Research student panels (97A, 97B, 98, 99A, 99B) have been organised for Aegis and non-Aegis post-graduate students through the Interlink Programme coordinated by Prof. Alessandro Triulzi (Università L’Orientale, Naples) . The students involved are undertaking archival or field research, or are in the process of writing up dissertations, or have just completed their dissertations. Aegis is encouraging student exchanges through European Union mobility programmes (such as Erasmus/Socrates), joint training in Summer Schools where research students discuss their work with senior researchers (the last one was held in Cortona, Italy, in September 2004), and student-geared seminars and conferences. Papers have been grouped under broad themes and discussion will be chaired by research students themselves in the hope of encouraging broad student participation in the European Conference of African Studies.
This is one the student panels (see also 97A, 97B, 98, 99A) organised for post-graduate students through the Interlink Programme supported by Aegis African Studies Centres. Panel 99B explores the role of new social actors and developments in Eastern Africa, from decentralisation efforts to reduce poverty in Uganda, to the emergence of new technologies to include/exclude women in its current development policies, from the rise of small NGOs and institutional isomorphism in Tanzania, to the changing urban youth culture and language in shaping the social identity of kiswahili-speaking youth in the country.
It appears to be widely accepted that decentralisation can play a significant role in poverty reduction efforts. Proponents of decentralisation claim that public services with a poverty reduction focus can be planned and adopted in a better and more effective way at the local than at the central level. The informational advantage of local governments is assumed to lead to efficiency gains in the provision of public goods and services. At the same time, increased participation of the population in political decision-making processes is expected to bring about higher accountability of the government. Based on these assumptions, decentralisation has come to be an overarching political and economic objective in developing countries and an essential component of poverty reduction strategies.
In this light, it is surprising that the relationship between decentralisation and poverty reduction in developing countries has not been sufficiently analysed, neither theoretically nor empirically. Most of the few existing studies even doubt the above arguments. Nonetheless, responsibilities are being transferred to lower levels of government in a considerable and still increasing number of countries. The enthusiasm of politicians and donors seems to run far ahead of the academic evidence of a positive relationship between decentralisation and poverty reduction. The research to be presented thus intends to contribute to closing this gap of theoretic and empirical analysis. It will focus on the case of Uganda because this country combines a political commitment to decentralisation with far-reaching efforts to reduce poverty and a relatively good availability of adequate data.
This paper looks at the emergence of new technologies with particular focus on the inclusion/exclusion of women in the policy process. Particular reference is made to the Uganda ICT policy development process. A look at the policy reveals that the policy merely makes a mention of gender consideration but does not actually address issues of concern to women. Of the fourteen policy objectives pointed out in the Uganda ICT policy, only one refers to gender and not specifically women. No reference is made to the unique concerns of women in the background to the policy. Key strategies for enhancing the use of ICTs like literacy improvement and human resource development do not make a mention on the disparities existing between the different genders. This could mean a danger of ignoring women when it comes to actual implementation of the policy.
The activity of development and development co-operation has been one of the important ways of maintaining and transforming relationships between Europe and Africa since the colonial times. Recently, in the realm of development the aim of supporting civil society has become increasingly important. Also in Tanzania there have been a significant number of programmes and projects supporting civil society. This exercise has raised at least two questions: the question of the multiple ways the concept of civil society is understood in international development and the question whether these conceptualisations – be them neo-liberal, neo-gramscian or associational – are applicable in Tanzanian context. With the increase of the international development funding for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) a novel institutional field of NGOs has emerged in Tanzania resulting, for example, in a new legislation considering NGOs. Taken Terje Tvedt’s (1998) systemic interpretation of the international NGO-development system one would assume that the mushrooming of NGOs are emerging because of and for the system constructed by the flows of funding and different “buzzwords”, and, that the phenomenon of institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio & Powell 1993) would be taking place in the emerging Tanzanian NGOs in their efforts to be included in the system. This paper looks into the emergence of small NGOs in Tanzania. It is based on a fieldwork conducted in 2000-2001 in Morogoro, Tanzania. In the paper I firstly discuss the diverse trajectories by which the NGOs are founded. Secondly, I analyse how they build they identities as “NGOs” vis-à-vis the other actors in society as well the international donor community. The analysis questions the hypothesis of institutional isomorphism and rather argues for a kind of institutional multimorphism taking place in the small and emerging NGOs.
Dar es Salaam’s nickname is “Bongo”. Primarily focusing on Bongo Flavour (or Flava) music, my paper will seek to explore the relationship between urban youth culture and the “vernacularization” of global culture in Tanzania, and examine the changes of Kiswahili slang, music, cultural performance and social identity over the past few years. I will also take into consideration the role played by EastAfricanTV and EastAfricanRadio programs “City Slang”, “City Sounds” and “Planet Bongo” within East Africa.
Bongo Flavour artists appropriate the signs and symbols of hip hop and R&B music from the US: clothes, gestures, English (or “swanglish”) words; even the way they pronounce the letter “r” reflects the American accent. The display of musical skills, essential in local jazz and taarab bands, does not feature just as in American videoclips. But at the same time the youths seem to reshape and “africanize” these foreign influences, adapting the lyrics to their own local needs and tastes. Their songs debate over fundamental issues such as romance, infidelity, changes of gender relations (see Mume Bwege by Bushoke; Jamila by the Ugandan Chameleon), the need of money in order to marry or “enjoy” life (see Mimi wewe by Mr.Blue, or Mikasi by Mangwair. Mitungi...planti...mikasi: namely alcohol, marijuana and sex), AIDS (Starehe by Ferouz; Ishi) and social marginalization implied by ghetto culture. Combining local and global cultures in significant ways, Bongo Flavour music provides youths from marginal backgrounds with a venue for expanding their autonomy. It also carries undertones of generational, gender and class aspirations.