African Studies Center Research Articles

O GLOBAL E O LOCAL NA CONSTRUÇÃO DE UMA EDUCAÇÃO EMANCIPATÓRIA PARA O ENSINO DA HISTÓRIA E CULTURA AFRICANA E AFRO-BRASILEIRA

O objetivo deste artigo é refletir sobre possibilidades da formação de professores em uma perspectiva de educação crítica e emancipatória. Parte-se de práticas de pesquisa realizadas pela Licenciatura e pelo Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Estudos Africanos e Afro-Brasileiros da Universidade Federal do Maranhão, que se voltam ao continente africano, especialmente Moçambique, na África Austral;e a intervenções junto à Educação Básica em escolas públicas da capital maranhense. O fio condutor é o debate da relação entre escalas global e local na produção de conhecimento e formas de intervenção no mundo, na qual são constituídos espaços subalternos de poder, saber e modos de fazer, característico do atual momento de globalização contemporânea. Nessa perspectiva, reflete-se sobre a inserção do conhecimento local nos currículos de Moçambique e suas possíveis contribuições para a implementação da Lei nº 10.639/2003 no Brasil, uma vez que partem da mesma necessidade de romper com a lógica do currículo único e eurocêntrico.

African studies computer resources

African studies computer resources that are resdily available in the United States with linkages to Africa are described, highlighting those most directly corresponding to African content. Africanists can use the following four fundamental computer systems: (1) Internet/Bitnet; (2) Fidonet; (3) Usenet; and (4) dial-up bulletin board services. The history and features of each of these systems are described, with information for potential users, including the electronic mail capabilities that are currently available. Distribution lists and African-related discussion groups are presented. For Africanists seeking direct contacts in Africa, at least 25 African countries offer network connections. The four computer networks and their facilities should be readily available for Africanists, who are finding proficiency in computer technology a requirement for research and teaching. A table lists networking organizations and African Studies Centers. (SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** AFRICAN STUDIES COMPUTER RESOURCES Patricia S. Kuntz (Curriculum & Instruction) University of Wisconsin Madison U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Othce 04 Educations, Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Ii Th,s document has been reproduced as received (torn the perSon or organizabon originaling 0 Mmor changes have been made to .-4:aoye reproduchnn quahly Points of view ot opintons staled in (hist:loco. rnent do not necessardy represent o)ficial OF RI pOSition or pohcy UW African Studies BBS (608) 262-9689 8,N,1 2400 kuntz Bitnet kuntz@wiscmacc Internet kuntz@macc.wisc.edu kuntz@p3.f25.n121.z1.fidonet.org Fidonet kuntz 1:121/25.3 This paper will focus on African studies computer resources readily available in the U.S. with linkages to Africa. Since the actual number uf resources change daily, this article will highlight the ones most directly corresponding to African content. Africanists can utilize four fundamental computer systems: Internet/Bitnet, Fidonet, Usenet, and dial-up bulletin board services (BBS). Knowledge of these systems is critical for research, teaching, administration, and extension. On these four networks, a variety of features are available: E-mail, Distribution Lists, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Gophers, and Telnet. Arthur McGee provides updated information concerning services on these networks.' For a complete list of files, contact: Internet: [amcgee@netcom.com] [amcgee@eis.calstate.edu] BDPA BAC: [1-707-552-3314] to [Arthur McGee] Data Bits Online: [1-213-295-6094] to [Arthur McGee] Compuserve: [72377,1351] Voice: [1-310-320-BYTE] BLACKBBS.MSG = AFRIMAIL.MSG = AFRINEWS.MSG = AFRISITE.MSG = BBS List Internet/BITnet Mailing Lists Usenet Newsgroups Online Information Sites PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

