Area Of Capital City Research Articles

Class and kinship in Sudanese urban communities

Opening ParagraphThis article represents some of the results of three field research studies of urbanization in the Sudan. The research has focussed on two urban communities in the Khartoum area, those known as Tuti Island1 and Burn al Manas. The first study was conducted as doctoral research in 1970–72; a brief re-study took place in 1975, and most recently research was conducted in 1979–80. This ten-year period was a time during which major economic and demographic change occurred in the urban Sudan. A recent study in the capital city area of the Sudan by urban planners has concluded that ‘any sociologist or social anthropologist who approaches the problems of urbanization in Africa today has the privilege of witnessing a social transformation on a grand scale’ (MEFIT, 1974: I). I have already reported on some aspects of change in class structure, marriage, kinship and the family (Lobban, 1971, 1975, 1979), but these earlier articles have relied chiefly on earlier fieldwork. Among studies of culture change in general, and urbanization in particular, it is unfortunately uncommon to have data from replicated, longitudinal studies. In this respect this article may make an especially useful contribution.

Report from the National Capital City Area

In a time when Washington, D.C. takes on the infamous images of Repub lican women in fur coats and wealthy politicians going to formal parties in limou sines, it is curious to observe at the same time what is happening in this city billed as the administrative center of trade unionism in this country?the site of the AFL CIO, the fifty-odd national offices of the International Unions, and the now his toric 400,000-plus Solidarity Day demonstration last September 19, 1981. To say the least, beneath the covers of high profile political conservatism lie the many labor-related activities sponsored by unions, coalition groups, and universities. Last July 18 through August 17 the highly successful Labor History Film Series at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, fea tured twenty-four different films under the title . . The Union Makes Us Strong. The series, organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and presented in conjunction with the exhibition Images of Labor, was significant in that it focussed attention culturally and historically on the American working class. Politically, it was pleasantly ironic that during the first summer of the Reagan administration a strongly pro-labor program was co-sponsored by the government's museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and a major labor union. Not surprisingly, the response was overwhelming. This success may pave the way for more cultural programs of this nature in the future. Along with the film series, the Images of Labor?an impressive exhibit of original art depicting labor's history and spirit, and organized by the Bread and Roses Cultural Project of District 1199?was featured at the Smithsonian the entire summer. For further information and posters, contact Lyn Goldfarb, Assistant Education Director of SEIU and co producer of the film With Babies and Banners (202-452-8750). A worthwhile project has been initiated through a D.C. Committee for the Humanities grant to study the local history of workers and unions in the District of Columbia. Researchers in the D.C. Labor History Project are presently unravelling the unique complexion of the working class in this area?the govern ment and administrative office workers, the services, building and trades, printers,

Preferences Versus Policies?

The distribution of settlement in Australia is very much a reflection of privatism private enterprise and preferences for low density urban sprawl in the coastal regions of the south-east of the country. Phosphate bounties and mineral exploration tax write-offs not withstanding Federal state and local governments have had little overall impact on the location or redistribution of the bulk of our population. Even the slow changes presently under way reflect the indirect influence of increasing mobility and affluence rather than the results of direct policy intervention. Recent analyses indicate the major characteristics of the redistribution of the Australian population (see Australian Bureau of Statistics 1974; Rowland 1974 1976b; Sherlaimoff and Di Iulio 1976). According to the 1971 Census results about one person in 20 moved from one state to another during the previous five years. In 1973 one and a half million people or more than one out of every six civilians over 15 years of age changed their residence; more than half of these did so within capital city areas and 17 per cent made two or more changes during the year. The remainder of this paper is premised on two assumptions: that the formulation and implementation of a national policy on population distribution is in the interest of Australias development and welfare and that the existing characteristics and trends of population redistribution must be taken into account in any such policy. (excerpt)