Contemporary Perspectives on African Moral Economy

Contemporary Perspectives on African Moral Economy
Author: Isaria N. Kimambo
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2008
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9976604653

The topic of African moral economy was first raised by Goran Hyden in 1980 as one of the main obstacles to economic transformation of the African peasantry. The suggestion caused serious academic debates between the proposer and other scholars on African societies, especially those using political economy as the framework of their analysis. But Hyden continued to defend his thesis until interest in the debate faded out. More recently Japanese scholars have taken up the topic as it appears to have new relevance in comparison with the fast transformations which have taken place in Southeast Asian rural communities. The focus of this book is to give a detailed comparison between African rural communities and those of Southeastern Asia. Attention is focused on the two main aspects of African peasantry life: the right to subsistence and the norm of reciprocity. A wide interdisciplinary approach is employed to demonstrate the dynamism displayed by these societies.

Why Do Elections Matter in Africa?

Why Do Elections Matter in Africa?
Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2021-02-18
Genre: Law
ISBN: 110841723X

A radical new approach to understanding Africa's elections: explaining why politicians, bureaucrats and voters so frequently break electoral rules.

The Moral Economies of Ethnic and Nationalist Claims

The Moral Economies of Ethnic and Nationalist Claims
Author: Bruce J. Berman
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2016-09-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0774833173

At a time when states, armed insurgent movements, and ethnic and nationalist political parties make claims based on the defence of communal interests and political and religious ideologies – with often deadly consequences – it is important to understand the discourses and actions that are used to legitimize these claims. This book argues that competing moral economies – the beliefs and practices that normatively regulate and legitimize the distribution of wealth, power, and status in a society – play an important role in ethnic and nationalist conflict. Bringing together international experts on the politics of ethnicity and nationalism, this final volume in the prestigious EDG series investigates how moral economies have been challenged in identity-based communities in ways that precipitate or exacerbate conflicts. The combination of theoretical chapters and case studies ranging from Africa and Asia to North America provides compelling evidence for the value of moral economy analysis in understanding problems associated with ethnic and nationalist mobilization and conflict.

The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa

The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa
Author: Nic Cheeseman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2021-02-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108265839

Do elections turn people into democratic citizens? Elections have long been seen as a way to foster democracy, development and security in Africa, with many hoping that the secret ballot would transform states. Adopting a new approach that focusses on the moral economy of elections, Nic Cheeseman, Gabrielle Lynch and Justin Willis show how elections are shaped by competing visions of what it means to be a good leader, bureaucrat or citizen. Using a mixed-methods study of elections in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, they explore moral claims made by officials, politicians, civil society, international observers and voters themselves. This radical new lens reveals that elections are the site of intense moral contestation, which helps to explain why there is such vigourous participation in processes that often seem flawed. Demonstrating the impact of these debates on six decades of electoral practice, they explain why the behaviour of those involved so frequently transgresses national law and international norms, as well as the ways in which such transgressions are evaluated and critiqued – so that despite the purported significance of 'vote-buying', the candidates that spend the most do not always win.

Moral Education in sub-Saharan Africa

Moral Education in sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Sharlene Swartz
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2013-10-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317982487

The term ‘moral’ has had a chequered history in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly due to the legacy of colonialism and Apartheid (in South Africa). In contrast to moral education as a vehicle of cultural imperialism and social control, this volume shows moral education to be concerned with both private and public morality, with communal and national relationships between human beings, as well as between people and their environment. Drawing on distinctive perspectives from philosophy, economics, sociology and education, it offers the African ethic of Ubuntu/Botho as a plausible alternative to Western approaches to morality and shows how African ethics speaks to political and economic life, including ethnic conflict and HIV/AIDS, and may be an antidote to the current practice of timocracy that values money over people. The volume provides sociological tools for understanding the lived morality of those marginalised by poverty, and analyses the effects of culture, religion and modern secularisation on moral education. With contributions from fourteen African scholars, this book challenges dominant frameworks, and begins conversations for mutual benefit across the North-South divide. It has global implications, not just, but especially, where moral education is undertaken in pluralist contexts and in the presence of economic disparity. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Moral Education.

Music, Health, and Power

Music, Health, and Power
Author: Bonnie McConnell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2019-11-06
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1000712060

Music, Health, and Power offers an original, on-the-ground analysis of the role that music plays in promoting healthy communities. The book brings the reader inside the world of kanyeleng fertility societies and HIV/AIDS support groups, where women use music to leverage stigma and marginality into new forms of power. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted over a period of 13 years (2006–2019), the author articulates a strengths-based framework for research on music and health that pushes beyond deficit narratives to emphasize the creativity and resilience of Gambian performers in responding to health disparities. Examples from Ebola prevention programs, the former President’s AIDS “cure,” and a legendary underwear theft demonstrate the high stakes of women’s performances as they are caught up in broader contestations over political and medical authority. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of ethnomusicology, medical anthropology, and African studies. The accompanying audio examples provide access to the women’s performances discussed in the text.

Islam and the Moral Economy

Islam and the Moral Economy
Author: Charles Tripp
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 24
Release: 2006-07-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1139457152

How do modern Muslims adapt their traditions to engage with today's world? Charles Tripp's erudite and incisive book considers one of the most significant challenges faced by Muslims over the last sixty years: the challenge of capitalism. By reference to the works of noted Muslim scholars, the author shows how, faced by this challenge, these intellectuals devised a range of strategies which have enabled Muslims to remain true to their faith, whilst engaging effectively with a world not of their own making. The work is framed around the development of their ideas on Islamic socialism, economics and the rationale for Islamic banking. While some Muslims have resorted to confrontation or insularity to cope with the challenges of modernity, most have aspired to innovation and ingenuity in the search for compromise and interaction with global capitalism in the twenty-first century.

Africa on the Move

Africa on the Move
Author: Malte Steinbrink
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2019-10-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 303022841X

This book discusses migration and space-spanning social network relationships as normal realities of life in African societies. It offers an overview of the research landscape and introduces an agency-centered theoretical model that provides a conceptual framework for translocality. The authors Malte Steinbrink and Hannah Niedenführ plead for a translocal approach to social transformation, showing how the translocality of livelihoods is shaping the lives of half a billion people on the continent and impacting local conditions. Using an action-oriented approach, the book analyzes the effects of translocal livelihoods on diverse aspects of economic, environmental and social change in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The study thus makes an innovative contribution not only to migration research and development studies but also to the discussion around the policy and practice of development cooperation and planning. It is time to rethink development in light of translocal realities. The book appeals to scholars and researchers in geography, sociology, policy-making and planning, development studies, migration research and rural development.

Economics in Christian Perspective

Economics in Christian Perspective
Author: Victor V. Claar
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2015-04-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830899901

Victor Claar and Robin Klay introduce students to the basic principles of economics and then evaluate the principles and issues as seen from a Christian perspective. This textbook places the economic life in the context of Christian discipleship and stewardship. This text is for use in any course needing a survey of the principles of economics.