New publications

The ASCL Library recently acquired three books that constitute interesting sources for the colonial history of the Equatorial region. All three involve writings by Alfons Vermeulen, an employee of the ‘Nieuwe Afrikaansche Handels-Vennootschap’ (NAHV), the Dutch trading house active in the wider Congo region in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Vermeulen's memoirs have now been published, edited and annotated by a member of his family, Fred van den Hoek. ASCL researcher Klaas van Walraven wrote a paper about these acquisitions.

Global media discussion and policy responses to the armed conflict in Tigray Region, Ethiopia, are marked by bias and incompleteness in information sources and gaps in contextual understanding. In this paper (2nd edition) Jon Abbink analyses the emerging Atlantic discourse and some of its assumptions

En 2012 les auteurs de ce livre sont retournées au Mali-Sud, où elles ont travaillé dans le programme Femmes et Développement de la Compagnie Malienne pour le Développement des Textiles (CMDT) entre 1987 et 1995. Elles étaient curieuses de découvrir ce qui avait changé pour les femmes dans la zone cotonnière depuis 1980. Les femmes ont-elles pu améliorer leur position économique? More information and English translation: read more.

This volume by Jon Abbink and Shauna LaTosky explores the constitutive role of rhetoric in socio-cultural relations, and contains both theoretical chapters as well as fascinating examples of the effects of rhetoric used (un)consciously in social praxis. The elements of power, competition and political persuasion figure prominently. It is an accessible collection of studies, speaking to common issues and problems in social life, and shows the heuristic and often explanatory value of the rhetorical perspective. Of the thirteen chapters, seven are on African cases.