Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA)
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Item Land Governance and Conflict in West Africa through Interdisciplinary Empirical Lenses(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2024-09) Narh, P.; Doumbia, L.; Tounkara, A.; Ablo, A.D.This working paper addresses the following central questions: (i) How does the commodification of land challenge distinctions between rural and urban spaces? (ii) What new forms of differentiation emerge from commodification, for example the alienation of land markets from land governance regimes? (iii) How does commodification help our understanding of the resilience of custom and egalitarianism? (iv) How useful are property rights frameworks, whether customary, statutory or new forms of tenure, for land management and sustainability? Four authors, members of the MIASA Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG 6) on Land Governance, applied ethnographic and cross-sectional research methods to examine case studies in Ghana, Mali and Senegal. This research contributes to an understanding of the perceptions, discourses and practices relating to land commodification and conflicts, as well as the way in which endogenous perceptions of access to land in West Africa are expressed and adapt to changing circumstances.Item Restitution Governance - Current Status and the Way Forward(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2024-09) Mehler, AndreasEver since the famous speech by French President Emmanuel Macron in Ouagadougou in 2017, the return of artworks looted during the colonial era, as well as of ancestral remains and other types of goods that were extracted without consent, has been discussed more widely and intensely than at any moment before – both in Africa and in Europe. There is both considerable hope and impatience and despair in regard to whether this will in the end lead to substantial returns. The manifold actors, processes and fora involved in this endeavour at times also create confusion, and issues of legitimacy, representation and inclusion abound. This contribution on restitution governance is based on a pilot test of a questionnaire completed by 36 experts. From an analysis of their responses, one may conclude that situations in which claims for restitution, negotiations and returns occur vary considerably. Experts in the field have seen significant progress in the way museum employees and directors as well as some media houses deal with the topic. While the debate on restitution has increased interest in the colonial past in general terms, what is lacking is a concrete translation of this debate into school and civic education.Item South-South Irregular Migration: The Impacts of China’s Informal Gold Rush in Ghana(International Migration, 2018) Botchwey, G.; Crawford, G.; Loubere, N.; Lu, J.This article examines irregular South-South migration from China to Ghana, and the role it played in transforming livelihoods and broader developmental landscapes. It looks at the entry of approximately 50,000 Chinese migrants into the informal small-scale gold mining sector from 2008-2013. These migrants mainly hailed from Shanglin County in Guangxi Province. In Ghana, they formed mutually beneficial relationships with local miners, both legal and illegal, introducing machinery that substantially increased gold production. However, the legal status of Chinese miners was particularly problematic as, by law, small-scale mining is restricted to Ghanaian citizens. In mid-2013, President Mahama established a military task force against illegal mining, resulting in the deportation of many Chinese miners. The article examines the experiences of both Chinese migrants and Ghanaian miners. Findings are that irregular migration into an informal sector had long-lasting impacts and played a significant role in the transformation of economic, political, and physical landscapes in GhanaItem Who triggers change? Social network mapping, stakeholder analysis and energy systems interventions in Nigeria’s electricity sector(International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, 2023) Edomah, N.Following decades of energy systems interventions, there have been growing concerns about the impact of historical interventions on the ground and how they shape changes in energy systems. Who are the key actors and how have they shaped historical energy systems interventions? In this study, an analysis of stakeholders in Nigeria’s electricity sector through a social network mapping lens was conducted. First, a stakeholder mapping based on an interest-influence matrix that shows the degree of various stakeholder interests and influence in shaping decisions and interventions in both centralized and decentralized electricity systems was developed. Secondly, a stakeholder network grid that shows the relations between the various stakeholders (who knows whom) was developed. The study reveals that there are stronger network relations among stakeholders involved in issues and decisions on centralized electricity grid infrastructure which is influenced by the presence of stronger regulations/regulatory instruments. However, these stakeholder relations are weaker in decentralized electricity systems due to less stringent regulations in the decentralized