Playing by the rules? New institutionalism, path dependency and informal settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 2558-2577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicky Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Informal Settlement ◽  
New Institutionalism ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Status ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Way

The scale of contemporary urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa has culminated in the proliferation of informal settlements, with governments claiming a legitimate right to remove them. Drawing on new institutionalism as a conceptual framework and presenting the case of Old Fadama, an informal settlement within central Accra in Ghana, this paper sheds light on the way in which both formal and informal rules shape these legally unauthorized spaces. Using the analogy of a game, the author devises a novel typology to highlight the way in which different players maximize their personal advantage from maintaining the status quo. The paper concludes that as long as different interests are served by the existing socio-political arrangements then path dependency will endure, with government officials as the dominant playmaker in the locality ultimately controlling the rules and pace of the game.

Coloniality in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurgen Poesche
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Minority Status ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
The Status ◽  
Sub Saharan

The objective of this article is to contribute to the development of a common narrative on coloniality in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas. Since scholars tend to focus on either Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas, a gap between these important regions has emerged in the literature on coloniality. This article seeks to bridge this gap by providing a comparative perspective on coloniality, and this hopefully will enhance Indigenous African nations’ and Indigenous American nations’ understanding of what needs to be done to overcome coloniality. The article explores three key theses. First, in spite of the differences in the extant societal power structures in the postcolonial African states and the former settler colonial states in the Americas, this article argues that the continued dynamics of coloniality are similar in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas. The minority status of Indigenous American nations throughout the Americas renders addressing coloniality more challenging than in Sub-Saharan Africa where Indigenous African nations are in the majority although they generally do not have effective sovereignty. Second, the extant societal power structures associated with both coloniality and occidental modernity have weaponized occidental jurisprudence, natural science and social science to defend and proliferate the status quo assisted by state sovereignty. Addressing coloniality effectively therefore requires a renaissance of Indigenous African and Indigenous American cosmovisions unaffected by modernity. Third, addressing coloniality in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas requires the recognition of the comprehensive and supreme sovereignty of the Indigenous African nations in all of Sub-Saharan Africa, and Indigenous American nations in all of the Americas.

scholarly journals Access to improved sanitation facilities in low-income informal settlements of East African cities

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Okurut ◽  
R. N. Kulabako ◽  
P. Abbott ◽  
J. M. Adogo ◽  
J. Chenoweth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
East African ◽  
Basic Sanitation ◽  
Improved Sanitation ◽  
Joint Monitoring ◽  
Sub Saharan

Throughout Africa, the population in urban areas is increasing rapidly, often exceeding the capacity and the resources of the cities and towns to accommodate the people. In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of urban dwellers live in informal settlements served by inadequate sanitation facilities. These settlements present unique challenges to the provision of sustainable and hygienic sanitation, and there is insufficient information on access to improved facilities. This paper reports findings of a study undertaken in low-income informal settlements using a mixed methods approach to assess access to sanitation and identify the barriers to household uptake of improved sanitation facilities. More than half of the respondents (59.7%) reported using sanitation facilities that are included in the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme definition of improved sanitation. However, a high proportion of these facilities did not provide access to basic sanitation. Less than 5% of all the respondents did not report problems related to sustainable access to basic sanitation. The findings highlight the urgent need to develop specific and strategic interventions for each low-income informal settlement, to upscale the sustainable access and use of improved sanitation in urban centres.

scholarly journals Analysing the Sustainability Challenges of Informal Urban Settlements: The Case of Chibolya in Lusaka Zambia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Jonathan Simbeya Mwamba
Keyword(s):  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Major Constituent ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Settlement Development ◽  
Development Interventions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
Development Literature

Presently, informal settlements exist as part of the urban fabric and a major constituent of the residential geographies of most Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. The growth of informal settlements in cities of the global south has been widely discussed in existing literature as a critical concern. Urban development literature in Zambia in particular has focused on the rapid urbanization and poverty growth, but barely explains how this affects settlement sustainability. Studies have focused on measures put in place by government and supporting organisations to help find solutions to the problem. But this has been done without providing specifics as relates to interventions for settlement sustainability and user perceptions of their living environments. The article provides a conceptual analysis of the local dynamics influencing informal settlement development and sustainability. The historical perspective and modern day realities of informal urban settlement settings in Lusaka in Zambia are also reviewed. The case study findings indicate a need to refocus development interventions in informal settlements by considering informal dwellers concerns and requirements when formulating settlements development strategies. The article offers an insight into sustainability challenges that the settlement population faces despite a variety of development interventions by the State and private agencies. The article shows the potential success and sustainability of interventions when informal settlement residents are empowered and take responsibility of their own development agenda. The paper points out the need for collaborative approach to informal settlement improvement where all stakeholders including the local residents, participate in all stages of settlement development.

