tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23729316223366994402024-03-05T02:58:27.680-08:00Everything will be fine in the end. If it is not fine, it is not the end. .Fieldwork notes.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-75710890943094316932012-06-02T01:39:00.000-07:002012-06-02T02:16:30.389-07:00Making sense of BPO in East AfricaFieldwork in Nairobi and Kigali has been a challenging delight. Talking to strangers is a hobby that I unfortunately picked up from my sociologist mother, who routinely starts conversations with people in supermarkets about the history of the aubergine (eggplant). Talking to strangers about their everyday experiences of the economy is my own individualized sociological syndrome, so fieldwork is a pleasure.<br /><br />
So far, I have been focusing on training and piloting our interview guides and questionnaires with our colleagues from the NUR and the University of Nairobi in the tea and tourism fields. I have also had a few meetings with the Kenyan ICT chambers, the BPO society in Kenya, the Rwandan Development Board (RDB) and the ICT Chambers in the Rwandan Private Sector Federation (PSF) that have helped me get to grips with the BPO/ICT field.<br /><br />
What I want to reflect upon in this blog is the importance of conceptual understandings in developing economies, and in particular, on how people “make sense” of a new field like Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO).<br /><br />
Mark and I have been writing a paper for a special edition of Environment and Planning A about the growth of the BPO and software sector in Kenya. In particular, our paper examines how imagination and representation play a strong, intermediating role in how investors approach Africa and how high speed internet may be offering Kenyan firms and entrepreneurs the opportunity for new forms of place representations- to change the way foreign actors perceive Kenya and Africa. This paper fits into a wider economic sociology literature that argues that cognition and decision-making are distributed between our own minds and the environments in which we think and operate. Technologies, institutions, ideas and perceptions all intermediate our decision-making. Some scholars have referred to these intermediating influences as ‘socio-cognitive prostheses’ in that they allow individuals to understand and interpret information through the use of extra cognitive ‘limbs’ (Williamson, 1985; North, 1990).<br /><br />
Kenya and Rwanda are both trying to market themselves as growing ICT hubs, and in particular, as BPO destinations.<br /><br />
BPO, in case you have no idea what I am talking about (my apologies!), is any kind of business activity that can be outsourced to actors outside a firm. If such processes can be outsourced through a “wire” then they can potentially be carried out in another country, on the other side of the planet. Aka- they can be offshored. The roll-out of a global fibre optic internet infrastructure could therefore, theoretically transform the international division of production and labour, by allowing those in low and middle income countries to compete with workers and firms in high income countries. This is what makes our project so interesting: will the internet allow African countries to re-define their position in the global economy? <br /><br />
Kenya and Rwanda have very different approaches to make this happen, reflecting their different state structures and histories. The Kenyan approach is much more private sector driven, with companies leading the way and the government, to a certain extent, catching up. Rwanda, on the other hand, has a strong developmental state led by a very active, well-educated diasporic community. When you visit the Rwandan Development Board, you realize how organized and determined the Rwandan government is in its intention to lead the private sector to the market.<br /><br />
One thing that has been drummed into me in both my doctoral research on unemployment and recruitment in Sudan, and in my current research on BPO in Kenya and Rwanda, is the fact that in addition to competition, markets require cooperation, and to a certain extent, volunteerism. There are plenty of things that do not automatically arise from the “rational self-interest” of capitalism. Many of these things are taken for granted by those in well established markets: high levels of reliable education, political stability, anti-corruption policies, infrastructure! These conditions have been brought about through long negotiations between governments, individuals, unions, guilds, professional associations and others over time.<br /><br />
Materially speaking, our economies involve intricate arrangement of technology and institutions: treasuries, banks, ATMs, security systems, smart cards, etc. - all mobilised to prevent fraud and counterfeit and to secure the trustworthiness of transactions. On a more conceptual level, the economy involves common understandings that allow us to make sense of one another in our day to day activities. In other words, economies are not just material places, but representational and cultural spaces too: spaces that have been constructed through social, cultural and political processes that create common understandings and shared interests.<br /><br />
In the case of a new field, like BPO, how does this common understanding come about?<br /><br />
As I know myself, BPO is not the easiest thing to get your head around. Usually, when I tell people that I am working on a research project focusing on BPO, the first reaction is “huh?” in much the same fashion as people react to the history of the aubergine in aisle three. Those working in the field are not even certain what they mean by “BPO”. And Mark is always warning me to be open-minded in our definition of BPO.<br /><br />
This is something that came out very explicitly with my discussions with Rwandan players. When I first visited the ICT Chambers in the PSF, I was told that Rwanda doesn’t really have a BPO industry yet. Feeling a bit discouraged but not disheartened, I visited someone else at the PSF, who clarified that Rwanda has a few BPO firms, but not enough to warrant their own association in the federation. Wondering if our project’s focus on BPO was ill-conceived, I visited the head of ICT in the RDB, who further clarified that Rwanda only has a few firms who self-identify as BPO, but that there are many many more who don’t know that they are potential BPO firms.<br /><br />
In other words, the export of services requires countries to first conceptualise BPO, identify relevant companies and in a sense, sensitize themselves to their own potential and to get to grips with the potential of the internet to re-shape business relations. Despite the fact that Kenya is currently way ahead of Rwanda in terms of its infrastructure and expertise, I think the Rwandan government might be “conceptually ahead”.<br /><br />
The former BPO society in Kenya was dissolved partly because it depended on a few dedicated individuals who sacrificed a lot of time and energy and felt that it was up to others to carry on their work. There is a new society in the works, the BPO and ICT society, but at the moment, the industry seems to lack an organizational framework. In Rwanda, it is the government providing the associational framework, the common understanding that will allow the country to restructure itself as an exporter of services. The RDB is carrying out a survey of the economy to identify firms that might be BPO, so that they can develop policies to better promote the export of services.<br /><br />
‘Making sense’ is as important as building infrastructure. Kenya and Rwanda have fibre optic, but that is just the first hurdle. The two countries have to build conceptual infrastructure as well. I look forward to the interesting comparison: private sector vs. development state, both attempting to make sense of the new economy.<br /><br />Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-84174751829212465512012-01-31T02:36:00.000-08:002012-01-31T03:46:17.383-08:00Digital BorderlandsSo I have not been good about following up on my last blog post (a post about the business side of the internet in East Africa will hopefully come shortly). In the meantime, I wanted to reflect on an OCAF talk I went to last week by <a href="http://www.cas.ed.ac.uk/staff_profiles/wolfgang_zeller">Wolfgang Zeller</a>, about the borderlands of 'sugango' (Sudan-Uganda-Congo) and how thinking about borders might help us think about other kinds of borders, digital or otherwise.<br /><br />Wolfgang was sharing his work on the <a href="http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=3.413354,30.907288&spn=0.781381,1.198883&t=m&z=10">Sudanese-Ugandan-Conoglese border</a>. My friend <a href="http://www.ascleiden.nl/GetPage.aspx?url=/about/ladevries">Lotje</a> also does reserch in this area and it was great seeing some snapshots of a part of the world that seems peripheral to most people in Khartoum and Kampala, let alone Edinburgh and Oxford.<br /><br />Wolfgang's main point was that borderlands should not be understood as peripheral or lawless- as spaces where no governance exists or where state power needs to eventually return- but rather they should be understood as centres in their own right, as places where new forms of governance take shape and where many different kinds of people converge precisely because a border exists there.