Livelihoods and chronic poverty in semi-arid Zimbabwe (abstract only) March 1, 2003 Explores explanations for the high levels of chronic poverty in remote rural areas of Zimbabwe including food security, education and...
This paper presents the socio-symbolic structure and functioning of professional boxing in the United States. It discusses the processes of the boxing economy and its operation as a continuing structure of collective action and representation by following the "match maker" - a person who is in charge of supply and demand in boxing.
Kiroba identity has remained stable in a transitional atmosphere owing to traditional linkages which were reinforced through oral history and generated social capital. Among the Kiroba people of Tanzania, the elders' chief role and objective is to pass on moral tribe values and reaffirm their social unity by relating the tribe's history to younger generations. The chief organizing factor is patrilineal kinship. Also, social organization occurs through political identification, religious affiliation etc. These serve to reinforce tradition and generate social capital.
This paper examines the peacemaking processes in Mali following the 1991-1992 revolution, the community-based actions in the North to achieve peace, and the measures needed to ensure a long-term continuance of peace and security in Mali.
This article analyzes Uganda's decentralization program in terms of a "dual mode" system of local governance: the "technocratic" and the "patronage" mode. It argues that a culture of transparency and civic engagement is important if decentralization is to promote both efficient service delivery and local empowerment.
Absorption or inclusion of slaves into greater culture and society is a product of ongoing struggle between master and slave. This conflict shapes the institutions of slavery and slaves position in the community. Slavery is an institution through which outsiders are gradually incorporated into the kin of the masters through norm, adaptation and community consensus is the functionalist perspective. However conflict arising from the slaves' demands for more autonomous participation in the community, eventually shapes institutions of slavery.
This article examines the relation between poor women and men and common property resources (cprs). It locates poor people's use of cprs within a wider focus on sustainable livelihoods, which argues that development initiatives need to build on people's assets and strengths, and identifies cprs as a crucial element of poor people's coping and adaptive strategies.
Descriptions given in "summary findings" on page two examine the link between strong civic involvement and democratic stability, and the role that social capital plays in collective action is explored. A typology of civic society and state relations is developed. This typology makes apparent the ways in which civil society is impacted by political regimes as well as highlighting was in which civil society can be engrossed and supported under different situations. Civic organization builds on itself in that communities that organize cooperatively to achieve certain goals find it easier to organize for other purposes as well.
Huasa women in Maradi, Niger have been thrust into a cycle of continually inflated cash needs. These include meeting fashion demands, feeding social networks, and maintaining the means through which they earn cash income. Women's earlier predominance in cloth production in the late 19th and early 20th century helped them to fuel and maintain social network ties by bestowing cloth as gifts. Eventually, women opted for more lucrative trade in trade and imports to generate a cash flow from the increased economy around them. To feed a cycle that is self-generated, women need to use cash to reinforce social ties, and claims to land, food, resources, etc. They have now embroiled in a cycle of continually inflated cash flow which takes care of social needs that are crucial parts of long-term survival strategies.
With West Africa as a spring board, Kaplan paints a dismal future for developing nations and parts of the developed world. Increasing migration to urban slums, the weakening of central governments. interethnic conflict, and destruction of natural resources are factors that condemn the developing world to poverty and civil unrest.
