Poverty and Neo‐Liberal Bias in the Middle East and North Africa

This article examines the definition of poverty and the evidential base for the claims that the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has historically low levels of poverty and relatively good levels of income distribution. It argues that the dominant trend in the literature on poverty in the global south in general, and in MENA in particular, has a neo‐classical bias. Amongst other things, that bias fails to understand that poverty does not emerge because of exclusion but because of poor people's ‘differential incorporation’ into economic and political processes. It also raises the question: if the MENA has indeed had relatively low levels of poverty and good income distribution, does this complicate the issue of autocracy and the western drive to remove political ‘backwardness’ in the region? In particular, the characterization of autocracy and the west's attempt to promote political liberalization is likely to impact adversely on the social contract that autocratic rulers have enforced regarding the delivery of basic services.     

The Basis of China's Pro‐Palestine Stance and the Current Status of its Implementation

This article is built upon the author's previous attempt to review Sino–Israel relations from the Chinese perspective, where it is argued that the relationship is at a crossroads because China is increasingly more proactively involved in the international arena, which will inevitably lead to a more assertive role in trying to facilitate a solution to the Israel–Palestinian conflicts. The author also affirmed that China is more supportive of the Palestinians. In this article, the author will further analyze China's pro‐Palestine stance, give empirical evidence of this preference by Chinese intelligentsia, and provide insight into the decision‐making mechanisms of the Chinese government in terms of its diplomatic policies. The author also wants to demonstrate that, despite the evident pro‐Palestine tendency of Chinese scholars and consequently the government, little has been done to implement this preference. The Israelis still have a sizable time window to achieve a fair and just peace agreement with the Palestinians. In the long run, China's pro‐Palestine inclination will work more and more against Israel, in contrast to the strong pro‐Israel inclination of the United States.     

Pro‐Poor Modes of Technical Integration into the Global Econom

Recent evidence indicates that globalization based on technical advances in information technology is creating a dualistic situation in the world economy, whereby the benefits tend to accrue to a narrow group of relatively affluent countries, while the majority lag behind. The purpose of this article is to suggest a framework within which to assess an alternative, pro‐poor form of technical integration into the global economy — in other words, a form of globalization that benefits the poor as well as the rich. The article focuses particularly on the role that can be played by NGOs, aid donors and national governments in this endeavour.     

The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

In East Africa, as in many other regions, the initial shift from hunting and gathering to food production was a secondary process involving the introduction of species domesticated elsewhere. Specifically, the East African Neolithic, or Pastoral Neolithic, centered on herding livestock, some of which may have been domesticated in the Sahara and all of which were almost certainly imported from areas to the north. The development of the Pastoral Neolithic was lengthy and complex, having begun before 4000 B.P. and lasted until about 1300 B.P. Although detailed information on this segment of African prehistory is not abundant, data so far available reveal a succession of cultural transformations within the Pastoral Neolithic, such that it can be divided into early, evolved, and late stages, each exhibiting distinctive combinations of ceramic wares, lithic industries, and subsistence regimes. The transformations seem to have been fostered by both environmental change and population movements.     

The temporary as the future: Ready‐to‐use therapeutic food and nutraceuticals in South Africa

The reconfiguration of food as a pharmaceutical in biomedical regimes has been considered by scholars along two axes: (1) food supplementation as humanitarian intervention, based on a specific value of life and delivered in ‘crisis’ situations with a short temporal horizon; (2) food supplementation as commodity, marketed as enhancing ‘wellness’ or potential, based on notions of risk in broad temporal frames. We consider nutraceuticals and ready‐to‐use‐therapeutic foods as they are deployed by state and commercial actors in South Africa in relation to two key figures: the pregnant woman and the HIV‐positive population. These biopolitical expressions of post‐apartheid regimes of knowledge, care and governance reveal how state distribution and the corporate marketing of supplements employ a future‐oriented logic that appeals to notions of power, energy and potential. Therapeutic foods in this context are thus not merely humanitarian technologies that reconfigure crisis as a chronic condition – the temporary becoming permanent – but are premised on new potentialities, in which the temporary may (re)shape the future.     

社区参与旅游的制度性增权研究

西方研究者认为社区参与旅游迫切需要解决的是信息、心理、教育和社会增权,而中国现阶段由于产权界定模糊导致的制度性的缺权才是阻碍旅游地社区通过参与旅游获得公平发展的主要障碍,西方国家清晰的产权制度使得其旅游增权理论欠缺了对制度性缺权状态的研究。本文在对制度和增权等基本概念进行辨析的基础上,划分了4种制度性增权类型,分别讨论了制度缺失和制度失灵两种社区参与旅游的缺权状态,探索了中国的政治体制和社会现实下可行的制度性增权途径,为进一步开展旅游社区增权的实践研究夯实了理论基础。     

Beyond ‘State Ibuism’: Empowerment Effects in State‐led Development in Indonesia

This article examines the ways women's processes of self‐formation are indicative (or not) of new possibilities for women's gendered selves in the post‐Reformasi period in Indonesia. It focuses on the development arena to reveal how shifts in state rhetoric, from top‐down guidance based on a patriarchal familial model to bottom‐up, inclusive development based on empowerment, have transformed what is referred to as the ‘topography for self’. The article draws upon theories of personhood a) to show how gendered selves emerge and are contested within particular historical conditions; and b) to develop an alternative framework of ‘empowerment’ that focuses not on capabilities and choice, but on an expansion in the possibilities for self. It argues that models of community‐driven development have provided new opportunities for women to hold and enact socially recognizable subject positions. This constitutes a form of empowerment for individual women but does not necessarily reflect challenges to patriarchy in Indonesia.     

