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Sign upPodcast: 'In Chains' Episode 3
In the third episode of our new themed series In Chains, we speak with Dr. Alexis Aronowitz from University College Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, who is the author of the article, “Regulating business involvement in labor exploitation and human trafficking” published in Journal of Labor and Society.
Brill Publishes Two New Book Series in the Social Sciences
Brill is pleased to announce the addition of two new peer-reviewed book series to its Social Sciences publishing program: International Studies in Maritime Sociology and Studies in Political Economy of Global Labor and Work. The series will be published online and in print.
Brill adds Two New Journals to Its Social Sciences Publishing Program
Two journals, the Journal of Labor and Society (JLSO) and Protest, have been added to Brill’s expanding publishing program in the Social Sciences. Both journals will be published online and in print. Previous volumes of JLSO are already available on Brill’s website, the first issues of Protest are planned for publication in 2021.
Benin national news in 2021 was rich and varied. It was strongly marked by the April elections, arrests of members of the political opposition, the vaccination campaign against Covid-19, jihadist attacks, and a series of political, economic, and social reforms that affected every sector. Several actors came to the fore and various circumstances arose that placed Benin at the heart of social, economic, political, judicial, security, health, and environmental debates in the sub-regional and global contexts.
In 2021, Burkina Faso witnessed a worsening security crisis and a looming humanitarian catastrophe. Militant Islamist groups continued to ravage the countryside as violence reached record levels, pushing up the number of internally displaced people. Roughly, one in thirteen Burkinabé citizens had been forcibly displaced by conflict by year’s end. The armed forces remained overstretched and unable to address the rising insecurity. Massacres of civilians and missteps by the military’s top brass prompted the president to reshuffle his cabinet and military leadership. The government sought new security partners as it was announced that the French would begin to withdraw their military assistance from the region. Despite security concerns and the Covid-19 pandemic, the biennial pan-African film and television festival in Ouagadougou took place in October after a postponement. After 34 years, the trial of former president Thomas Sankara’s assassins opened in October.
The ruling Movimento para a Democracia (MpD) won the legislative elections in April, while former prime minister José Maria Neves (of Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde – paicv) won the presidential elections in October. In July, the government unilaterally reversed the privatisation of Cabo Verde Airlines (cva) by taking over the 51% stake sold to Loftleidir Icelandic in 2019, on the grounds that the latter had not fulfilled its obligations. The crucial tourism sector began to successively recover from the effects of the pandemic but still lagged behind compared with previous years’ performance.
Following the turbulent electoral year of 2020, which had also posed the challenges of mitigating the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, 2021 was in many respects a year marked by political appeasement and socioeconomic recovery in Côte d’Ivoire. Although the effects of the pandemic continued to be felt, particularly by ordinary Ivorians, the country showed remarkable resilience in its macroeconomic performance, spurring hopes that the momentum of the past decade might be regained. Politically, the most significant event of the year was the legislative and parliamentary elections, which turned out to be much less fraught and more inclusive than the 2020 presidential vote. Nevertheless, through a combination of an unforeseen government reshuffle and the emergence of a new alliance within the opposition, the political year was filled with activity, including the long-awaited return to the country of former president Laurent Gbagbo, following his 2019 acquittal at the icc in The Hague.
Talks of political alliances dominated the Gambian public space as the Independent Electoral Commission (iec) scaled up its preparation for the 4 December presidential election. President Adama Barrow’s launching of his National People’s Party (npp) ultimately severed his relationship with the United Democratic Party (udp) which brought him to political prominence. Notwithstanding the mushrooming of the number of parties, only six contested the election. The official release of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (trrc) report gave respite to some victims of human rights abuses during the high-handed Yahya Jammeh’s administration. Despite critical cries of corruption in high places, only one case was substantiated. The Freedom House corruption index rank was the same as that of 2020. During the period under review, the judiciary and the legislature were functional and law enforcement officers maintained order in isolated instances of breach of peace. A number of accredited diplomats presented letters of credence. On the whole, the country remained characteristically calm.