<br /><br />The activities that take place in borderlands, in other words, are directly related to the presence of boundaries and red lines. I think this perspective is helpful to those who speak of digital 'divides'.<br /><br />Divides are not just barriers or lines that keep people apart- but they are lines that are useful for escaping the jurisdiction of powerful groups, insecurity and lines that allow people to make profits and livelihoods.<br /><br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Borders create safe havens from insecurity. </span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Borders bring many different kinds of people together. </span></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Borders create inequalities that entrepreneurs can capitalize upon. </span></li></ol><br />So how does this relate to digital divides...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Firstly, digital divides are not all bad to everyone...</span><br /><br />In the case of the Sugango border, when insecurity breaks out on one side of the border, people move across to escape.<br /><br />From my own research, I am aware that the limited penetration of the internet in Sudan is useful to HR managers. They can share information with the right 'caliber' of people and thereby filter the applicant pool in a way that they wouldn't be able to do if they used more traditional forms of communication like newspaper or noticeboards. The internet "divide" allows them to make out particular kinds of graduates from an otherwise large and undifferentiated mass of unemployed people whose qualifications have fallen into disrepute (due to the expansion and degradation of the tertiary education system). You could interpret the situation as one of information insecurity; by crossing borders, certain groups can protect themselves and make themselves visible to employers.<br /><br />Information about jobs is a very particular kind of information that is valuable to individuals and is unlikely to be shared widely during periods of chronic unemployment, but I think this principle might be true in many situations. Divides create havens, as well as barriers.<br /><br />I am not saying that the people 'protecting themselves' are necessarily the people who are deemed worthy by aid agencies or those who judge the 'digital divide' a bad thing. The people using the digital divide of Sudan are managers and more experienced/transnational job applicants. Nevertheless, we need to be mindful of how all people view these boundaries of technology. For instance, if we want to make information about jobs more 'democratic' or meritocratic, then we have to recognize their viewpoints. If internet penetration increases, will HR managers not find new divides, retreating into more private spaces of the internet? Digital divides cannot be eliminated without recognizing that they provide security and stability to some. These people may very well erect new digital divides in the future.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Secondly, borders and divides attract large groups of people. They are hubs of activity. </span><br /><br />In the case of Sugango, they bring...<br /><br />- the many truck drivers and traders that cross the borders bearing goods and oil.<br />- the 'opec boys' who organize the informal petrol trade, by siphoning oil from the tankers.<br />- the aid agencies and UN agencies that organize the movement of refugees across borders<br />-the customs officials whose relationship to the capital cities allow them to capitalise on insecurity when people begin to flee from insecurity in one country into another country (one wonders about the differences between the aid agencies and the officials in this case).<br />and then of course,<br />- the many workers of the 'boom towns' who provide food, drink, accommodation (and dentistry) to those who pass through.<br /><br />All this activity in a place that would otherwise be peripheral!<br /><br />When it comes to the 'digital divide', we can make out similar kinds of groups:<br /><br />-the big IT companies who construct fibre optic cables, microwave and Imax towers, etc.- "transferring 'connectivity' across the digital divide"<br />-the smaller ISP providers and mobile phone entrepreneurs.<br />-the smaller entrepreneurs who set up mobile phone credit stalls<br />-the aid agencies who push ICT4D initiatives, who themselves try to manage the movement of people across digital 'divides'.<br />-the many who provide food, drink, accommodation to those who flock around the digital divide.<br /><br />This comparison is not exact, for we are not talking about different jurisdictions here or different sovereign powers, but then again, we might think of pre-digital communication and post-digital communication as perhaps producing different kinds of power configurations, with varying degrees and conditions of state power.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lastly, borders create entrepreneurial opportunities. </span><br /><br />Along the borders of Sugango, Wolfgang described two kinds of entrepreneurs: entrepreneurs of information and entrepreneurs of security, describing the high premium of information about roads, currencies, prices, relationships and generally, the importance of knowing what's coming and going. Meanwhile, security men abound in different costumes- some recognizable, others emerging only when trouble begins.<br /><br />Inequalities of price and abundance create money making opportunities...<br /><br />This is something that has been strongly written into the<a href="http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/projects/?id=59"> Internet in East Africa project</a> at Oii. Instead of seeing ICT penetration as producing 'disintermediation', we might think of it in terms of 're-intermediation' (This is also described by <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09692290420001672804">French and Leyshon</a> in their analysis of ICTs in financial markets). In other words, we should not think about eliminating digital divides as removing gatekeepers or intermediaries, but as creating opportunities for new intermediaries to come to form.<br /><br />How does the internet, the mobile phone, the mobile paying system, the crowd-sourcing infrastructure create new kinds of intermediaries and entrepreneurs who manage the digital divides out there?Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-36767257177309361512011-12-09T05:53:00.000-08:002011-12-09T08:25:26.754-08:00Understanding the geography and structure of the internet in East AfricaSo this is my first proper post in a long time and it is not really about Sudan, so I suppose at some point, I should change the name of my blog.<br /><br />I am working on a project at the Oxford Internet Institute, along with partners in Nairobi and Butare, looking at how the arrival of four underwater fibre optic cables will change the economic picture of Kenya and Rwanda in the sectors of tea, tourism and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing).<br /><br />Coming from a social science background, one of the first steps has been figuring out how the internet actually works. This may seem a silly step for someone sitting in an OII seat, but a couple weeks ago I had only a hazy idea in my mind: somehow we were all connected via wires and wireless signals and we used these wires and "beams" to send messages and data across the globe. My colleague Shira added 'When it doesn't work, you turn it off and then back on again. That's how the internet works.'<br /><br />After a couple weeks of frantic reading, wondering and pestering of colleagues, I can say that this hazy picture is more or less correct. In the simplest terms I can find, I will try explain how the internet works so that I can move past this first step onto greener, more sociological pastures.<br /><br />More specifically, I will explain how the internet works in East Africa...<br /><br />First of all (and they should really tell you this on your first day at OII): the internet is not AN inter-net (I have since discovered that the Internet’s capital letter is a bit of a grammatical minefield). The internet is a network of networks. In Arabic, its no 'shabka' but a 'shabakat'. In other words, the internet is plural. Your computer is connected to one network that is connected to many other networks.<br /><br />And perhaps, more precisely, the internet is a network of intermediated networks. I shall grind my 'it's not globalization because it’s not global' axe here- the internet is not a shared global space, but rather an international space that operates differently in different places. When you connect in one place, your messages are relayed through an infrastructure in a particular geographical and technical space and that intermediation will change your personal experience of 'the internet'.