Diaspora and drug trafficking in West Africa: A case study of Ghana

This article interrogates the emergence of drug traffickingin contemporary Ghana and West Africa within the context ofa global political economy, situated within a deeper historicalperspective. It examines the earlier trafficking of cannabisalong the coast of West Africa in the colonial period, and thelater transnational networks that have emerged to promote internationaldrug trafficking (cocaine and heroin). The article probes howthe African diaspora and international travel service theseemerging drug networks in Ghana, West Africa, Europe and theAmericas. It suggests that the concept of an ‘ideologicaldiaspora’ could shed light on a shared global popularculture, which constitutes a counter culture and rationalizescriminal activities.     

The Concept of Appropriation and The Offence of Theft

The English law of theft is confusing and problematic in principle. Since the introduction of the Theft Act 1968 there has been inconsistency in the interpretation of appropriation as court and commentators have grappled with the intuition that appropriation must entail some subjective element and cannot be purely objective. Although subjectivity is traditionally associated with culpability rather than with conduct, it is argued that some acts can be subjective and yet factual and stand as causes to effects. Appropriation is such an act, its necessary and sufficient condition being a mindset, here termed proprietary subjectivity, on the part of the actor. It is argued that clarification of the concept of appropriation can help to resolve misperceived problems. Such clarification will also reveal other problems in the law of theft. Some tentative comments de lege ferenda are made suggesting how these problems can be addressed.     

Restoring Fiscal Balances Post the Global Economic Crisis in Botswana

This article discusses the restoration of fiscal balances in Botswana after prolonged deficit financing. Botswana is a diamond-export-dependent country; resultantly, it suffered revenue losses due to depressed demand for diamonds during the global economic crisis. Reduced revenues necessitated deficit financing between 2008/09 and 2011/12. Debt was financed through dissaving and borrowing. However, the government restored budget balances in April 2012. While this case study is Botswana-specific, there are general lessons. These are: using a crisis to introduce public finance reforms; eschewing populism aimed at short-term gains; and the need for politicians to take very bold decisions to guide fiscal policy.     

Agricultural commercialisation models,agrarian dynamics and local development in Ghana

The renewed commitment of African states to modernising agriculture has reignited longstanding debates about different models of agricultural commercialisation. Which forms of commercialisation models will reduce land dispossession and the impoverishment of smallholders, and transform smallholder agriculture and the wider economy? Of the three broad models of agriculture commercialisation in this debate – plantation, contract farming and medium-scale commercial farming – contract farming has been identified as central to the future of Africa’s commercial agriculture. This paper provides empirical evidence from Ghana on the impacts of these three models on land, labour/employment, livelihoods and local economic linkages. Our findings show that the plantation and the commercial farming areas have highly commercialised land relations, land scarcity and high land prices, compared to the outgrower area where traditional systems of accessing land still dominate, enabling families to produce their own food crops while also diversifying into wage labour and other activities. Food insecurity was highest in the plantation area followed by the commercial area, but lowest in the outgrower area. Here, semi-proletarianised seasonal workers combine self-provisioning from their own farms with wages, and this results in better livelihood outcomes than for permanent workers in plantations and commercial farms. Due to the processing units in the plantation and the outgrower models, they provided more employment. However, the casualisation of labour and gender discrimination in employment and access to land occur in all three cases. All three models generated strong economic linkages mainly because they combined attributes such as processing, provided markets for nearby farmers, induced state infrastructural development and diffused technology in competitive ways. The effects of the models on household and local development are coproduced by their interaction with pre-existing conditions and wider national economic structures.     

Defining and Understanding the Jihadi-Salafi Movement

Jihadi-Salafi groups have been on the march in the post-9/11 years on a violent campaign to achieve their ends. From North America to South-East Asia and from Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa, Jihadi-Salafis have attacked Western and local targets with often devastating results. Despite growing attention to the Jihadi-Salafi movement, which includes both globalized and localized components, there are still questions that remain largely unanswered. Three new books can shed light on this modern phenomenon that has preoccupied Western security policies for the past decade. Jihadi-Salafism is a large and diverse movement with a global reach that has embarked on an armed struggle to defend the imagined ummah.     

Cadre institutionnel et gestion des ressources en eau dans les Alpes: deux études de cas dans des stations touristiques valaisannes

L'article analyse le cas de la gestion des ressources en eau dans les stations touristiques de montagne. Ces systèmes sont caractérisés par de fortes fluctuations de population et par une sélection des usages (eau potable, eau d'irrigation, production d'énergie et usages touristiques). L'article vise à répondre à deux questions. La gestion actuelle de l'eau dans les stations touristiques alpines est‐elle intégrée et durable? Le cadre institutionnel influence‐t‐il cette intégration et la durabilité? L'article montre que l'eau est une ressource exploitée en commun (common pool resource) et que sa gestion s'inscrit dans la discussion sur la "tragédie des communs". Deux études de cas (Crans‐Montana‐Aminona et Nendaz, en Valais) permettent de conclure que la gestion de l'eau dans ces régions est globalement caractérisée par une faible intégration, un faible degré d'information et une tendance au gaspillage. Le cadre institutionnel a un impact certain sur le degré d'intégration. Un impact sur la durabilité de la gestion est plus difficile à mettre en évidence.