bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Who Are You, Mrs Walter Shandy, Aberratio Naturae?
Authors: Łowczanin Agnieszka
Published: November 2011

The aim of this paper is to examine the critically unacknowledged aspect of the canonical Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: the authorial delineation and narrative management of the character of Mrs Shandy, who is a silent presence in the background even though the pivotal personal events for the narrator of this spoof-autobiography are his conception and birth. The novel, otherwise thoroughly structurally and thematically experimental, seems to be fossilized in the ancient and Christian philosophers' assumptions about the physical incompleteness of the "weaker vessel" and the malign influence of her disturbing physiology, which for centuries fed into the ontological concept of a woman as Nature's aberration, aberratio naturae. Mrs Shandy's muteness, a striking contrast to her husband's verbosity, her absence and exclusion from the affairs of the male dominated household seem to run counter to the novel's progressive form and linguistic audacity, the sociological shifts slowly taking root and medical discoveries made before and during this age of paradoxes.
Let Rhoda Speak Again: Identity, Uncertainty, and Authority in Virginia Woolf’s The Waves
Authors: Myk Małgorzata
Published: November 2011

Performing a rereading of Virginia Woolf's 1931 experimental modernist masterpiece of The Waves, in this article I focus on the elusive and conflicted character of Rhoda, whose significance has been either overlooked or marginalized in the available criticism of the narrative. By pointing out a number of problems in the existing scholarship devoted to Rhoda, I propose to define her as a transgressive figure of uncertainty through which Woolf develops a critique of the unitary self. My point of departure for the following essay is Toril Moi's perspective on Woolf's oeuvre as openly feminist and deconstructive. Consequently, I begin with Moi's emphasis on Woolf's commitment to the problematization of the Western male humanism's underlying concept of the unitary self. Drawing from a number of critical and philosophical perspectives, I turn to Kim L. Worthington's idea of subjectivity as a sustained process of interpersonal narrativization in order to offer a more nuanced account of Rhoda's identity as compound and implicated in the dynamics of inter-subjective processes. I also consider Rhoda's much criticized rejection of identity vis-à-vis Woolf's strategy of impersonality, and, contrasting it with Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenological concepts of the flesh and anonymous existence, I contend that Rhoda renounces the unitary selfhood, which corroborates Moi's critique of Woolf. Through a close analysis of Rhoda's position versus the other characters, as well as by examining how Rhoda's ego boundaries are delineated in the narrative, I demonstrate that Woolf's conflicted heroine emerges as an astute critic of gendered reality, since she is the one who most acutely feels the dualistic nature of selfhood and it is chiefly through her that Woolf points to the need to overcome this dualism. Shannon Sullivan's feminist revision of the Merleau-Pontian perspective on the anonymity and the body as well as the Deweyan notion of transactionality further helps to elucidate the ways in which Rhoda's experimental and subversive discourse engages in a polemic with the Cartesian conceptualization of identity presupposed on the dualism of mind and body simultaneously inquiring about a possibility of a non-dualistic and non-unitary conception of subjectivity. As a consequence, Rhoda gains authority and agency through uncertainty which prompts her to adopt an uncompromisingly and insistently questioning stance. Finally, I suggest reconsidering Rhoda's suicide as a metaphorical act of ‘distancing,’ as discussed by Zygmunt Bauman, via Adorno, in his 2006 Liquid Fear, another context for approaching Rhoda's uncertainty.
Woman and Authority in Ian McEwan’s “Conversation with a Cupboard Man” and Its Film Adaptation
Authors: Sumera Adam
Published: November 2011

The paper analyzes Ian McEwan's short story "Conversation with a Cupboard Man" (published in 1975) and its film adaptation made in Poland by director Mariusz Grzegorzek in 1993. In many works McEwan shows women in more positive light than men. This short story, however, deals with a mother's total domination of her son's life. The text is in the form of first-person narration of the son but it is the figure of the mother that is of utmost importance.

The protagonist describes his life from his childhood. His mother wanted him to remain a baby as long as possible, depriving him of free will and leaving him totally dependent on her. Her attitude changed when she found a partner. The protagonist, now seventeen, had rapidly to grow up from a baby into an adult. Childhood and total passivity remain for him ideals to be pursued, and a cramped cupboard becomes his favourite environment. The influence of his upbringing remains with him for ever. After analyzing the short story the paper explores parallels to other works by McEwan and other writers. The importance of the use of the indeterminate article in the title is discussed. Attention is given to the issue of defamiliarization. And the ambivalent attitude of the protagonist towards his mother is examined.

