Exploring the Transformative Power of Play in African Children’s Games

The transformative power of indigenous African children’s games can be demonstrated by how they were framed by the aesthetics of play such as imitation, imagination, make-believe, repetition, spontaneity, and improvisation. Such games could be regarded as ‘rites of passage’ for children’s initiation into adulthood as they occupied a crucial phase in the process of growing up. Using the illustrative paradigm of indigenous children’s games from the Shona-speaking peoples of Zimbabwe, this paper explores the transformative power of play as a means by which children engaged with reality. The paper proceeds to argue that the advent of modern agents of social change such as Christianity, formal education, urbanization, industrialization, scientific technology, and the cash economy not only created a fragmentation of African people’s cultural past but also threatened the survival of African cultural performance traditions. Although indigenous African children’s games were disrupted by modernity, they have managed to survive in a modified form.

Tourism bisnis and “making ples”: An ethnography of ni-Vanuatu bungalow and tour owners on Malekula

<p>Since tourism has become a leading contributor to growth in Vanuatu, local entrepreneurs on outer islands have been starting their own small bisnis (business) to take greater part in the industry and the cash economy. This has involved new and challenging negotiations with ples – a Bislama word that refers to land, history, and kastom (traditional values and practices) so integrally entangled with personal and group identity for indigenous ni-Vanuatu. This thesis documents the lived and told experiences of a number of ni-Vanuatu tourismentrepreneurs living on Malekula Island. These accounts are based on seven weeks of ethnographic fieldwork when I stayed at seven bungalows and conducted participant observation and storian (semi-structured interviews) with the owners and other members of the surrounding community. I argue that when building and running a tourismbisnis, ni-Vanuatu engage in a process of ‘making ples’ with a unique purpose of attracting tourists, one which involves a continuous dialogue with their environment, history and community, and ultimately results in a “politics of value” during the tourist encounter. Using participant stories, the ethnographic account explores owners’ motivations to start a bisnis and the building process, the ples-based challenges they face, and how different kinds of value are mediated between tourists and locals when they meet. This thesis reveals that understandings of tourism and its values are interwoven with understandings of, and relationships with, ples.</p>

Tourism bisnis and “making ples”: An ethnography of ni-Vanuatu bungalow and tour owners on Malekula

<p>Since tourism has become a leading contributor to growth in Vanuatu, local entrepreneurs on outer islands have been starting their own small bisnis (business) to take greater part in the industry and the cash economy. This has involved new and challenging negotiations with ples – a Bislama word that refers to land, history, and kastom (traditional values and practices) so integrally entangled with personal and group identity for indigenous ni-Vanuatu. This thesis documents the lived and told experiences of a number of ni-Vanuatu tourismentrepreneurs living on Malekula Island. These accounts are based on seven weeks of ethnographic fieldwork when I stayed at seven bungalows and conducted participant observation and storian (semi-structured interviews) with the owners and other members of the surrounding community. I argue that when building and running a tourismbisnis, ni-Vanuatu engage in a process of ‘making ples’ with a unique purpose of attracting tourists, one which involves a continuous dialogue with their environment, history and community, and ultimately results in a “politics of value” during the tourist encounter. Using participant stories, the ethnographic account explores owners’ motivations to start a bisnis and the building process, the ples-based challenges they face, and how different kinds of value are mediated between tourists and locals when they meet. This thesis reveals that understandings of tourism and its values are interwoven with understandings of, and relationships with, ples.</p>

