Medina Gounass: Constructing Extra-National Space in a West African Borderland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
David Newman Glovsky

Abstract The historical autonomy of the religious community of Medina Gounass in Senegal represents an alternative geographic territory to that of colonial and postcolonial states. The borderland location of Medina Gounass allowed the town to detach itself from colonial and independent Senegal, creating parallel governmental structures and imposing a particular interpretation of Islamic law. While in certain facets this autonomy was limited, the community was able to distance itself through immigration, cross-border religious ties, and smuggling. Glovsky’s analysis of the history of Medina Gounass offers a case study for the multiplicity of geographical and territorial entities in colonial and postcolonial Africa.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Ding ◽  
Di Cao ◽  
Taohua Ouyang ◽  
Jin-xi Wu

This paper aims to take the longitudinal development history of the Lenovo Cross-border complex nested R&D organization as the research object, to explore the development rules of enterprise niche. Strategic positioning is the core issue of enterprise management, and enterprise niche is the core issue of strategic positioning. This study elaborates on the three stages of enterprise R&D organizational ambidexterity promoting enterprise niche evolution, discusses the process model of space development, and reveals the life cycle of enterprise niche. It reveals the deep reason for promoting enterprise niche to develop—the ambidexterity of complex nested organization. The conclusion helps to promote the successful space development of enterprise niches through Cross-border merger and acquisition, and to enhance global sustainable development for the companies from emerging markets such as China.


2006 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
JÉRÔME DESTOMBES

This article is a West African case-study of the nutritional history of everyday poverty. It draws on unusually rich statistical evidence collected in northeastern Ghana. In the 1930s, pioneer colonial surveys revealed that seasonal poor diet was pervasive, by contrast with undernourishment. They pave the way for constructing a new set of anthropometric data in Nangodi, a savanna polity where John Hunter completed a classic study of seasonal hunger in the 1960s. A re-survey of the same sections and lineages c. 2000, during a full agricultural cycle, shows a significant improvement in nutritional statuses, notably for women.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gytis Dudas ◽  
Luiz Max Carvalho ◽  
Trevor Bedford ◽  
Andrew J. Tatem ◽  
Guy Baele ◽  
...  

SummaryThe 2013-2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease in West Africa was of unprecedented magnitude, duration and impact. Extensive collaborative sequencing projects have produced a large collection of over 1600 Ebola virus genomes, representing over 5% of known cases, unmatched for any single human epidemic. In this comprehensive analysis of this entire dataset, we reconstruct in detail the history of migration, proliferation and decline of Ebola virus throughout the region. We test the association of geography, climate, administrative boundaries, demography and culture with viral movement among 56 administrative regions. Our results show that during the outbreak viral lineages moved according to a classic ‘gravity’ model, with more intense migration between larger and more proximate population centers. Notably, we find that despite a strong attenuation of international dispersal after border closures, localized cross-border transmission beforehand had already set the seeds for an international epidemic, rendering these measures relatively ineffective in curbing the epidemic. We use this empirical evidence to address why the epidemic did not spread into neighboring countries, showing that although these regions were susceptible to developing significant outbreaks, they were also at lower risk of viral introductions. Finally, viral genome sequence data uniquely reveals this large epidemic to be a heterogeneous and spatially dissociated collection of transmission clusters of varying size, duration and connectivity. These insights will help inform approaches to intervention in such epidemics in the future.


2018 ◽  
pp. 483-494
Author(s):  
Natalia V. Gonina ◽  
◽  
Anna P. Dvoretskaya ◽  

This archive draws on archival sources to study the Great Fire in Yeniseysk in 1869 and its consequences for development of this northern provincial town. The research derives its novelty from the first publication of documents of the State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Krai and that of the Irkutsk Region, which describe measures of fire response and name benefactors. Historical approach allows to place specific patterns of local community in the context of social history of the 20th century. Anthropological approach allows to identify means and modes of surviving in a natural disaster. The fire clamed about 200 lives, destroyed all wooden buildings in the town, and disrupted daily activities of more than 7 thousand Yeniseysk citizens. At present, such disasters are considered as more than just local disasters. From the religious point of view, such natural disasters disrupt the balance and harmony of the God's world and require worldwide effort to set it to rights. The case-study of the Yeniseysk community concludes that actions of a person within the fire storm were determined not just by self-preservation, but also by responsibility for the lives of those around them. People appealed to church for help. Many Yeniseysk priests rose to the occasion as their vocation demanded. The archival documents show how rapidly the nation responded to the disaster. The case-study of Yeniseysk in 1869-1871 demonstrates an array of measures aiming to attract external resources. The activities were based on Christian principles of communal spirit and charity, community help and civic cooperation in joined efforts of state and public institutions, private and corporate donors. The article concludes that effective moneyed assistance and social support significantly decreased the severity of losses.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-203
Author(s):  
Michael Oloyede Alabi

This paper aims to trace the history of colonial urban planning in Nigerian cities, its legacies of urban design and beautification of the environment. In Nigeria the town planning institutional frame works was established under the colonial rule which persisted to the post colonial period. In this sense the colonial era was a phase in which European institutions and values systems were transferred to Nigeria, one of which is the concept of environmental beautification with the use of plants. An investigation is carried out on the influence of colonial rule on landscaping and urban design. Findings show that the introduction of deliberate landscaping to city planning have over the years systematically led to loss of valuable indigenous plants partly due to the introduction of exotic plants. These are plants that initially were seen as sources of cure for several ailments. There is therefore the need for a rethink as to the type of plants to be used for landscaping.