The Futurists. Experts in World Futures

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Other ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Images Of The Future ◽  
The Way

Alvin Toffler’s writings encapsulated many of the tensions of futurism: the way that futurology and futures studies oscillated between forms of utopianism and technocracy with global ambitions, and between new forms of activism, on the one hand, and emerging forms of consultancy and paid advice on the other. Paradoxically, in their desire to create new images of the future capable of providing exits from the status quo of the Cold War world, futurists reinvented the technologies of prediction that they had initially rejected, and put them at the basis of a new activity of futures advice. Consultancy was central to the field of futures studies from its inception. For futurists, consultancy was a form of militancy—a potentially world altering expertise that could bypass politics and also escaped the boring halls of academia.

scholarly journals Depth of poverty in an informal settlement in the Vaal region, South Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilna Oldewage-Theron ◽  
Tielman J.C. Slabbert
Keyword(s):  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Community Based Interventions ◽  
Urban Food Security ◽  
Gap Ratio ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Poverty Indicators ◽  
Sustainable Income ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Measurement Of Poverty

Despite the large number of people currently living in poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, the debate about the definition and meaning of poverty continues. Two distinct problems exist regarding the measurement of poverty, namely the difficulty of identifying the poor in a population and the difficulty in developing an index for the measurement of poverty. The main objective of the survey was to apply a poverty model for determining the depth of poverty in an informal settlement in the Vaal Region, as well as the impact of possible income-generating activities on the community. A questionnaire, which had been devised for measuring poverty indicators, was administered to 429 randomly selected households in the informal settlement, with the poverty model being applied to measure the degree of poverty. The results of the survey showed that 286 households lived in poverty at the time. The impact of extra income on the poverty levels of these 286 households was then determined. The results of the survey also showed that the unemployment level was 91% and that the mean monthly income was R612.50. The average poverty gap was R1017.21, with the poverty gap ratio being 56%. The poverty model showed that an increase of R500 in monthly household income resulted in a poverty gap ratio of 35%. The results indicated that the community was a poverty-stricken community, suffering from chronic food insecurity. The results of the study will be used to facilitate the planning and implementation of sustainable, income-generating, community-based interventions aimed at promoting urban food security and alleviating poverty in the community in question. OpsommingTen spyte van die groot hoeveelheid mense wat steeds wêrelwyd in armoede leef, duur die debat oor die definisie en betekenis van armoede nog altyd voort. Daar word twee definitiewe probleme met die meting van armoede ervaar, naamlik die identifisering van die armes in 'n gemeenskap, en die ontwikkeling van 'n indeks vir die meet van armoede. Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie was om 'n armoedemodel vir die dieptemeting van armoede in 'n informele nedersetting in die Vaal-area toe te pas, en om die impak van moontlike aktiwiteite wat inkomste genereer in dieselfde gemeenskap te bepaal. 'n Vraelys wat ontwerp is om armoede aan te dui en te meet is ewekansig aan 429 huishoudings in die informele nedersetting uitgedeel om te voltooi en die armoedemodel is toegepas om die diepte van armoede te meet. Die resultate het getoon dat 286 huishoudings in armoede leef. Die impak van ekstra inkomste op armoedevlakke is in die 286 huishoudings bepaal. Die resultate het verder getoon dat die werkloosheidsvlak 91% was en dat die gemiddelde maandelikse huishoudelike inkomste R612.50 was. Die gemiddelde armoedegaping was R1017.21, met 'n armoedegapingverhouding van 56%. Die armoedemodel het getoon dat 'n verhoging van R500 in maandelikse huishoudelike inkomste die armoedegapingverhouding na 35% verlaag het. Die resultate het bewys dat hierdie 'n armoedige gemeenskap met kroniese voedselonsekerheid was. Die uitkoms van die studie sal gebruik word vir die beplanning en implementering van gemeenskapgebaseerde ingrypings om volhoubare inkomste te genereer om stedelike voedselsekerheid te bevorder en die armoede in hierdie gemeenskap te verlig.

scholarly journals Exploration of the Way out for Education Reform Based on the Status Quo of Chinese and Foreign Education Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Yifan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Education System ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Status ◽  
Practical Reality ◽  
The Government ◽  
Foreign Education ◽  
Education In China ◽  
The Way