Ghana’s 2020 election results were contested in court, but the petition was ultimately dismissed in early 2021. The country’s first hung parliament led to heightened deliberations throughout the year, but particularly around the electronic transactions levy introduced in November. The disruption of a paralegal training session on responding to violations against lgbtq people, the closure and raiding of Ghana’s first lgbt+ centre, the introduction of an anti-lgbtq bill in parliament, and attacks on protesters and reporters by the police or military thrust the country into global dialogues on human rights considerations. Twitter announced Ghana as the new headquarters of its Africa operations, and Ghana hired a German firm to develop an e-cedi digital currency.
For Guinea, 2021 was marked by the military coup d’état by the cnrd (Comité National du Rassemblement pour le Développement) against the regime of Alpha Condé. Given the frustration with the former president, the coup was largely received enthusiastically. Condé was detained and later kept under house arrest. Colonel Mamady Doumbouya was officially sworn in as interim president and appointed Mohamed Béavogui as prime minister in October. As Doumbouya used his presidential powers to govern extensively through decrees, his relationship with Béavogui seemed tense on several occasions. Critical voices from civil society and the political parties remained few and low in 2021, however, in spite of some highly contested decisions by the cnrd. Probably the most notorious of these was Doumbouya’s decree to rename Conakry’s airport Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport, a decision that reopened the festering wounds that many Guineans inherited from Guinea’s First Republic. As to international reactions, all major powers condemned the coup and called for the immediate release of Alpha Condé, but nobody called for his reinstatement. ecowas and the au both suspended Guinea, but the high-level ecowas mission arriving in Conakry on 17 September was unable to impose any of its propositions, such as setting a maximum duration of six months for the transition. On 8 March, Djibril Tamsir Niane (author of ‘Soundjata ou l’Epopée du Manding’), passed away.
Unilaterally declared president Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s rule continued to be characterised by increasingly authoritarian tendencies and political tensions. Competition between the president and Prime Minster Nuno Gomes Nabiam of the Assembleia do Povo Unido-Partido Democratico da Guiné-Bissau (apu-pdgb) prevailed, although the overall situation in the country remained calm. According to reports, dubious business activities, such as narco-trafficking and illegal logging in which both foreigners and people close to the ruling elite were involved, apparently increased. Yet Embaló was able to symbolically gain international recognition owing to prestigious official visits. In economic terms, Guinea-Bissau benefited from financial relief schemes after the global Covid-19 pandemic had hit the country in the previous year. The country also profited from international debt relief and new development projects.
The Liberian political landscape saw a major change in January when new senators, mostly from opposition parties, were inaugurated after winning elections in December 2020. But the opposition disintegrated after recording such impressive gains against the government. Covid-19 infections surged in June and July, but the economy remained resilient, growing at 3.6%, thanks to recovery measures put in place that encouraged the reopening of some sectors. Moderate gains were made against corruption, but the governance and service challenges continued unabated. With in-fighting within the opposition, the government faced less scrutiny of its policies. Though it also had unresolved internal tensions, the ruling coalition made efforts to build new alliances with some smaller parties and influential politicians, while members of the main opposition coalition were engaged with internal factional battles over the leadership of the coalition.
Political violence and instability remained acute in Mali throughout 2021. After ousting a sitting president the previous year, Mali’s military junta tightened its grip over the national political process. It then began muzzling domestic dissent and refashioning the country’s international alliances. The new interim government installed by the junta in June sought to delay the return to civilian rule, challenged French policies and interests in Mali and the Sahel, and cultivated new partnerships abroad, most notably with Russia. After maintaining troops in Mali for over eight years, France began scaling back its military operations there amid deteriorating relations with Malian leaders. Despite some promising signs, Mali’s economy remained weak due to continued upheaval and the global Covid-19 pandemic. Malians faced numerous persistent obstacles to peace and prosperity.