News & Events

With the prolific expansion of cities and the growth of a more affluent middle class, alcohol consumption patterns are changing across Africa. This is, for example, reflected in the increased consumption of wine in oil-producing states such as Angola. Find book titles, articles and electronic documents in our latest web dossier 'Alcohol in Africa', with an introduction by Paul Nugent, Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh.

A new ASC working paper reviews Dutch development policies for the years 1949-2015, with particular attention for private sector development (PSD). Since the beginning, Dutch government has strongly supported policies stimulating private sector and economic development in the Netherlands and in developing countries. PSD took a central role as it was assumed that poverty could only be alleviated when a country’s economy is stimulated. The long history of Dutch development cooperation shows continuity in its approach towards development policy as a way of promoting Dutch businesses and export in developing countries.

The last two articles that our late colleague Stephen Ellis (1953-2015) completed, have been published. His final article, 'Nelson Mandela, the South African Communist Party and the Origins of Umkhonto we Sizwe', concerns Mandela’s relationship to the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the early 1960s, when the guerrilla army Umkhonto we Sizwe was created. It demonstrates that Umkhonto was essentially a creation of the SACP, as newly available archives reveal. The other article, co-authored by Mark Shaw (University of Cape Town) is entitled 'Does organized crime exist in Africa?'.

In his new book Forged in the Great War: People, Transport, and Labour, the Establishment of Colonial Rule in Zambia, 1890-1920, Jan-Bart Gewald, Professor of Southern African History at Leiden University and senior researcher at the ASC, writes about the establishment of colonial rule in Northern Rhodesia (currently Zambia). In contrast to historians who argue that the colonial state nearly collapsed during World War One, Gewald argues that the establishment of effective colonial rule in Northern Rhodesia only came about on account of the unique conditions that developed in WWI. Read the interview we did with him!

Wouter van Beek's memoirs Thuis in Afrika, een dubbelleven (At home in Africa, a double life) were festively presented on Friday 6 November at the ASC. During the book launch former students called back fond memories of their former anthropology Professor. Wouter presented the first copy of his memoirs to Erica Terpstra, former State Secretary of Sports, who visited Wouter at work in Dogon area in Mali with her TV travel show. Take a look at the pictures!

Our latest Acquisition Highlight is about Chappie, a new film by South African director Neill Blomkamp. Set in stark Johannesburg, it is a tale of a sentient robot finding the best and worst of humanity, and while it may not be perfect, it asks questions about right and wrong, how we should pursue and use technology and treat other members of humanity. Actually, Chappie himself is more fully developed than those in charge. Also starring Sigourney Weaver, Dev Patel and Ninja and Yo-Landi Visser, the duo better known as the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord. Read the Acquisition Highlight!

This report is the result of the Roundtable on Labour Issues and Trade Unions in Africa that was organised by the ASCL and SOAS London on 15 December 2015 in Leiden. Title of the Roundtable: An African precariat? Africa’s informal workers and inclusive development. The report was written by Zjos Vlaminck (ASCL) en Mark McQuinn (SOAS).

In their book on homosexuality in Africa, Bart Luirink and Madeleine Maurick offer a journalistic account of African gays and lesbians’ struggle for equal rights. The authors argue that present day waves of intimidation against the African LGBT communities are a response to the immense changes the continent experiences, thus moving away from what they consider as a too isolated approach of the struggles of sexual minorities in Africa. Luirink and Maurick will present their observations on 26 November, followed by a discussion with the audience. Language: English.

We are delighted that award winning journalist and photographer Howard W. French will give the Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture on 10 December. French, an associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, will talk about the processes that began drawing large numbers of new Chinese migrants to Africa in the early to mid 1990s, and address the question of the global geopolitical and economic setting that pushed events in this direction. Also read the Library's new web dossier on Africa-Asia relations!

ASC senior researcher Wouter van Beek will present his Africa memoirs Thuis in Afrika, een dubbelleven (At home in Africa, a double life) on Friday 6 November at the ASC. The book has become a highly personal account of his life with the Kapsiki in North Cameroon and the Dogon in Mali. Wouter will retire as a Professor of Anthropology of Religion at Tilburg University on 20 November. The first copy of his memoirs will be presented to Erica Terpstra, former State Secretary of Sports.