<br /><br />To put it into the East African context, in the summer of 2009, three underwater fibre optic cables began to 'turn on' faster internet for Kenya and its neighbours. This is a map of all the underwater cables that connect Africa. The three East African cables (SeaCom, Eassy and TEAMs. The fourth LION-2 is still being tested) run along the Eastern coast:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3d7xx1ldqwisljILv_gYBxZgcridn29KbD34Q4OAaDAerY9q8lWSCJjiWTbOGbFqF-6ytvK6noGlC6AjyKcmXpZcXQPdX2zRORgeSoLhNhwwyvS6mGirSigZrJIfZHolwseMJi5b0A/s1600/underseas_cables.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 309px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684126749526280882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3d7xx1ldqwisljILv_gYBxZgcridn29KbD34Q4OAaDAerY9q8lWSCJjiWTbOGbFqF-6ytvK6noGlC6AjyKcmXpZcXQPdX2zRORgeSoLhNhwwyvS6mGirSigZrJIfZHolwseMJi5b0A/s320/underseas_cables.gif" /></a>If we think of the internet as the total sum of messages and data, then we can say that East Africa suddenly had access to greater 'bandwidth' (the measurement of data). Before the cables, all messages that came in and out of Kenya had to pass through satellite connections. The reliance on satellites meant that speeds were slow, prices high and bandwidth low. <a href="http://blog.nyaruka.com/stuff-0">A blogger based in Rwanda</a> provided a nice visual illustration, explaining how the reliance on satellites slowed down his connection:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjSoN1hBQXIHcs9Y8nLFfeWZMDx2wGkhuZyoo9tR5PNliWM2RpX0tUVGYdqTfg2wDMG9IjHuZnJmdJX3i4vaMC1gaSk9L4Zas-HQVP7BFQ_qSU9ptP9HNBqXSDT4eqXQD83ksDDX9XA/s1600/pottier+2010.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684126944469166786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjSoN1hBQXIHcs9Y8nLFfeWZMDx2wGkhuZyoo9tR5PNliWM2RpX0tUVGYdqTfg2wDMG9IjHuZnJmdJX3i4vaMC1gaSk9L4Zas-HQVP7BFQ_qSU9ptP9HNBqXSDT4eqXQD83ksDDX9XA/s320/pottier+2010.gif" /></a>While internal Rwandan speeds weren't too shabby, international messages had to travel high up into the sky and then back down again in order to reach their destination.<br /><br />Prior to 2004, Rwanda also lacked an Internet Exchange Point, meaning that even internal messages between Rwandan ISP accounts would have to make that sky high journey. Now Rwanda has RINEX but not all ISPs are connected to it, so many messages must still travel abroad even when they are destined for the house next door. Mark tells me that some Kenyan messages still travel to LINX in London despite Kenya having its own KIXP. In such circumstances, if you want to do something that requires higher bandwidth, you must pay dearly when there are no cables in place.<br /><br />The arrival of the cables has therefore brought the possibility of much lower costs and higher speeds. However, not all Kenyans or Rwandans were immediately 'switched on'. Rather the cables brought the bandwidth to the port of Mombassa, but its journey inland had yet to come.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLh-c8_TKICr5hZtdUa6fs_1tDGlYUrXLFd-EBLzaijfcQSddXfIR2fTRo19nnUYCP8eulPUHRXz-Jv5k_MKw_K6gxnLe2aAgsxtmedvk0tLzzS9k-kQsugVNAjYNiiT70v4oL_BlnAA/s1600/laying+cables.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 133px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684132695888192290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLh-c8_TKICr5hZtdUa6fs_1tDGlYUrXLFd-EBLzaijfcQSddXfIR2fTRo19nnUYCP8eulPUHRXz-Jv5k_MKw_K6gxnLe2aAgsxtmedvk0tLzzS9k-kQsugVNAjYNiiT70v4oL_BlnAA/s200/laying+cables.jpg" /></a>(A nice SeaCom video about the laying of the cables can be found<a href="http://www.youtube.com/seacomlive"> here</a>)<br /></div><br />Broadly speaking, data can travel wirelessly or it can travel through wires.Wired internet connections might include telephone wires, power lines, fibre optic cables or any other kind of cables, either below ground or underground. Existing telephone wires are made of copper which DSL uses to transmit messages. I have even been told that you can even use powerlines for internet connections. And of course, you can also use an ordinary dial up modem (the kind that makes those satisfying sounds that we all used to know so well. Here, the difference is between dial-up analog and DSL digital). Fibre optic cables are just an improvement on this 'fixed line' technology. <a href="http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=176">Joss</a>, the colleague who sits opposite me said, 'as a basic rule, use cables when possible because they are much faster. When you can't use cables anymore, you use wireless.'<br /><br />In much of the UK and the US, landlines are pretty well established and so our internet infrastructure has been dominated by cables (most of my friends have a contract with BT, Orange or Virgin involving a modem in their homes. Despite the fact that we spend hours and hours on the phone setting up these connections and often wallowing in confusion for days, we remain loyal to the idea of cables). In other parts of the world, it is much less common for people to have a fixed line telephone and much more common for people to have a mobile telephone. In this situation, wireless internet solutions have taken off.Wireless internet connections might include radio microwaves, local 'wi-fi', GSM/CDMA (these are just competing standards for 3G internet and mobile phone spectrum), WiMax or most recently of all, LTE. Basically, 1G were radio waves, 2G were basic mobile phone communications, 3G allows higher bandwidth mobile phone/internet and 4G has yet to come (although WiMax and LTE claim to already be there). These kinds of technologies are more suited to geographic areas that lack fibre or copper wiring so they are good for Africa, and they are also used in our homes, to connect a laptop to a router.Cost issues are important. Laying down cables is an expensive process with most of the costs (68% for fibre optic) coming upfront. In contrast, wireless technologies can be scaled up, meaning that the upfront costs are lower, but there are higher marginal costs over time. As Joss said, when possible, cables are preferable but financing such projects can be tricky. For this reason, some 90% of Kenyan internet users access the internet through their phone.<br /><br />Even when the fibre optics are in place, consumers still have to pay for them and of course, those on lower incomes face sizable financial barriers. Richer consumers may very well get a cable connection through a fixed line or pay for fast WiMax, but poorer consumers may rely on their mobile phones. Big infrastructure matters but small infrastructure matters too.<br /><br />Also, while cables connect whole homes or offices, many mobile based technologies connect individual users, so the distribution of users within a household may be different for this model of internet connectivity.<br /><br />Furthermore, one's geographical position also plays a role in determining accessibility.<br /><br />Our project is concerned with Kenya and Rwanda. To give an indication as to how the internet has been brought 'inland', I shall present a few maps.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">RWANDA</span></div><br />This map show's Rwanda's national fibre optic grid. This back bone connects different parts of the country to the international cables.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacoCoDP3Vt5_6caNoWpfF_nICPTC-b3FK-EwLrhbh6H0Tue71As3vvcBTVJ2hBeVJS-Ps3dgvqrmFqqIYMAxkC8pSpR-uJvN7vgH0i4AeCX6MotNn4Mgdy-JAKW-BmSUjJ0mjeLcFnQ/s1600/Rwanda_Fiber_Optic_Grid-638bc.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 226px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684127344443200466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacoCoDP3Vt5_6caNoWpfF_nICPTC-b3FK-EwLrhbh6H0Tue71As3vvcBTVJ2hBeVJS-Ps3dgvqrmFqqIYMAxkC8pSpR-uJvN7vgH0i4AeCX6MotNn4Mgdy-JAKW-BmSUjJ0mjeLcFnQ/s320/Rwanda_Fiber_Optic_Grid-638bc.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The red dots are connecting nodes or PoPs (Point of Presence). The challenge is to transport bandwidth from these nodes outwards into people's homes and offices.<br /><br />Kigali City (Rwanda's capital) has deployed a 'WiMax' system in order to provide highspeed internet throughout the capital. A graphical representation is provided below:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixS4nQZy-0mCz-wy0WOCiTdExHpO0IQ70fTUXerjz4bKW73IQtW6qOdw5sFMhlsAd3X7T_2izo9sjFx_lXyRQrynzJAfKGfVZvT4vMvV8Oa-K60qkHbylZKs5ODC7ezV52q3hdSxQk8A/s1600/rwanda+value+chain.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 194px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684127783718924994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixS4nQZy-0mCz-wy0WOCiTdExHpO0IQ70fTUXerjz4bKW73IQtW6qOdw5sFMhlsAd3X7T_2izo9sjFx_lXyRQrynzJAfKGfVZvT4vMvV8Oa-K60qkHbylZKs5ODC7ezV52q3hdSxQk8A/s320/rwanda+value+chain.gif" /></a><br />RDB, 2010: 16.<br /><br />This infrastructure has been designed to deliver wireless internet to different parts of Kigali city through a mixture of fibre optic cables (connecting it nationally and internationally) and radio towers (connecting it locally). One WiMax station can cover a very large area, usually a radius of about 50km (or about 30 miles). In addition, one tower can connect with another tower through microwave, so that they can be scaled up relatively easily. Here is a geographical representation of the same network:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCDf9HJ1Ye6wDbPJso1hAWvB0hTMVRn-EUjC8XsOsiXHhnFH7kXoPXKpjDG7sOwn4afE_VWQ0_9TjUhauDHOYxv-ComjCX5w3wSbgVRkVPwtujUMgrWRgeLQPZLluAccPPPoNgI5FAA/s1600/kigali+street+map.