The second part of the paper deals with the film adaptation. Grzegorzek has imaginatively developed the short story into a full-blown feature film. It preserves most of the important elements of the short story, at the same time providing new material largely in keeping with the original's tone. The director not only extrapolates, inventing new scenes to fill in the short story's unspoken gaps but also skilfully changes the narrator's comments into scenes, and this is not purely a change from telling into showing. The paper discusses the imagery of the movie, especially Oedipal motifs, references to Christ, and the impression of blood-red lips. It stresses the stronger role of the teacher from the home (Smith in the text) and his influence on the only independent action of the protagonist—the revenge on Pus-face. It is also important that the film omits any verbal expression of the protagonist's hatred towards his mother.
Writing About a Woman Writer’s Writing: On Gender Identification(s) and Being a Male Critic of Carol Shields’s Work
Authors: Ramon Alex
Published: November 2011

This essay takes as its starting point my experience as a male critic of Carol Shields's work. Throughout the researching and writing of my PhD on Shields, I have noted with curiosity the surprise registered by many people upon discovering that a male critic would choose to write about the work of a female author. This reaction, confirmed by other male academics working on female authors, raises a number of interesting questions. What does it mean for a male critic to write about the work of a female author? Why is this still considered surprising, unusual, even strange? Is this view symptomatic of the kind of disturbing devaluation of women's fiction (and of women's experience generally) that Shields herself explores so candidly in her final novel Unless (2002)? I suggest that the anti-feminist backlash (outlined by Faludi [1991]), and the profitable establishment of popular literary genres such as "Chick Lit" and "Lad Lit," have led to a retrogressive "hardening" of gender roles within popular culture, one which endorses a simplistic relationship between author and audience, presuming that texts "by" women must necessarily be "for" women only. Situated within the context of Shields's own professed ambivalence about her status as a "women's writer," and drawing on the theories of Emma Wilson, the essay attempts to broaden out into a wider reflection upon issues of gender and identification within contemporary literary culture. Shields's work, I argue, subverts assumptions about gendered reading patterns, encouraging through its polyphony and its use of dual narrators a mobile and flexible reading experience which allows the reader to inhabit a range of perspectives and to read productively across gender binaries.
Feminist Auto/biography as a Means of Empowering Women: A Case Study of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Janet Frame’s Faces in the Water
Authors: Fisiak Tomasz
Published: November 2011

Feminism, as a political, social and cultural movement, pays much attention to the importance of text. Text is the carrier of important thoughts, truths, ideas. It becomes a means of empowering women, a support in their fight for free expression, equality, intellectual emancipation. By "text" one should understand not only official documents, manifestos or articles. The term also refers to a wide range of literary products—poetry, novels, diaries. The language of literature enables female authors to omit obstacles and constraints imposed by the phallogocentric world, a world dominated by masculine propaganda. Through writing, female authors have an opportunity to liberate their creative potential and regain the territory for unlimited expression. In order to produce a truly powerful text, they resort to a variety of writing styles and techniques. Here the notions of a situated knowledge and context sensitivity prove useful. There are three methodologies working within situated knowledge, namely, the politics of location, self-reflexivity and feminist auto/biography. All of them regard text as a fundamental tool to signify one's authority, yet feminist auto/biography, a concept widely discussed by the British theorist Liz Stanley, appears to be the most empowering mode of writing. It challenges the overused genre of auto/biography and reconstructs its role within feminist epistemologies, thus creating a favourable environment for text production. The works by Sylvia Plath and Janet Frame can be analyzed from the point of view of auto/biographical empowerment, even though their auto/biographical potential is mainly instinctive. Nevertheless, they help to comprehend the strength of the auto/biographical.

The aim of this article is to "investigate" two novels by these authors, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Faces in the Water by Janet Frame, and their compatibility with Stanley's concept. The paper attempts to answer several questions. Are these novels actual feminist auto/biographies or rather fictional auto/biographies with feminist undertones? What kind of narrative strategy is used to achieve the effect of authority over the text? Last but not least, what is the function of auto/biographical narration in the case of these two novels? The article also explores the idea of writing as a means of regaining control over one's life (with references to the authors' biographies and parallels between their lives and lives of their fictive alter egos).
One, Mad Hornpipe: Dance as a Tool of Subversion in Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney
Authors: Ojrzyńska Katarzyna
Published: November 2011

The plot of Brian Friel's Molly Sweeney oscillates around the theme of perception, blindness and eye-sight recovery. Although visually impaired, the eponymous character is a self-reliant and independent person who is very active, both professionally and socially. What serves as the source of tragedy in the play is the male desire to compensate for Molly's physical disability perceived as a sign of deficiency and oddity that needs to be normalized. Prompted by her husband, Molly decides to undergo a surgery which gives her a chance to regain sight and, thus, become a part of the world of the visually abled. Yet, subsequent to the operation, Molly cannot adapt herself to the new reality and develops a medical condition called blindsight, which leads to her final alienation and confusion.