Islam, Environmental Science and Conservation

Islam, Environmental Science and Conservation Salah D. Hassan (bio) The 13th Annual Conference convened by the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University (MSU) took place on October 15 and 16, 2020 on "Islam, Environmental Science and Conservation." Initially planned as an on-campus meeting to be held in East Lansing, Michigan in April 2020, the conference was moved to a synchronous online format as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. In order to accommodate participants in different time zones, most notably panelists located in Indonesia, the four conference sessions were held between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm over two days. Despite the many difficulties caused by the pandemic, researchers studying the environment have continued to do their important work and share knowledge in the face of the tragic global situation. Indeed, the challenge of the global health crisis has affirmed the urgency of building and maintaining connections with international students and scholars committed to expanding ecological awareness. The importance of the topics discussed was in part confirmed by the numerous papers proposed, including the participation and attendance of scholars from many universities globally. The conference had 105 registered attendees from the US, Canada, UK, Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Morocco, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Brunei, Belgium, Finland, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Austria, and Qatar. [End Page 129] The conference received significant support from MSU's academic programs with co-sponsorship by the African Studies Center, the Asian Studies Center, the Citizen-Scholars Program, the Department of Forestry, the Department of Religious Studies, the Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities, the Honors College, James Madison College, and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities. Jay Samek and David Skole, faculty members in the Department of Forestry at MSU who have worked on forestry projects with colleagues in Indonesia since 2016, proposed the conference idea to the Muslim Studies Program. Samek has been involved in a partnership with the University of Palangka Raya and Muhammadiyah University of Palangka Raya that deals with forest restoration and climate change. Professor Skole's research looks at "the relationship between forests, land use change, the global carbon cycle and climate change." The conference addressed general issues at the intersection of Islamic religious traditions and environmental science to better understand the convergence of the theological and material foundations of Muslim ecological practices and the emerging academic approaches to climate-change being developed by scholars studying Islam. This conference highlighted an area of research in the field of Muslim and Islamic Studies that does not receive enough attention, but it can contribute crucially to addressing environmental concerns effecting all communities across the globe. The dialogue was enriched by the interdisciplinary character of the program, which included scholars from the fields of Islamic studies, medicine, religious studies, philosophy, forestry, political science, languages, history, anthropology, and geography. October 15, 2020: Welcoming Remarks, Session 1 and Session 2 Professor Mohammad Khalil (Michigan State University) opened the conference by welcoming all participants and attendees. He noted the extensive participation of scholars from around the world and the large number of attendees who had registered for the virtual event. Professor Khalil then introduced Steven D. Hanson, Associate Provost and Dean of International Studies and Programs at MSU. Dean Hanson emphasized the important work of the Muslim Studies Program, which has enhanced the stature of MSU in international studies. He also noted the thematic strengths, regional expertise and global partnerships of the conference. He concluded by highlighting the exemplary nature of the conference, which has the potential to generate solutions beyond the academy and have influence on environmental policy and on communities facing ecological crises. Session 1: "Islam and Environmental Activism-Part I: Looking to the Sources" included presentations by Natana Delong-Bas (Boston College), [End Page 130] Abdalmajid Katranji (Michigan State University), Sarra Tlili (University of Florida), and Sami al-Daghistani (Columbia University; Brooklyn Institute for Social Research; Center for Advanced Study of Religion in Oslo, Norway). Delong-Bas's paper on "Intertextual Scriptural Reading as Inspiration for Interfaith Cooperation in Water Conservation and Management" analyzed references to water in the Qur'an and Bible, showing how water figures in religious texts as "God's gift...

Esther Webman, 1947–2020

Esther Webman, 1947–2020 Dina Porat (bio) Dr. Esther Webman, a dear friend for decades and an outstanding scholar (who was on the advisory board of this journal, among others) passed away suddenly on June 16, 2020. We find ourselves in deep mourning, and with the certainty that Esti—as she was fondly called by her many friends and colleagues—has left behind a void that cannot be filled. Esti's research was well-known internationally and highly acclaimed. She stood at the forefront of scholarship on antisemitism and perceptions of the Holocaust in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Her leadership in this field was evident in her many publications and numerous conference papers and lectures. She distinguished herself by her original thinking, sharp and critical eye, and deep understanding of the political and social realities in the Arab world at large, whether today, or in the recent past. Esti's writing was always lucid and well balanced, and she shied away from any sort of exaggeration or extremism. Born in Cairo, Esti grew up speaking Arabic and French as a child. She had a gift for languages and later in life wrote impeccable English. After being driven out of Egypt, her family immigrated to Israel. She grew up in Migdal Ha'Emek, a small town in the Galilee, and was educated in an excellent boarding school, always standing at the top of her class. She served as a lieutenant in an elite IDF intelligence unit that later became known as 8200. [End Page 388] Upon completing her army service shortly after the Six Day War, Esti embarked on a brilliant academic career at Tel Aviv University, winning the highest praise of her professors. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Photo of Esther Webman. Reprinted with permission of Esther's family. Esti served as a senior researcher and editor-in-chief of publications at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. She was a staff member at the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism, and at the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, all housed at Tel Aviv University. Among her many publications are From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust, co-authored with Meir Litvak. This book won the gold prize of the Washington Institute for Middle Eastern Policy in 2010. She authored the sections on the Arab world for the reports on antisemitism that were published annually by the Stephen Roth Institute, and then by the Kantor Center beginning [End Page 389] in 1994. Those texts were exemplary in their accuracy, depth of analysis, use of a multitude of sources, and were characterized by their courageous assessments. Esti will be best remembered because of the steadfastness she displayed in defending the findings she reached after delving into a variety of primary sources. She insisted that in recent years, if one listened carefully, one could hear new voices in the Arab and Muslim worlds that deviate from the well-known antipathy toward Jews and the Jewish State, especially among intellectuals and political analysts. These bold individuals highlight the damage caused to the reputations of Arabs and Muslims in the West when The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or the idea that Jews use blood for ritual purposes are hailed as absolute truth along with other ludicrous notions about Jews. Esti had high hopes that these moderate voices would pave the way to at least a modest reconciliation between Israel and its neighbors. Those hopes matched her political and social convictions, which always led her to champion the rights of others, minorities, and the weak and disadvantaged. She leaves behind a son Oded, a daughter Adi, and a grandson Adam who was the apple of her eye. Her memory will definitely be a blessing. [End Page 390] Dina Porat Dina Porat is head of the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and incumbent of the Alfred P. Slaner Chair in Antisemitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University. She is also chief historian of Yad Vashem. Her most recent book is Vengeance and Recompence are Mine: The Yishuv, the Holocaust and...

