‘The backbone of the village’: gender,development, and traditional authority in rural Zanzibar

Recent processes of political decentralisation and the parallel movements asserting indigenous identity and autochthony have led to a resurgence of academic interest in ‘traditional’ and local forms of leadership and authority. Based on ethnographic research on the hirimu age-set system and related forms of traditional authority in the Zanzibari village of Jongowe, this article explores how these systems rooted in local history and identity are mitigated by contemporary national and international political circumstances. By examining how ‘traditional’ systems both create and circumscribe space for gendered expressions of power and how they work with the emerging forms of non-governmental organisation characteristic of contemporary development, the article considers how these dynamic local systems of governance maintain their legitimacy through both association with the past and engagement with contemporary politics. It argues for an understanding of ‘traditional authority’ that expands beyond hereditary leadership positions, and suggests that such forms of power, though embedded in historical collective identity, are expressions of contemporary forms of governance.     

Conflicting leadership paradigms in Africa: A need for an African Renaissance perspective1

ABSTRACT

This article looks at key elements of leadership paradigms in Africa. A timeline is drawn and Africa's contemporary leadership in the past 50 years is situated within three periods, each of which is anchored by an event(s) that shifted the continent's political and/or intellectual and theoretical landscape. Juxtaposed against these periods is traditional leadership and its cross-cutting role in governance in Africa. Current manifestations of crisis in the leadership paradigm are looked at, which draws the author to critique what he terms the matrix that produces the contemporary generation of leaders, and advocates for the incorporation of Africa's historical and cultural legacy as a cornerstone in new leadership paradigms, and places it within the context of an African Renaissance.     

Party and governance in the Arab republics

Abstract

By focusing on political memoirs as an important source, the article deals with the ruling party and governance in the Arab republics, whether they had a one-party system such as Iraq and Syria, or a multi-party system such as Egypt and Tunisia. However, one country among the republics, Libya, annulled political parties and parliament and created its own unique system of governance. Through memoirs of party members, parliamentary opponents, and ministers, the article analyses the substantial role of the ruling parties in perpetuating the regimes. While the triangular relationship between the leadership, the party, and the bureaucracy differed from one republic to another, the overall structure of governance did not vary widely, except in the case of Libya.     

Debate and Decide: Innovative Participatory Governance in South Australia 2010–2018

This article provides an account of how innovative participatory governance unfolded in South Australia between 2010 and 2018. In doing so it explores how an ‘interactive’ political leadership style, which scholarship argues is needed in contemporary democracy, played out in practice. Under the leadership of Premier Jay Weatherill this approach to governing, known as ‘debate and decide’, became regarded as one of the most successful examples of democratic innovation globally. Using an archival and media method of analysis the article finds evidence of the successful application of an interactive political leadership style, but one that was so woven into competitive politics that it was abandoned after a change in government in March 2018. To help sustain interactive political leadership styles the article argues for research into how a broader base of politicians perceives the benefits and risks of innovative participatory governance. It also argues for a focus on developing politicians' collaborative leadership capabilities. However, the article concludes by asking: if political competition is built into our system of government, are we be better off leveraging it, rather than resisting it, in the pursuit of democratic reform?     

A critical understanding of good governance and leadership concepts written in the context of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the challenges to contextual discourse on Africa's development paradigms1

ABSTRACT

Good governance is a value-laden concept that is characteristically nebulous; it can mean different things to different people, depending on the context in which it is used. The same applies to leadership. Concepts, as Pauw (1999a, 465) puts it, are ‘tools of thinking’ and contexts are ‘the environments or frameworks in which they [concepts] operate’. Lucidity in the meanings of concepts is fundamentally important for shaping debate and enriching discourses. To maintain their power, concepts must be used in their proper contexts. This necessitates an understanding of the art of contextual discourse. Good governance is used in NEPAD as a principle and emphasised as a sine qua non for sustainable development in Africa. On the other hand, NEPAD premises Africa's re-birth or Renaissance on good governance and leadership, with a vision and commitment to repositioning the continent in global power balances. In this article good governance and leadership are considered as concepts. NEPAD is a textual context within which the two key concepts are used and should, consequently, be engaged. The article attempts a critical review of African scholarship engagement with good governance and leadership within the NEPAD context to determine the extent to which contextual discourse is practised. It further grapples with the immediate historical background to scholarship on Africa's development between the 1960s and early 1990s. The exercise reveals that much of the accumulated body of African scholarship and scholarship on Africa's development reviewed does not suffciently contextualise discourse on good governance and leadership within NEPAD, and its key assessment and monitoring device, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), and offers an alternative framework.     