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 206px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684128229467970866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCDf9HJ1Ye6wDbPJso1hAWvB0hTMVRn-EUjC8XsOsiXHhnFH7kXoPXKpjDG7sOwn4afE_VWQ0_9TjUhauDHOYxv-ComjCX5w3wSbgVRkVPwtujUMgrWRgeLQPZLluAccPPPoNgI5FAA/s320/kigali+street+map.gif" /></a>RDB, 2010: 15.<br /><br />So if we again return to the map of Rwanda as a whole and we zoom in one each PoP, we may imagine similar systems taking form in each area. Companies may choose to deploy WiMax or GSM or any other kind of internet connection in each area. In other words, each area will have its own internet infrastructure that reflects the needs (and economic demands) of the area. Below this level, consumers face their own costs and benefits.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">KENYA</span><br /></div><br />My Kenyan map is actually three maps in one. I have overlaid Kenya's terrestrial fibre optic cables with the Safaricom GSM network and current WiMax deployments.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHT48-tjCpnjjNwow75t_XnZO379dDUvDp0lnMkWrL1inLHdZ3gI-JYNDhh0eilVLQ_A3g3et0nMEqDlJ8JSDU3X1osqIBrUPS2UE6xZF3OtUtiRiILOaOGlz1imswuB5tpGH-LaADRw/s1600/kenyan+map-+fibre+optic%252C+wimax+and+safaricom+gsm+900+coverage.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 283px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684131001299110258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHT48-tjCpnjjNwow75t_XnZO379dDUvDp0lnMkWrL1inLHdZ3gI-JYNDhh0eilVLQ_A3g3et0nMEqDlJ8JSDU3X1osqIBrUPS2UE6xZF3OtUtiRiILOaOGlz1imswuB5tpGH-LaADRw/s400/kenyan+map-+fibre+optic%252C+wimax+and+safaricom+gsm+900+coverage.gif" /></a>Kenya is a much bigger country and its populations is more dispersed so it's no surprise that its infrastructure tends to be more geographically concentrated (incidentally due to its diminutive size, <a href="http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/mauritius-world-s-first-unwired-wimax-nation/2005-06-22">Mauritius was the first country in the world to deploy Wi-Max throughout its entire country</a>).<br /><br />While the underwater cables connect Kenya, the country to faster speeds and higher bandwidth, not all parts of Kenya are connected. The pink lines show the current Kenya Data Networks fibre optic cable, the orange shows Safaricom's GSM coverage and the red and blue pegs show where WiMax technology has currently been deployed. Internet penetration is generally restricted to the capital city, Nairobi, its surrounding areas, the road that connects it to the port city of Mombassa and a few other 'hot spots'. In other areas, the government has endeavoured to spread the internet through e-villages and other developmental initiatives. Nevertheless, the internet is a technology that builds on the technologies of the past (telegram, telephone, rail, road) and it has, by no means killed distance. It creates new patterns of proximity and distance and new kinds of intermediations.<br /><br />Before concluding, I want to add one final point. I have so far shown how the internet is spatially prescribed, but its 'spatiality' is not just restricted to geographic space. Rather, within the technical infrastructure of the internet, space is also expressed through the rules that the internet uses to sort messages and protect users.<br /><br />Broadly speaking, the internet works through IP (Internet Protocol). Because the internet is a network of networks, it is also a collaborative and interdependent place, where things are both open and vulnerable. To ‘protect’ one’s computer or one’s network from spam or otherwise deviant attacks, users will use ‘firewalls’.<br /><br />A firewall inspects all incoming traffic and relates it to a series of rules developed by the administrator to protect or censor the user. A firewall can be embedded into a personal computer, an ISP server, a DNS server, or in any other node along the network.<br /><br />Every physical connection to the internet has an ‘IP address’ that situates that connection in space (both virtually but more often than not, geographically as well). Typically the ‘rules’ that the firewall uses to check incoming messages, look at IP address and compare them to a list of ‘blacklisted’ IP addresses that have been deemed untrustworthy or malicious by other users.<br /><br />When one region of the world experiences a high number of spam or fraudulent messages from another region, it will ‘blacklist’ the sender’s IP address. Unfortunately this ‘blacklisting’ does not only target the spammer or scammer, but the whole region. In other words, users of the<br />internet in one area may be penalised for sharing a connection with an ‘offending party’.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCed4gFn9C95kBMdZiDlp_fcC1V4zzOWoKuAk2InP-hQDgd2P7c7EbAl2NOKoSNCHmsj8HBPVskbLAlnF-UwWwpkfDjcm5HuobyKMMBPcfWjzUwWYzWDKk2QZXG07A7rxXdKxa9Araw/s1600/rwandan+ip+filtering.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 253px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684129026150871218" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCed4gFn9C95kBMdZiDlp_fcC1V4zzOWoKuAk2InP-hQDgd2P7c7EbAl2NOKoSNCHmsj8HBPVskbLAlnF-UwWwpkfDjcm5HuobyKMMBPcfWjzUwWYzWDKk2QZXG07A7rxXdKxa9Araw/s320/rwandan+ip+filtering.gif" /></a>(from: Kirstein, 2010. The image and a deeper analysis of the Rwandan case can be found<a href="http://www.newtimes.co.rw/print.php?issue=14173&print&article=25863"> here</a>)<br /><br />Furthermore, an area may not only be penalised through rules, but also through reputation. The internet opens up the possibility for new representations of place. Many people have never been to Kenya or Rwanda, so their image of the place has been framed by news reports, Hollywood movies and the occasional reference to Obama’s father. Perhaps a Ngugi wa Thiong'o book may surface or a sad film about the Rwandan genocide. These images may not neccesarily instil confidence in a manager looking for call centre workers or for a tourist choosing a destination for his honeymoon.<br /><br />The internet might allow for Kenyans and Rwandans to adapt these images, projecting new views, new ideas and new relationships. However that opportunity for re-representation is a shared endeavour and has the potential to both improve or damage Kenya or Rwanda’s image abroad. For example, West African ‘419’ email scammers have been described as ‘brand eroders’, as ‘undermining markets’ and as unleashing ‘social damage’ on wider society. The identification of Nigerian IP addresses as sources of such ‘crime’ has resulted in some services blocking all Nigerian traffic from using their sites and has damaged the credibility of ‘legitimate’ Nigerian and African entrepreneurship. West Africans have proposed various solutions to these censures, involving technological innovations (blocking traffic at ISPs) and through the ‘rebranding’ of Nigeria by civil servants and PR agents. Therefore, actors within common places struggle to represent their place in particular ways and to use their different kinds of representation to secure different kinds of extraversion.<br /><br />For some, representations of instability are beneficial, while for others, stability and governance solicit streams of foreign wealth. This project will therefore treat connectivity both in terms of physical capacities, but also conceptual or social connectivity. How do the cables open up new opportunities for representation of place?<br /><br />I have tried to keep this post as simple as I can, but I will build on it as I get to grips with the ‘business side’ of things (hopefully future posts will be a bit shorter!).<br /><br />The main point has been to show how the internet is part of a geographical and technical world. While we tend to view the internet as a ‘global space’ in which all users share a common experience, place still matters and although I have tried to show that the internet DOES open up new possibilities for place representation, it also builds on past distances and dislocations.<br /><br />p.s. And please correct me if I have gotten anything wrong!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-49905774108062359002011-09-02T05:15:00.000-07:002011-09-02T05:17:51.619-07:00My New Job!Hello everyone!
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<br />I have been really bad at updating my blog over the summer, because I have been working hard to finish my thesis. It has paid off.
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<br />I have a new job at the Oxford Internet Institute starting in October. I will be working on a project looking at internet and economic development in Kenya and Rwanda. I am very excited about the project and promise to be a better blogger once this thesis is turned in!
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<br />http://www.zerogeography.net/2011/09/project-kick-off-promises-of-fibre.html
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<br />One month left inshallah. Wish me luck!