Beyond Fashoda: Anglo‐French security cooperation in Africa since Saint‐Malo

Traditionally divided on security matters, France and Britain broke new ground when they signed the 1998 Saint‐Malo agreement, promising to collaborate on defence and security, and pledging to cooperate bilaterally and in a ‘bi‐multi’ fashion on Africa. This Anglo‐French collaboration is the focus of this article, which begins by setting out the lack of UK–French security cooperation in Africa from the colonial to the early post‐Cold War era. It then shows how there has been a degree of institutionalization of Anglo‐French relations, alongside greater cooperation in terms of ESDP missions and the training of African peacekeepers. Next, this study explains the recent evolution of UK–French security relations in terms of neo‐classical realist theory. Finally, it assesses the likelihood of closer Anglo‐French security collaboration in the future.     

The Democratization Process and Popular Participation in Africa: Emerging Realities and the Challenges Ahead

Many observers have judged the recent wave of democratization in Africa as an unstoppable process and have overemphasized the role of external factors in inducing this change. This article argues that the quality of change has been fragile and defective in many respects, and draws attention to the susceptibility of the process of democratic transition to reversals. It goes on to underscore the importance of internal forces in bringing about change and in ensuring the sustainability of democracy in Africa. The tasks that lie ahead for civil society in Africa and the role of the international community and political conditionality of aid in this context are then debated.     

Tackling the Down Side: Social Capital,Women’s Empowerment and Micro‐Finance in Cameroon

Micro‐finance programmes are currently dominated by the ‘financial self‐sustainability paradigm’ where women’s participation in groups is promoted as a key means of increasing financial sustainability while at the same time assumed to automatically empower them. This article examines the experience of seven micro‐finance programmes in Cameroon. The evidence indicates that micro‐finance programmes which build social capital can indeed make a significant contribution to women’s empowerment. However, serious questions need to be asked about what sorts of norms, networks and associations are to be promoted, in whose interests, and how they can best contribute to empowerment, particularly for the poorest women. Where the complexities of power relations and inequality are ignored, reliance on social capital as a mechanism for reducing programme costs may undermine programme aims not only of empowerment but also of financial sustainability and poverty targeting.     

Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa

African archaeology has primarily been concerned with precolonial Africa. Consequently, the archaeology of colonial and postcolonial Africa has been neglected, in spite of the fundamental importance of how Africa's relationships with Eurasia after 1488 shaped its history. Although the slave trade was an important aspect of post-sixteenth century experiences of Africans, current research methodologies make the archaeology of slavery in Africa nearly impossible because evidence of the slave trade or slavery--including slave quarters, cemeteries, holding areas, shackles, and dungeons--can be interpreted in various ways. In this article I argue that the archaeology of slavery and the slave trade in Africa is possible. Like history and economics, archaeology is well placed to investigate slavery in Africa as it already does effectively in the Americas. Using the study of defensive rock shelters in Southeast Kenya as an example, I propose that the systematic archaeology of slavery in Africa is not only possible, but also should break new grounds and develop an innovative methodology for studying slavery. L'archéologie africaine a été principalement concernée par l'Afrique précoloniale. Par conséquent, l'archéologie de l'Afrique coloniale et postcoloniale a été oubliée, malgré l'importance fondamentale de la façon dont les rapports de l'Afrique avec Eurasia après 1488 ont tracé son histoire. Bien que le commerce d'esclaves soit un aspect important des expériences africaines du post-seizième siècle, les méthodologies courantes de recherches rendent l'archéologie de l'esclavage en Afrique presque impossible car l'évidence du commerce ou de l'esclavage - comprenant les quarts, les cimetières, les camps, des cachots, et des donjons des esclaves - peut être interprété de diverses manières. Dans cet article, j'argue du fait que l'archéologie de l'esclavage et le commerce d'esclaves en Afrique est possible. Comme l'histoire et les sciences économiques, l'archéologie est bien placée pour effectuer l'étude de l'esclavage en Afrique comme elle l'est déjà efficacement en Amérique. En utilisant l'étude des abris rocheux défensifs au Kenya du sud-est comme exemple, je propose que la systématique de l'archéologie de l'esclavage en Afrique est non seulement possible, mais devrait également permettre de franchir de nouveaux pas et de développer une méthodologie innovatrice dans l'étude de l'esclavage.     

The World Bank on Mind,Behaviour and Society

This article critically analyses the use of psychological and behavioural knowledge in development policy and practice with reference to the World Development Report 2015. It examines the main proposition of the WDR 2015, highlighting the behavioural change framework and policy techniques promoted in the report. The shifts that have taken place in development policy are reviewed from a governmentality perspective which offers a critical view on the psychological and behavioural focus in contemporary development policy. The article focuses specifically on the behavioural techniques the WDR 2015 promotes to show how a certain kind of subjectivity is advanced which not only homogenizes and problematizes non‐Western knowledge systems, subjectivities and agency, but also justifies the economization of social life through development.