offers an Afrocentric study in an effort to strengthen African historical agency and to deparochialize citizenship studies and political theory.

Maturing Sino–Africa relations

It is argued that China’s relationship with Africa has transformed into one defined by a dynamism and African agency, thereby lessening the hold the former previously had on Africa in the early days of this evolving alliance. First, the authors will conduct a literature review of historical Sino–African relations, from the early Han dynasty to its contemporary manifestations. The second section will continue with this analysis by focusing exclusively on the status quo of the Sino–African economic relationship, including analysis of trade flows, investments, development, economic cooperation, and Chinese support for regional integration. Finally, this paper will conclude with an elaboration of some key, emerging relationship areas, such as opportunities for China and Africa to collaborate on the achievement of the latter’s Agenda 2063 and African Mining Vision.