scholarly journals Rethinking African Futures after COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 000203972110035
Author(s):  
Detlef Müller-Mahn ◽  
Eric Kioko

This article focuses on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa, describes its effects for ongoing research, and asks how it may impact African studies. In Africa, as elsewhere in the world, the pandemic is changing the way people think about the future. The crisis gives rise to a feeling of uncertainty, while casting doubt on future orientations based on forecasts and planning. This scepticism does not concern the African continent alone, but it is here that the call to open a fresh perspective on the future is expressed most emphatically. COVID-19 reinvigorates the question of how African futures are imagined and shaped in relation to the world at large. Against this backdrop, this article suggests three areas where future-oriented African studies should be revised in response to the current crisis – namely, how to incorporate uncertainty, how to decolonise understandings of African futures, and how to translate these considerations into research practice.

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10 ◽  

AbstractIn this analysis of the future of our profession, Barbara Tearle starts by looking at the past to see how much the world of legal information has evolved and changed. She considers the nature of the profession today and then identifies key factors which she believes will be of importance in the future, including the impact of globalisation; the potential changes to the legal profession; technology; developments in legal education; increasing commercialisation and changes to the law itself.


Author(s):  
Vlasios Sarantinos

The chapter explores the impact globalization has created for the higher education sector, looking at how the landscape evolved across the world and how the role of universities has been transformed. Extending the analysis further, there is an investigation of how institutions have tried to respond to the emerging challenges and opportunities presented as a consequence of the shifting field. The focus then moves to the African continent and peruses the particular development of higher education under the influence of colonial legacy and globalization, examining how institutions have endeavored to adapt. The chapter draws to an end with a reflection of the main issues, inherent limitations, and how the research agenda could be taken further.


Author(s):  
Idris Olayiwola Ganiyu ◽  
Ola Olusegun Oyedele ◽  
Evelyn Derera

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has resulted in the disruption of the world of work whereby technological innovation such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. These disruptions may be creative in that as some jobs are lost due to the development of artificial intelligence, new ones are created. This chapter explored the impact of disruptive technological innovations on the future of work. The skill gaps brought about by the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution was also explored in this chapter.


2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1586) ◽  
pp. 181-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Evans

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate. In such a situation, we need to understand the nature of the change and to make predictions about the way in which it might affect systems of interest; often we may also wish to understand what might be done to mitigate the predicted effects. In ecology, we usually make such predictions (or forecasts) by making use of mathematical models that describe the system and projecting them into the future, under changed conditions. Approaches emphasizing the desirability of simple models with analytical tractability and those that use assumed causal relationships derived statistically from data currently dominate ecological modelling. Although such models are excellent at describing the way in which a system has behaved, they are poor at predicting its future state, especially in novel conditions. In order to address questions about the impact of environmental change, and to understand what, if any, action might be taken to ameliorate it, ecologists need to develop the ability to project models into novel, future conditions. This will require the development of models based on understanding the processes that result in a system behaving the way it does, rather than relying on a description of the system, as a whole, remaining valid indefinitely.


2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-566
Author(s):  
Amandeep Kaur ◽  
Harpreet Kaur

E-governance is becoming a phenomenon that is catching the attention of government as well as the citizens across the world. Lately, the governments of almost all the countries of the world made huge investments in implementation of e-government projects including India. There have been a number of centre- and state-level projects launched in the recent years. Hence, it becomes all the more important to assess the impact and viability of such projects. A number of studies have been undertaken in this area. It is observed that most of the studies in this field have focused on exploring e-governance service delivery dimensions in government-to-citizen (G2C) context; however, a few studies are carried out in government-to-business (G2B) context. Hence, the present study is an attempt to bridge this gap. The study aims to explore e-governance service delivery dimensions as perceived by the employees of Registrar of Companies (ROC), North Region. Ninety employees of ROCs were surveyed to know about their perception about the pioneer e-government project named Ministry of Corporate Affairs of 21st Century (MCA21) launched in 2006. Results of the study identified four dimensions as perceived important by the employees. To improve the services provided by the employees to the users, it would be useful to be aware of these dimensions in the future.