Upending the Ivory Tower: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Ivy League

An Internet search for the best colleges with African American studies programs identifies five Ivy League schools in the top ten. Another search reveals that in 2018, African American students are still underrepresented in colleges and universities. These results confirm Stefan M. Bradley's argument about the roles played by African American student activists in the late 1960s and early 1970s in remaking the curriculum at elite institutions, but also undermine his triumphal narrative of the gains they achieved. While by the mid- and late 1960s, African Americans were able to enter these prestigious universities in large enough numbers to form supportive activist communities, demand “relevant” courses, and, in some cases, halt university expansion into surrounding neighborhoods, time has stalled or reversed their accomplishments—with the notable exception of African American studies programs and centers. Bradley's book examines the “ancient eight” considered to make up the Ivy League: Princeton University, Brown University,...

Review of International Conferences of April — May 2019 held by the Institute of World History RAS

The spring of 2019 was fruitful in the sense of various academic events in which the stuff of the Institute of World History (RAS) played an active role. The review is devoted to the key international conferences of April — May 2019, held by the Institute, or organized with its direct participation. Among them the following: “75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Central-Eastern and Northern Europe from Nazism”; “Napoleon’s Époque: History and Image”; “Studying the History of Africa: People, Problems, Sources. 90th Anniversary of Africa’s First Research Program”; “In the Heart of Eurasia: Russia and Kazakhstan at Historic Crossroads”. Particular attention is paid to the conference held by the Center for African Studies (Institute of World History, RAS) and dedicated to the problems of source criticism and historiography of Africa.

