bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Non-identity Problem and the Psychological Account of Personal Identity
Authors: Blackshaw Bruce P.
Published: August 2021

According to the psychological account of personal identity, our identity is based on the continuity of psychological connections, and so we do not begin to exist until these are possible, some months after conception. This entails the psychological account faces a challenge from the non-identity problem—our intuition that someone cannot be harmed by actions that are responsible for their existence, even if these actions seem clearly to cause them harm. It is usually discussed with regard to preconception harms, but in the context of the psychological account, it is also applicable to prenatal harms. Inflicting prenatal injury is widely thought to be morally impermissible, but if the injury is identity-determining on the psychological account, then no-one seems to be harmed—rather, the injury is responsible for bringing them into existence. Here, I argue that identity-determining injuries can routinely occur on the psychological account, and that this undermines the account. I assess Nicola Williams’ proposal to salvage the account based on a trans-world account of personal identity, and show that it is unsuccessful. I then show that Jeff McMahan’s embodied mind account of personal identity is also susceptible. I conclude that identity-determining prenatal injuries pose a significant challenge for the psychological account and its variants, and provide a reason for supporting alternative accounts that fix personal identity at conception.
Sequential analyses of bovid tooth enamel and dentine collagen (δ18O, δ13C, δ15N): new insights into animal husbandry between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age at Tana del Barletta (Ligurian Prealps)
Authors: Morandi L. F. , Frémondeau D. , Müldner G. , Maggi R.
Published: August 2021

Tana del Barletta is an upland cave used from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age, located in the vicinity of the coast in Liguria (NW Italy). The excavation revealed the presence of a faunal assemblage dominated by caprine and cattle remains. In order to gain new data on late prehistoric farming strategies (e.g. seasonal mobility, coastal grazing, animal diet), intra-tooth series of stable oxygen and carbon isotopes have been obtained from cattle and sheep/goat tooth enamel, along with intra-tooth series of nitrogen and carbon isotopes from cattle dentine collagen. Due to the prevalence of maxillary teeth, a modern calf has also been analysed to assess intra-individual isotopic differences between the maxillary and mandibular dentition. Modern data on oxygen isotope values of meteoric water from different altitudes around the area of the site were used as a reference for interpretation. The results indicate that the water ingested by the herd was mostly characterised by particularly low δ18O values, highlighting the importance of the uplands for the late prehistoric farmers of the region. However, the input of water sourced from lower elevations, especially during the winter months, cannot be dismissed. In addition, the nitrogen isotopic composition of cattle collagen rules out the ingestion of salt-tolerant vegetation or seaweed, suggesting that grazing did not occur directly on the coastal plain.
Constructing the Past: the Relevance of the Narrative Self in Modulating Episodic Memory
Authors: Dings Roy , Newen Albert
Published: August 2021

Episodic memories can no longer be seen as the re-activation of stored experiences but are the product of an intense construction process based on a memory trace. Episodic recall is a result of a process of scenario construction. If one accepts this generative framework of episodic memory, there is still a be big gap in understanding the role of the narrative self in shaping scenario construction. Some philosophers are in principle sceptic by claiming that a narrative self cannot be more than a causally inefficacious attributed entity anyway. Thus, we first characterize a narrative self in detail and second we clarify its influential causal role in shaping our episodic memories by influencing the process of scenario construction. This happens at three stages, namely at the level of the input, the output and the process of scenario construction.
New insights into the construction of wild-type Saba pig-derived Escherichia coli irp2 gene deletion strains
Authors: Zhang Bo , Wang Hongdan , Zhao Weiwei , Shan Chunlan , Liu Chaoying , Gao Libo , Zhao Ru , Ao Pingxing , Xiao Peng , Lv Longbao , Gao Hong
Published: August 2021

To construct wild-type E. coli irp2 gene deletion strains, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology was used, and the difficulty and key points of gene editing of wild-type strains were analyzed. Based on the resistance of the CRISPR/Cas9 system expression vector, 4 strains of 41 E. coli strains isolated from Saba pigs were selected as the target strains for the deletion of the irp2 gene, which were sensitive to both ampicillin and kanamycin. Then, CRISPR/Cas9 technology was combined with homologous recombination technology to construct recombinant vectors containing Cas9, sgRNA and donor sequences to knock out the irp2 gene. Finally, the absence of the irp2 gene in E. coli was further verified by iron uptake assays, iron carrier production assays and growth curve measurements. The results showed that three of the selected strains showed single base mutations and deletions (Δirp2-1, Δirp2-2 and Δirp2-3). The deletion of the irp2 gene reduced the ability of E. coli to take up iron ions and produce iron carriers, but not affect the growth characteristics of E. coli. It is shown that the CRISPR/Cas9 knock-out system constructed in this study can successfully knock out the irp2 gene of the wild-type E. coli. Our results providing new insights into genome editing in wild-type strains, which enable further functional studies of the irp2 gene in wild-type E. coli.
Radial kinetic nonholonomic trajectories are Riemannian geodesics!
Authors: Anahory Simoes Alexandre , Marrero Juan Carlos , Martín de Diego David
Published: August 2021

