News & Events

Africa is often associated with oral traditions. Little is known that a formal school system was introduced in the West-Central African Kongo kingdom in the beginning of the 16th century, some years after Portuguese navigators first established contact with the Kongo royal elite. Inge Brinkman (Ghent University) will discuss the Kongo school system in terms of global integration and local appropriation during this ASC seminar on 23 April.

This ASC seminar on 2 April wants to contribute to discussions that aim to reassess 'fortress conservation' ideas and practices. It does so by analyzing how new online media are changing the politics of access to and control over increasingly militarized protected areas. Focusing on South Africa’s Kruger National Park, Bram Büscher (Wageningen University) argues that new media such as online groups, webcams and mobile phone apps encourage a new politics of social distinction in relation to the park and what it represents.

'As the general elections in Nigeria approach, all is set for turbulence, including unfortunate and avoidable deaths, all of which will be followed by business as usual for another four years. Or will things turn out differently this time? There are several reasons to not ignore this hunch', writes Dr Ayo Ojebode, senior lecturer at the Department of Communication & Language, University of Ibadan (Nigeria), in this ASC web article. Dr Ojebode is a Fellow of the ASC Community.

The African Studies Centre publication Fundamentals of human resource management: emerging experiences from Africa (2011) by Josephat Stephen Itika is the most downloaded book from Leiden Repository in 2014. Leiden Repository is the Open Access publications bank of Leiden University and affiliated institutes. The Open Access repository is very popular: publications were downloaded 3,2 million times in 2014, the African Studies collection saw 378,000 downloads; both figures are 25% more than in 2013. Four out of the five most popular downloads were about an African subject.

Most of the (auto)biographies of politicians, religious leaders and businessmen (or women) that the ASC Library acquired last year in Kenya and Uganda highlight the achievements and successes of these persons. However, Politics of poverty: the Odinga curse to the Luos! (published in 2012) by Ojijo, a Kenyan Luo living in Kampala, falls into a different category. It is a rather heated political and ideological pamphlet blaming Raila Odinga - then Prime Minister in a power-sharing construction with rival Mwai Kibaki as President - for not having brought 'an iota of development in Luoland'. Ojijo's book is the subject of our latest Acquisition Highlight!

Turkey has recently been showing increased interest in developing strong relations with African countries. The relatively new trend builds on the synergy of multiple public and private actors and Ankara has resorted to an arsenal of soft power instruments. Thus, development aid, humanitarian assistance and Islamic solidarity are strongly entwined with diplomacy and trade. Read this ASC Infosheet online or order a copy!

The new research project Society and Change in Northern Ghana: Dagomba, Gonja, and the Regional Perspective on Ghanaian History is a historical research and training programme. It focuses on the Dagomba and Gonja peoples, polities and cultures in Northern Ghana. The project provides an opportunity for universities in Ghana and the Netherlands to cooperate in developing academic expertise and capacity in the fields of regional history/regional studies. The launch of the project in Ghana took place in Tamale (University of Development Studies) on 5 February.

The ASC is delighted that Egosha E. Osaghae, Professor of Comparative Politics and Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria, will give a public lecture on 20 March: 'Globalised Conflict Situations: Nigeria’s Boko Haram in Perspective'. In his lecture, Prof. Osaghae will analyse ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria as a product of the intersection between local/domestic variables and global forces. This lecture is a co-production of the African Studies Centre Leiden, LUF (Leiden University Fund), ICCT (International Centre for Counter-Terrorism), Connecting in Times of Duress (Leiden University) and Grounding Land Governance.

ASC senior researcher Benjamin Soares has a new co-edited volume out: New Media and Religious Transformations in Africa. The book analyzes Africa's rapidly evolving religious media scene. Following political liberalization, media deregulation and the proliferation of new media technologies, many African religious leaders and activists have appropriated such media to strengthen and expand their communities and gain public recognition. Media have also been used to marginalize and restrict the activities of other groups, which has sometimes led to tension, conflict, and even violence.

Rapid economic growth in Africa over the past two decades has provoked intense public and academic debate about the nature and sustainability of Africa’s economic transition. Is this simply another commodity boom, or is current growth rooted in a more profound transformation of the African social and political fabric? The programme committee of the 10th 'New Frontiers in African Economic History Workshop' (30-31 October, Wageningen University) launches a broad call for papers in the field of African Economic History. Morten Jerven ('Poor Numbers') and the ASC's Chibuike Uche are among the committee's members.