Cities of the Arab World: Theory, Investigation, and Critique

Cities of the Arab World: Theory, Investigation, and Critique Salah D. Hassan (bio) On February 14 and 15, 2019, scholars came together on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI, to discuss “Cities of the Arab World,” at a conference organized by Najib Hourani under the auspices of the Global Urban Studies Program in collaboration with the Muslim Studies Program, the Department of Anthropology, the College of Social Science, and in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Ann Arbor, MI. Papers presented in the course of the two-day interdisciplinary conference emphasized “Theory, Investigation, and Critique” in connection with urban studies of the Arab world. Over the two days, panelists presented their original research to a full house in the conference room at the MSU Union building. Rachel Croson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences at Michigan State University welcomed the participants and attendants, underlining the importance of the event for the university, the College, and the Global Urban Studies Programs. Igor Z. Vojnovic, Interim Director of Global Urban Studies further accentuated the uniqueness of the conference, one of the first major events organized by the program, whose staff served as the fulcrum for a rich partnership with several academic units at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. In his welcoming address, Najib Hourani, associate professor of anthropology and global urban studies, and the principal organizer of the conference, conveyed the importance of pushing the boundaries of research [End Page 135] in urban studies and Middle Eastern studies by bringing the two fields together in more complex and challenging ways. He noted the growth in the field of urban studies, which has only recently begun to take up the specific character of Arab cities, whose histories and 21st century transformations remain on the periphery of mainstream scholarship on cities. According to Hourani: “despite the revival and growth of Urban and Middle East/Muslim studies, these two interdisciplinary fields rarely speak to each other, even as the study of Arab cities in particular, has taken off over the last decade. Indeed, the theoretical works and debates that drive urban studies remain beholden to European and North American experiences, and so rarely engage or learn from Arab cities, their histories or contemporary dynamics. For example, while the literature engaging neoliberal urbanism has exploded in the last decade and a half, Arab cities (the occasional reference to Dubai, notwithstanding) are absent from the major collections that theorize the concept. At the same time, research on Arab cities is only now beginning to engage and redirect dominant strains of urban theory. How might in-depth study of Arab cities enrich urban theory? How might theoretically-driven explorations further enrich our understandings of Arab cities, in all of their complexity and diversity?” Hourani’s opening remarks provided the necessary frame for understanding the importance of this timely conference. Day One (February 14, 2019): Cities of the Arab World Panel I “Projecting Cities” included papers that addressed uniquely complicated developments in Gulf cities. Eva Kassens-Noor (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI) presented research on “Mega-event Planning in the Arab World: A Case Study of Dubai’s 2020 World Exposition,” highlighting the struggle over ownership of the city during the event, and examining how mega-event legacies are understood. Her investigation looks at political, economic, and cultural influences shaping the 2020 World Exposition in Dubai and examines how developments related to the Expo are having an impact on Dubai’s urban planning. She concludes that the neoliberal tendencies associated with mega-events have significantly transformed Dubai’s urban and socio-cultural landscape, eroding further Arab urban culture in the Gulf. Gökçe Günel (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ) provided a snapshot of the extensive original research on Masdar City that she has done for her recently published book Spaceship in the Desert: Energy, Climate Change and Urban Design in Abu Dhabi (Duke University Press, 2019). The paper summarized the main points of the book, underlining the political-economy of the utopian project of Masdar City. Günel’s research exposes the contradictory and often opportunistic features of the...

Operationalizing Ethnographic Research to Grow Trust in Digital Financial Services

Trust motivates people's uptake and use of digital financial services (DFS). Understanding the socio‐cultural determinants of DFS trust are needed to scale financial access and drive financial inclusion. These are core components of international development strategies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Universal Financial Access (UFA2020). The IFC‐Mastercard Foundation Partnership for Financial Inclusion (the Partnership) conducted ethnographic research to understand factors that impact people's attitudes and perceptions of DFS. Nine months of field work each in Cameroon, DRC, Senegal and Zambia were conducted, in collaboration with local research institutes’ Anthropology departments and the African Studies Center at the University of Leiden. The results of the ethnographic research produced a framework for understanding drivers and barriers to people growing trust in digital financial services.This paper analyzes the quantitative and qualitative application of the framework for understanding digital financial services perceptions and uptake propensities for a specific market segment: micro, small to medium‐sized enterprises (MSMEs). The framework guided the design of focus groups and survey instruments, whose data provide a classification of issues business owners face for adopting DFS and the degree to which the socio‐cultural determinants of these issues may drive or hinder DFS adoption. Further, the survey data provide ground‐truth observations that are applied to transactional big data sets toward the development of a model to identify business from individual customers. Identifying MSMEs enables providers to deliver business‐specific DFS services at scale and further enable financial inclusion.It was found that MSMEs could be successfully identified using the big data analytics model, and that the classification of small‐medium (and micro) segments could be further identified by application of the survey data. Using the framework throughout all stages of the analysis further demonstrates the business value that can be obtained by employing the ethnographic approach. Doing so ensured that salient DFS issues relevant to business owners were inherent in survey questions ex‐ante, thereby yielding meaningful results that can be used to engage MSMEs, design relevant products and advance financial inclusion.

Decolonizing the African Studies Centre

The African Studies Centre has been a privileged institutional form in Britain for knowledge production on Africa since the end of colonialism. This article argues that the origin of these UK centres should be located in the colonial research institutes established in Africa, in particular the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute and the East African Institute of Social Research. Attention to the knowledge about Africa that was deemed authoritative by these institutes as well as to the institutions and structures underpinning that knowledge production can raise important questions about today’s centres that need to be addressed as part of a decolonization agenda.