Nonholonomic mechanics describes the motion of systems constrained by nonintegrable constraints. One of its most remarkable properties is that the derivation of the nonholonomic equations is not variational in nature. However, in this paper, we prove (Theorem 1.1) that for kinetic nonholonomic systems, the solutions starting from a fixed pointqare true geodesics for a family of Riemannian metrics on the image submanifold$${{\mathcal {M}}}^{nh}_q$$Mqnhof the nonholonomic exponential map. This implies a surprising result: the kinetic nonholonomic trajectories with starting pointq, for sufficiently small times, minimize length in$${{\mathcal {M}}}^{nh}_q$$Mqnh!
‘AI for Social Good’: Whose Good and Who’s Good? Introduction to the Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence for Social Good
Authors: Cowls Josh
Published: August 2021

This introduction sets out the aims and scope of the Special Issue and provides an overview of each of the research articles and commentaries that follow.
Pyrite (FeS2)-supported ultrafiltration system for removal of mercury (II) from water
Authors: Han Dong Suk , Solayman Kawsher M. D. , Shon Ho Kyong , Abdel-Wahab Ahmed
Published: August 2021

This study investigated the Hg(II) removal efficiencies of the reactive adsorbent membrane (RAM) hybrid filtration process, a removal process that produces stable final residuals. The reaction mechanism between Hg(II) and pyrite and the rejection of the solids over time were characterized with respect to flux decline, pH change, and Hg and Fe concentration in permeate water. Effects of the presence of anions (Cl−, SO42−, NO3−) or humic acid (HA) on the rejection of the Hg(II)-contacted pyrite were studied. The presence of both HA and Hg(II) increased the rate of flux decline due to the formation of irreversible gel-like compact cake layers as shown in the experimental data and modeling related to the flux decline and the SEM images. Stability experiments of the final residuals retained on the membrane using a thiosulfate solution (Na2S2O3) show that the Hg(II)-laden solids were very stable due to little or no detection of Hg(II) in the permeate water. Experiment on the possibility of continuously removing Hg(II) by reusing the Hg/pyrite-laden membrane shows that almost all Hg(II) was adsorbed onto the pyrite surface regardless of the presence of salts or HA, and the Hg(II)-contacted pyrite residuals were completely rejected by the DE/UF system. Therefore, a membrane filter containing pyrite-Hg(II) could provide another reactive cake layer capable of further removal of Hg(II) without post-chemical treatment for reuse.
Experimental evaluation of tasking and teaming design patterns for human delegation of unmanned vehicles
Authors: Heilemann Felix , Lindner Sebastian , Schulte Axel
Published: August 2021

This work discusses different approaches for the cooperation between humans as a supervisor and multiple unmanned vehicles (UVs). We evaluated the most promising approach experimentally with expert pilots of the German Air Force. The co-agency of humans and highly automated unmanned systems (i.e., human autonomy teaming, HAT) is described by the use of a design and description language for HAT design patterns. This design language is used to differentiate control modes for tasking, teaming, and swarming of UVs. The different control modes are then combined in a planner agent (PA) design pattern that further enables the UV guidance on scalable delegation levels from a single individual up to a team. The desired system behavior and interaction concept of the PA for these scalable delegation levels is then transferred to the domain of manned-unmanned teaming in fighter aircraft missions. To demonstrate the applicability of the system, we implemented the concept into our fast-jet simulator of the Institute of Flight Systems (IFS) and conducted an experimental campaign with expert pilots. The results of the experiment showed (1) task delegation with the PA design pattern is faster and reduces the error potential; (2) scalable delegation levels enable a pilot and situation-specific task delegation; (3) the delegation of teams is faster and reduces the error potential; however, in some situations, deeper access through the scalable delegation levels is needed; (4) the concept is intuitive and the transparency and trust in UVs and swarms were very high; and (5) the pilots could imagine operating such systems in the future. Overall speaking the presented PA design pattern is suited for the guidance of UVs and the scalable delegation levels are beneficial.
The Archival Politics of International Courts
Authors: Redwood Henry Alexander
Published: August 2021

The archives produced by international courts have received little empirical, theoretical or methodological attention within international criminal justice (ICJ) or international relations (IR) studies. Yet, as this book argues, these archives both contain a significant record of past violence, and also help to constitute the international community as a particular reality. As such, this book first offers an interdisciplinary reading of archives, integrating new insights from IR, archival science and post-colonial anthropology to establish the link between archives and community formation. It then focuses on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda's archive, to offer a critical reading of how knowledge is produced in international courts, provides an account of the type of international community that is imagined within these archives, and establishes the importance of the materiality of archives for understanding how knowledge is produced and contested within the international domain.
Copular clauses in Dene languages: Argument structure and interpretation
Authors: Welch Nicholas , Bouvier White Marie-Louise
Published: August 2021