Focusing predominantly on the main character of the play, this paper examines the ways in which Molly Sweeney experiences the surrounding world and seeks satisfaction and self-fulfilment through physical activities, such as swimming or dancing, which she vividly describes in her monologues. It explores the double nature of Molly who, despite her self-sufficiency, capacity for rebellion and a sense of autonomy, seems prone to male manipulation exercised at first by her father, later by her husband Frank and doctor Rice. Her expression of independence becomes particularly conspicuous in the scene of a party organized the night before her surgery when she performs a wild and frantic hornpipe, which serves as a form of momentary upheaval and a visualization of the outburst of extreme emotions. Although the dance is not presented onstage, it has a crucial function in the play, for it serves as its powerful climax, after which Molly experiences gradual deterioration.

Interpreted in the context of the history of Irish dance, the mad hornpipe appears replete with meanings and allusions. Traditionally associated with human sexuality and the female element, dance was often treated by the Irish clergy with a great deal of distrust as a source of evil and moral corruption. Consequently, like in the case of the frenzied reel in another famous Frielian play, Dancing at Lughnasa, the limitless and unrestricted performance in the climactic scene of Molly Sweeney may be seen as a tool of subversion and female opposition to the Irish patriarchal order. It is a unique moment in which the protagonist seizes male power and gains full, though very temporary, control over her life.
Market Share Predictions: A New Model with Rating-Based Conjoint Analysis
Authors: Guyon Hervé , Petiot Jean-François
Published: November 2011

Conjoint Analysis (CA) is a technique heavily used by industry in support of product development, pricing and positioning, and market share predictions. This generic term CA encompasses a variety of experimental protocols and estimation models (e.g. rating-based or choice-based), as well as several probabilistic models for predicting market share. As for the rating conjoint, existing probabilistic models from the literature cannot be considered as reliable because they suffer from the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) property, in addition to depending on an arbitrary rating scale selected by the experimenter. In this article, after a brief overview of CA and of models used for market share predictions, we propose a new model for market share predictions, RFC-BOLSE, which avoids the IIA problem, yields convergent results for different rating scales, and outputs predictions that match regression reliability. The model is described in details and simulations and a case study on truck tyres will illustrate the reliability of RFC-BOLSE.
Speech Perception in Noise in Normally Hearing Children: Does Binaural Frequency Modulated Fitting Provide More Benefit than Monaural Frequency Modulated Fitting?
Authors: Mukari Siti Zamratol-Mai Sarah , Umat Cila , Abdul Razak Ummu Athiyah
Published: November 2011

The aim of the present study was to compare the benefit of monaural versus binaural ear-level frequency modulated (FM) fitting on speech perception in noise in children with normal hearing. Reception threshold for sentences (RTS) was measured in no-FM, monaural FM, and binaural FM conditions in 22 normally developing children with bilateral normal hearing, aged 8 to 9 years old. Data were gathered using the Pediatric Malay Hearing in Noise Test (P-MyHINT) with speech presented from front and multi-talker babble presented from 90º, 180º, 270º azimuths in a sound treated booth. The results revealed that the use of either monaural or binaural ear level FM receivers provided significantly better mean RTSs than the no-FM condition (P<0.001). However, binaural FM did not produce a significantly greater benefit in mean RTS than monaural fitting. The benefit of binaural over monaural FM varies across individuals; while binaural fitting provided better RTSs in about 50% of study subjects, there were those in whom binaural fitting resulted in either deterioration or no additional improvement compared to monaural FM fitting. The present study suggests that the use of monaural ear-level FM receivers in children with normal hearing might provide similar benefit as binaural use. Individual subjects’ variations of binaural FM benefit over monaural FM suggests that the decision to employ monaural or binaural fitting should be individualized. It should be noted however, that the current study recruits typically developing normal hearing children. Future studies involving normal hearing children with high risk of having difficulty listening in noise is indicated to see if similar findings are obtained.
Different ways of using space: traces of domestic and ritual activities at a Late Neolithic settlement at Sormás-Török-földek
Authors: Barna Judit P. , Pásztor Emília
Published: November 2011

The present paper studies questions of the use of space in various ways on the basis of data obtained from a site at Sormás-Török-földek. The significance of this site lies in the fact that two enclosures were excavated here which differ in character, but which are in a close relationship physically and chronologically. They demonstrate precisely the radical change, which took place in the mode of space-use, representing two important stages of the progression as a result of which the separation of territories used for domestic and ritual activities were physically manifested.
Monte d’Accoddi and the end of the Neolithic in Sardinia (Italy)
Authors: Melis Maria Grazia
Published: November 2011