Orchestrating Anti-Dispossession Politics: Caste and Movement Leadership in Rural West Bengal

ABSTRACT

This article uses the concepts of orchestration and spectacle to analyse the work of leaders of an anti-dispossession movement in rural West Bengal. It examines what being a movement leader entails and argues for the importance of connections and social relations in the production of both movement leadership and movement spectacles. By introducing a Dalit perspective on a movement that was otherwise led by the local middle-caste peasantry, the article shows how local caste and class relations have been important in defining access to positions of movement leadership; in disconnecting specific Dalit interests from the movement’s larger political agenda; and in giving rise to certain forms of internal policing of caste boundaries within the movement. The fact that the ability to cultivate and “connect” to the new political spaces opened by the anti-dispossession movement correlates strongly with historically produced caste and class inequalities calls for greater attention to the internal caste politics of anti-dispossession movements.     

Women in War and Peace: Karen Women’s Political Participation during and after the Karen–Burma Ceasefire Accords

ABSTRACT

This article examines Karen women’s political participation in the Karen National Union (KNU) and in KNU-controlled towns and villages during three phases of the protracted Karen conflict in Burma/Myanmar – the guerrilla activity phase, the civil war phase and the ceasefire phase. It argues that two interrelated institutions – a participatory governance system and a politically autonomous women’s group – affect Karen women’s levels of political participation in their communities. The logic is that as the Karen conflict de-escalated from the civil war phase to the guerrilla activity phase, the KNU’s leadership, in response to deteriorating security conditions and outside pressure, was forced to accept greater civilian participation in governance that opened up the political space for Karen women to become politically active. This de-escalation process also meant that the KNU had fewer resources and lacked the institutional capacity to control the activities of the KNU-affiliated women’s group – the Karen Women’s Organisation. When the conflict de-escalated again after the KNU signed a ceasefire accord with the Burmese government in 2012, the terms of the ceasefire agreement in combination with an influx of non-governmental organisations created new avenues in which Karen women could participate in politics.     

Analysis of the relevance of traditional leaders and the evolution of traditional leadership in Zimbabwe: A case study of amaNdebele

Abstract

This article analyses the Ndebele institution of traditional leadership in contemporary Zimbabwe. It traces the pre-colonial Ndebele traditional leadership in order to establish the changes that have occurred as well as their causes. The article highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), especially in leadership which is highly controversial in Africa. Traditional leadership is the indigenous way of leadership which can, in a good way, influence contemporary governance for the benefit of the people. The article takes an Afrocentric approach with a clear understanding of the dynamism in culture. It then proceeds to reveal the problems (and their causes) within the traditional leadership institution in contemporary Zimbabwe. Finally, the article recommends solutions to the problems.     

Soft competitive authoritarianism and negative stability in Kosovo: statebuilding from UNMIK to EULEX and beyond

ABSTRACT

After 1999, democratization, normalization and Europeanization were the key processes through which Kosovo’s final political status was expected to take shape. All three processes, however, were guided by the stability paradigm. Though Kosovo cannot be categorized as a typical authoritarian state, its political leaders have openly displayed illiberal tendencies, governing in an unaccountable manner and utilizing public assets for their private gain. In the period from 1999 to 2008, while UNMIK’s approach was based on maintaining stability instead of democratization, a soft competitive authoritarianism began to emerge incrementally. In its first decade of independence, Kosovo’s statehood remained internationally disputed, whereas its governance culture was characterized by a lack of internal accountability, which is a key component of the soft competitive authoritarianism in the country. Thus, the negative trajectory of political developments did not change even after the deployment of EULEX and the 2008 declaration of independence. This article analyses the development of authoritarian and illiberal tendencies in Kosovo and suggests that the democratization and Europeanization discourses served to conceal soft competitive authoritarian practices in Kosovo.     

Central-local state contestations and urban management in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

Most scholars agree that the character of the urban governance system in Zimbabwe is a reflection of the dominance of one political party, namely, Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). However, the increasingly prominent role of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in urban governance has heralded, since the early 2000s, a period marked by change, contestation and confusion. Simultaneously, the destabilising effect of contested urban governance politics on urban management in Zimbabwe has become entrenched. This article focuses on the interface between urban governance politics and urban management in Zimbabwe in the post-2000 era. It analyses how central government, through the local government ministry, local government statutes and appointed officials, structures, and even destabilises, the administration of urban affairs. The article concludes that urban governance is not merely a site of political contestation, as it has also profoundly influenced and altered the functioning of urban administration in Zimbabwe.     