 Against the backdrop of growing national strength and rapid economic development, the government has placed more emphasis on education. In recent years, remarkable achievements have been registered in terms of education in China, which lays a solid foundation for cultivating comprehensive professionally-trained personnel in the new era. However, the current education system is ridden with many setbacks and problems. This paper conducts an analysis of the specific conditions of education both at home and abroad, status quo of education in China, makes some reflections on the direction and measures of China's education reform based on the practical reality of education in China. Measures should be taken to inject personalities into the traditional, exam-oriented education system, which keeps pace with the new era. As is known to all, it's important to strike a balance between public education and non-government funded education in a scientific and reasonable manner. The overhauling of traditional education policies will pave the way for China's educational renaissance and realize the great blueprint of the Chinese dream. 

scholarly journals HISTORICAL RESEARCH OF MODERNISM IN AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE OF LOW-RISE SOCIAL HOUSING

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
Da Fonseka Vera Kruzh Morzhadinu
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
The World ◽  
Modernist Architecture ◽  
Artistic Styles ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Way

the purpose of this study is to examine the emergence of modernism as a cultural response to the conditions of modernity to change the way people live, work and react to the world around them. In this regard, the following tasks were formulated: 1) study the development of modernism on the world stage, 2) identify its universal features, and 3) analyze how the independence of Central and sub-Saharan Africa in the 1950s and 1960s coincided with a particularly bright period of modernist architecture in the region, when many young countries studied and asserted their identity in art. The article analyzes several objects of modernist architecture in Africa: urban development projects in Casablanca (Morocco), Asmara (Eritrea), Ngambo (Tanzania). The main features and characteristics of modernism which were manifested in the African architecture of the XX century are also formulated. It is concluded that African modernism is developed in line with the international modernist trend. It is also summarized that modernism which differs from previous artistic styles and turned out to be a radical revolution in art is their natural successor.

scholarly journals Vision in Context: The Situating of an ESL/EFL Curriculum

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Virginia Suave
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Time Limits ◽  
Culture Time ◽  
The Status ◽  
Ways Of Being ◽  
The Way

Language enables us to make meaning together, and at the same time, limits those meanings we can attempt to communicate to each other. ESL/EFL programs must have as their central intent the enabling of people to make meaning in English. Such programs occur within a context of culture, time, and a sociopolitical web of circumstance, and within. notions as to the meaning of education, of language and of culture. This overall context grounds the curriculum. Yet, as educators, we are also called with the learner to envision a better reality. What occurs in our classrooms does so within the tension between context and vision. Our decisions, or lack thereof, determine whether our curriculum is to reinforce injustices inherent in the status quo or to enable people to create more just, more joyful ways of being together within this country and within our world. This paper explores some of the dimensions of context and vision and the tensions which may exist between them; it endeavours to point the way to curriculum as human praxis.

scholarly journals Carbon Lock-In and Sustainable Growth Challenges : Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 01-25
Author(s):  
Aminatou Kemajou Pofoura ◽  
Huaping Sun ◽  
Maxwell Opuni Antwi ◽  
Charles Kwarteng Antwi
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Income Per Capita ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Lock In

This research seeks to investigate the risks of carbon lock-in by examining the potential factors influencing carbon dioxide emissions levels in Sub-Saharan Africa. Given this, we employed a panel Sub-Saharan Africa comprised of 35 countries in the sub-region, from 2000 to 2014 with cross-sectional dependence among variables. We used the Two-step robust System Generalized Method of Moments to estimate the influencing factors of carbon emissions level that create path dependency. The main findings are: (1) income per capita, urbanization, and financial resources contribute to the increase of carbon emissions level in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries, in the short-run; (2) we noticed that in the short-run, the impacts of fossil fuels per capita, energy intensity and total energy consumption are insignificant; (3) in the long-run, income per capita, urbanization and financial resources increase carbon emissions level; (4) from various factors that increase carbon emissions level, these factors form a path dependency that slow the introduction of low-carbon systems, thus, creating carbon lock-in in the Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Considering this, policymakers and governments should ensure the strict compliance of environmental regulations by financial institutions and organizations, promote low-carbon cities during economic transformation, and encourage investments in low-carbon projects. The government should also educate and build awareness on the effects of environmental pollution on population health, provide incentives for energy conservation and promote the use of clean products to avoid future risks of lock-in in the sub-region.

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