The Prenuragic shrine of Monte d’Accoddi is probably the most comprehensive representation of prehistory in Sardinia, both because it was continuously frequented from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, and because it contains the most significant elements of tradition and innovation during the passage from the Neolithic to the Eneolithic. Previous studies have defined Monte d’Accoddi as an altar, a ziggurat, a temple, or a step pyramid, and a wide debate has been generated about its hypothetical genetic relationship, reconstructive hypothesis, and significance. This paper does not analyse the above issues, but draws attention to other controversial problems, such as chronology or less studied aspects such as crafts. New radiocarbon dating from sites in the South of Sardinia and recent data that has been published about craft production relating to the shrine allow us to date the building of the first monument (4000–3650 calBC) to the Ozieri facies, with the second shrine dating to the Sub Ozieri (3500–3000 calBC) facies.
Architecture of Lasinja culture settlements in the light of new investigations in northern Croatia
Authors: Minichreiter Kornelija , Marković Zorko
Published: November 2011

The site of Beketinci, Bentež, stands out among Lasinja settlements as the site of the largest uncovered surface – the excavation at 30 900m2 revealed a portion of a Lasinja culture settlement. Its western part (covering 24 700m2) was dedicated to working activities (working features: clay-extraction pits, working pits, self-standing partitions, pottery kilns, and wells), while in the eastern, residential, part (extending over 6200m2 of excavated surface) we uncovered a cluster of 5 rectangular above-ground houses, two residential pit-houses, and five residential or working pit-houses. Absolute dates for this settlement span the period between 3900 and 3300 BC, dating it to the late phase of Lasinja culture.
5 - The Political Economy of Ethnic Conflicts and Governance in Southern Kaduna, Nigeria: [De]Constructing a Contested Terrain
Authors: Toure Kazah-Toure
Published: November 2011

Les conflits ethniques dans le Nigeria du 20e siècle peuvent être considérés comme une lutte, à la fois violente et subtile de reconfiguration du paysage politique du pays. Une lacune constatée dans la plupart des analyses existantes, l'absence d'une compréhension des conflits ethniques en tant que produits de phonomènes et contradictions sociaux plus complexes, et donc, en tant que manifestations de crises plus profondes. Il demeure le facteur d'inclusion et d'exclusion: ceux qui se croient appartenir à des groupes ethniques dominés, se mobilisent pour faire face à ceux-là qu'ils croient les dominer. Au cœur du débat et des enjeux politiques, c'est la question de la réorganisation des relations inter-ethniques et du partage du pouvoir. Lié à cela, la réalité selon laquelle la gouvernance, de par sa nature et ses fonctions, a été un facteur majeur dans la génération de conflits ethniques autour de l'équité sociale, des droits de citoyenneté, la paix, la démocratie, et la survie de l'Etat nigérian. Le présent article, se concentre sur une petite localité certes, mais son but est d'éclairer la grande scène nationale — et peut-être même au-delà. A moins qu'il y ait un élargissement démocratique du pouvoir, une garantie des droits ethniques et collectifs, une société civile et une gouvernance démocratiques, ainsi qu'une répartition équitable des ressources, les conflits éthniques ne sauraient être réduits au minimum.
7 - Urban Violence in Kenya's Transition to Pluralist Politics, 1982-1992
Authors: Murunga Godwin R.
Published: November 2011

Dans plusieurs parties de l'Afrique on note une escalade de la violence urbaine. Les études théoriques à ce sujet n'abordent principalement que les manifestations de violence dans les quartiers pauvres, et la criminalité urbaine avec ses actes de violence. Il y a un besoin urgent de focaliser l'attention sur les causes historiques de la violence urbaine en rapport avec la gestion des affaires publiques. Ce document examine les causes et la manifestation de la violence urbaine dans le cadre de la transition vers une politique pluraliste au Kenya entre 1982 et 1992. La violence survient entre deux réalités liées: l'évolution de la nature de l'Etat et les dures réalités économiques nées de la mauvaise gestion économique interne et des conditions économiques externes liées aux Programme d'ajustement structurel. Ce processus a entraîné une répression qui a provoqué un mécontentement au sein des masses urbaines. Selon toute vraissemblance, la détérioration de la situation économique des citadins a jeté de l'huile sur le feu. Au cours de cette période, les manifestations d'une violence urbaine se lisaient déjà dans la demande accrue de pluralisme politique au Kenya.
1 - Guerriers et marchands : éléments pour une économie politique des conflits en Afrique
Authors: Hakim Ben Hammouda
Published: November 2011

Cet article s'intéresse à l'étude de la nouvelle conflictualité en Afrique et de ses déterminants. Il s'agit des nouveaux conflits intra-étatiques qui sont venus se substituer aux conflits issus de la guerre froide. La nouvelle conflictualité devient dans certains pays un moyen de production du politique du fait de la fermeture des espaces publics et du blocage des mécanismes de transition politique.
2 - Enjeux économiques, conflits africains et relations internationales
Authors: Mamadou Koulibaly
Published: November 2011

En traitant les conflits en Afrique comme une problématique, cet article fait ressortir quatre caractéristiques du conflit dans le continent: i) tous les conflits africains ont des enjeux économiques plus ou moins évidents; ii) les problèmes économiques africains ont des références géopolitiques internationales et domestiques; ii) les conflits africains sont explicables par des variables politiques, économiques et socioculturelles; et iv) les conflits africains sont provoqués par des élections mal organisées, non transparentes et peu démocratiques.
4 - Ethnicity, Governance and Prevention of Conflict: State of the Issue and Research Perspectives
Authors: Aseka Eric Masinde
Published: November 2011

