Towards an Afrokology of knowledge production and African regeneration

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of the scientificity of studying and generally investigating historical phenomena in which African achievements are properly recognised and appropriated as such by all humanity. This approach is not necessarily African‐centric or Afrocentric. It is a universal scientific approach that goes beyond Eurocentricism. It recognises other sources of knowledge as valid within their historical, cultural or social contexts, and seeks to dialogue with them. It recognises tradition as a fundamental pillar in the creation of such cross‐cultural knowledge in which Africans can stand out as having been the forebearers of much of what is called a Greek or European heritage. This scientific approach is provisionally called Afrokology, which encompasses the philosophical, epistemological and methodological issues, all seen as part of the process of creating an African self‐understanding that can place Africa in today's global world, and in which it is recognised as a full partner and forebear of much of the human heritage.

African scholars must pursue knowledge production that can renovate African culture, defend the African people's dignity and civilisational achievements and contribute afresh to a new global agenda that can push humanity out of the crisis of modernity as promoted by the European Enlightenment. Such knowledge must be relevant to the current needs of the masses, which they can use to bring about a social transformation out of their present plight. We cannot just talk about the production of ‘knowledge for its own sake’ without interrogating its purpose. There cannot be such a thing as the advancement of science for its own sake. Those who pursue ‘science for its own sake’ find that their knowledge is used for purposes which they may never have intended it. Eurocentric knowledge is not produced purely for its own sake. Its purpose throughout the ages has been to enable them to ‘know the natives’ in order to take control of their territories, including human and material resources (Said 1978) for their benefit. Such control of knowledge was used to exploit the non‐European peoples, to colonise them both mentally and geo‐strategically, as well as to subordinate the rest of the world to their designs and interests. This article adopts and explores Afrokology, a philosophical, epistemological and methodological approach that emphasises that Africa's achievements are recognised.

The issue of an African Renaissance, which has been advanced politically, especially by the South African President Thabo Mbeki, cannot be viewed as an event in the politics of the African political elites, although that may be their purpose. It has to be taken up, problematised, interrogated and given meaning that goes beyond the intentions of its authors, and involve the masses of the African people in it if it has the potential to mobilise. It can be used as an occasion for beginning the journey of African psychological, social, cultural as well as political liberation. It can also be used as a mobilisation statement and the basis for articulating an African agenda for knowledge production that is not only relevant to African conditions, but also sets an agenda for the reclaiming of African originality of knowledge and wisdom, which set the rest of human society on the road of civilisation.     

The Effect of Incentive Reforms Upon Productivity: Evidence from the Vietnamese Rice Industry

In this study we use region-level panel data on rice production in Vietnam to investigate total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the period since reunification in 1975. Two significant reforms were introduced during this period, one in 1981 allowing farmers to keep part of their produce, and another in 1987 providing improved land tenure. We measure TFP growth using two modified forms of the standard Malmquist data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, which we have named the Three-year-window (TYW) and the Full Cumulative (FC) methods. We have developed these methods to deal with degrees of freedom limitations. Our empirical results indicate strong average TFP growth of between 3.3 and 3.5 per cent per annum, with the fastest growth observed in the period following the first reform. Our results support the assertion that incentive related issues have played a large role in the decline and subsequent resurgence of Vietnamese agriculture.     

Training for Cultural Production and Management in Brazil

This article aims to contribute to the field of arts management by identifying the need to make cultural production/management an established field of professional practice and training in Brazil, and the challenges of doing so. To accomplish this, we reviewed several publications and we present first a discourse on theoretical texts in relation to the idea of culture and systems of cultural production and then an analysis of arts management publications in Brazil with observations about this field of work. In this article, we address the current paucity of training opportunities of this kind, the extent to which these roles have yet to be professionalized, and indicate, in the conclusion, that this is a matter of increasing importance and concern for cultural policy in Brazil.     

Hardening foreign corporate accountability through mandatory due diligence in the European Union? New trends and persisting challenges

The negative externalities of global commodity chains and existing governance gaps have received wide scholarly attention. Indeed, many sectors including forest-risk commodities (FRCs) like soy and beef from Brazil remain largely unregulated. This article analyzes ongoing policy-making processes at European Union level to adopt new regulations for reducing accountability gaps: one regulation of FRCs and one general, cross-sectoral directive on human rights and environmental due diligence. This article draws on and aims to contribute to previous research into foreign corporate accountability, therein analytically distinguishing between input, output, and surrogate accountability. This study shows that new policies will likely be more comprehensive than previous supply chain regulations, while their specific institutional design and stringency are highly contested. More in general, we argue that for hardening corporate accountability, due diligence politics will need to confront important governance challenges that have limited the potential of previous regulations, such as a lack of consequentiality of reporting obligations, weak state monitoring, limited stakeholder involvement, and difficulties to establish legal liability.     