A Letter from the Editors

This issue of Bustan represents our continued effort to use the process of scholarly review to deliver a wide range of new ideas to our readers. While the journal is based at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel, twelve of our seventeen contributors come from outside of Israel. As we strive to create an international forum for Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, we are engaged in reviewing works of scholarship that represent a broad selection of the exciting new research in our fields.The books reviewed in this issue deal with martyrdom, sectarianism, Islamism, and contemporary revolution. But that's not all; this issue also includes reviews that address a new biography of Mahmoud Darwish; the establishment of a scholarly class in the Ottoman Empire; Jewish life in modern Morocco; urban development and history in Kuwait; the complexity of Arab Jewish identity in Mandatory Palestine; and a revised interpretation of reform in the Ottoman Empire.This issue also includes three long-form review essays that raise important questions and offer original ideas on issues of general interest to scholars and practitioners alike: Lawrence Rosen's essay on youth and Islamism in Morocco examines whether the current generation of youth is relating to religion and politics in different ways than their parents and grandparents.David Cook, in reviewing Meir Hatina's book on martyrdom, provocatively suggests that the world is experiencing “violence overload,” and may be “tuning out” the ever-increasing volume of terrorist attacks.Asher Susser provides a unique survey of the state of the field in modern Middle East Studies. He briefly describes the influence of social sciences on the field and then explains how scholars might benefit from focusing on providing a richer understanding of the “Otherness” of the “Other” throughout the region. Our geographic coverage in this issue extends from Morocco to Sudan and from Iran to Lebanon, and the contributors span the globe from Singapore to California—offering a diverse range of analytical approaches and perspectives. For example, in discussing Farah Al Nakib's urban history of Kuwait, Laavanya Kathiravelu of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore offers several observations about how scholars can use urban spaces to study a broad range of social, political, and cultural aspects of the Middle East in comparative perspective.We hope you enjoy reading these pieces as much as we did. They represent just a small part of the dynamic new work being done in our fields.

A noisy signal: To what extent are Hadza hunting reputations predictive of actual hunting skills?

This work was supported by Robinson College Cambridge, the Leakey Foundation, the Smuts Memorial Fund, the Ruggles-Gates Fund of the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Cambridge Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Cambridge Centre for African Studies, the Anthony Wilkin Fund and the Ridgeway-Venn Fund.

O singular enfrentamento à ideologia colonial da colecção “autores ultramarinos ” da Casa dos Estudantes do Império

Tendo a CEI nascido sob os auspícios do então ministro das Colónias de Portugal, Vieira de Machado, como consagração da política de enaltecimento e defesa do império colonial, pode parecer paradoxal que uma instituição que era suposto funcionar como “triunfo do espírito português” pudesse gerar tantos cartuchos fracturantes da consciência histórica do regime. Um desses cartuchos, para além do Centro de Estudos Africanos (criado pelos estudantes da CEI, mas que não funcionava no espaço da CEI), foi a Colecção “Autores Ultramarinos”, em que, não obstante a designação, foram publicadas as obras mais emblemáticas da literatura anticolonial africana. O objectivo deste artigo é revelar os meandros dessa orientação editorial e a sua relação com a “questão colonial” e como ela funcionou como uma estratégia para enfrentar a violência da ideologia colonial cujo objectivo era a subalternização das identidades africanas.---DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22409/abriluff.2018n20a495

Measuring the Societal Impact of Research with Altmetrics: An Experiment

All research at Dutch universities is assessed on a regular basis following the Standard Evaluation Protocol (SEP). From 2015 onwards, one of the protocol’s criteria for measuring research success is the societal impact of the research. As traditional metrics do not provide an indication of public reach and influence, the African Studies Centre in Leiden (ASCL) decided to experiment with the new suite of alternative metrics – altmetrics – that measure the number of times a research output is viewed, downloaded or mentioned online. I analyzed the presence of altmetric indicators in 148 publications using Altmetric.com and evaluated the content that Altmetric.com tracked. This paper describes the ASCL Altmetric experiment and reports on its results.

Gifts from Our Elders: African Artsand Visionary Art History

Gifts from Our Elders: African Arts<i>and Visionary Art History</i>

Academic-Ngo Collaboration in International Development Research: A Reflection on the Issues

