Vol. XXX, No. 1, 2006
Abstracts
The Land Act
(1998) and Land Tenure Reform in Uganda
Juma Anthony Okuku
AbstractIn agrarian societies land is not
only the main means for generating a livelihood, it is also a means to
accumulate wealth and transfer it between generations. In Uganda, it is a basic
source of food, employment, a key agricultural input and a major determinant of
a farmer’s access to other productive resources. The nature of land tenure,
therefore, has profound implications for the development process of nations. As
the historical experience of Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa indicates,
land tenure can either impede or facilitate positive socio-economic change in a
given economy. The Land Act (1998), which aims at reforming land tenure
relations in Uganda, is therefore one of the most far-reaching legislation
enacted by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government. The new tenure
system aims at supporting agricultural development through the functioning of a
land market, establishing security of tenure and ensuring sustainable
utilisation of land in order to bring about development. This paper discusses
three major issues. First, the extent to which the new Land Act (1998) ensures
security of tenure to the peasant majority in the country. Second, the issue of
its capacity to resolve the long-run contestation between the mailo
landowners and tenants (bibanja) holders. And third, the ambiguities
and difficulties facing the Act in the process of its implementation must
be confronted. The article is based on the textual analysis of the various land
laws in Uganda historically. The literature brings out several constraints and
ambiguities regarding the land reform process in Uganda.
‘Spaces of
Resistance’– African workers at Shoprite in Maputo and Lusaka
Darlene
Miller
Abstract
South Africa’s reintegration into
Southern Africa since 1994 has opened the way for renewed investments by South
African firms in African countries. New shopping malls are one visible impact of
this post-Apartheid development. This article is about the regional claims and
the regional resistance of workers at the foreign branches of Shoprite, a South
African retail multinational. Two shopping mall workplaces of Shoprite in Zambia
(Manda Hill) and Mozambique (Centro Commercial) are the case studies for this
analysis. The paper compares the experiences of retail workers at Shoprite, a
South African food supermarket chain and Africa’s largest retailer, in two
cities – Maputo, Mozambique and Lusaka, Zambia, exploring the variations and
similarities in the responses of workers to their South African work
environments. While Zambia’s ‘expectations of modernity’ have led to
disillusionment, Mozambican workers accept South African investment as a
necessary phase of Mozambique’s recovery. I argue that a new regional moment is
shaping the workplace experiences of African workers, opening up a new ‘space of
hope’ in the region. South African retail multinational corporations are
important agents of a new regional imagination amongst retail workers in
post-Apartheid Southern Africa.
Household Size and Composition as Correlates
of Child Labour in Urban Nigeria
‘Dimeji Togunde and Sarah
Richardson
Abstract
This paper draws on interviews
with 1,535 parents and their children to examine the relationship between child
labour and various household variables in urban Nigeria, where child labour
studies have been very limited. We provide a comprehensive overview of the
household factors and residential dynamics through which child labour evolves.
Our findings demonstrate the usefulness of the household production theory in
explaining the socio-economic ramifications and household context of child
labour. Our findings indicate that although child labour is mostly caused by
poverty and the need to prepare children with skills and training useful for
future occupations, the size of the household, number of children in the
household, number of children contributing to the household income, child’s age,
and age at which child started working – are all significantly and positively
correlated with children’s hours of work. However, gender compositions of the
children or of the household head and age of the household head have little or
no relationship with children’s hours of work. Additionally, parental
socio-economic status and family structure variables are associated with fewer
hours of children’s work. The findings have implications for policies aimed at
regulating child labour in Nigeria.
How Britain Underdeveloped Bechuanaland
Protectorate: A Brief Critique of the Political
Economy of Colonial Botswana
Monageng Mogalakwe
Abstract
Britain declared Bechuanaland a
‘protectorate’ in 1885 in a move largely driven
by military strategic considerations rather than
by the availability of economic resources. This
can give the impression that in Botswana the
process of economic underdevelopment that is
often associated with colonialism never took
place in this British ‘protectorate’. This
article reveals that even in the so-called
‘protectorate’, the British colonial state
policies subverted indigenous economic
interests
and stifled opportunities for indigenous private
capital accumulation, while actively
promoting the economic interests of a small
white settler capitalist class.
La nouvelle économie politique en Afrique : une
analyse des enjeux
Étienne Modeste Assiga Ateba
Abstract
The purpose of the present article is to analyse
in the context of less democratic political
systems the stakes – in terms of equitable
revenue repartition – of the political economy
of structural reforms which are still pervasive
in Africa, especially in the line of what is
currently designed as the ‘policy of the “second
generation” of reforms’. In this respect, the
hypothesis developed in this study is that the
State is confronted with second order
constraints in its relations with both national
and international organisations and the markets,
the reason being that strategic behaviours of
economic agents do not necessary converge
towards an optimal Nash equilibrium. These
divergences affect growth and development of
Sub-Saharan African countries so that such
equilibrium seems rather difficult to reach. To
overcome it, the State could play a decisive
role by introducing competition in order to
increase the organisational efficiency of the
economy;
however the pertinence of this competition still
has to be proved in Africa.
La lutte anti-corruption : l’expérience des pays
d’Asie du Sud-Est
Basga Emile Dialla*
Abstract
Although corruption has always existed
throughout the history of mankind, it has become
lately the major concern of the international
community because of its underground
characteristics and its corrosive impact on
economic growth. Ignored for long time by
sociological research, corruption refers to any
form of embezzlement and appears as a
consequence of the market economy. Actually,
corruption thrives in countries with weak
institutions due to the pressure on other
sectors from the market economy. In sum,
corruption against which the fight will be long
and hard appears within an institutional vacuum.
The strategy to fight corruption should involve
all social segments and the international
community, and combine strong political will,
citizen information and punishment. To that
respect, African countries may learn somehow
from the South East Asian countries’
experience.
Football malgache
féminin : un exotisme genré ? Étude de cas d’une association locale
Stéphane Héas, Dominique Bodin, Luc Robène & Adelin Jude
Abstract
In Madagascar, adult female football exists at
the embryonic stage, while it has only appeared
recently in some Western countries, and is
practiced by a minority in such countries. Such
appearance of female football draws curiosity in
an international context dominated by sports and
politics, which promotes parity while largely
maintaining male domination. Madagascar thus
focuses on gender relations and resistance to
body and cultural changes between men and women,
but also between women.
Zouglou et réalités
sociales des jeunes en Côte d’Ivoire
Raoul Germain Blé
Abstract
What can account for the youth’s crave for
Zouglou music? Why are politicians, the almighty
media, and the entertainment industry all
inculcating the youth such stupid music? Aren’t
they leading the youth to being passive? Aren’t
they handing them over to the beasts of capital?
This article however offers a different
explanation. In Côte-d’Ivoire, there is no one
single youth; there are rather multiple and
differentiated youth. It is not only an object,
but also a subject. It is not always
irresponsible, as some think. On the contrary,
it strongly designs cultural models drawn from
its own daily experience. Musical styles, such
as Zouglou are part of these models.
Zouglou music reflects the life of young
Ivoirians
