African Studies
Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives
Call for Papers: Utafiti is inviting you to submit your manuscript – any topic in the humanities - for consideration in the next issues.
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This journal promotes critical and worldly debates with Africa at the centre.
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Published in association with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Africa Futures features cutting-edge research that critically reflects on some of the big questions relevant to imagining Africa’s future as a place.
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Robin Attfield talks about how Africa finds itself vulnerable to drought but also the flooding of its coastline, among other untoward environmental effects of climate change and civil war.
Preparations for the presidential and parliamentary elections in October dominated the socio-political landscape. Incumbent President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was easily re-elected after a controversial second-round poll, which the main challenger, Winston Tubman, boycotted. Though her record for combating widespread graft was decidedly mixed, Sirleaf remained the darling of the donor community and an international superstar. On 7 October, amidst local concerns about nepotism and the lack of a coherent policy of reconciliation, Sirleaf was awarded the Nobel Peace prize along with Leymah Gbowee (a Liberian peace activist) and Tawakkoi Karman (a Yemeni pro-democracy activist). The prize, however, probably had little impact on Liberian voters, though it was an indisputable boost for Sirleaf’s supporters, many of them women. Sirleaf had previously signalled that she was determined to combat corruption head-on by sacking her entire cabinet, but by year’s end she had re-appointed many of the ministers – noting that corruption in the country was “systemic” and that it would take more than “naming and shaming” to combat it. Events in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire had an adverse effect in the first half of the year. Unemployment remained high despite massive foreign investment in the iron ore and other extractive sectors, and despite an economic growth rate of 7.3%. On 16 September, the UNSC adopted resolution 2008, extending the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 September 2012. UNMIL personnel included 7,782 troops, 1,288 police and 130 military observers, and the mission cost $ 525.6 m a year – more than the national budget.