Balancing justice and reconciliation in East Timor

Abstract

As East Timor emerges from a long Indonesian nightmare, it is seeking to balance the agendas of justice and reconciliation. The verdict on justice for East Timor is one of disappointment. The main obstacle to accountability is Indonesia, abetted by an international community that seeks its assistance in the “war on terror.” East Timor's leaders have emphasized reconciliation while promoting a healing process and good governance. Recent violence reveals just how difficult this task remains. The hybrid tribunal established in East Timor by the UN was once heralded as an important innovation in transitional justice, avoiding the high cost and lengthy proceedings of other international tribunals. However, the tribunal has been unable to hold accountable those who bear the greatest responsibility for outrages committed against Timorese and defendants did not get fair trials or competent defense. A truth commission report released in December 2005, Chega! (Enough), emphasizes justice and reparations. The political leadership soft peddles justice because they believe this makes more sense and will better serve the people. Indonesians are now being given a chance to testify in front of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), but concern is widespread concern that the CTF emphasizes reaching closure, has no judicial mandate, and only ensures impunity for ranking perpetrators. Indonesia and East Timorese can regain dignity and move beyond their shared tragedy through a process of reconciliation that is based on justice and atonement. Germany shows this is possible; Japan, that it is difficult and problematic if neglected.     

State-building and patronage networks: how political parties embezzled the bureaucracy in post-war Kosovo

ABSTRACT

Why has the internationally promoted Weberian-style bureaucracy failed to replace patronage as the dominant principle of state organization in post-war Kosovo? This article explores how international actors’ rule-promotion activities and local actors’ strategies of resistance play out and interact to explain the failure. The empirical analysis focuses on rules of recruitment in the civil service system in the period 2000–2016. The analysis juxtaposes two consecutive stages of the state-building process, which are marked by different degrees and forms of international involvement: the pre-independence period, 1999–2008; and post-independence period, 2008–2016. Evidence from the case suggests that during the pre-independence period, legal inconsistencies embedded in the internationally promulgated legislation enabled local actors’ formal and informal strategies to recruit political cronies in the newly created civil service system. The transfer of authority from international administrators to elected local authorities, especially after Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, did not solve the problem of legal inconsistencies, and instead, served to consolidate governing parties’ strategies of control over recruitment in the state bureaucracy. More often than not, patron–client relationships that thrive at the borderline between formality and informality of political behaviour, continued to undermine external rule transfers.     

Playing the “Game” of Transparency and Accountability: Non-elite Politics in Kyrgyzstan’s Natural Resource Governance

ABSTRACT

This article demonstrates the role of non-elites in the struggle for transparency and accountability in Kyrgyzstan’s mining sector. Most existing accounts foreground elite strategies and political machines in the governance of post-Soviet societies. Drawing on recent anthropological work on post-Soviet politics and applying it critically to the literature on neopatrimonialism, this article sheds light on the adoption of political game strategies by community members (non-elites) to advance their interests and challenge elite dominance within the case study’s mining communities. This finding responds to recent calls to interrogate the activities of non-elites at the margins of neopatrimonial contexts. The article advances a research agenda on how practices by non-elites shape the multiple meanings and enactments of transparency and accountability by elites in natural resource governance. It also points to the need to explore how and why “communities” exert their “agency” in governing natural resources within post-Soviet contexts.     

Perceptions of State and Leadership in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan (1991–2009)

The focus of this paper is the shifting perceptions of the state, leadership and politics, and the shifting perceptions of Azerbaijanis themselves and the outside world. The information presented in this article is based on personal interviews conducted with leading and influential members of the Azerbaijani political elite in Baku in August 1998 and April 2009. Attitudes and norms concerning the state, leadership and politics emanate from three sources: the legacy of the pre-Soviet (Turkish) period, the Soviet period, and the circulation of western democratic values and norms. This reflects the impact of historical and cultural forces that have shaped the lives of the political elites and are manifested in their understanding of contemporary governance. A powerful state and a strong leader mutually reinforce each other where the leader is perceived as responsible for the well-being of its citizens. In this context, the article examines the conflicting narratives of the government and the opposition in Azerbaijan while reconstructing their national past and building their future, where their past becomes an important source for the mentality of governance in the country.     

The Sephardi and Oriental Jews of Haifa and Arab-Jewish relations in Mandate Palestine

Abstract

This article examines the development of the relations between Jews and Arabs in Haifa during the British Mandate period from the perspective of the Sephardi and Oriental Jews (Mizrahim). It focuses on the two Sephardi neighborhoods in Haifa: Ard al-Yahud and Harat al-Yahud. The article examines the character of the shared Jewish-Arab space that existed in both these mixed neighborhoods, which were inhabited by both Jews and Arabs. The character of this spatial system was exposed during the course of a local political struggle to secure representation for the Sephardi and Oriental Jews and to improve their social condition, as well as during periods of security tension. The article also examines the attitude of the Sephardi leadership toward the ‘Arab question’, and discusses the manner in which everyday life in Ard al-Yahud and Harat al-Yahud manifested the existence of an Arab-Jewish identity during the Mandate period.     