A widely accepted assumption in both the syntactic and semantic literature is that copulas lack semantic content. A consequent question is how to explain the existence in certain languages of two copular verbs that give rise to different interpretations. Such is the case in numerous languages of the Dene family (formerly known as Athapaskan). We explain this situation with the hypothesis that the copulas realize an underlying three-copula system differing in argument structure. Differences between the interpretations of copular clauses in these languages originate in the compositional semantics of these structures, not in any lexical semantic differences.

This hypothesis successfully predicts the distributional differences between the surface forms of the Dene copulas, such as their compatibility with adjuncts of time and intentionality, interactions with accusative case, and semanticlifetime effects.
Impact of COVID-19 on Clinical Research Units (CRUs)
Authors: Subramain Maran , Wangui-Verry Jackline M. , Sprenger Kimberly J. , Comellas Alejandro P. , Barlow Patrick B.
Published: August 2021

Few studies have explored the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented for Clinical Research Units (CRUs), the solutions that have been implemented, and the changes that have been made in the operational guidelines for these entities. This study sought to identify and document common practices implemented by CRUs around the United States of America (USA) when addressing the unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This descriptive study utilized a non-experimental mixed-methods approach and gathered data from representatives of 43 CRUs across the USA. An online survey was followed by in-depth interviews. The findings show that challenges faced from the COVID-19 pandemic, changes made to daily operations, and lessons learned are very similar across CRUs. Although most CRUs never stopped performing essential clinical research, many adapted to the pandemic by engaging in virtual visits, and many played key roles in administering and supporting both COVID-19 therapeutic and vaccine trials. Follow-up interviews showed that processes for formal approval and reopening were similar across CRUs. In addition to highlighting the significance of the role played by CRUs during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study addresses the relevance of CRUs and lays the groundwork for future conversations on the importance of these units.
Building an institutional K awardee program at UC Davis through utilization of CTSA resources
Authors: Guo Betty P. , Rainwater Julie , Neves Stacey , Anuurad Erdembileg , Wun Ted , Berglund Lars
Published: August 2021

NIH offers multiple mentored career development award mechanisms. By building on the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) from its initial NIH funding in 2006, we created an institution-wide K scholar resource. We investigated subsequent NIH funding for K scholars and to what extent CTSC research resources were used. Using NIH RePORTER, we created a database of UC Davis investigators who obtained K01, K08, K23, K25, or K99, as well as institutional KL2 or K12 awards and tracked CTSC research resource use and subsequent funding success. Overall, 94 scholars completed K training between 2007 and 2020, of which 70 participated in one of four institutional, NIH-funded K programs. An additional 103 scholars completed a mentored clinical research training program. Of 94 K awardees, 61 (65%) later achieved NIH funding, with the majority receiving a subsequent individual K award. A higher proportion (73%) of funded scholars used CTSC resources compared to unfunded (48%). Biostatistics and Biomedical Informatics were most commonly used and 55% of scholars used one or more CTSC resource. We conclude that institutional commitment to create a K scholar platform and use of CTSC research resources is associated with high NIH funding rates for early career investigators.
Incidence of interruptive penicillin allergy alerts in patients with previously documented beta-lactam exposure: Potential for leveraging the electronic health record to identify erroneous allergies
Authors: Van Groningen Nicole , Duncan Ray , Cook-Wiens Galen , Kwong Aaron , Sonesen Matthew , Nuckols Teryl K. , Cassel Suzanne L. , Pevnick Joshua M.
Published: August 2021

Background:

Approximately 10% of patients report allergies to penicillin, yet >90% of these allergies are not clinically significant. Patients reporting penicillin allergies are often treated with second-line, non–β-lactam antibiotics that are typically broader spectrum and more toxic. Orders for β-lactam antibiotics for these patients trigger interruptive alerts, even when there is electronic health record (EHR) data indicating prior β-lactam exposure.

Objective:

To describe the rate that interruptive penicillin allergy alerts display for patients who have previously had a β-lactam exposure.

Design:

Retrospective EHR review from January 2013 through June 2018.

Setting:

A nonprofit health system including 1 large tertiary-care medical center, a smaller associated hospital, 2 emergency departments, and ˜250 outpatient clinics.

Participants:

All patients with EHR-documented of penicillin allergies.

Methods:

We examined interruptive penicillin allergy alerts and identified the number and percentage of alerts that display for patients with a prior administration of a penicillin class or other β-lactam antibiotic.

Results:

Of 115,081 allergy alerts that displayed during the study period, 8% were displayed for patients who had an inpatient administration of a penicillin antibiotic after the allergy was noted, and 49% were displayed for patients with a prior inpatient administration of any β-lactam.