electricity space. The study concludes by highlighting the impact of the stakeholder relations and the interest-influence tussle on the future of electricity systems development in NigeriaItem Christianity and the Gendering of Personal Names among the Bette in Southeastern Nigeria(Journal of Religion in Africa, 2022) Aboh, R.; Mensah, E.; Inyabri, I.; Ushuple, L.Contributing to extant debates on the juncture of naming and gendering, this study interrogates naming practices among Bette-Christians of northern Cross River, Southeastern Nigeria, and how they enhance understanding of the relationship between naming and the enunciation of religious identity, as well as how gender is enacted. With analytical insights from socio-onomastic theory, which explores the relationship between names, culture, and society, we interrogate naming practices as essential cultural currency for identification, categorization, and connectedness. Data were obtained from 40 participants through semistructured interviews and participantobservations. We focus on the intersection of naming and spiritual sentiments to argue that the contemporary reality of naming among Bette-Christians illuminates a practice that negates traditional Bette cosmology and cosmogony. We illustrate how the emergence of Christianity has altered the naming patterns and practices of the people. and how these names embody multidimensional connotations that range from religious identity to stereotyped gender ideologieItem Tomorrow May Not Be Yours: Military Slang And Jargon As Linguistic Performance In Nigeria(Language Matters, 2022) Uwen, G.; Mensah, E.This article explores the expressive use of slang and jargon by officers and men of the Nigerian Army in a bid to construct social identity, enforce discipline, and conform to work ethics. The study adopts linguistic ideology and community of practice theories, which are complemented by the notion of style as performance to provide frameworks for understanding military subjectivities and attitudes represented by these emblematic linguistic resources. Data were sourced through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 30 participants. The study found that military slang and jargon help ease communication between officers and men as they index power, enhance solidarity, facilitate inclusion (and exclusion), and promote varied military subcultures. We conclude that situated language practices provide a site for linguistic creativity and the enactment of style that sustain meaningful relationships between personnel in the army. This linguistic practice, therefore, offers strong social capital in defining collective identities and professional belonging.Item Statement issued by participants of workshop on issues of restitution and repatriation of looted and illegally acquired African objects in European Museums(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2018-12) Apoh, W.Item Religious Diversity and Modes of Coexistence in Urban West Africa(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2023-09) Musah, Ibrahim; Sieveking, Nadine; Dumbe, Yunus; Binaté, Issouf; Zaami, MariamaThis article introduces the research of MIASA’s IFG 7 project titled “Religious Diversity in Urban West Africa: Exploring Modes of Coexistence for Sustainable Governance”. It conceptualises the methodological approach of the group by identifying three main thematic axes that emerged from the overlapping individual approaches to the study of religious diversity in urban centres, namely 1) migration, mobilities, entrepreneurship, and trans-nationalism; (2) territoriality, power, and configurations of religious minorities and majorities; and (3) urban infrastructure(s).Item Restitution, Return, Repatriation and Reparation (the 4Rs) in Africa: Reality or Transcultural Aphasia?(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2023) Eyifa-Dzidzienyo, Gertrude Aba Mansah; Michels, Stefanie; Azamede, Kokou; Doll, Martin; Zollmann, MartinThe topic of restitution of cultural materials in colonial contexts raises historical, political, and moral questions. This working paper summarizes the research findings of IFG 5 at MIASA, which moved the academic and political debates about restitution to more practical and epistemological levels. L’IFG 5 focused on one evolving restitution case study from the Akpini Traditional Area in Kpando (Ghana) demanding the return of their royal regalia from Germany, and it analysed the field within which the case unfolds. This paper, which is based on field research involving meetings and discussions with representatives from the Akpini Traditional Area, multiplies the voices/narratives of interest groups on local, national and international levels; widens the perspectives on the issues; and interrogates the ongoing limited multi-practices of restitution, return, repatriation and reparation (the 4Rs) in the post-colonial African context. The paper identifies a plethora of interest groups in the restitution case in Kpando with varying agendas. It concludes that the field of “restitution” is characterized by interest groups that do not conform to a simplified dichotomous vision and that their agendas go beyond the mere return of cultural materials.Item MIASA Annual Report 2022(Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2023) Baller, S.