Tamana: a Study of a Reef Island Community

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the factors which give the tiny reef island of Tamana, in what is today the nation of Kiribati, its particular character. The research falls into three main sections. The first reviews the available documentary sources in order to build up an understanding of the settlement of the region by Micronesian peoples, the character of the island environment they encountered and the economy and society that developed. The changes resulting from the expansion of western capitalism into the region are then described. This material provides the context for the contemporary household-based study presented in the second section. This presents the findings of twelve month's field study of sixteen Tamana households. It considers household structure and, organisation, access to resources, patterns of tine allocation as well as the character of the subsistence and cash economies, their relationship to each other and the extent to which the household economy has become incorporated into the market economy of the outside world. The third section draws both sets of material together to consider issues of change and development and the likely future character of Tamana. The initial settlement of Tamana by Micronesian people led to some environmental modification and the introduction of new plant species. However, the system that evolved could be considered an autarkic man/environment system where a fluctuating balance between man and resources was maintained through drought-associated mortality. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, missionaries and colonial officials Tamana ceased to operate as an isolated entity and the changes which ensued resulted in the external relationships, through trade, employment and aid becoming increasingly important in determining the character of economic life on Tamana. In several important respects the process of incorporation into the market economy evident on Tamana differs from that encounted in other subsistence economies subject to similar influences. Colonial policy, in recognition of the high population densities and, obviously limited resources, discouraged the establishment of a plantation economy. The limiting atoll environment restricted the choice of cash crops to the coconut which was already an important element in the vegetation and whose productivity could be maintained with little intensification of labour inputs. The subsistence economy thus was able to maintain its vitality and enabled the islanders to oscillate between the subsistence and market economy as market conditions dictated. This is reinforced by the fact that some 45 percent of household income comes from outside the village economy through remittances and gifts, thus underlining the significance of Tamana as a "straddled economy" where the household depends on local production and wages earned in employment in either the phosphate workings or urban employment away from the island. For these reasons the commitment to the cash economy on Tamana is not strong. Because of the heavy emphasis of government spending on welfare and service spending and the emergence of a large, aid-dependent bureaucracy at the administrative centre on Tarawa, the aspirations of most Tamana peoples are towards wage employment which implies migration to the urban centre as an alternative to rural life. Unless these trends are rectified rural outmigration can be expected, to increase.</p>

Tamana: a Study of a Reef Island Community

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the factors which give the tiny reef island of Tamana, in what is today the nation of Kiribati, its particular character. The research falls into three main sections. The first reviews the available documentary sources in order to build up an understanding of the settlement of the region by Micronesian peoples, the character of the island environment they encountered and the economy and society that developed. The changes resulting from the expansion of western capitalism into the region are then described. This material provides the context for the contemporary household-based study presented in the second section. This presents the findings of twelve month's field study of sixteen Tamana households. It considers household structure and, organisation, access to resources, patterns of tine allocation as well as the character of the subsistence and cash economies, their relationship to each other and the extent to which the household economy has become incorporated into the market economy of the outside world. The third section draws both sets of material together to consider issues of change and development and the likely future character of Tamana. The initial settlement of Tamana by Micronesian people led to some environmental modification and the introduction of new plant species. However, the system that evolved could be considered an autarkic man/environment system where a fluctuating balance between man and resources was maintained through drought-associated mortality. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, missionaries and colonial officials Tamana ceased to operate as an isolated entity and the changes which ensued resulted in the external relationships, through trade, employment and aid becoming increasingly important in determining the character of economic life on Tamana. In several important respects the process of incorporation into the market economy evident on Tamana differs from that encounted in other subsistence economies subject to similar influences. Colonial policy, in recognition of the high population densities and, obviously limited resources, discouraged the establishment of a plantation economy. The limiting atoll environment restricted the choice of cash crops to the coconut which was already an important element in the vegetation and whose productivity could be maintained with little intensification of labour inputs. The subsistence economy thus was able to maintain its vitality and enabled the islanders to oscillate between the subsistence and market economy as market conditions dictated. This is reinforced by the fact that some 45 percent of household income comes from outside the village economy through remittances and gifts, thus underlining the significance of Tamana as a "straddled economy" where the household depends on local production and wages earned in employment in either the phosphate workings or urban employment away from the island. For these reasons the commitment to the cash economy on Tamana is not strong. Because of the heavy emphasis of government spending on welfare and service spending and the emergence of a large, aid-dependent bureaucracy at the administrative centre on Tarawa, the aspirations of most Tamana peoples are towards wage employment which implies migration to the urban centre as an alternative to rural life. Unless these trends are rectified rural outmigration can be expected, to increase.</p>