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<br />LauraLaurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-65838546327730241682011-07-04T04:21:00.000-07:002011-07-04T04:40:10.408-07:00A thought about the marginality of African studies…My good friend Paul Fean has always told me that in academic life, one must find one’s ‘tribe,’ that elusive group of scholars that will make one feel happiest and most inspired. As in other things, happiness isn’t just a matter of increasing one’s own individual utility but of being part of a community. This is very much how I live out my academic life. I cannot work without a tribe around. <br /><br />I have been to quite a few different kinds of conferences over the duration of my PhD. As someone on the boundary of the ‘African’ and ‘Arab’ world and whose research concerns the nature of the ‘African state’, the utility and use of ‘social networks’ and the nature of communication and information structures, I have tried to find my tribe in many places. I have been to ‘Middle Eastern studies’, Sudan Studies, ‘Anthropology of Money’, ICT for Development, Microfinance, Education, Anthropology and this month, I finally went to an ‘African Studies conference: ECAS 4.<br /><br />This was the best. I was on two panels, <a href="http://www.nai.uu.se/ecas-4/panels/21-40/panel-21/">one</a> on 'tribalism' and globalization/liberalization and <a href="http://www.nai.uu.se/ecas-4/panels/121-140/panel-127/">one</a> on ethnographic approaches to African states. <br /><br />This was also the first time I had been to a conference with my department and it was also the first time I saw so many young ‘Sudan Studies’ people in one place (‘Sudan Studies’ conferences generally tend to include more senior academics)- but it was also the panels and the other papers from across Africa. I really ‘felt at home’ in ECAS. <br /><br />To offer an example. When I attended WOCMES (World Congress on Middle Eastern Studies) last summer, I found almost no panels on corruption, statehood, unemployment, entrepreneurship/liberalization or even, politics. Whereas at ECAS (European Congress on African Studies), there were plenty of panels on corruption, statehood, entrepreneurship/employment- and lots and lots of papers on politics. How can two parts of the world produce such different research interests?<br /><br />In some ways, I think this is partly due to sources of funding. While Africanists often complain that Africa is marginalized by academia and by the big disciplines like History, Sociology and to a lesser extent, Anthropology, I feel that this ‘marginality’ might actually be a source of strength for the discipline. <br /><br />My biggest gripe with ‘Middle Eastern studies’ conferences has been the lack of political discussions (this will hopefully change now that the Tunisian and Egyptian youth have disturbed the obsession with religion, Israel and ‘culture’ as the dominant topics of the region). My biggest gripe with Development and especially, ICT/Microfinance conferences has been the fact that everyone really really wants mobile phones and microfinance to transform Africa. ICT4D also suffers from a bias that ICT is ‘measurable’ and therefore allows economists a renewed opportunity to look at economic growth in a numerical way. Other parts of the economy that are less ‘measurable’, are thereby not equally attractive to economists. There is therefore a strong sense of hopefulness behind much of this work that shields it from deeper discussions of political economy. You get the sense that the researchers need to show that their research is ‘helpful’ in order to secure further support and funding from mighty international organizations and governments. <br /><br />Both of these ‘gripes’ are due to research funding. This has been made plainly clear over the past year. Show me the money Saudi Sheikhs and Libyan autocrats! <br /><br />‘African studies’ as a discipline might be marginalized and it may not benefit from the patronage of rich state families but this marginality also provides a critical space within which scholars can study what they like. <br /><br />I hope that Middle Eastern studies will change or perhaps the North African specialists would be wise to migrate and come join in more African studies arenas. We are ready to welcome you! We have been studying corruption, statehood and the effects of liberalization on politics for some time. <br /><br />OK, now I must get back to finishing that draft!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-5993448989992113862011-02-04T03:47:00.000-08:002011-02-04T09:52:52.099-08:00David Harris on Sierra Leone and Liberia: Relevance to Sudan?I am dying to write a post on Egypt but first I wait for Mubarak to leave…yaaaalllla!<br /><br />In the meantime, I wanted to share a few notes and comments about <a href="http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff44383.php">David Harris</a>’ seminar last Wednesday on ‘Unfolding Consequences of Liberalism in Sierra Leone and Liberia: Liberal Justice and state-building at work” at the Centre of African Studies centre here in Edinburgh. Many of his points relate to developments in Sudan, so I thought I would briefly share. <br /><br />His paper can be broken into two parts. The first was about formats of justice when dealing with post-conflict societies. He discussed the Sierra Leone Special Court (SLSC) in 2003. It has indicted 13 people, of whom: 3 have died, 1 has gone missing, 8 have been convicted and 1 is currently on trial (Charles Taylor). He believed that Sierra Leone was a special case, as the RUF had militarily collapsed and so the SLSC was able to operate in a political vacuum. He contrasted this situation with Liberia in 2003. Here, the rebels were still active and so it was impossible to hold trials. Those involved in war crimes were required for political bargaining. As part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (another CPA!), a Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) was established along with a two-year transitional government. As part of the agreement, no official operating in the transitional government could then run for government. Due to these stipulations, Harris believed that the election was an amazingly open civilian election. <br /><br />Then Harris moved on to talk about trials more generally. He believed that 2000 was a kind of watershed. Before this time, there was a general acceptance of the necessity of political bargaining but after 2000, there was a shift towards criminal trials. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2006. Harris pointed out that, so far, every person indicted by the ICC has been an African (despite the evidence of war crimes in the Middle East by both Western and regional governments). Harris mentioned the political effects that these trials have had on the countries affected, in particular how the ICC has threatened peace prospects in Uganda and Sudan. In the case of Sudan, this point has been well documented in Mamdani’s controversial work,<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saviors-Survivors-Darfur-Politics-Terror/dp/0307377237"> Survivors and Saviours</a> and has been discussed and debated on Alex de Waal’s excellent blog, <a href="http://blogs.ssrc.org/sudan">Making Sense of Sudan</a>, especially in discussions about the Save Darfur movement and the ICC. <br /><br />More generally, Harris discussed how there have been three shifts:<br /><br />From bargaining to criminalisation<br />From the targeting of structures to individuals<br />The Delegitimization of violence.<br /><br />Interestingly, on the last point, Harris wondered if this was something the international community really wanted to take on. He reminded us that the ANC in South Africa used violence as part of their struggle against the Apartheid regime. He asked: Is violence always unjustified? In some ways, events in Southern Sudan also question this trend, as SPLM used violence in order to break away from the North. It would be difficult to convince the Southern Sudanese that this violence was unjustified given the history between the North and South. Although many have pointed to the authoritarian and often violent nature of the SPLM leadership as a potential barrier to sustainable state-building in the new South Sudan. <br /><br />There is a PhD student at the University of Khartoum who is doing research on the TRC in South Africa and its applicability to the Sudanese case. I look forward to her research, as I believe it is very important, but I also urge her to look at other cases besides South Africa. As Harris rightly points out that each case is different, depending on the status of the political and military parties involved. South Africa is largely seen as a success, but what about Sierra Leone and Liberia? <br /><br />Harris questioned the idea that Liberal Justice has ever been successful when imposed from outside and asked whether other formats of justice are more appropriate. How do people see war crimes trial? Are people ambivalent about it? Do they want to open old wounds? Can TRCs deliver reconciliation even if they do not offer truth?