Conclusions:

Many interruptive penicillin allergy alerts display for patients who would likely tolerate a penicillin, and half of all alerts display for patients who would likely tolerate another β-lactam.
Decreasing incidence of Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia and trends in antibiotic consumption: A single-center retrospective observational study
Authors: Peters Andrew T. , Pickens Chiagozie I. , Postelnick Michael J. , Zembower Teresa R. , Qi Chao , Wunderink Richard G.
Published: August 2021

Objective:

To describe the epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannnii (AB) pneumonia at our center, including the antibiotic exposure patterns of individual AB pneumonia cases and to investigate whether hospital-wide antibiotic consumption trends were associated with trends in AB pneumonia incidence.

Design:

Single-center retrospective study with case-control and ecological components.

Setting:

US private tertiary-care hospital.

Participants and methods:

All hospitalized patients with AB infection from 2008 to 2019 were identified through laboratory records; for those with AB pneumonia, medical records were queried for detailed characteristics and antibiotic exposures in the 30 days preceding pneumonia diagnosis. Hospital-wide antibiotic consumption data from 2015 through 2019 were obtained through pharmacy records.

Results:

Incidence of both pneumonia and nonrespiratory AB infections decreased from 2008 to 2019. Among the 175 patients with AB pneumonia, the most frequent antibiotic exposure was vancomycin (101 patients). During the 2015–2019 period when hospital-wide antibiotic consumption data were available, carbapenem consumption increased, and trends negatively correlated with those of AB pneumonia (r = −0.48; P = .031) and AB infection at any site (r = −0.63; P = .003). Conversely, the decline in AB infection at any site correlated positively with concurrent declines in vancomycin (r = 0.55; P = .012) and quinolone consumption (r = 0.51; P = .022).

Conclusions:

We observed decreasing incidence of AB infection despite concurrently increasing carbapenem consumption, possibly associated with declining vancomycin and quinolone consumption. Future research should evaluate a potential role for glycopeptide and quinolone exposure in the pathogenesis of AB infection.
Flying males mediate oviposition and migration in femaleMythimna separata(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Authors: Wang Chengliang , Zhang Lei , Lv Weixiang
Published: August 2021

In recent decades, the oriental armyworm,Mythimna separata(Walker), has caused severe damage to staple grains in China. However, little is known about whenM. separatabegin their first migration and the role of males in reproduction and migration. Here, the migratory benefits and reproductive costs of flight frequency were examined in adults under laboratory conditions. We found that flying males had a positive effect on ovarian and reproductive development in females who flew for 1–2 nights by comparing two treatment groups (flying and nonflying male groups). Moreover, flying males decreased the flight capacity and flight propensity of females. In contrast, flight for more than two nights by males significantly inhibited ovarian and reproductive development in adult females. Compared with the controls (0 night), male flight for 1–2 nights significantly shortened the preoviposition period but significantly increased ovarian and reproductive development in females. However, male flight for more than three nights significantly inhibited female reproduction and flight capacity. These results indicate thatM. separatabegin their first migration within 2 days after emergence and fly for two nights. Prolonged flight times can result in significant reproductive costs. Females initiated their first migration earlier than males due to a stronger flight capacity. These observed findings will be useful for forecasting and monitoring population dynamics to prevent outbreaks ofM. separataand reduce crop losses.
Radial distribution of the plasma potential in a cylindrical plasma column with a longitudinal magnetic field
Authors: Liziakin G. , Oiler A. , Gavrikov A. , Antonov N. , Smirnov V.
Published: August 2021

The possibility of controlling the electrostatic field distribution in plasma has yielded wide prospects for modern technologies. As a magnetic field primarily allows for creating electric fields in plasma, it serves as an additional obstacle for the current flow through a medium. In the present paper, an axially symmetric system is considered in which the magnetic field is directed along the axis and concentric electrodes are located at the ends. The electrodes are negatively biased. A model which solves the problem of the radial distribution of the plasma potential inside the cylindrical plasma column supported by the end electrodes is proposed. The most commonly encountered configurations of the electrical connection for the end electrodes are considered, and the particular solutions to the problem of the radial distribution are presented. The contribution of ions and electrons to the transverse conductivity is evaluated in detail. The influence of a thermionic element on the radial profile of the plasma potential is considered. To verify the proposed model, an experimental study of the reflex discharge is carried out with both cold electrodes and a thermionic element on the axis. A comparison of the computational model results with experimental data is given. The presented model makes it possible to solve the problem concerning the plasma potential distribution in the case of an arbitrary number of end electrodes, and also to take into account the inhomogeneity of the distribution of plasma density, neutral gas pressure and electron temperature along the radius.
Evolution of South Africa's Racist Constitutions and the 1983 Constitution
Authors: Jisheng Xia
Published: August 2021