The paper presents the issues of ethnicity, governance and prevention of conflicts in terms of their political management through the proper exercise of power. Conflict cannot be prevented, it can only be managed. The crucial determining factor in ethnic, gender and class relations is power. The paper traces notions of power in the works of various philosophers and outlines the significance of perceiving the impact of paradigmatic shifts on political discourse. These shifts are perceived as intellectual itineraries from structural-functionalism to the contemporary North America Critical Theory and postmodernist theory. The problematic of ethnicity is posed within debates emanating from the ensuing perspectival contests and paradigmatic struggles. The moral economy, rational choice, and subaltern approaches are also interrogated and critiqued. The paper contends that when the structures and procedures of democratic governance are undermined, political legitimacy also gets compromise.
6 - Civil-Military Relations in the Transition to Democracy: The Case of Mozambique
Authors: Joao Bernardo Honwana
Published: November 2011

In the last few years, Southern Africa has been forced to grapple with and redefine security priorities in a more complex post-war period. Issues like demilitarisation, resettlement, and restructuring of the armed forces in a way that contained erstwhile warring groups have become more strident than ever in the region. The paper focuses on the restructuring of the Mozambican armed services, which is taking place in the context of profound political transformations both at the domestic and regional levels. Its argument evolves around two main considerations: (i) that emerging democracies in Africa should espouse a concept of national security that adequately responds to the concerns of the citizens as much as those of the state, domestically, and promotes a common approach regionally; and (ii) that in this context, the armed services should be oriented in such a way that, they do not threaten the new democratic political order but to contribute positively to the consolidation of peace and national reconciliation.
1 - La libéralisation financière internationale et la crise du développement est-asiatique
Authors: Sundaram Jomo Kwame
Published: November 2011

This article critically explores the roots of the financial crisis of 1997 that tormented the East-Asian region and devalued the currencies and economic power of the second generation newly industrialised countries. It argues that despite the existence of such crisis in the same region in the past, the appropriate response to current problem lies elsewhere. Given that the market, which has become more and more self governing, lacks memory and the capacity to be naturally immuned, the onus is on the actors to elaborate policies to establish the necessary institutions and reconsider and restructure the institutional mechanisms for the management of public affairs.
Je tiens à témoigner ma reconnaissance à Jan Kregel, Al Alim Ibrahim, Din Merican et Warren Bailey pour m'avoir formulé des observations critiques utiles, qui ne les engagent toutefois en aucune façon. Les principales causes et conséquences des récentes crises monétaires et financières en Asie du Sud-Est, surtout en Malaisie, continuent de susciter un débat considérable. Le présent essai se veut polémique, puisqu'il n'existe à l'évidence aucun consensus sur les diverses questions controversées en jeu. Autant que faire se peut, le langage utilisé n'est pas technique, de manière à être accessible à un lectorat aussi vaste que possible. Puisque la situation continue d'évoluer, ces réflexions sont sujettes à révision au fil du temps, des événements et des tendances. Les critiques et suggestions sont donc particulièrement appréciées.
2 - Les contre-performances de l'agro-industrie ivoirienne : un essai de justification par l'ap- proche structuraliste du paradigme structure- comportement-performance (SCP)
Authors: Kouassi René N'Guettia
Published: November 2011

This study analyses the performance of the agriculture-based industry in Côte d'Ivoire through the framework of its market structure. Though it underlines the importance of the modern approach to such a problem, it confines itself to thetheoretical framework of the traditional approach to industrial organization. The analyses show that the economic efficiency of the agriculture-based industry is a paradoxical situation due to protectionism and lack of diversity. It argues that the advantages accruing from the structure of the industry have not been sufficient enough to impact on the food economy of the country. The reasons for this inadequacy are twofold: The sectors of the industry with relative performance are controlled by private interests and are particularly dominant in sectors not well connected to the local agriculture. Secondly, the influence of the state in sectors controlled by national interests impedes their performance because it allows some practices (wastage, embezzlement of public funds, etc.) which are opposed to the virtues of the rational management of the economy which would in turn, find its roots in community constraints in Africa.
3 - Economic Reforms and the Malian Economy
Authors: Dialla Basga Emile
Published: November 2011