Cash economy, criminality and cash regulation in Ethiopia

Purpose This paper aims to examine the contribution of Ethiopia’s cash economy to financial crimes. It also investigates the regulation of cash in the context of controlling crime stemming from the cash economy. Design/methodology/approach This study relies on primary data generated from 20 interviewees drawn from the National Bank of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Financial Intelligence Center, selected commercial banks and law enforcement agencies and document review from government reports, media press and statutes, as well as secondary data from online and offline sources. Findings The cash-intensive nature of Ethiopia’s economy has enabled a significant amount of cash to circulate outside of the formal financial system. This money is partly to blame for the prevalence of criminal activities such as cash hoarding, corruption and illicit financial flows. To address the threat of crime posed by the cash economy, the Ethiopian Government has taken measures such as restricting cash withdrawals from financial institutions, limiting the amount of cash individuals can hold and demonetizing the banknotes. The measures enable the banks to collect the cash circulating outside of the formal financial sector. However, the effect of these measures on reducing future criminality remains uncertain. Improving the financial inclusivity of the country, specifically expanding basic financial products to the rural areas, digitalizing the country’s payment system, raising general financial awareness and establishing a strong financial consumer protection framework would play a critical role in reducing future criminality and transforming the cash-intensive into a cashless economy. Originality/value This paper provides a first-of-its-kind analytical perspective on the contribution of Ethiopia’s cash economy to criminal activity and the adequacy of countermeasures so far taken.

Language and ethnobiological skills decline precipitously in Papua New Guinea, the world’s most linguistically diverse nation

Papua New Guinea is home to >10% of the world’s languages and rich and varied biocultural knowledge, but the future of this diversity remains unclear. We measured language skills of 6,190 students speaking 392 languages (5.5% of the global total) and modeled their future trends using individual-level variables characterizing family language use, socioeconomic conditions, students’ skills, and language traits. This approach showed that only 58% of the students, compared to 91% of their parents, were fluent in indigenous languages, while the trends in key drivers of language skills (language use at home, proportion of mixed-language families, urbanization, students’ traditional skills) predicted accelerating decline of fluency to an estimated 26% in the next generation of students. Ethnobiological knowledge declined in close parallel with language skills. Varied medicinal plant uses known to the students speaking indigenous languages are replaced by a few, mostly nonnative species for the students speaking English or Tok Pisin, the national lingua franca. Most (88%) students want to teach indigenous language to their children. While crucial for keeping languages alive, this intention faces powerful external pressures as key factors (education, cash economy, road networks, and urbanization) associated with language attrition are valued in contemporary society.

Business Challenges of Arts and Crafts Street Vendors at Key Tourist Attractions in Soweto, South Africa

Soweto is South Africa’s most iconic tourist destination, providing local street vendors with an opportunity to sell arts and crafts. This paper presents a detailed overview of business challenges faced by a population of 60 arts and crafts street vendors operating at two main tourist attractions in Soweto, the Mandela House/Museum and the Hector Pieterson Memorial. The study employs a mixed methodology based on a four-stage exploratory sequential research design. The profile characteristics of arts and craft street vendors lead to some interesting conclusions whereby the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative results reveals the main challenges in operating their businesses. They are grouped as: a) inadequate infrastructure, especially a lack of dedicated trading space and storage facilities; b) lack of safety due to high levels of congestion and crime affecting daily trade; and c) non-compliance with legislation, lack of government funding and reliance on the cash economy. The study presents a contribution to tourism literature on the little-known challenges of informal businesses trading as arts and crafts street vendors at main tourist attractions in Soweto.