Since the enforcement of 1983 constitution, several years have passed. The 1983 constitution is the third constitution since the founding of the Union of South Africa in 1910. By observing the history of the constitutional development in more than seventy years in South Africa and the content of the current South African constitution, it is not difficult to find out that the constitution, as a fundamental state law, is an important weapon of racism. South Africa's white regime consistandy upholds and consolidates its racist rule by adopting and implementing constitutions. The aim of this article is to analyze and expose the essence of the South African racist system in mis aspect.
In the Spirit of the Pioneers
Authors: Atkins Keletso E.
Published: August 2021

Life is filled with tiny ironies; or as the old ones steeped in the tradition of the church would say, “the Lord sometimes moves in mysterious ways.”

More than twenty-five years ago, after completing the two year city college degree, I applied to the BA program in history at Roosevelt University located in downtown Chicago and at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern invited me to take a series of tests. The first set of tests was to determine my intelligence quotient; the second set was designed to measure manual dexterity.
More Thoughts on the Africanists' Agenda
Authors: Asante Molefi Kete
Published: August 2021

Doing Western-type studies of Africa will always be problematic until we are able to wrest control of the paradigm from narrow Western objectives in order to satisfy the fundamental needs of Africa and not of the West. The late Cheikh Anta Diop, the greatest African scholar of the twentieth century, put forth the idea that Western scholars as a whole would find themselves unable to extricate their research from the intellectual interests of the West in order to serve the social and cultural aims of knowledge for Africa. Whether Cheikh Anta Diop was correct or not remains to be seen. However, from what we have already witnessed the most anti-African elements, whether in terms of the research priorities, projects, careers and programmatic orientations, structures, and objectives in the field, continue to have the most awesome hold on studies of Africa. The travesty is that it has lasted for so long.
Africa in the Shuffle
Authors: Wallerstein Immanuel
Published: August 2021

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, the study of Africa in the United States was a very rare and obscure practice, engaged in almost exclusively by African-American (then called Negro) intellectuals. They published scholarly articles primarily in quite specialized journals, notably Phylon, and their books were never reviewed in the New York Times. As a matter of fact, at this time (that is, before 1945) there weren't even very many books written about African-Americans in the U.S., although the library acquisitions were not quite as rare as those for books about Africa.
The Decline of the Africanists' Africa and the Rise of New Africas
Authors: Martin William , West Michael
Published: August 2021

Our thesis may be simply stated: There is a specter hanging over African studies: the specter of irrelevance both within and outside the academy. Indeed, African studies, as constructed in the North American academy over the past four decades, is dying.
Pan-Africanism: From Poetry to Power
Authors: Mazrui Ali A.
Published: August 2021

We start with a fundamental duality in the paradigm of Pan-Africanism, the distinction between Pan-Africanism of liberation and Pan-Africanism of integration. Under both headings the name of Ghana's founder-president, Kwame Nkrumah, is immortalized.
If Africa had Ruled Europe
Authors: Hawk Beverly G.
Published: August 2021

To help European peoples begin to recognize the tremendous consequences of centuries of slavery and colonization for the world today, I offer this brief exercise. If Africans had colonized Europeans, what would be different?
Western Aid to Africa
Authors: Gladson Charles L.
Published: August 2021

Recent reports of famine again devastating Ethiopia, Angola, and Mozambique have focused world-wide attention once more on Africa’s precarious plight. The pictures of emaciated bodies crowded into emergency feeding centers, documenting the grim statistics of declining production, are now painfully familiar. It was only three years ago that high media coverage and an active international fundraising campaign for the victims of drought brought the crisis to nightly news. However, despite the unprecedented success of efforts such as BANDAID, U.S.A. for Africa and others in raising public consciousness and contributions, the fundamental problems plaguing Africa remain unchanged and unsolved.
Policy Reform in Africa: How Effective?
Authors: Lancaster Carol
Published: August 2021

The United Nations Special Session on the Critical Ecnomic Situation in Africa concluded in June 1986 with the Adoption of a Programme of Action which included an explicit recognition of African policy failures and the need for reform:

The endogenous aggravating factors include deficiencies in institutional and physical infrastructures, economic strategies and policies that have fallen short, in some cases, of achieving their objectives, disparities in urban and rural development and income distribution, insufficient managerial/administrative capacities, inadequate human resource development and lack of financial resources...Urgent, far reaching and imaginative economic policies are required to avert further deterioration in the economic conditions in Africa...
Government Officials, Academics, and the Process of Formulating U.S. National Security Policy Toward Africa
Authors: Bowman Larry W.
Published: August 2021

