Everyday Life in Africa

The First World War was likely the most destructive war in African history prior to the comparable catastrophe of 1935 to 1945. It was also not the African peoples’ war to fight. Instead, it was a by-product of the recent subjugation and subdivision of the continent by a handful of West and Central European industrial powers, their internal nationalist rivalries, and their exploitation of their African colonial subjects for imperial ends, and, in the case of France, for national defense. The war’s impact on West and Central Africans may be assessed from two different vantage points. On the continent, French and British colonial armies, comprised largely of African troops accompanied by supporting carriers (noncombatant laborers), invaded the German colonies of Togoland (Togo) and Kamerun (Cameroon), before the British West Africans were redeployed in 1916 to fight and labor during the Allied conquest German East Africa (Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda). Meanwhile, the French also introduced West African combat troops into Europe on a massive scale. This uniquely French policy, little more than a controversial contingency plan until heavy losses prompted its implementation in 1915, provoked widespread resistance and rebellion in West Africa. Thereafter, deployed as “shock troops” on the Western Front and in the Balkans, African combatants interpreted their wartime experience in various ways. A few believed it to be personally transformative and in retrospect, a harbinger of the political quest for equality with Europeans to come; most, who received little in recompense for their sacrifice and suffering, returned to their homelands and resumed their former lives much as before. Though varied and often incomplete, casualty assessments for soldiers, carriers, and civilians during the conflict suggest grievous losses by West and Central Africans between 1914 and 1918. Indeed, while very modest changes in postwar colonial society occurred because of Africans’ participation in the war, they were incommensurate with the scale of violence endured. Moreover, the territorial changes occurring in Africa because of the conflict would likely have taken place even if the destructive campaigns on the continent and abroad had never been waged. Largely forgotten by European authorities immediately after the conflict, the memory of the veterans’ wartime ordeal and contribution to the nation nevertheless endures and is cited, especially by African immigrants, as justification for their civic inclusion in European societies, particularly in France. Unfortunately, so too do the centuries-old racist stereotypes about Africans’ being invariably subordinate to Europeans persist in contemporary societies, denying their acceptance.

Over the past two decades an increasing number of theorists and practitioners have called for a thorough rethinking of the underlying assumptions of the concept of rrental illness and the traditional psychiatric nodes of responding to mental disorders. The work of this group of writers has come to be referred to as the "antipsychiatry" literature. The insights of this perspective center largely about a rejection of those theories and methods of treatment that are based upon the medical model. Many writers point to the use of traditional psychiatric practice as an oppressive instrument of social control. While much of this perspective is directed toward the analysis of specifically sociological factors there have been few attempts by sociologists to provide focus for the claims that have been made. This paper proposes a synthetic sociological framework with the intention of providing sociological focus for the otherwise disparate insights found within this literature. A general model is constructed by incorporating aspects of the labeling perspective, the sociology of knowledge, and Marxian analysis. The model provides the analytical tools for investigation of the manner in which "mental illness" as a concept, and the phenemenon which it allegedly describes, are rooted in the nature of everyday life. The framework that is developed places particular emphasis upon the political dimensions . of everyday life. This dimension is especially useful in explicating the role of labeling as a device to discredit the claims of .people as they attempt to identify the oppressive aspects of .their social environment. The nature .of socialization within Western culture is analyzed in terms of the various factors which are instrumental in the mystification of consciousness and its relationship to "mental illness." The observation is made that the majority of the claims that are proffered by the "antipsychiatrists" are devoid of a firm empirical foundation in that they rely primarily upon findings from case studies and a series of loose inferences. An attempt is made to overcome this problem by mapping out the empirical points of departure for the model by developing a set of testable propositions and corollaries. It is concluded that a radical sociology of knowledge framework does provide a useful method of conceptualizing the "antipsychiatry" literature from a sociological perspective. The validity of the claims themselves, however, must wait until much more of the empirical evidence is in. It is pointed out that extreme caution be taken to avoid contentions