There is a renewed interest in research collaboration between NGOs and academics in international development. International development, like many areas of public policy in the UK, Europe and beyond, is increasingly framed by an evidence-based logic. The evidence-based logic is inextricably tied in with a demand for demonstrable impact from development interventions. A similar logic prevails within academic institutions – the need for academics to be able to demonstrate how their research is having an impact upon society. Consequently, spaces seem to be opening for more engagement between academics and practitioners, whether it is within joint research projects or in sharing expertise and knowledge on the framing and use of research. In early 2012, the Development Studies Association of the UK and Ireland funded a small project involving the International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC), World Vision UK and the John and Elnora Ferguson Centre for African Studies (JEFCAS) at the University of Bradford. The project explored current thinking on research collaboration between academics and practitioners in international development, drawing upon existing literature and the experiences of a small sample of collaborative projects (annexed). A workshop brought academics and practitioners together to tease out issues enabling and prohibiting collaboration. The project was driven by questions such as: why do academics and NGOs collaborate; what is required for successful collaboration; what institutional and philosophical barriers exist to collaboration, and how can these be overcome? This working paper draws together the thinking which emerged during this project. It provides an overview of the literature and theoretical perspectives on collaboration, summarises a range of approaches from the case studies explored, and considers how these relate to existing conceptualisations of collaboration. It aims to provoke critical thinking and debate on new trajectories for academic-NGO collaboration. The paper concludes with an exploration of current challenges to collaboration. It calls for a more nuanced and robust understanding of how collaboration between academic institutions and NGOs can lead to better outcome in development interventions, programmes and projects.

The Failed 2016 Coup d'état and the Birth of Post-Modern Turkey

Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XL, No.4, Summer 2017 The Failed 2016 Coup d'état and the Birth of Post-Modern Turkey Uzi Rabi* Ben Mendales* On 15 July 2016, elements of the Turkish armed forces [Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri or TSK] staged an attempted coup d’état against the elected civilian leadership headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, and their ruling party Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP).1 Despite some initial momentum, the coup quickly disintegrated in the face of massive civilian protest and effective resistance by loyal security forces, and had been decisively put down by the following day. This was not the first time that the Turkish military has moved to act against the elected civilian leadership. Between 1960 and 1997, the Turkish armed forces successfully intervened four times in national politics—either by coup, as in 1960 and 1980, or a threatened coup, as in 1971 and 1997. Each intervention was justified by the military’s self-defined mandate as the guardian of the Turkish Republic, a central tenet of which was Mustafa 22 *Uzi Rabi is the director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, a senior researcher at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, and the former Chair of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, all at Tel Aviv University. His fields of specialization include Middle Eastern Geopolitics, the modern history of states and societies in the Persian Gulf, state formation in the Middle East, oil and politics in the Middle East, Iranian-Arab relations, and Sunni-Shi'i tensions. *Ben Mendales is a junior researcher and program officer at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies. The authors would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak in the preparation of this article. 1 Known in English as the Justice and Development Party, the AKP is a socially conservative , Islamist-oriented party, which has dominated Turkish politics since its overwhelming victory in the 2002 elections. Erdoğan, as Prime Minister and later President, has served as the dominant political figure in Turkey and within the Party since 2003. 23 Kemal Atatürk’s legacy of secularism. Turkey became therefore an almost prototypical example of a praetorian state.2 The coup attempt of 15 July 2016 certainly bore a resemblance to those that preceded it. It also echoed the successful 2013 Egyptian coup, where the military stepped in to oust the popularly elected Islamist government of Mohammad Morsi. Yet, despite such cosmetic similarities, the 2016 Turkish coup attempt is distinguished most prominently by the extent of its failure. For the first time in Turkish history, the civilian government proved its overwhelming dominance over the military, put paid to the 20th century paradigm of civil-military relations in Turkey, and paved the way for the institutionalization of a new, hybrid model of governance in Turkey— neither Islamist nor secularist—but incorporating both to the political benefit of President Erdoğan. The Turkish Military’s Instrumentality in Turkish Politics Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of an independent Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk offered an “explicit rejection of the Ottoman model.” He abolished the role of religion in the governance of the modern Turkish state. Instead he promoted the six principles of his Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi [Republican People’s Party], or CHP: “nationalism, populism, republicanism, revolutionism, secularism and statism.”3 During the single-party era, the Turkish military was inextricably linked with the state, and the regime, itself. While the CHP was not able to maintain an electoral majority following Turkey’s transition to multi-party elections in 1950, Atatürk’s legacy, and the military’s place as its guardian, was nevertheless enduring.4 Article 34 of the Armed Forces Internal Service Law of 1935, and its successor, Article 35 of the Internal Service Law of January 1961, empowered the TSK to protect “the Turkish homeland and the Turkish Republic as defined in the constitution.”5 2 For an excellent theoretical background to the concept of a praetorian state, see Amos Perlmutter...