Relationships between U.S. government officials and academic specialists working on national security and foreign policy issues with respect to Africa are many and complex. They can be as informal as a phone call or passing conversation or as formalized as a consulting arrangement or research contract. Many contacts exist and there is no doubt that many in both government and the academy value these ties. There have been, however, ongoing controversies about what settings and what topics are appropriate to the government/academic interchange. National security and foreign policy-making in the U.S. is an extremely diffuse process.
Response to Jean-Pierre Chretien
Authors: Lemarchand René
Published: August 2021

My apologies to Mr. Chrétien and to your readers for “developing some simplistic formulas on Burundi” in my quest for “media success.” No such simplistic formulas enter his criticism of my Congressional testimony. On the one hand, I am taken to task for not conceding that my interpretation of the Hutu-Tutsi conflict as a recent phenomenon is the product of Chrétien’s “patient research work” over the last quarter of a century; on the other hand, “some very similar analysis” had appeared in my “excellent work of 1970,” which came out long before Mr. Chrétien embarked on his patient research! Try to figure that one out if you can.
The United States Congress and Africanist Scholars
Authors: Wiley David S.
Published: August 2021

Linking scholars to the Congress is difficult primarily because of the weakness of Congressional interest in Africa, but also due to the low levels of interest among academics in both Congress and its Africa foreign policy and the poor resources of African studies in the U.S. to build a foundation of knowledge useful to the Congress.
The Political Economy of Famine in Sudan and the Horn of Africa
Authors: Prendergast John
Published: August 2021

Over 300,000 Sudanese perished primarily from hunger during 1988-89 in one of the most avoidable human tragedies in recent history. Mostly from the war-torn southern part of the country, these civilians were deliberately starved by central government, and to a lesser extent the insurgent Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which used the deprivation of food as a tactic of war. The threat of further genocidal actions by the Islamic fundamentalist junta in Khartoum and the private militias allied with the government continue to daily threaten the lives of millions of internally displaced people. Due to these man-made causes and nature’s lack of rain, up to ten million Sudanese are at risk of malnutrition, hunger and starvation in 1991.
Preface: Democratic Transition in Africa
Authors: Martin Guy
Published: August 2021

Since 1989, the “winds of change” have swept throughout Africa, signaling the dawn of a new era, variously referred to as the “second independence,” or the “Springtime of Africa.” After three decades of authoritarian one- (or no) party rule characterized by political repression, human rights abuses, economic mismanagement, nepotism and corruption, democracy is spreading like bushfire throughout Africa. In 1992 an evaluation of the Carter Center’s African Governance Program, noted that 9 African countries may be described as “democratic,” 4 are under a “directed democracy” regime, and 31 are in transition to democracy, with various degrees of commitment. Popular struggles for democracy in Africa are not new, they have been here since independence. But recent changes in the structure of the international system (notably successful popular struggles for democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union) have created a generally favorable and supportive environment for their development and maturation.
Implementing Human Rights and a Democratic Constitution in Ethiopia
Authors: Eshete Andreas
Published: August 2021

After the fall of Ethiopia’s tyrannical military regime in May 1991, there is more than ever a commitment to create institutions that embody ideals of popular sovereignty, political equality and pluralism. A democratic constitution is in the making. A constitutional commission has undertaken to draw up a draft. Upon the approval of the draft constitution by the council of representatives of the transitional government, it will be presented to a popularly elected constituent assembly for ratification in 1993.
The Sudan National Democratic Alliance (NDA): The Quest for Peace, Unity and Democracy
Authors: Hassan Salah
Published: August 2021

Sudan is a typical case of many postcolonial nation-states in Africa characterized by multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious societies. It is an example of a pluralistic society formed by people who have differences in their sense of belonging and national identity. As in other African countries, the Sudanese situation is caused to a large extent by inequalities in power sharing and access to wealth and unequal development opportunities. In Sudan, the outcome has been a constant crisis of governance, civil war, ethnic genocide, famine and other man-made disasters which have crippled the country since independence. Differing visions for the future of the country have been contested. At one extreme is the vision of separation (formation of two states), at the other, the preservation of the status quo by any means, including violent ones (the military solution), which in a way means the continuation of inequalities within a united country. Proposals such as decentralization of the power of the state through a federal system, autonomy for the South and other disenfranchised regions of the country, or the right of self-determination, have at times been propagated by one political group or another.
Post-Settlement South Africa and the Future of Southern Africa
Authors: Pisani André du
Published: August 2021

The birth of a more democratic South Africa will touch the sociopolitical sinews of Southern Africa deeply. Change in the faulty economic engine room of the region, the transition to accountable rule and the country’s readmission to Africa, unfold against a wider global canvas. For Southern Africa the corrosive imperatives of a New World Order may well usher in an era of further peripheralization, heightened competition and conflict between the capitalist industrial North and competing fractions of international capital over global markets and access to the economies of the developing South. The big losers may well be the developing countries of the South.
Images of Africa on U.S. Television: Do you have Problems with that?
Authors: Ogundimu Folu
Published: August 2021

