New book from the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden
Eva Poluha: The Power of Continuity
Ethiopia through the eyes of its children
Pages: 250 pp Published: October 2004. ISBN: 91-7106-535-0. Price: 270 SEK/ 18.95 GBP/ 27 EURO/ 35 USD. Paperback Size: 165 x 240
Keywords
Children, Childhood, Child rearing, Cultural identity, Ethnicity, Family environment, Gender roles, School environment, Social norms, Ethiopia
Description
Children play a vital role as a source of information on politics but have been neglected as political actors in research contexts. In this study, children are used as a window to an Ethiopian society where hierarchical relations persist, despite the numerous political and administrative transformations of the past century.
With data gathered through participant observation the book examines how young, Addis Abeba school children learn to adapt to and reproduce relations of super- and/or subordination based on gender, age, strength and social position. The childrens experiences are viewed in the historical context of state-citizen relations where hierarchy and obsession with control have been and continue to be dominant.
The discussion focuses on the power of continuity in the reproduction of cultural patterns and political behaviour, and on how change towards more egalitarian relations could come about.
Eva Poluha has a PhD in Social Anthropology from Stockholm University, 1989. She is Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, at Dalarna University.
Reviews
In this gracefully written book Dr. Eva Poluha wrestles with important issues of Ethiopian political culture and cultural continuity and transmission in general.
Drawing upon her years of experience in the country, as well as the data from this school ethnography, she has produced a stimulating and thought-provoking work for those interested in problems of cross-cultural education as well as in Ethiopia.
Herbert S. Lewis, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
CHAPTER ONE
Theoretical Context
CHAPTER TWO
Fieldwork Setting
CHAPTER THREE
The World of School Children – Practicing Culture
CHAPTER FOUR
Growing Up Into Hierarchy – Learning Obedience, Respect and Control
CHAPTER FIVE
The Teaching–Learning Process
CHAPTER SIX
Gender, a Distinguishing and Stratifying Principle
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Importance of “Us”, Categories of Belonging
CHAPTER EIGHT
State–People Relations in Ethiopia
CHAPTER NINE
Continuity and Preconditions for Change
Reference
New book from the Nordic Africa Institute
Women and the Remaking of Politics in Southern Africa
Negotiating Autonomy, Incorporation and Representation
Geisler, Gisela
Pages: 241 pp. Published: October 2004. ISBN: 91-7106-515-6. Price: 280 SEK/ 19.95 GBP/ 28 EURO/ 37.50 USD. Paperback Size: 165 x 240 mm
Keywords
Southern Africa, womens participation, political participation, political movements, womens status, gender equality
Description
African women have a long history of political involvement. Yet, the fervour with which they participated in anti-colonial struggles and supported national liberation were not acknowledged after independence leaving them to fight for representation and personal liberation on other fronts.
This study looks at womens struggles in Southern Africa where the last ten years have seen the most pervasive success stories on the African continent. Tracing the history of womens involvement in anti-colonial struggles and against apartheid, the book analyses post-colonial outcomes and examines the strategies employed by womens movements to gain a foothold in politics.
In this book, the author presents in depth analyses and womens narratives of their experiences in political parties, in the national machinery for the advancement of women and in the autonomous womens movements.
Gisela Geisler is a senior researcher at the Chr. michelsen Institute, Bergen, Norway. She holds an M.A in Anthropology and a PhD in Sociology. She worked in Zambia through the 1980s, in South Africa in the 1990s and in West Africa since then.
She has conducted field research in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia and she has also been involved in policy evaluation and project design in many East African countries. Her interests include gender and politics, gender mainstreaming, agricultural development and democratisation.
Reviews
Women and the Remaking of Politics in Southern Africa provides a unique entry point into the lives of Southern African women seeking, and gaining, political power in the region. Drawing on extensive interviews, she demonstrates womens ongoing engagement with politics, but cautions that gender transformation will require broader coalitions and new strategies.
(Prof. Jane Parpart, Dept. of International Development Studies, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia)
This original and meticulously researched work is based on numerous strategic interviews and careful reading of the regional press. An unusual feature is Geislers residence in and knowledge of Zambia, Botswana and South Africa in particular. She is well-positioned to give the reader an insiders feel for what it is like to be a woman in politics in this part of the world.
(Bill Freund, Professor of Economic History, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College campus)
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
African Women In/And Politics: Issues And Realities.
Chapter 2
Womens Participation In Nationalist Movements And Liberation Struggles: Fighting Mens Wars
Chapter 3
Asserting Womens Liberation Within National Liberation: The Case Of The South African Womens Movement
Chapter 4
The Womens League Syndrome: “A Non-Decision-Making Machinery”
Chapter 5
Ambitious But Marginalised: Womens Desks And Ministries.
Chapter 6
Womens Organisations And Movements: Sometimes Autonomy But Often No Unity.
Chapter 7
Struggling On All Fronts: Women Politicians
Conclusion
Kilde: www.nai.se