货币转化为资本是生产关系一系列变化的过程

生产关系范畴在马克思恩格斯思想体系中占有重要地位。研究从货币到资本的转化,必须以马克思恩格斯关于生产关系的理论为指导,必须把货币和资本不是看作物而是看作一定的生产关系,把从货币到资本的转化看作是生产关系一系列变化的过程。为了说明货币转化为资本的过程,需要揭示资本流通过程和简单商品流通过程的区别,说明资本流通过程的矛盾及其解决。在此基础上,说明从货币到资本的转化,是以往历史发展的结果和产物,是许多经济变革的总结,要以之前的各种生产形态的灭亡和生产力一定程度的发展为前提。资本主义的生产目的是榨取雇佣工人创造的剩余价值。产业工人在生产过程中创造的剩余价值是剩余价值的唯一来源。资本主义生产过程是劳动过程和价值增殖过程的统一。剩余价值是在生产过程中产生、在流通过程中实现的。资本主义生产过程和流通过程的统一,实质上就是剩余价值的生产过程和流通过程的统一。     

提升社会治理效能:社会企业生产要素社会性变革及其制度优势

社会企业通过市场机制参与社会治理的行动根植于经济嵌入社会的关系之中。生产要素本身具备多种属性和功能,长期以来商品经济理论对生产要素的单向商品化使用,造成了经济与社会、文化等非商品化属性的隔离。正如波兰尼所言,土地作为自然存在,劳动力和企业管理者作为社会人,本身并不是生产出来供销售的商品,资金使用的信用、信任和合法认可也不能作为商品去生产。因此,重新审视经济行为的目的,可以发现社会企业的发展动因。社会企业以社会企业家精神为内生动力,以企业家管理才能为社会目标通向经济行动的镶嵌通道,通过制度创新改变社会问题,并运用社会管理技术系统提升社会治理效能,将组织的制度优势转化为社会治理效能,对推动良性社会运行具有积极的作用。     

生产事故伤487例分析

创伤是现代社会的一个突出问题，并已成为人口死亡的主要原因之一。生产事故同交通事故一样危害极大，严重威胁人类的生命安全。本文就近年来阳泉地区生产事故伤４８７例进行统计分析，结果提示：（１）生产事故死亡高危人群呈“四多”特征：男性多（男女之比为８０：１）；青壮年多（７４．９％）；农协工、临时工多（８５．０％）；外地人多（６１．６％）。（２）生产事故作业环境有“四高”现象；县乡村办企业发生率高（８５．４％）；煤炭建材部门发生率高（８８．３％），冒顶爆炸等事故发生率高（８６．４％）；并下高空事故发生率高（７２．５％）。（３）时间因素以７－９月份、每月下旬，每天８－１０时和１６－１８时是高发。（４）ＣＯ中毒、缺氧窒息、挤压是生产事故致伤人体的主要方式（８２．１％）。（５）机械性损伤多，损伤复杂。（６）颅脑损伤、ＣＯ中毒、创伤性窒息、失血性休克、多系统器官功能衰竭构成生产事故的五大死因。同时作者建议：加强生产事故伤的流行病学研究；加强生产安全管理；加强创伤初期急救系统建立。     

试论社会主义工业化必须与时俱进

以与时俱进精神,观察世界工业化的历史演变,总结我国社会主义工业化的历史经验和重大成就,就要更加认识到工业产业存在的问题,更好地贯彻落实党的十六大提出的走新型工业化道路的战略目标。     

论无单放货引起提单物权性的争论

介绍了司法实践中关于无单放货的定性的发展历程以及当前关于提单物权性的不同观点,用间接占有的理论对提单的物权属性进行诠释,进而提出间接提单功能的阶段论说。最后运用间接占有的理论对无单放货的性质进行解释。     

建国初期“增产节约运动”与新世纪“节约型社会”建设

中国共产党在建国初期就已经逐步萌发了勤俭建国建设节约型国家的指导思想,并在这一思想指导下根据不同时期的形势和任务自上而下发动了规模巨大的全国性的群众性的以经济活动为主的"增产节约运动".它与新世纪开展的"节约型社会"建设之间存在什么样的联系和区别,本文对此进行了尝试性的探讨.