As references to the “Evil Empire” on American television recede into memory, sublime images of Africa as a dark continent nevertheless remain an enduring presence. This, despite the debate in foreign policy and media circles about the need to redefine now the role of the press in coverage of global affairs. No doubt, the media, television especially, have provided compelling images of the changing world order: Tiananmen Square, the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, Somalia, Bosnia, the Soviet coup and the Berlin Wall. To most Americans, vivid memories of these events are in all likelihood shaped by images gleaned from CNN or one of the three networks.
The Ivory Story, Africans and Africanists
Authors: Showers Kate B.
Published: August 2021

In the popular media and in the minds of many people resident in the northern hemisphere, Africa has two major attributes: an environment filled with exotic forms of life and landscapes, and an environment threatened with ecological collapse and human suffering. These themes often work together, providing a base from which everything from international campaigns to basic research are launched. Like all broad generalizations, these are based on small amounts of truth and large amounts of fiction, and like all generalizations, their indiscriminate application can be—and has been—extremely destructive. As these ideas are elaborated, Africans are either not mentioned at all, or are cast in the role of destructive agents. The choice of “Ecology and Environmental Issues” as the overall theme for the 1993 African Studies meetings provides an opportunity to explore and dispel these perceptions—as well as the risk of contributing to their perpetuation.
The Status of Women’s Human Rights in Kenya and Strategies to Overcome Inequalities
Authors: Nzomo Maria
Published: August 2021

This paper takes the position that the human rights of women are inalienable and an integral and indivisible part of universal human rights, which we define to include the right to full and equal participation of women with men, in the political civil, economic, social and cultural life at all levels. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which is one of the International instruments that explicitly focuses on women’s human rights, is quite comprehensive in its coverage. Consisting of 30 articles, CEDAW covers women’s human rights in all aspects of their lives—political, economic, social and cultural rights.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Authors: Wiseberg Laurie S.
Published: August 2021

In an article I wrote in the pages of this journal in 1976, I expressed considerable scepticism about the prospect of African governments drafting a human rights convention for Africa or establishing a regional human rights body similar to the European and Inter-American Commissions on Human Rights. Even though there had been calls for the creation of such a human rights mechanism as early as 1961, at the Lagos Conference on the Rule of Law, organized by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), I thought that the time did not yet “seem propitious for such a move.”
Congress and the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Africa
Authors: Gordon David F.
Published: August 2021

(The text of an address given at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Orlando, November 5, 1995. At the time of the ASA Conference, David Gordon was the senior Africa specialist on the Democratic staff of the House International Relations Committee. He is currently Director of U.S. Policy Programs at the Overseas Development Council, a nongovernmental research institute in Washington.)
Romancing the Stone: Academe’s Illusive Template for African Diaspora Studies
Authors: Pappademos Melina
Published: August 2021

I began graduate school in 1994 to study the history of American peoples of African descent; I saw important similarities between their cultures and their resistance struggles and sought to develop a comparative project. However, as I began casting my long term research plan— which was to compare Afro-Cubans and Afro-North Americans—I discovered and uncovered many stumbling blocks. The primary one was that academe grouped African descended people by their European and colonially derived relationships (ex: North America, Latin America, South America, and the Caribbean) and not by their Black derived positions. I may have been naive but this seemed problematic to me.
From Kenya to North America: One Woman’s Journey
Authors: Kamau Njoki
Published: August 2021

It was during my early years in high school (in Kenya), that I was first exposed to the idea that far away in the Americas lived people who were black. I was greatly fascinated by this idea. Until then, history was just another mundane class that focused on Europeans colonizing Africa and large parts of the rest of the world. Because the syllabus did not include the stories of the real makers of African History—the Africans themselves—as a young African student I found the learning experience to be fairly alienating. Part of the materials covered in class included David Livingstone’s three missionary journeys. No effort was made to bring to the student’s awareness that the caravans of the so-called “slaves” that Livingstone stumbled on in the interior of Africa were Africans like ourselves.
Farewell from the Editor
Authors: Hawk Beverly
Published: August 2021

ASA journal editors have great power. They decide whose work will be distributed to the membership in the Association’s journals. They can enforce silence or welcome thought. I am deeply honored to have been offered such a trust, and I hope I have fulfilled my obligations to your expectations. My four years as editor of Issue has been deeply satisfying. I have had the pleasure of working with many of you, and I have been privileged to read some of the very best work in African Studies.

