ASC staff specialization on ChadResearch projects in ChadOil and social development in Africa. The case of Chad
Han van Dijk The issue of oil and social development has wide relevance in Africa. One example to be studied in the new theme group is Chad, a poor country but one that is a new player in the global oil market. The riches of oil wealth can often produce harrowing economic and political problems that reproduce poverty and these problems, in turn, generate economic and social shocks that threaten global stability. The World Bank has devised a petroleum development strategy for Chad that it believes may avoid or mitigate such problems. Previous studies of oil's negative impact come from a number of disciplines, especially economics and political science. This research proposes four explanations - the 'Dutch disease' (distorted growth in the oil-related sector and stagnation or decline in parts of the agricultural and industrial sectors), neo-patrimonialism, rent capture, and deconstructive cultural representation - that may account for why Chad, or any other developing country, can be transformed into a country plagued by the curse of oil. The impact of oil exploitation on Chadian society will be investigated and an examination of social movements (the NGO sector, political parties, and civil society) will be part of this project. The long-term impact of conflict and violence on food production systems and food security in Africa
J.W.M. van Dijk and G.J. Abbink Recently, conflicts over resources have been placed centre stage in social science research. However, apart from the fact that these conflicts may be based in resource scarcity (or abundance) in a context of population growth and climate change, they also have an impact on systems of natural resource management and food production. This impact has rarely been a subject of research although its influence may have been long-lasting in conflicts, land-tenure systems, infrastructure and knowledge change. Livelihoods are influenced, resources are restricted or removed and people's physical conditions are endangered. This may have a long-term negative impact on people's livelihoods and the way in which food production systems function. Previous research in Chad and in Central Ethiopia indicates that this is indeed the case. Mobile Africa Revisited: A comparative study of the relations between new communication technologies and new social spaces (Chad, Mali, Cameroon, Angola, Tanzania): Case studies Cameroon and Chad
Mirjam de Bruijn, Francis Nyamnjoh and Walter Nkwi This research programme investigates the relations between mobility, communication technologies and social space. New Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been hailed as an opportunity for marginalized areas to become active participants in the 'global village'. In an opposite view, it is feared that the introduction of ICTs will only lead to an increase in social inequalities. Hitherto little research has been done on the actual impact of new ICTs on social relations and the views on these technologies from people from 'marginal' areas. This project seeks to interpret the influence of new ICTs in the context of earlier technological innovations, and histories of mobility and 'marginality'.
Research will be carried out on a comparative basis in remote areas in Africa, through surveying, interviewing and archival research. The project combines various disciplines (Anthropology, History, Communication Studies) and several research institutes (ASC-Leiden, CODESRIA-Dakar, and country specific research institutes in Africa).
I.C.E. in Africa: the relationship between people and the Internal Combustion Engine in Africa
Jan-Bart Gewald, Sabine Luning, Baz LeCocq, Sebastiaan Soeters and Ntewusu Aniegye In Africa there is a vast field of study which has never been systematically researched or analysed. In the past hundred years this field has become so pervasive as to now pass us by unnoticed. This is the field of the interaction between people and the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Internal combustion engines are those in which motive power comes from the explosion of vapour -usually a petroleum distillate- in a cylinder, and are to be found in virtually every generator, pump, motor-vehicle, and boat on Earth.
Through five case studies, and informed by Actor Network Theory (ANT), the research project seeks to integrate ICE technology within a framework of analysis that explores the interrelationship between people and ICE technology over time in African societies. The aim of the project is to explore the socio-historical and cultural relationship that has developed between people and ICE in Africa, and to examine how ICE has shaped socio-historical processes.
Pastoralism, nature conservation and natural resource management in Africa
J.W.M. van Dijk Nomadic pastoralism is increasingly under threat as competing demands are made on natural resources by nature conservation, agriculture and forestry. International environmental NGOs, European Union and national governments therefore seek to intervene in pastoral systems in order to ensure the conservation of nature and wildlife resources. Pastoralists on their side organize themselves to have better political representation and forma countervailing power. |
Printable version