The use of water in healing has significance in African religious life. African people believe that water is not an ordinary substance but is medicinal and a life-giving commodity. This article argues that within a Pentecostal church setting, the use of water in healing should be juxtaposed with biblical practices to deal with the challenges of commercialisation of the commodity, its abuses, and other unethical practices. The integration of the African religious life and biblical practices is framed from an African theological perspective. The contribution of this perspective is its potential to address the commercialisation of water in two selected Pentecostal-type ministries. This will be achieved by introducing an African theological perspective and the use of water in African religious life. Similarly, the two selected ministries and their commercialisation of water will be discussed through the use of the case study method. The two selected church ministries are Rivers of Living Water Ministries and Nala Mandate International (NMI). The aim of this article is to demonstrate that an African theological perspective is relevant for addressing issues of the commercialisation of water in the selected ministries. This challenges how scholars approach the use of water in healing. The practice should be acknowledged in African religious life but its commercialisation should be criticised.Contribution: The article contributed to the discourse on the use of water in African religious life and proposed an African theological perspective to address the challenges of the commercialisation of the commodity.

We analyze the effect of individual social capital on wage income in European countries. A number of studies have already tested the earnings effects of social ties but the majority of them have been limited to small samples and/or to certain occupations. The major contribution of the paper is its assessment of the earnings effects of social capital in a multi-country context using a large international dataset, the EU-SILC. We estimate individual level earnings regressions for a pooled sample and for individual countries as well. Three indicators are used to measure social capital: memberships in voluntary organizations, the frequency of contacts with friends and frequency of contacts with relatives. Results indicate a significant positive association between social capital and wage income both for the pooled sample and the majority of the countries individually. The effect of social capital is stronger for post-socialist countries than for other countries while it is almost missing in the Nordic countries. Comparing the effects of memberships in voluntary organizations, friendship and kinship ties provides some support for the strength of weak ties hypothesis.

Little is known about the links between the business sector and civil society in Norway. To address the lack of knowledge, this study focused on members of the business elite who are elected representatives in voluntary organizations. Information about these representatives was obtained from a national survey of Norwegian elites and used to examine to what extent voluntary organizations are integrated into the business community’s network of institutions and organizations outside the corporate world. The analyses demonstrate that voluntary organizations are well placed within this network. Moreover, business leaders who are elected representatives are well-connected. Several of them serve on state boards and have frequent contact with politicians and state administrators. Business leaders who have experienced pronounced social mobility seem to be more attracted to being involved in the governance of voluntary organizations than their colleagues with a more privileged background.

Offline: The mistakes we made over Ebola

In studies concerning Islam and gender in West Africa, the expertise of women in Islamic esoteric practices is often overlooked. These practices, that include divination, dream interpretation and prayer sessions, are central in politics, economics and the daily life of most West Africans. Furthermore, their products (such as amulets) and their practitioners (marabouts) travel to Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. Despite the importance of Islamic esoteric practices in West Africa and the rest of the world, they are understudied. In this article, I focus upon the life and work of two marabout women living in Dakar: Ndeye Meissa Ndiaye and Coumba Keita. Their position is exceptional: Islamic esoteric knowledge is a particularly male-dominated field. This article describes how two women's Islamic esoteric expertise is negotiated, legitimated and publicly recognized in Dakar.