I was offered the position of editor of Issue one year after my diagnosis of breast cancer, and I thought it was a great chance to make a contribution to African Studies. If I might have been tempted to ignore the body as it serves the mind, this wake-up call offered me new understanding of the corporeal sources of my thoughts. To reconcile the spirit with the body is insight. Our bodies are our homes. They create, sustain, and challenge our work.
The Political Militia in Brazzaville
Authors: Bazenguissa-Ganga Rémy
Published: August 2021

From June 5 to October 15, 1997, three years after the first urban guerrilla battles, conflicts reignited in Brazzaville. The recurrence of confrontation is an appropriate time to examine the social background of the most virulent actors in these battles, the militia. The first guerrillas were principally youths born in Brazzaville, while those of 1997 came from secondary cities. This being the case, it is legitimate to wonder about the dissemination of political violence in the Congo. This paper will reconstitute a chronology of the confrontations, analyze the militia, and explain the entry of Congolese youths into political violence.
The Clinton Administration and Africa: Role of Congress and the Africa Subcommittees
Authors: Volman Daniel P.
Published: August 2021

Studies of U.S. government relations with Africa have generally focused on the role of the executive branch, specifically by examining and analyzing the views and activities of administration officials and the members of executive branch bureaucracies. This is only natural, given the predominant role that the executive branch has historically played in the development and implementation of U.S. policy toward the continent. However, the U.S. Congress has always played an important role in determining U.S. policy toward Africa due to its constitutional authority over the appropriation and authorization of funding for all foreign operations conducted by the executive branch. Furthermore, Congress enacted legislation on several occasions during the Cold War period that directly affected U.S. policy. For example, Congress approved the Clark Amendment prohibiting U.S. intervention in Angola (although it later voted to repeal the amendment) and also passed the 1986 Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, which imposed sanctions on South Africa over the veto of the Reagan administration.
The Clinton Administration and Africa: A View from Paris, France
Authors: Bourmaud Daniel
Published: August 2021

The Clinton administration’s foreign policy toward Africa arouses strong reactions in France, most notably within the French policymaking establishment. This sentiment is directly linked to the end of the Cold War and the redistribution of power on the African continent. French policymakers commonly believe that the United States seeks to dominate the African continent. Such a representation could be seen as laughable through its excessive character. It is nonetheless maintained by a disparate group of facts and events that, when combined, lead French policymakers to overestimate U.S. impulses. In fact, U.S. African policies are not immune to the uncertainties and contradictions that pervade overall U.S. foreign policy. As insightfully noted by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Hubert Védrine, U.S. foreign policy toward Africa conveys the aspirations of a “hyper-power” that, although lacking a worthy international opponent truly capable of challenging its power, remains incapable of implementing a viable African strategy—in essence conjuring up the much-acclaimed image in Gulliver’s Travels of the giant Gulliver finding himself hamstrung by hundreds of ropes tied by six-inch Lilliputians. An analysis of this policy also indirectly reveals the doubts inherent in France’s own African policy due to the inability of its leaders to accept the constraints of a transformed international system.
Political Parties Under the Abubakar Transition Program and Democratic Stability in Nigeria
Authors: Obiyan A. Sat
Published: August 2021

Nigeria has witnessed civilian rule for just over eight of nearly 39 years of self-rule. Incessant military incursions into the political terrain have led to several transition programs aimed at instituting democracy. This article focuses on the nature and operations of political parties in the recent transition and their implications for a stable democratic polity. The purpose of this focus is to recognize the enormous potential with which political parties are endowed for fostering or impeding the creation and sustenance of a cohesive, stable democratic system.
American Teachers in African Universities: The Case of Law
Authors: Paul James C. N.
Published: August 2021

This paper is concerned with the role and responsibilities of Americans who go to African universities to profess, and with the rationale of such undertakings.

In some ways, this may seem to be a threadbare topic. The values to be achieved from such transcultural experiences have long been assumed. At least since World War II and Senator Fulbright’s great initiatives, teaching abroad has been a favored activity. Yet recently we have taken a more skeptical view. The Fulbright and other programs are in some disarray in Africa today, and there is no longer much enthusiasm, in official “development circles,” for exporting university teachers.
The evolving economic importance of Polish forests between 1918 and 1945
Authors: Jendrzejewski Błażej
Published: August 2021

Poland, going through three partitions and two wars, has suffered enormous losses across many dimensions. Polish forests have been damaged or destroyed by direct or indirect results of those tragic events and at the same time, timber and non-timber forest products played an important role in rebuilding the nation. This article illustrates the scale of the losses and the economic importance of Polish forests between 1918 and 1945. Actions of three partitioning states (Russia, Prussia and Austria) left the newly liberated Poland with damaged and destroyed forests. For example, during the Second World War, Germany protected its forests by shifting the entire burden of war supplies (that is, wood, game, resin and tanning bark) onto the forests of the occupied countries, including Poland. Despite being left in a bad condition, Polish forests were able to provide wood and non-wood products necessary for the reconstruction of the country and helped to jumpstart some of the sectors of the national economy. This article provides a review of the literature on twentieth century Polish forestry, with a specific focus on its changing economic importance, government perception and policy and the role of forestry to Polish economic, political and cultural life.