In the late 1 980s Mali embarked on a comprehensive programme of economic reforms. Reform policy has been successful in dismantling some components of the patronage system put in place in the country after independence, in curbing the worst macroeconomic imbalances, and in reorienting public expenditures in favour of the social sectors and longer-term growth. The devaluation of the CFA franc, the deepening of the integration process in West Africa, and the HIPC initiative contributed, to various extents, in improving the economic situation and growth performance in Mali. In order to make growth more sustained and better balanced, reform policy needs to put greater emphasis on measures that improve incentives for private investment and human capital accumulation. This is necessary so that the relatively high growth that was experienced by Mali during the second half of the 1990s becomes more than just a short-lived episode.
8 - Pratiques et logiques de l'épargne collective chez les migrants maliens et sénégalais en France
Authors: Dieng Seydi Ababacar
Published: November 2011

Les migrants maliens et sénégalais résidant en France ont créé et développé de structures collectives - tontines et associations. Ces structures constituent des réseaux communautaires de solidarité financière, économique et sociale. Elles reposent donc sur l'entraide et la solidarité qui sont les valeurs constitutives du fondement des sociétés africaines - basées sur la reconnaissance mutuelle et la réciprocité des relations. A l'instar des groupes dans les pays d'origine, ces structures regroupent souvent des migrants de situation sociale proche. L'existence et le fonctionnement de ces structures requièrent une assise financière solide et exigent la constitution d'une épargne collective. Celle-ci sert en effet, selon l'objectif spécifique à chaque structure, de moyen de protection sociale, d'instrument d'entraide entre les membres ou d'outil de développement économique et social des localités d'origine.
9 - Démocratisation, exacerbation, régime identitaire et rivalités ethniques: Le cas du Sud-Cameroun
Authors: Zambo Belinga Joseph-Marie
Published: November 2011

La composition socio-ethnique du Cameroun est (cela est une lapalissad fondamentalement marquée du sceau de la pluralité des identités. Cette pluralité es source d'ambivalence. Si la richesse culturelle dont elle est porteuse peut s'appréhend comme un vecteur d'édification d'une virtuelle nation plurielle, elle peut tout aussi bie et au contraire, en secreter les principales bifurcations réfractaires à l'accomplissemen d'un tel dessein. Les particularismes ethniques remis au goût du jour depuis l réinstauration du pluralisme politique en décembre 1990 grâce à l'action des entrepreneurs identitaires qui en font leur mode privilégié d'action politique travaillen en effet, à fissurer l'étanchéité de l'entreprise de construction d'une entité nationale. travail examine l'expression et la manifestation de cette exacerbation identitaire au sein deux groupes ethniques dans le Sud du pays et les conflits qui en résultèrent à moment capital du cours politique: l'élection présidentielle d'octobre 1992.
10 - The Political Economy of Terrorism
Authors: Amuwo Adekunle
Published: November 2011

This paper seeks to explicate the underlying structural factors that, over the past several decades, have made terrorism a more or less viable instrument of political change in an increasingly fractionalized global hamlet. Terrorism is, however, a multi- faceted phenomenon involving both a systematic and sporadic use of terror by governments and other social actors, with a view to forcing some specific or general political and related objectives. Using an implicit dialectical materialist methodology, the paper explores the international political economy anchored on an essentially Western frame of reference of interests and contradictory values that permits the US and its allies to run the globe as they deem fit-including using, misusing and abusing the rest of the world. Elements within this frame include violation of international laws; contempt for international treaties as well as for the UN when expedient to do so; selective application of democratic values and principles; support of strong-arm rulers/ tin-pot dictators when they are useful and their abandonment when their nuisance value diminishes. The paper argues that the rule of force as against the rule of law has tended to radicalize the victims, admittedly in varying degrees. It suggests in conclusion, the articulation, by all stakeholders in a shrinking global ecology, of a people- friendly and people-centred ethical compass, one apt at making inter-state, inter-national and inter-people relations more humane and more human. Enlightened self-interest ought to dictate to everyone concerned that it is in their common interest to assiduously work towards this goal.
1 - Introduction: New Public Management: An African Reform Paradigm?
Authors: Olowu Dele
Published: November 2011

Abstract
4 - Managing Multiple Modalities of Delivering Basic Services in Ghanaian Cities
Authors: Awortwi Nicholas
Published: November 2011

This paper analyses the capacity of three local governments (LGs) in Ghana to undertake new ways of solving public problems in basic infrastructure services. The paper argues that while LGs in Ghana have disengaged themselves in di rectly delivering public sanitation and solid waste (SSW) services to users and have pursued multiple modalities of public, private and community delivery, they have found themselves trying to manage complicated new relationships for which their competence is insufficient. The paper further argues that adoption of new and different modalities does not guarantee automatic realization of LG goals. The paper concludes that contracting out government services to multi ple agents is a difficult process whose expectation can easily be elusive, so there should be systematic analysis of LG regulatory, facilitative and monitoring ca pacities before undertaking that new approach. The paper suggests that becom ing a purchaser rather than a provider entails a new administrative capacity of government workers supported by a new information and management process. Managing multiple modalities to achieve expected outcomes is different from managing traditional bureaucracy.
5 - Restructuring the African State for more Effective Management of Globalisation
Authors: Kiggundu Moses Ν.
Published: November 2011