2017 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 575-596
Author(s):  
Richard Asante

Chinese officials tend to claim that Chinese economic and security activities in Africa are based on the principles of equality and mutual benefits (win-win), thus they are generally beneficial to the nation-building and development of African countries. Drawing on the case study of Ghana, this article argues that China’s commitment to enhancing the capacity of national security agencies, fighting against piracy, strengthening maritime security, and promoting intelligence sharing in West Africa have been, in general, constructive. However, anti-Chinese sentiments mainly triggered by the involvement of Chinese migrants in illegal gold mining activities in Ghana and other West African countries have been destructive, with serious security ramifications for not only Ghana, but also the entire region that has a history of violent conflicts closely related to extraction of natural resources.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 165-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Nicolau Parés

AbstractThis paper analyzes the “Southern” Afro-Brazilian Catholicism which was brought to West Africa by former slaves from Brazil prior to the expansion of the “Northern” European Catholic missions. In examining two significant mass baptisms held in the town of Agoué in 1846 and 1855, this paper explores the religious history of the Aguda or Afro-Brazilian freed slaves, and how they built a network of ethnic, commercial, and affective relationships by means of Catholic baptism and godparenting. The Aguda’s Catholic affiliation (rather than conversion), beyond being coextensive with Brazilian identity, served to produce a merchant community whose main activity, in the early period, was the slave trade. The paper also discusses the methodological potential of cross referencing and fertilizing West African data with Bahian data in order to elucidate how the returnees’ appropriation of Catholic ritual was shaped by their previous Brazilian experience.


Author(s):  
Darren M. Slade

The purpose of this article is to answer what the socio-historical method is when applied to the study of religion, as well as detail how numerous disciplines (e.g. archaeology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, theology, musicology, dramatology, etc.) contribute to its overall employment. In the broadest (and briefest) definition possible, a socio-historical study of religion coalesces the aims, philosophies, and methodologies of historiography with those of the social and cultural sciences, meaning it analyzes the interpretation and practice of religion through the lens of social/historical contexts, scientific discovery, and from within each faith tradition. The result is that the contexts surrounding a particular religion becomes the primary subject of study in order to better understand the origin, development, and expression of the religion itself. This article explains that the socio-historical study of religion is, in essence, an eclectic methodology that focuses on describing and analyzing the contexts from which the interpretation and practice of religion occurs. The goal is to examine how different aspects of a religion function in the broader socio-political and cultural milieu. Its most fundamental postulation is that the social history of a religious community affects how it interprets and practices their faith. By approaching religious inquiry from a socio-historical perspective, researchers are better able to recognize religion as a cultural and institutional element in ongoing social and historical interaction. Three sections will help to explain the socio-historical method: 1) a definitional dissection of the term “socio-historical”; 2) an elaboration of the principles inherent to the methodology; and 3) a case study example of the socio-historical method in practice.


Author(s):  
H. Macher ◽  
P. Grussenmeyer ◽  
T. Landes ◽  
G. Halin ◽  
C. Chevrier ◽  
...  

The French collection of Plan-Reliefs, scale models of fortified towns, constitutes a precious testimony of the history of France. The aim of the URBANIA project is the valorisation and the diffusion of this Heritage through the creation of virtual models. The town scale model of Strasbourg at 1/600 currently exhibited in the Historical Museum of Strasbourg was selected as a case study. In this paper, the photogrammetric recording of this scale model is first presented. The acquisition protocol as well as the data post-processing are detailed. Then, the modelling of the city and more specially building blocks is investigated. Based on point clouds of the scale model, the extraction of roof elements is considered. It deals first with the segmentation of the point cloud into building blocks. Then, for each block, points belonging to roofs are identified and the extraction of chimney point clouds as well as roof ridges and roof planes is performed. Finally, the 3D parametric modelling of the building blocks is studied by considering roof polygons and polylines describing chimneys as input. In a future works section, the semantically enrichment and the potential usage scenarios of the scale model are envisaged.


Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Goddard

Opening ParagraphThe Yoruba are generally believed to be the most urbanized of the peoples of tropical Africa, and certainly their propensity for living in large nucleated settlements is one of the most striking features of the settlement geography of the continent. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Yoruba town has attracted a considerable amount of attention from anthropologists, sociologists, and geographers alike. W. R. Bascom and others have emphasized the uniqueness, magnitude, and long history of urban development; W. B. Morgan, A. L. Mabogunje, and N. C. Mitchel have examined the functions and morphology of Yoruba towns; and certain sociologists, notably N. A. Fadipe and P. C. Lloyd, have discussed detailed aspects of Yoruba urban life. From all these writings one dominant feature has emerged: that Yoruba towns are ‘agricultural towns’ in the sense that they are agriculturally based and the product of intimate links between town and country. While it is true that most towns in pre-industrial societies tend to be linked with their immediate hinterlands, in so far as the excess of food production there makes their existence possible, Yoruba towns are linked to their hinterlands by even stronger ties, because the Yoruba living in the country traditionally looks upon the town as his real home and owes direct social allegiance to it.


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