Justice for All? Accountable Translations of Texts on Indigenous Law

ABSTRACT

This article addresses challenges arising from the guarantee in South Africa's Constitution (1996) of continued use of indigenous law. This law has been handed down in oral form, but increasingly, written sources are needed when cases relating to indigenous law are heard in South Africa's higher courts. Although access to this kind of information is vital to empowerment and justice in Africa, wider access is hampered by different literacy levels and language differences. This article examines accountable translation into English of legal anthropological texts, referring to a case study on law practised among the Nkuna of Ritavi to demonstrate some of the complexities. The article considers the Anglo-American translation tradition's preference for idiomatic translation (paraphrasis) rather than word-for-word faithfulness (metaphrasis). It advocates focusing on the Skopos (purpose) of texts negotiated with the author. It also proposes foregrounding the hermeneutic engagement of translators as readers. For the text in the case study, it suggests two translations, for two audiences: one into an academic register (for academics, legal experts, and educated members of the Nkuna community), and one into Plain English (mainly for members of the Nkuna community for whom English is a second language). To address political dimensions of responsible translation, metatextual strategies espoused by feminist translators to increase translators’ visibility and accountability can be used, and postcolonial translation theory should be considered.     

Rural economies and leadership change in Central Asia

ABSTRACT

This article applies a political economy approach to questions of presidential succession in Central Asia. Using the cases of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, it examines how institutions governing rural economies generate, channel and distribute rents within these authoritarian regimes. In some, these institutions concentrate rents under long-standing rulers; in others they diffuse rents away from rulers. The article then specifies obstacles to leadership change that arise from these rural economies, and the crises those obstacles may pose for authoritarian regimes in the region.     

Village Self-Government and Representation in Southwest China

Villages in China are, according to recent law, “self-governed” by villager committees, whose members are elected by villagers and held accountable to villagers and villager representative assemblies. Previous studies have focused on the institutions of self-government, assuming that, if unimpeded, they will enhance both direct villager participation in governance and the representation of villager interests. In contrast, this article focuses on local understandings and ideals about political roles and relationships, as constructed through everyday political claims and practices. The article draws on qualitative research in four villages in Yunnan, southwest China. In these villages, neither cadres nor villagers used the word “represent” to characterise the role of members of village government. Furthermore, villagers could not explain what villager representatives do or what “representative” in the title “villager representative” means. This leads us to ask: How do village residents conceive the responsibilities of villager representatives and cadres? Is the lack of reference to “representation” merely a linguistic issue, or do they have a different conception of villager-cadre and villager-representative relationships? In addressing these questions, this article aims to enrich our understanding of village self-government in China and contribute to theorising about political representation.     

Good governance and democratic leadership for an African Renaissance: A reflection on AU member states’ compliance with the AUCPCC

Abstract

After decades of corrupt post-colonial governance, African leaders collectively acknowledged that good governance was a prerequisite for African renewal and required an unprecedented fight against corruption prevailing on the continent. The Constitutive Act of the African Union (CA-AU) features good governance among its objectives and principles. Good governance was stressed further in subsequent AU instruments adopted within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and its African Peer-Review Mechanism (APRM). AU leaders’ commitment to fighting corruption culminated in the adoption of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC).

As Africans prepare to commemorate the first decade since the adoption of the AUCPCC, this article reflects on AU member states’ compliance with this instrument, the challenges, and the prospects for a successful fight against corruption. It argues that despite some progress made, this scourge remains unabated and has even aggravated. Most African states have failed to comply fully with the AUCPCC. However, the fight against corruption should be strengthened with the participation of all the stakeholders at national, regional and international levels. Partnerships have to be built and consolidated without neglecting the crucial contribution of the people under a democratic leadership committed to good governance in order to achieve an African Renaissance in the 21^st century.     

习近平关于加强党的政治建设的理论探析——基于《摆脱贫困》的研究

习近平在宁德地区工作期间大力推进闽东地区经济发展、脱贫致富,同时也十分重视抓党的政治建设,强调必须坚持马克思主义的指导地位,增强为人民服务的党性观念;加强党的政治领导,充分发挥党组织的核心作用;从严治党,清廉从政,把廉政建设引向深入;坚持走群众路线,练好密切联系群众这个基本功。习近平在宁德期间关于党的政治建设的理论思考,对于当前中国共产党加强党的政治建设具有十分重要的时代价值。