It is generally accepted that globalisation is here to stay and that Africa and the Africans need to participate gainfully and equitably in the global economy and global society. This paper investigates Africa's readiness for more effective globalisation. Drawing on indicators from both the macro (national) and micro (sub-national) levels, this paper concludes that Africa is individually and insti tutionally less ready for globalisation than other parts of the world. The paper makes conceptual and practical suggestions for rethinking, restructuring and reorganising the African state for better understanding and management of globalisation. Before undertaking specific reforms and capacity building initia tives, every country should develop a strong national foundation for globalisation involving, among other things, articulation of widely shared societal core val ues, institutions, competences and functions. Lack of nationally shared core values and a strategic sense of direction and institutional weaknesses at both the macro and micro levels combine to render the African state especially vulner able to the vagaries of globalisation.
6 - Enhancing the Competitiveness and Productivity of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa: An Analysis of Differential Roles of National Governments Through Improved Support Services
Authors: Beyene Asmelash
Published: November 2011

Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are universally acknowledged as effective instruments for employment generation and economic growth. Even in countries with large corporations such as the United States, SMEs contribute a very substantial percentage to the employment generated. In Africa, where the private sector is not well developed, SMEs could play a critical role in stimulating development and alleviating poverty. This paper tries to look at the role SMEs can play in the continent's development, their current predicament characterized by numerous constraints that prevent them from realizing their full potential as instruments of development and highlight the kind of measures that need to be taken to enhance their effectiveness and competitiveness so that they can become effective players in regional and global markets. The study draws on empirical studies undertaken in selected Africa countries and measures proposed for dealing with the constraints by entrepreneurs and government offi cials in different fora.
2 - The Contradictory Position of 'Tradition' in African Nationalist Discourse: Some Analytical and Political Reflections*
Authors: Neocosmos Michael
Published: November 2011

In the immediate post-colonial period, 'tradition' was seen by African national ism both as the basis of an authentic indigenous culture to be celebrated and opposed to a hegemonic Western (globalised) culture, and as a backward for mation created (or manipulated) by Western (neo) colonialism to divide and rule and thus as inimical to 'modern' nation-state formation. An idealised tradition thus held a contradictory location within what came to be state nationalist discourse, as exhibiting both potentially liberatory and repressive features si multaneously. Different aspects of an idealised 'tradition' were drawn upon by different post-colonial leaders at different ends of the political spectrum in their attemptiat nation-building and in order to legitimise different forms of authori tarian developmentalism (eg. Nyerere's 'Ujamaa' and Mobutu's 'Authenticité'). Some were evidently more successful than others, but broadly, such attempts bore witness to the continued and unwavering legitimacy of tradition among the populations of the continent. There is no evidence that this legitimacy has de clined today despite the evident failure of state nationalism. The contradictory character of tradition in Africa is also reflected today in the views of African scholars where some intellectuals stress that tradition forms the basis for a 'de centralized despotism' inherited from the colonial period, while others visualise it as forming the site of a 'convivial' alternative to Western individualism and globalizing culture or even as containing the possible model for a alternative to liberalism. Moreover, tradition often finds itself at the end of a powerful critique by human rights discourse supported by li nism inter alia. This paper addresses this central issue and sheds lig possible place of tradition within an alternative popular-nationalist di the continent. It suggests that the dominant trend within the nationalis 1950s and 1960s (from which emerged the dominant state-nationalist p in the immediate post-colonial period) operated very much within the context of a hegemonic liberal conception of politics and state-fonnation, and as unable to overcome this contradiction. The paper argues for the nece democratic struggle within tradition itself (as well as within rights) a against both the uncritical celebration of tradition as an essentially au ture, as well as its undermining from 'beyond its boundaries' by libe discourse. An alternative look at 'tradition' in Africa requires that it stood from within the perspective of an altogether new way of think politics, in particular this means an understanding for which democr equated with human rights. A critical engagement with tradition must fo a questioning of human rights discourse from the perspective of the majority in Africa.
5 - Globalizing Ethnicity, Localizing Citizenship: Globalization, Identity Politics and Violence in Kenya's Tana River Region
Authors: Kagwanja Peter Mwangi
Published: November 2011