Tribes and states in a changing Middle East

This book is a tribute to the late Joseph Kostiner, long associated with the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University, whose passion was the role of tribes and tribalism in state formation in the Middle East. Compiled in mid-2012, a little more than a year into the Arab Spring, this memorial volume suggests that tribes and states in the contemporary Middle East are best approached on a state by state basis, even though comparative analysis can provide insight into unique cases. Uzi Rabi, Director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University and one of the foremost scholars working on tribal identity, has assembled an impressive group of scholars to explore the past context and current conditions shaping tribal–state relations in the region. Contributors include historian Joshua Teitelbaum, anthropologist Dawn Chatty and political scientist Jill Crystal. The contributors argue that in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia, tribes and states generally have reached understandings mutually beneficial for both parties. Consequently, the tribes in these states are less likely to challenge the state as long as the rulers maintain a balance of power between the tribes and include tribal values in the national ethos. Tribe–state interdependence is most notable in Jordan, where the regime's tribal base of support has proved vital to the preservation of the political order. In Qatar, tribal identities have endured despite the country's transformation into an independent petrostate, but in the United Arab Emirates, tribalism as an organizing force in governance and social life has declined, superseded by a growing sense of national identity. In Oman, the sultan has preserved the cultural values of the tribes, but reduced their political power to neutralize their ability to harm the regime. In Saudi Arabia, cultural elements of tribal traits and traditions have been safeguarded and tribal mechanisms continue to be utilized to govern a society where kin and tribal modes of living endure.

Economic Cooperation between India and Bahrain: Performance and Prospects

70 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XLI, No.1, Fall 2017 Economic Cooperation between India and Bahrain: Performance and Prospects Muhammad Azhar* Two and half decades of uninterrupted and sustained economic reforms have transformed the Indian economy into the world’s fastest growing economy in recent years. During 2014 Indian economy grew by 7.3 percent.1 Since the slowdown in Chinese economy, India has overtaken the Chinese economy. India ranks at the 9th position in the global economy and generates 2.6 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.2 Thus India has been fast becoming the land of economic opportunities. India is rich in mineral resources. But the hydrocarbon resources are very small as compared to her requirements. Rising growth and expanding economy has resulted in substantial rise in the demand for oil and gas. This in turn has necessitated in ever increasing imports of oil and gas mostly from the gulf countries. India has second largest population and the second largest labour force in the world.3 It has also vast reserves of skilled workforce. Millions of Indian expatriates’ workers are employed in gulf countries including Bahrain. And these workers are very important source of massive *Muhammad Azhar is Professor (Economics) at the Department of West Asian and North African Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India). He obtained his M.Phil and Ph.D from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi. His area of interest includes energy economics, finance, economic, trade cooperation and research and methodology. He has contributed several articles in various international and national journals. Prior to joining A.M.U., Muhammad Azhar worked as Reader at the Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. he worked as a Research Associate at the Gulf Studies Program, Centre of West Asian and African Studies, School of International Studies, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi. he also worked as Consultant at Indian Council of Research in International Economic Relations, New Delhi. 1 “IMF says India Still Fastest-Growing Economy”, The Economic Times, New Delhi, 12 April, 2016, p.11 2 World Development Indicators Database, World Bank, Washington, (accessed on 17 February, 2016). 3 Ibid. 71 remittance earnings for India. It must be mentioned that India is the largest remittance earning country in the world.4 As far as Bahrain is concerned, it is smallest among the member countries of Gulf Cooperation Council. However, it is also a rich country in terms of history, culture and economy. It has been the seat of the ancient civilization of Dilmun. In the ancient times it used to serve as a trading link between Indus Valley Civilization and Mesopotamia.5 Prior to the discovery of oil, the main economic activities concentrated on fishing, boat making and repairing, exploring and trading pearls, diving and some agricultural and commercial activities.6 Bahrain had been first among the Arab countries to discover oil in 1932.7 Consequent to the discovery of oil and its exports, Bahraini economy was thoroughly transformed. Since then all economic development in Bahrain depended on oil export revenues.8 However, Bahrain has very small oil reserves and also some gas reserves. Bahrain’s oil & gas reserves have been estimated at 0.01 percent and 0.05 percent of the global oil and gas reserves respectively.9 Bahrain is a member of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). In contrast to its neighbours, oil reserves in Bahrain are estimated to exhaust very soon. This is why Bahrain exports very little of crude oil. It exports refined oil and other petroleum products. The exhaustive nature of oil reserves was never out of sight for the Bahraini planners. This is why Bahrain launched its economic diversification program very early and prepared for the post oil era. Bahrain has been developing other sectors of the economy to reduce its dependence on oil revenues.10 The aluminum industry has been crucial in Bahrain’s diversification strategy. Bahrain has 4 www.worldbank.org/prospects/migration and remittances (accessed on 01.02.2016) 5 John H. Neidercorn, “A Reconstruction of the Pre-History of Bahrain, the Landing Place of Noah”, in Jeffery B. Nugent and Theodore H. Thomas (Ed...

