The African Diaspora, Civil Society and African Integration
This paper, a work-in-progress, makes a contribution to the discussions on the appropriate modalities for incorporating the African diaspora in the African integration project. It argues that the most appropriate entry points for incorporating the African diaspora into the integration project might not, necessarily, be in the formal political structures, although this is important. To the contrary, the most effective and sustainable might be within civil society--that is the links between the peoples and organizations of Africa and the diaspora. Using the case of the African academy-as an institution of civil society--the paper outlines a conceptual framework for incorporating the diaspora into the African integration project.
The Second Boat of Africa’s New Diaspora: Looking at the Other Side of the Global Divide with an Emphasis on Sudan
The processes of globalization have accelerated the exodus of the highly skilled from the collapsing modernization project. This article suggests that the flight of the educated elite is linked to the relative strength of the nation-state and both the length and intensity of internal conflicts. It is also suggested that the "skills exodus" may represent a major disruption in the political and social development of Africa, leading to further marginalization and affecting Africa's capacity to revive development or envision an alternative development path. The emphasis is on Sudan's unprecedented massive skills exodus during the past three decades, suggesting that this one case is extremely relevant to the rest of the continent, given the country's favorable situation at the time of its independence in 1956.
Inference and Evidence in Archaeology: A Discussion of the Conceptual Problems
Publisher Summary This chapter dicsusses the general features of scientific inference and explains the way inference has been discussed by archaeologists. It presents an explication of current problems in the various areas: (1) the justification of archaeological conclusions, (2) the concepts of archaeological evidence, and (3) the undeveloped relations between archaeological theory and archaeological evidence. The chapter defines these problems and explains the way to resolve them. To resolve many of the problems surrounding uncertain links between inference and evidence, archaeologists should develop a rigorous model that specifies the way information about the past is transmitted to the present via material remains. The chapter presents the structure of such a model. However, establishing relevant data to support conclusions about past phenomena is only part of the overall process of generating archaeological knowledge. Some of the processes responsible for producing the material remains that archaeologists manipulate in assembling evidence to support claims about past phenomena are described in the chapter.