<p>Currently 40 % of Africa's population still lacks access to clean water. Twice as many rural people live in hard rock areas as compared to sedimentary areas. In these hard rock areas a thick weathered regolith layer covers the crystalline basement, where groundwater (GW) circulates. In the Sudanian area of West Africa (WA) ,groundwater levels are shallow enough to interact directly with the surface water. Therefore, constructing coupled surface-groundwater models helps to estimate quantities of both, GW and surface flows, and their evolution over time to facilitate integrated water management. However, the sensitivity of such models to aquifer properties (saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), porosity, geometry), which are difficult to obtain in heterogeneous crystalline contexts, is still poorly constrained. The heterogeneity of aquifer properties at the scale at which most water management decisions are taken, is twofold: 1) bimodal vertical heterogeneity with an unconsolidated weathered zone (high porosity, low Ks) overlying a fissured zone (low porosity, high Ks) and 2) lateral heterogeneity controlled by substratum features and weathering history. We assessed the sensitivity of a coupled surface-groundwater model (PARFLOW-CLM) to vertical and lateral heterogeneity of Ks. The sensitivity to the lateral heterogeneity was explored either using simulations with homogeneous or distributed Ks following random field approaches with a range of spatial correlation lengths. The representation of a vertically uniform aquifer layer was compared to a two-layer scenario for each of the lateral heterogeneity cases. Here, we focused our analysis on the Northern Oueme catchment in Benin (14 000 km²) and we constructed a model with a spatial resolution of 1 km², preventing the analysis of smaller-scale features, such as macropores or clay accumulations. Hydraulic conductivity and aquifer geometry data to constrain the sensitivity experiments were derived from the literature specific to the target area, but also from regional hard rock aquifers in West Africa. As an output of the model, we obtained streamflow, water table head and evapotranspiration time series (in a monthly and daily resolution). The results that we gained with our model configuration (and resolution) point towards a low sensitivity of the model to lateral and vertical heterogeneity. However, we observed a significant impact of the magnitude of Ks on water table head and particularly on the streamflow amplitude. Regarding the water balance our results show that further exploration of the subsurface is crucial to improve critical zone modeling in the context of WA.</p>

In his article "Modern African Verse and the Politics of Authentication" Gabriel S. Bamgbose argues that the authenticity of modern African poetry is marked by the intricate tie between African verse and African life in its diversities and complexities. Bamgbose examines the "modern" nature of African poetry, its oral roots, its treatment of colonial, and cultural nationalist issues, its issues of négritude, language, radical consciousness, gender, and its "international" nature. Bamgbose draws on the poetry of Okot p'Bitek, Taban Lo Liyong, and Frank Chipasula of East Africa, Tchikaya U Tam'si, Tati Loutard, and Gahlia Gwangwa'a of Central Africa, and Dennis Brutus, Agostinho Neto, and Luvuyo Mkangelwa of Southern Africa (he excludes poetry from West Africa, which has often taken the front space in critical discourse on modern African poetry). In doing so, he reveals that modern African poetry possesses a complex nature, a direct representation of the spirit, identities, and realities of Black Africa and Africans.

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) is a legume of economic importance world-wide, especially in Western Africa, where it is an important part of the population’s diet. The rapidly increasing population growth in Africa requires substantial increase in cowpea production, which can be achieved by expanding land areas for agricultural purposes. In addition, prevalence of soil acidity in Africa constrains such an alternative since phosphorus availability, a key element for plant growth and development, is limited, thus resulting in poor cowpea production. The objectives of this study were to conduct an association analysis for adaptation to low phosphorus conditions and rock phosphate response in cowpea, and to identify SNP markers associated with these two traits. A total of 357 cowpea accessions, collected worldwide, was evaluated for phosphorus stress and response to addition of rock phosphate. Association analysis was conducted using 1018 SNPs obtained using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). TASSEL 5 and R were used for association mapping studies based on six different models. The results indicated that: (1) substantial variability in adaptation to low phosphorus conditions and rock phosphate response exists in the USDA cowpea accession panel; (2) ten SNP markers, C35006753_110, C35028233_482, C35072764_1384, C35084634_455, Scaffold21750_4938, Scaffold26894_5408, Scaffold41885_14420, Scaffold45170_4650, Scaffold50732_679; and Scaffold88448_741 were found to be associated with tolerance to low phosphorus conditions in cowpea, and (3) eight SNP markers, C35028233_482, C35058535_121, Scaffold26894_5408, Scaffold45170_4650, Scaffold51609_507, Scaffold53730_7339, Scaffold74389_5733, and Scaffold87916_4921 were highly associated with rock phosphate response. These SNP markers can be used in a marker-assisted breeding (MAS) program to improve cowpea tolerance to phosphorus stress.

Background/objectivePatient-centred attitudes have been shown to decline during medical training in high-income countries, yet little is known about attitudes among West African medical students. We sought to measure student attitudes...