<br /><br />The second part of his seminar focused on state-building in Sierra Leone since 2003. Operating under a Post-Washington Consensus (that is, re-building the state in a neo-liberal framework) DfID, under the New Labour government, has been very active in the process, making a ten year promise to collaborate with the Sierra Leonean government. Harris presented his research on the perceived successes and failures from the point of view of the stakeholders involved. There were a number of interesting points, which reflect many similarities with the situation in Sudan. <br /><br />First of all, Harris described a wide divergence of opinions, with the most optimistic being highly supportive of decentralisation and public sector reform, to those who were highly critical, citing the presence of donors as a major source of corruption. The main weakness highlighted by Harris’ respondents was the incapacity of public sector staff. When he asked respondents how long they expected donors to stay in Sierra Leone, the answers were “10 years”, “20 years”, “a generation” and “forever”. <br /><br />When describing successes, he made a very interesting point. Specific successes were due to key individuals who were able to drive through reform. He listed the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance as ‘success stories’ and in each case, there was a core group of people- maybe 5- who were able to mobilize the rest of their departments. These individuals were either Sierra Leoneans from the Diaspora or internationals seconded to the government. The president himself was described as a ‘lighthouse’- when he shines his light on a problem area, things improve but when his light moves on, there is only hope that reform will stay (beautiful imagery). One donor staff member described his role as ‘managing the lighthouse’. <br /><br />This was very similar to the impression I formed in Sudan. Whenever there was reform or success, it was always due to key individuals, highly ambitious and highly competent, working very hard to make change. It is important to note that these were not all ex-pat Sudanese or foreigners- often they were Sudanese who were simply very determined. In most cases, however, it seems that these individuals would also have access to political capital- they were in some way, connected to the regime, if not directly, then through an intermediary. <br /><br />Harris mentioned the ‘Drivers of Change’ research, funded by DfID in Liberia and other countries in 2003. This research has now been replicated across the world, including Sudan. One of its recommendations was to identify key individuals or groups- women, youth or other ‘drivers’- who should be targeted by external agents to make change. The only problem with this approach is that it is not always sustainable. When one individual leaves (or is removed), then progress falters. I can cite numerous examples of this phenomenon in Sudan. In particular, diaspora workers can often suffer from ‘burn-out’. Relocating oneself to a country struggling to develop is a lot to ask from young professionals who have grown accustomed operating in commercially or highly institutionalized environments overseas- especially when they have spent their entire education abroad as well. <br /><br />In this way, I feel that, rather than focusing on diaspora workers, drivers of change must also include Sudanese from Sudan or Sierra Leoneans from Sierra Leone, who have more at stake in the success of reforms. They are there to stay! One member of the audience asked Harris about the relationship between the diaspora workers and the local staff- whether there was resentment about salaries or differences of opinion- this was a question Harris didn’t really have a good answer. I feel that this is a very important question and one that needs more research. From my own research on work environments in Sudan, there is often a lot of conflict between local and expat workers, and ESPECIALLY between expat Sudanese and local Sudanese. Some local Sudanese in international organisations like the UN or international businesses complained of a bias against them, because of their inability to communicate fluently in English. British and American educated Sudanese were often given more opportunities to speak in meetings and had more access to international staff. While these people are often key in moving reform, local drivers should not be overlooked. Lighthouses are all very well, but donors must also look into the darkness for partners and ‘drivers for change’.<br /><br />Lastly, David Harris replied to my post and wanted to say that his my book will be coming out shortly with IB Tauris, called Civil War and Democracy in West Africa: Conflict Resolution, Elections and Justice in Sierra Leone and Liberia.Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-13882448280607642462010-08-08T12:05:00.000-07:002010-08-08T12:07:44.401-07:00To the person who vandalised Dr. Siddiq Umbadda’s excellent paper on Education and Mismanagement of Sudanese Economy and Society (1954-1989)…To the person who vandalised Dr. Siddiq Umbadda’s excellent paper on Education and Mismanagement of Sudanese Economy and Society (1954-1989), I have words for you! <br /><br />You have terrible grammar.<br /><br />I am reading this great (and quite poetically written) Development Studies and Research Centre paper (no. 83) from October 1990 and I’m starting to yell at the page. It’s not the information. It’s not the arguments, which are clever and making me re-consider how much wasta there was in the early days of Sudanese economic development (More generally, I am starting to re-think some of my arguments in light of all these old papers I have been reading this week). No, it is not Dr. Umbadda’s scholarship at all!<br /><br />No, it’s all these annoying comments and ‘corrections’ that some young whippersnapper has felt the need to leave in his wake. What is most irritating is that most of his grammatical corrections are wrong! Now, I am NO grammar guru and I frequently roll over syntax rules with aplomb, but if you are going to go through a distinguished professor’s work and ‘correct’ his mistakes, have a little care… and if you are going to do so, don’t write ‘stupid’ in the margins when he is making a good point.<br /><br />I don’t know you are, but HARAM on you!<br /><br />As these papers are only available in paper form and only available after careful adventures in the University of Khartoum libraries, people should NOT feel the need to tamper with the texts! <br /><br />OK, I obviously need to get out of the office and go home. Sunday grumpiness coming out.<br /><br />One day, I will find you Development Studies and Research Centre vandal! One day!Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-4362841716604830062010-08-06T03:54:00.000-07:002010-08-06T09:14:17.692-07:00Back to the... Future: Sudan in a 1990 Postscript<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsQT1J067BcHt_oB6OrMtu3V_eOaIoBKTkBKN7AUN8VIEkn1YtGDL5isZjpXOzf6GYnB2dt-Qc-IX5C81i0wQHhm3M5zfaYi54bWHdRrzpP7NVdwtl9oqGqMGpba4OISFDxxF1v3dJg/s1600/~government_they_deserve.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsQT1J067BcHt_oB6OrMtu3V_eOaIoBKTkBKN7AUN8VIEkn1YtGDL5isZjpXOzf6GYnB2dt-Qc-IX5C81i0wQHhm3M5zfaYi54bWHdRrzpP7NVdwtl9oqGqMGpba4OISFDxxF1v3dJg/s320/~government_they_deserve.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502250010998471410" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I was seven in 1989. I knew nothing of </span><st1:country-region style="font-family: arial;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">Sudan</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family:arial;">, of Sadiq al Mahdi, of Bashir, even of Turabi, for I was probably playing football, watching the A-Team and listening to RunDMC. So it comes as no surprise that I do not have a memory of this time period and this void shapes the way I see the NIF/NCP: How did the new government change the civil service upon gaining control? Were people able to keep their jobs under the new NIF regime? How did they change education to suit their political and economic needs? I would ask myself throughout my research. But through my interviews, I learnt that those first few years were anything but coherent and straight-forward. Peoples’ memories were conflicting and their personal recollections painted a picture of confusion and muddling before the new government came out with its line.</span><br /></span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">This morning I have been re-reading Mansour Khalid’s book “<a href="http://www.keganpaul.com/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=40">The Government They Deserve</a>” and the post-script is fascinating. Published in 1990, the author had just finished his book on the political elite of the country and had not expected what was to come: namely the coup of 1989 and the coming of the NIF. In Khalid’s postscript, you can really see the intense frustration with the ‘democratic’ government of Sadiq al Mahdi. People did not know what to expect from the Brigadier Bashir in those early days. Bearing in mind that Mansour Khalid was a bit of a political outsider and so his critique of Sadiq’s government is partly ideological and personal, it is nevertheless a fascinating look at the political climate at that time. Here is a (long) excerpt from the 1990 postscript:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">“The future of the new government is as yet uncertain, but it will certainly have to face a number of grave problems. The coup has opened up as many questions as it supposedly answered. Foremost amongst there will be the transition back to civilian rule; an issue that was simply disregarded by the junta in their initial declarations. It is clearly not too soon to be thinking in these terms, if the lessons of the past have been learned at all, then it will have been noted by the new military regime that former Sudanese military and quasi-military governments have equally had their problems, and that engineering a satisfactory transfer of power to civil authorities has been a bugbear of all such governments. Those such as Abboud’s or Nimeiri’s, which hung on to power for too long, were eventually toppled overnight amidst popular jubilation. