Author Index Volume 26

Author Index

Author Index Volume 26     

The Balance of Power in Rural Marketing Networks: A Case Study of Snake Trading in Cambodia

Producers in small-scale rural markets often receive unfavourable prices for their goods as a result of more powerful market participants. This study uses a combination of price analysis and interview data to assess the position of snake hunters in the aquatic snake market from Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Despite the hunters' dependence on intermediary traders for market access and credit, the evidence implies that they are not powerless participants. Intermediary traders operate under high competition as a result of the increasing scarcity of snakes and therefore, despite interlocked credit and snake markets, offer relatively high prices to hunters.     

The Mengistu Genocide Trial in Ethiopia

This article analyses the sentencing judgment issued on 11 January2007 by the Ethiopian Federal High Court in the case of MengistuHailemariam and his co-accused who had been tried, among others,on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. This wasthe first African trial where an entire regime was brought tojustice before a national court for atrocities committed whilein power. Twenty-five of the 55 accused found guilty, includingMengistu, were tried in absentia (Mengistu remains in exilein Zimbabwe). The trial took 12 years, making it one of thelongest ever trials for genocide. In December 2006, Mengistuwas convicted by majority vote of genocide and crimes againsthumanity pursuant to Article 281 of the 1957 Ethiopian PenalCode, which includes ‘political groups’ among thegroups protected against genocide. A dissenting judge took theposition that the accused should have been convicted of aggravatedhomicide because the relevant part of the provision had beenrepealed. A few weeks later, the Court, by majority, sentencedthe top tier of the accused to life imprisonment, taking intoaccount certain extenuating circumstances. If not for these,the death penalty would have been imposed. In addition to ensuringsome accountability, the judgment is important for providingan official and detailed account of what happened in those yearsin Ethiopia under Mengistu's reign. Given that in Ethiopia thereare no official gazettes where court judgments are published,it is unlikely that the public will be able to read the judgmentand thus become aware of what had happened. In addition to analysingthe reasoning of the court, this article also looks into theprevailing political circumstances in the country and reflectsupon the trial and the reception that this important decisionhas had, and will receive, in the wider community.     

Twice-hyphenated: transnational identity among second-generation Ethiopian-American professionals in the Washington,DC, metropolitan area

This article examines the dynamics of transnational identity among second-generation Ethiopian-American professionals. Drawing on the experiences of 21 second-generation Ethiopian-American professionals, I analyze how they manage the dual challenges of maintaining Ethiopian identities while embracing American values and aspirations. Study participants indicated how their parents actively encourage them to embrace Ethiopian culture while they expect them to succeed in the US society. They expressed fear that if they become ‘too American’, they will disappoint their parents. Moreover, they find restricting their identity to one group or another too confining. They selectively choose defining ethnic characteristics from the cultural domains in which they operate –their families, social networks, and school environments; media images; popular culture; and the broader dominant culture. Most of them embrace individualism and autonomy in order to negotiate, create, and recreate their own transnational identities. The ethnic characteristics of second-generation Ethiopian-American can certainly be characterized as ‘hybrid identities’.     

DNA sequence characterization of the FGA STR locus in the free state population of South Africa

POPULATION: African (n=52), Mixed Ancestry (n=5), Caucasian (n=4) SAN (n=1).