This paper is about the ways in which forces of globalization have impacted on, and shaped the construction of, citizenship in Africa generally and Kenya in particular. It is also about globalization and violence associated with the resur gence of ethnic nationalism. The empirical part of the paper focuses on Tana River region, a marginalized, poor and bandit-prone multi-ethnic region on the delta of Kenya's largest river. The region's proximity to Somalia, where the state has collapsed and warlords hold sway, has also exposed the region to the effects of cross-border flows of firearms, 'mercenaries' and bandits. Moreover, the World Bank has funded several projects in Tana River, but its funding, man agement policies and the overall impact of the investments have accentuated ethnic conflict within and between herders and farmers over water-points, pas ture and farmlands. These conflicts have engendered the reconstruction of new ethnic identities and alliances, and the selective use of historical memories and cultural institutions to buttress exclusive claims to territorial citizenship. These localized "processes are linked to ethnic contests at the civic realm by intense politicization of citizenship as a logical consequence of liberal majoritarian de mocracy in ethnically divided polities. The paper maps the contours of the his torical process through which globalization has undermined social citizenship and the nationalist project in post-colonial Africa, thus everywhere animating ethnicity and localizing citizenship.
1 - Globalisation and Social Security in Low-Income Countries: The Case of Côte d'Ivoire
Authors: Baye Francis Menjo
Published: November 2011

Drawing on empirical evidence from Côte d'Ivoire, this article emphasises the need to reform existing social security systems in low-income economies in order to alleviate poverty and guarantee economic security. Following a background perspective, the article presents a brief overview of existing formal and informal social security systems and examines their merits and limitations. Next, the challenges of globalisation for social security systems in a low-income country context are discussed. Here, it is argued that the impact and challenges of globalisation are real and increase the need to redesign social security. The article concludes by suggesting that social security provision in low-income countries should be organised in a complementary way, drawing on the strengths of both formal and informal arrangements. Future reforms should attempt to combine poverty alleviation with measures designed to promote economic development and international economic integration.
5 - The Nature and Scope of Production Sub-contracting in Nigeria
Authors: Ajayi Dickson Dare
Published: November 2011

This study analyses the nature and scope of production sub-contracting link ages in Nigeria. The basic concepts are integration and industrial linkage, and production subcontracting. Data for this study were collected from the 68 contracting firms among the 15 industrial estates/areas in the Lagos region. The study's finding shows that the dominant form of sub-contracting is speciality sub-contracting. The various products of sub-contracting among the industrial estates/areas in the Lagos region, and between the Lagos region and the rest of Nigeria are discussed. Independent sub-contracting is the most common type of sub-contracting relationship. While over 50 percent of the contractors engage the services of a maximum of two subcontractors, it is only in motor vehicles and the miscellaneous assembly industry group that production sub-contracting accounted for more than 30 percent of the total costs of production. It accounted for about 20 percent in each of all the other industry groups in any of the years under consideration. Furthermore, this study shows that production sub contracting carried out over relatively short distances became very important after the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria, and it is perceived as most useful in reducing the costs of production.
3 - Rethinking East African Integration: From Economic to Political and from State to Civil Society
Authors: Ochwada Hannington
Published: November 2011

This essay takes cognizance of the fact that integration, which entails the establishment of some structural conformity, is an important variable in the process of development. It traces historical efforts at integrating East Africa since pre-colonial times, explaining the changing nature of social and economic relations. The paper argues that state-driven efforts to integrate Africa in the colonial and early post-independence period militated against local patterns of cooperation in the East African sub-region because these schemes emphasised economic development. In any renewed effort toward integration, the emphasis ought to be laid on political debates and the participation of civil society in new forms of integration. By allowing greater participation of individuals in sub regional constitutional amendments, the region could enhance regional citizenship, mutual co-existence and provide an impetus for greater economic development. Moreover, a bottom-up approach to the question of citizenship would guarantee self-respect and security among the peoples of the region, and also lead1 to long-term political and economic security.
5 - Supporting University ICT Developments: The Makerere University Experience
Authors: Tusubira Francis Frederick
Published: November 2011

The integration of information and communication technology (ICT) services and systems into the functions of an enterprise will be easier when there is a clearly identified strategic need, with ICT responding to the vision and strategic priorities. The experience of Makerere University is used to highlight best practice approaches to addressing the key challenges of: lack of awareness; mindset and fear; the proc ess; and sustainability. It is argued that a good ICT policy and master plan devel oped with the full participation of the stakeholders is a key ingredient for success.
11 - Le chemin de l'autodestruction: origine et dynamique de la guerre civile en Côte d'Ivoire
Authors: Ogunmola Dele , Badmus Isiaka Alani
Published: November 2011

Cet article argumente que l'histoire coloniale et son héritage conjugués à la mauvaise gestion du legs houphouëtiste contribuent à la crise ivoirienne. Le marasme économique qui a suivi une période de prospérité économique qui a résulté à la contraction du système patrimonial participent à la fracture de la société ivoirienne. La crise qui se joue sur le terreau identitaire de l'ivoirité, allie également l'ethnique au religieux pour déboucher sur l'impasse militaro-politique. Un sursaut patriotique authentique et une volonté politique collective et pragmatique des Ivoiriens doivent étayer la médiation internationale en vue du règlement pacifique du conflit ivoirien.
Dele Ogunmola, ancien boursier du gouvernement français de l'Institut méditerranéen d'études françaises, Montpellier, France, est présentement à l'Alliance française d'Ibadan, Nigeria