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">What makes the present situation worse is the total administrative bankruptcy and the exhaustion of many of the institutions and organs of civil government. Worn out by corruption and disillusioned with the pathetic posturing of recent years, the people who might take the leading role in the future of civil governments, according to the new leader, had to persuaded to assume such responsibility. The 21-man strong civilian cabinet, announced on 9 Jule by General Bashir, reveals that the General was not persuasive enough. Trade Unionists and many senior civil servants who were approached to join the government refused, though a good number of them may have heaved a sigh of relief when Sadiq was removed. Incongruously while disillusionment with Sadiq’s government was universal, representatives of popular organizations continued to persuade themselves that the Sadiq-led democracy was there to stay as if all lewd and indecorous methods in which sectarian party politics were exercised were of no relevance to the way the governed judged their government.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">To no-one’s surprise, therefore, the dissolution of parties and trade unions was the first step taken by the military. What follows, however, is harder to analyse. As like as not, the military may be tempted to cut corners and establish a one-party system notwithstanding the fiascos of similar top-down political organizations in the region including the Sudanese experience of the SSU. They, like some of their ilk, may also consider installing a so-called guided democracy or be wise enough to carefully prepare the ground for a return to genuine democracy in the light General Obasanjo and General Babangida in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Nigeria</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Sudan</st1:place></st1:country-region>, to be sure, will have to devise its own democracy, but such democracy will neither be realized through a top-down politicization process, not through the edicts of self-proclaimed national rulers who wish to dictate the fate of the nation. The new regime, nonetheless, may be hoping to achieve what the TMC had failed to achieve, that is to complete the unfinished April agenda which was frustrated by the trickery of self seeking politicians, unhandy trade unionists and self-exalting army generals. But to realize that agenda the new regime needs the support of a broadly-based constituency as well as a programme of political action; not only slogans and decrees. It is not yet clear how the regime can achieve this end given the standoffish, if not hostile, attitude towards it by all organizations encompassing the national forces” (Khalid, 1990, 436).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Although it has little to do with Education, the current chapter of my thesis (which makes this diversion naughty), I found this postscript so interesting and helpful in understanding the 2010 election. In my discussions with voters, I was repeatedly told that Bashir is not as bad as what came before. I had always dismissed these sentiments, arguing that you cannot compare a three year term with a twenty year term. But maybe I am too hard on these voters. I was not around in the late eighties. Maybe the kind of frustration that Mansour Khalid writes about in this book were very strongly felt, maybe those memories cannot be dismissed offhand.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">I believe the weight of history has clouded the way outsiders see this regime. We tend to imagine that the imprisonment of Turabi was a well recognized cover-up perceived by the Sudanese public at large and we perhaps romanticise the democratic period that preceded it, but re-reading literature from that period removes this weight of history. Things are a lot more complicated than we imagine, as we jump without the benefit of memories of our own. We have to take in account the late 80s if we want to understand the present period, and/or the future. </span></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-49851065996851682512010-04-10T02:46:00.000-07:002010-04-29T07:46:42.479-07:00The Paper Mill War: Elections Posters in Khartoum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLzPbYTrODHlSK7fn4tQyzTax961x8hDPhosEo4797ZD2-sjd0sIm8EV4R4OxbWOjyYeXJMazL4Dg_UqRAe9uACqHyH9YuNIBC2iDxUOnWamBNNUMYY_Jw0djEzO7YYhN1AGtZiXn7w/s1600/Photo+21.jpg"></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Khartoum's streets are lined with the flickering faces of smiling men whose smiles have now been ripped and bruised. Before everyone pulled out, this election was being fought at the photocopiers. It was a visual fight, a papery race to the ballot. These are just some of the faces inhabiting the walls and streets of Khartoum this month...</span></span></p></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17ma6LVUAvCvj0twL2yn6XZEc8jLKbRF0FfAqu3BVZvMQGv5b_3jzSa9d89zW2IVDMBkEK2BBefhjfyHXTvPtiqgbNRHcQrJpadHdQxyduTuqox4j_yD_hLiJZ2MEsKMBRvG9OeLalA/s1600/election+4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi17ma6LVUAvCvj0twL2yn6XZEc8jLKbRF0FfAqu3BVZvMQGv5b_3jzSa9d89zW2IVDMBkEK2BBefhjfyHXTvPtiqgbNRHcQrJpadHdQxyduTuqox4j_yD_hLiJZ2MEsKMBRvG9OeLalA/s400/election+4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458470812898234642" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Sudanese Youth Federation implores you:<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"to affirm your right and vote for a better tomorrow!"</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLzPbYTrODHlSK7fn4tQyzTax961x8hDPhosEo4797ZD2-sjd0sIm8EV4R4OxbWOjyYeXJMazL4Dg_UqRAe9uACqHyH9YuNIBC2iDxUOnWamBNNUMYY_Jw0djEzO7YYhN1AGtZiXn7w/s1600/Photo+21.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLzPbYTrODHlSK7fn4tQyzTax961x8hDPhosEo4797ZD2-sjd0sIm8EV4R4OxbWOjyYeXJMazL4Dg_UqRAe9uACqHyH9YuNIBC2iDxUOnWamBNNUMYY_Jw0djEzO7YYhN1AGtZiXn7w/s400/Photo+21.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458477980148363458" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Umma Party Reform candidate Mubarark El Fadil El Mahdi. The Umma Party was the winner of the last national elections in 1986. This government was ousted in the military coup in 1989. The leader of the main Umma Party is still Sadiq al Mahdi. This is another faction, the Reform and Renewal's candidate, Mubarak El Fadil El Mahdi. The two factions unified about two weeks ago. They have now withdrawn from the presidency, though I believe they are still running in specific seats. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">At the bottom, it reads:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"For a redefinition of the Sudanese state" </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(it's a pity this bit of the poster is so tiny!)</span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCE8tqZSvlkFwo0wMbXWNsuXV94zJf5iqfsrUFHg5CuIREtlJGn3wj0DvQxwgSazsADBZfEgMvjdqJfFCiECXgjAqB28zSnFPa4mej4byT1UW8f4byGWH-_fF1C5sbfMU9vMlwkdXuPA/s1600/election+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCE8tqZSvlkFwo0wMbXWNsuXV94zJf5iqfsrUFHg5CuIREtlJGn3wj0DvQxwgSazsADBZfEgMvjdqJfFCiECXgjAqB28zSnFPa4mej4byT1UW8f4byGWH-_fF1C5sbfMU9vMlwkdXuPA/s400/election+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458470797367619698" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The DUP party is the other historical party in Sudan. It is associated with the Al Mirghani family. Their leader is </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani. I can't find any presidential posters but here are some posters for their Khartoum candidates. They pulled out of the elections but have now re-joined the process. There is a rumour that they were paid to do so (but this is just a rumour that no-one can prove. ;)</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSb7yd2qOA6lhyphenhyphenaBEwypVbbbMZaM_XWUZQfdKbu7rb7axO8ZALFwRh797uGZ1TaG1UV0Brjd8XLZqaCIfseH_F1Fhusl-3kSXoKKBbcLTrPGZdEps-gHsOSae5-mfo5-Dn7fhIsmiQNg/s1600/election+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 330px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSb7yd2qOA6lhyphenhyphenaBEwypVbbbMZaM_XWUZQfdKbu7rb7axO8ZALFwRh797uGZ1TaG1UV0Brjd8XLZqaCIfseH_F1Fhusl-3kSXoKKBbcLTrPGZdEps-gHsOSae5-mfo5-Dn7fhIsmiQNg/s400/election+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458470788435443666" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And here is Omar Bashir. The NCP party candidate and presiding head of state. The NCP has chosen a tree as its symbol. Its roots represent the rivers of Sudan. In the background, there is a photograph of Merowe Dam. This was built last year and inaugurated directly after the ICC indictment against Bashir. </span></span></div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKBV4JRHGgrPHWb5fGdV0kA2mfZ0xFErf1WErQrWSlq5CwSz4veJqL1Nsf0mBsaO0yNAjl68H39T1rs6EalWVyCpeQsxku_-XNBlZ-ygzUU6LPnqpeVDO1nubEJdYwQGbVjt17OrhfA/s1600/election+17.