Describing dilemma of African philosopher, Abiola Irele writes: the professional philosopher in Africa today operates in a of cultural and social tension. For although his mind has been moulded by principles of Western philosophy, he too is confronted by vast body of world views and thought systems which contrive to inhabit consciousness of majority of Africans and to determine a fundamental attachment on their part to a traditional way of life, a that commands his attention and makes demands of his philosophical loyalties. Faced with a dualism both of modes of thought and of modes of existence, philosopher in Africa is compelled to undertake an examination of implications of this dualism for his discipline and for his practice of that discipline with specific reference to African situation (10). Such is dilemma of novelist Buchi Emecheta, Igbo Nigerian, Londoner, and woman. Torn between loyalties of race, culture, and sex, Emecheta writes about a world lost and a world becoming, a world destroyed and a world indestructible. The Africa of Emecheta's novels is a continent reeling in two times: Western diachronicity and traditional African synchronicity. And in these novels, Emecheta chronicles personal dilemma of African confronted and lured by Western time and Western culture. The author herself and her female characters struggle to find their place in this world in these times. In this essay I am specifically concerned with four of Emecheta's novels, The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), The Joys of Motherhood (1979), and The Rape of Shavi (1983). Three of these novels, The Bride Price, The Slave Girl, and The Joys of Motherhood, are set in Lagos and Igbo village of Ibuza. Additionally, each of these three focuses on life of an Igbo woman, documenting problems unique to women at this time of cultural intercourse and confrontation and exploring complexities of female lives in a culture guarded by champions without sufficient powers to save it and challenged by powers bent on its destruction. For everyone, male and female alike, these were unique and difficult times, times that witnessed changes and times that incited controversy. These were times that defied tradition. It is no wonder, there-

Convergence is a term that has been gaining increasing attention across the globe. Conceptually situated between technological and socio-cultural domains – as has been intensely debated between the technological and social determinists since the birth of computer mediated communication (CMC) – mobile culture is no exception. It is powered by inter-operable and multi-functional mobile telecommunication technologies, which are also becoming increasingly high functional especially via fixed-mobile convergence, interconnecting fixed and wireless broadband networks. Wide diffusion and convergence of digital communication technologies – wired and wireless – in recent years have resulted in the emergence of two key paradigmatic convergences: between technology and sociality, and between productivity and play. I will first elucidate these convergences; I will then discuss cultural characteristics of specific East Asian cultures, focusing on South Korea, China, and Japan.

Islam and Christianity have both been present on the African continent for nearly as long as they have existed. ‘Christianity and Islam in Africa’ follows the spread of these religions through Africa and illustrates how traditional religions have changed and adapted as a result. The early Egyptian Coptic Church was the first form of institutional Christianity on the African continent. Islamicization of West and East Africa followed trade routes, presenting its language and culture as a useful lingua franca among merchants from diverse ethnic groups. The militarization of fundamentalist forms of Christianity and Islam has had dire effects on African life, contributing to political instability and endless cycles of preemptive and retributive violence.

Patrick Manning refuses to divide the African diaspora into the experiences of separate regions and nations. Instead, he follows the multiple routes that brought Africans and people of African descent into contact with one another and with Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In weaving these stories together, Manning shows how the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean fueled dynamic interactions among black communities and cultures and how these patterns resembled those of a number of connected diasporas concurrently taking shaping across the globe. Manning begins in 1400 and traces five central themes: the connections that enabled Africans to mutually identify and hold together as a global community; discourses on race; changes in economic circumstance; the character of family life; and the evolution of popular culture. His approach reveals links among seemingly disparate worlds. In the mid-nineteenth century, for example, slavery came under attack in North America, South America, southern Africa, West Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and India, with former slaves rising to positions of political prominence. Yet at the beginning of the twentieth century, the near-elimination of slavery brought new forms of discrimination that removed almost all blacks from government for half a century. Manning underscores the profound influence that the African diaspora had on world history, demonstrating the inextricable link between black migration and the rise of modernity, especially in regards to the processes of industrialization and urbanization. A remarkably inclusive and far-reaching work, The African Diaspora proves that the advent of modernity cannot be imaginatively or comprehensively engaged without taking the African peoples and the African continent as a whole into account.