1991 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Rotella ◽  
Mi Mi Murray

Homophobia has been an issue of concern in the world of sport for decades. It has had a negative impact on the world of athletes, coaches, and sport psychology consultants. Both heterosexuals and homosexuals are affected. Homophobia has kept some from striving for excellence while interfering with and hindering some who pursued success in sport. Specialists in sport psychology who claim to care about the development of human potential in sport must be concerned about the impact of homophobia. An honest look at attitudes, beliefs, and values is a necessary step forward if change is to occur. A move in the direction of healthy acceptance of differing sexual preferences is suggested, along with an effective philosophy for doing so. A wish list for the future is included.


1964 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-289
Author(s):  
Roland Young

African studies at Northwestern University will enter a new phase of their history in September 1964, when Professor Gwendolen M. Carter takes up her post as director of the Program and Herskovits Professor of African Studies. The new appointment coincides with an expanding intellectual involvement of the faculty with the developing countries of the world, which have been somewhat neglected by scholarship, and the future goals of the Program are closely related to this wider academic development. First, however, a note on the background.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-194
Author(s):  
Aurelian Raţiu ◽  
Onisim Roşu

Abstract Among the emerging technologies, artificial intelligence represents nowadays an area of interest for all of the states around the world, making the technological progress a huge step in human evolution. The future role of the man in military actions will not be to fight in the field anymore, making decisions on how and when to use the weapons in order to stop the incoming enemy while also respecting the international laws. With the help of technology, humanity could provide its much needed security and put an end to conflicts regardless of their nature, because devices are not capable of emotions and subjectivism, making them transparent and objective and transforming the decision making process into a simpler, fairer and legal action. Technology represents the future and man should adapt to it as soon as possible in order to reach the best outcomes even when it comes to war.


Author(s):  
Artem Mekhovych

The article considers the main problems affecting the development of international tourism and predicts the further development of the situation. The growing tourist flow has contributed to the intensification of entrepreneurship in all sectors of the economy, capitalization of assets, job creation, economic and social growth. In 2019, the global tourism industry provided about 330 million jobs, equivalent to 10.3% of total employment. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented crisis in the tourism industry. The flow of tourists in the world has decreased by about 65%. In January-September 2020 alone, the number of international revenues decreased by 70%.This has resulted in the loss of $ 730 billion and more than 120 million jobs. It is noted that in modern conditions there are possible directions of development of inbound and domestic tourism, which are an important factor influencing the economy, but the weakening of external restrictions and lack of competitive service in the Ukrainian tourism industry will contribute to further development of international tourism. Those countries in which tourism occupies a significant share in GDP, are interested in attracting tourists as soon as possible and are ready to promptly implement all necessary anti-epidemic measures in the tourist infrastructure. For the Ukrainian government today, such a strategy is not a priority. Based on this, it is proved that the essence of the scientific and applied aspect of managing the development of international tourism is based on the theory of large business cycles and the theory of prediction. It was emphasized that the world crises ended sooner or later and a new round of development began. The task of mastering the forces of socio-economic life and subordinating them to the conscious, planned leadership of the state, as well as constructive and continuous social dialogue between the government and social partners, is the next practical transformation of today. The program of conscious organizational and regulatory steps should be knowledge, anticipation and action plan. When developing an anti-crisis plan to overcome the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector in Ukraine, it is necessary to take into account the recommendations of the Global Crisis Committee on Tourism, namely: crisis management and job preservation; support for self-employed workers; providing incentives and implementing appropriate state policy in the field of international tourism. In predicting the future development of the situation, more attention should be paid to the role of the tourism sector in the country's economy and the achievement of sustainable development goals; develop plans for preparedness for the challenges of the future and use this opportunity to move to sustainable development of tourism facilities.


2020 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Svetlana CEBOTARI ◽  
Carolina BUDURINA-GOREACII

One of the problems that are present not only on the international arena, but also on the work table, in the laboratories of virologists, in the scientific discourse of polymologists, political scientists, economists and specialists in other fields refers to the problem of the impact of COVID-19 virus on conflict zones. Although in the first three months of 2020 all the attention of the international community was focused on the emergence of COVID-19 virus and its impact on citizens, society and interpersonal relationships, it is worth paying attention to the conflict zones present in the world. At the end of the virus emergence, the international community's attention to conflict zones seems to be redirected to the issue of COVID-19. The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact of COVID-19 virus on conflict zones that are present on the international arena, such as those on the African continent, the Middle East, the Latin American continent and Europe.


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