When the baby remains there for a long time, it is going to die so you have to hit her small for the baby to come out": justification of disrespectful and abusive care during childbirth among midwifery students in Ghana.

Despite global attention, high levels of maternal mortality continue to plague many low- and middle-income settings. One important way to improve the care of women in labour is to increase the proportion of women who deliver in a health facility. However, due to poor quality of care, including being disrespected and abused, women are reluctant to come to facilities for delivery care. The current study sought to examine disrespectful and abusive treatment towards labouring women from the perspective of midwifery students who were within months of graduation. Key Messages •Midwifery students in Ghana’s public midwifery schools report witnessing and participating in many forms of disrespect and abuse during deliveries as part of their education. While they are clear as to why respectful care is important and necessary, they are able to justify and explain reasons for disrespectful and abusive care. This poor treatment of labouring women was explicitly and tacitly supported by these students’ teachers and preceptors. •All study materials and methods were reviewed and approved by the Ghana Health Service Ethical Review Committee, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Committee on Publication and Human Ethics, and the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board. •This research was made possible through a grant from the African Studies Center, University of Michigan. For this study, we conducted focus groups with final year midwifery students at 15 public midwifery training colleges in all 10 of Ghana’s regions. Focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed. A multi-disciplinary team of researchers from the US and Ghana analysed the qualitative data. While students were able to talk at length as to why respectful care is important, they were also able to recount times when they both witnessed and participated in disrespectful and abusive treatment of labouring women. The themes which emerged from these data are: 1) rationalization of disrespectful and abusive care; 2) the culture of blame and; 3) no alternative to disrespect and abuse. Although midwifery students in Ghana’s public midwifery schools highlight the importance of providing high-quality, patient-centred respectful care, they also report many forms of disrespect and abuse during childbirth. Without better quality care, including making care more humane, the use of facility-based maternity services in Ghana is likely not to improve. This study provides an important starting point for educators, researchers, and policy makers to re-think how the next generation of healthcare providers needs to be prepared to provide high-quality, respectful care to women during labour and delivery in low-resource settings.

Welcome to the African Arts Editorial Consortium

Volume 49 marks the beginning of a new era for African Arts. Since the journal’s inception in 1967 as “a quarterly magazine devoted to the graphic, plastic, performing, and literary arts of Africa, traditional and contemporary,” it has been produced out of the James S. Coleman African Studies Center at UCLA by an editorial board composed of scholars affiliated with the university’s academic departments and museums. A consulting editor board of international scholars has contributed their time and energies in advising the editors and assisting with peer review, but for nearly half a century, African Arts has been primarily a UCLA production. This situation arose almost incidentally. Unlike many journals, African Arts is not the organ of a scholarly association, and association journals rotate their editorship on a regular basis, first, as a reflection of their diverse membership and, second, as a way to distribute the costs of running an editorial office across the membership. Generally, the institution where the current editor resides kicks in with office space, release time for the editor, and at least a portion of the salary for support staff to manage the peer review process, while the association uses dues both to finance the layout, copy editing, printing, and shipping of the journal and to provide the journal as a perk for its members. African Arts was originally founded on a business model where operating expenses would be covered by advertising and subscription income, with a relatively small subvention from UCLA. There was thus not only no incentive to rotate the editorship, but there was, in effect, no-one to rotate it to. We are not affiliated with ACASA, ASA, or CAA, and whatever institutional support we got came from UCLA alone. The onset of the Electronic Age and concomitant convulsions in the publishing industry have made our original business model no longer viable—as constant readers will have noticed, advertising in the journal is virtually nonexistent today, and consists primarily of exchange ads, where we publicize a likeminded journal in exchange for them doing the same for us. The African art galleries now buy (continued on p. 4) ad space in magazines like Tribal Arts that are more narrowly focused on a readership of collectors and, even more, rely on the Internet to attract new customers. The readership and editorial focus of African Arts, in the meantime, has shifted from broad discussion aimed at not only academics, but also collectors and general interest readers—who were inspired by the social and political changes sweeping through Africa in the 1960s—to the work and interests of postmodern academics and curators. While this has arguably made the journal more intellectually adventurous, there is still the small matter of paying the bills to produce it.