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikKBV4JRHGgrPHWb5fGdV0kA2mfZ0xFErf1WErQrWSlq5CwSz4veJqL1Nsf0mBsaO0yNAjl68H39T1rs6EalWVyCpeQsxku_-XNBlZ-ygzUU6LPnqpeVDO1nubEJdYwQGbVjt17OrhfA/s400/election+17.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458466953826883362" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Jousting for space along the road...</span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHmDh7nbihe9nWgltNVoObZpAkHLnEs7Is421tlyd3ZWfPOsKIC-O6zXg3VY_egVrDUHqABKMbyG-8ffoUxbCGswfkxRVTDwP5hPlBvjBfGmd49So7_bscA0co4bFn3sFItuFfSPDrQ/s1600/election+16.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHmDh7nbihe9nWgltNVoObZpAkHLnEs7Is421tlyd3ZWfPOsKIC-O6zXg3VY_egVrDUHqABKMbyG-8ffoUxbCGswfkxRVTDwP5hPlBvjBfGmd49So7_bscA0co4bFn3sFItuFfSPDrQ/s400/election+16.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458466945811210290" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Sudan People's Liberation Movement's candidate, Yassir Sayeed Arman. This party started as a liberation movement in Southern Sudan, led by John Garang. The NCP and the SPLM signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 . The election is part of this process, as is the referendum on Southern independence next year. Before he withdrew from the presidential race last week, he promised to "Activate the Participation of Women in Public Life"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">The SPLM is now running in the South but not in the North.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSh3xuRi9wRTE21Sjx1NA2fNn_weUwewAgXm1grfh448HUzdhtb1l1yDoIFkTkSmj2J-h-lTA0XiG7jheIoN8KzN9qNnkykdaw1ZIEyeCtGNHzFMHHE-n-TKyUshYpLO86BDPgMQ20A/s1600/election+19.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSh3xuRi9wRTE21Sjx1NA2fNn_weUwewAgXm1grfh448HUzdhtb1l1yDoIFkTkSmj2J-h-lTA0XiG7jheIoN8KzN9qNnkykdaw1ZIEyeCtGNHzFMHHE-n-TKyUshYpLO86BDPgMQ20A/s400/election+19.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458466938430596290" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections says </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Together, we can have free and fair elections!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hOl-4E8o47eiKxPSyv2bb77DC5X7VECUN265oNyLiG3S-EE0eq1vp4Qp8D0d4sKabBFgd_1SqLSCGvXG0i-VaCFdRX0EKnnOtirS-6i8FDG8pwlLS0glUpZ-dUljz0niuRAz7K2Wpg/s1600/election+18.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hOl-4E8o47eiKxPSyv2bb77DC5X7VECUN265oNyLiG3S-EE0eq1vp4Qp8D0d4sKabBFgd_1SqLSCGvXG0i-VaCFdRX0EKnnOtirS-6i8FDG8pwlLS0glUpZ-dUljz0niuRAz7K2Wpg/s400/election+18.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458466923027822162" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I wish I had had the good sense to take a photograph of this telegraph pole every day to document the change. Now the NCP has won the fight, but it has been a real paper mill battleground, with each party trying to claim it as their own. At the top, you can see some Umma posters, SPLM in the middle and independents at the bottom. Now it is Bashir land.<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpjk2ke4OKRolt0TE9G2OzQmb-uXWVuM_5W97I6ruJG9LwgXfgEAYdLvPaM2weyUVQ7t5RS2p-UbtrmLbqW0cewxALKkzYHqZcLhFn38gLV7xghqIn71HGBCls5hq459kd183Bqq5ow/s1600/election+15.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpjk2ke4OKRolt0TE9G2OzQmb-uXWVuM_5W97I6ruJG9LwgXfgEAYdLvPaM2weyUVQ7t5RS2p-UbtrmLbqW0cewxALKkzYHqZcLhFn38gLV7xghqIn71HGBCls5hq459kd183Bqq5ow/s400/election+15.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458460053882524386" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Democratic Union Party. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">National Council candidate, </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Professor Mohamed Ali Aoud Karim. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">His face is all over the place. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here he is in a suit</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBr2gnSTBusRnF7Bj1li9oVIq3yO0bKnV4pjUVc2TFJ_E0feeoSc9JeSeLZv3J2NAM3WVbIqKJqf7IeoV6C-cAnAh54S5xV-aa_s7JQV15BZfl8ODZMEOf1Ttn5C3pKnWKUqRJSx6uw/s1600/election+14.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBr2gnSTBusRnF7Bj1li9oVIq3yO0bKnV4pjUVc2TFJ_E0feeoSc9JeSeLZv3J2NAM3WVbIqKJqf7IeoV6C-cAnAh54S5xV-aa_s7JQV15BZfl8ODZMEOf1Ttn5C3pKnWKUqRJSx6uw/s400/election+14.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458460042500189122" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">and here he is in Jallabiya. Got to cover all sides!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXyV5KCnaVc1T55k5G331z_6Z53Sks-XP5DD1RcI6ng41kxbPbzpLfiNPvl4qpMC6u_USjmMWUvExHAlMgWu7cRDVgjaSoA4pUdFj7K4i6z2qvuwvf5rlcrboYSHYhzsuK1ZGml9hvw/s1600/election+13.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNXyV5KCnaVc1T55k5G331z_6Z53Sks-XP5DD1RcI6ng41kxbPbzpLfiNPvl4qpMC6u_USjmMWUvExHAlMgWu7cRDVgjaSoA4pUdFj7K4i6z2qvuwvf5rlcrboYSHYhzsuK1ZGml9hvw/s400/election+13.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458460034773883250" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another NCP poster. Check out the visuals at the bottom. DEVELOPMENT! There was apparently some kind of ceremony at the Merowe dam this week, just in time for the elections!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(so why have we been having so many power cuts?)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3DS2I4fjxLDtCoeatOR9JNU_eEWu2j1_ZuybrWhoXA180pcyKksE7EIk64XJZR1IuOiahHl-NUW24SPzwiOBbgxVYZNotUGQ7xQSNOYDt9ynjPSuub79B0Smh2opI7A84z8wjFgi9g/s1600/election+12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio3DS2I4fjxLDtCoeatOR9JNU_eEWu2j1_ZuybrWhoXA180pcyKksE7EIk64XJZR1IuOiahHl-NUW24SPzwiOBbgxVYZNotUGQ7xQSNOYDt9ynjPSuub79B0Smh2opI7A84z8wjFgi9g/s400/election+12.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458460029097543058" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A DUP poster erected in the last two days. There were none this size before last week. I wonder why...</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmCC3JotJPqStP5uKFASuhHuXyMhIl2g75wyaFcXHv0d1pXdZNRJusiNTqRNRKIAGcGXWDtkwvH-CK2gltSTs2HnYk_LXaQq9wM-oWrSu4aezr9CnYNIxG0J43AxJ4RwXRIE4Ye0Qyg/s1600/election+11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmCC3JotJPqStP5uKFASuhHuXyMhIl2g75wyaFcXHv0d1pXdZNRJusiNTqRNRKIAGcGXWDtkwvH-CK2gltSTs2HnYk_LXaQq9wM-oWrSu4aezr9CnYNIxG0J43AxJ4RwXRIE4Ye0Qyg/s400/election+11.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458460020471991778" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another NCP poster. </span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltnv4cJ_Kx-_63vdyQhv2Cz0KAwYyb5zykqD4NMHK_3EMazlyDQ9i-19369w2zvvxXQDSjqWJEhdhBTgI0sAZpCJtRTr2JKNwX1WMuHo3L7oLljB_P0fWgopoGZtf9vpDeeMkpzQMbQ/s1600/election+10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltnv4cJ_Kx-_63vdyQhv2Cz0KAwYyb5zykqD4NMHK_3EMazlyDQ9i-19369w2zvvxXQDSjqWJEhdhBTgI0sAZpCJtRTr2JKNwX1WMuHo3L7oLljB_P0fWgopoGZtf9vpDeeMkpzQMbQ/s400/election+10.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458458318321645330" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Mahjoub Mohamed Khaled</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Sudanese Communist Party. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">They propose:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Balanced development</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Strong peace</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">One Nation</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Entrenched democracy!"</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WsVYKqSoVlUMrTXI6MvaF4RrqAKPxgakRZ2cy22H00BZ52K4LDyvK2xfebHGaEL87BlMH3lCTNdq4LOwRj-WJzEXD-RpkSp7RBvoo0PP2RXorenCWjiOEBgDzwsKj5Tc5Q60Q08mYg/s1600/election+9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9WsVYKqSoVlUMrTXI6MvaF4RrqAKPxgakRZ2cy22H00BZ52K4LDyvK2xfebHGaEL87BlMH3lCTNdq4LOwRj-WJzEXD-RpkSp7RBvoo0PP2RXorenCWjiOEBgDzwsKj5Tc5Q60Q08mYg/s400/election+9.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458458311850829986" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Fatima Abd Al Mahmoud.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For President. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"For women and families</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Democracy and Free Education and Health</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Well-being and Rural Development for Sudan</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Justice!"</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">She is the first female presidential candidate and she has chosen a pigeon as a symbol.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCbXs21OexrDJlp4woOUtq5ybMFmgZv1IZvi6fpq-WhPjBaga64qqzHVceEWgOsibL-bc0UrJV2PPiTb9Y-WToIgGHfp7MJPAHe_F7DSVARkKtCFmLjyRSDbuLK00kBk8sJ7-I8Ob3Q/s1600/election+8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCbXs21OexrDJlp4woOUtq5ybMFmgZv1IZvi6fpq-WhPjBaga64qqzHVceEWgOsibL-bc0UrJV2PPiTb9Y-WToIgGHfp7MJPAHe_F7DSVARkKtCFmLjyRSDbuLK00kBk8sJ7-I8Ob3Q/s400/election+8.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458458302111290290" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is the presidential candidate for the Communist Party: Mohamed Ibrahim Naqd.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I like his hand gesture. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cuK6fWuTFrGlyLyPhS5lnBCk-uqs1X0otdozn5zfl_tO4hl9w_JFPxZi7RYZ1iuycKpXo_pX-efFaLZjwAJl_-k6XffyH4kC5H1fUGxwn9F4S8mepUM3SQOH9wgDFXA6OK13golxPA/s1600/election+7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cuK6fWuTFrGlyLyPhS5lnBCk-uqs1X0otdozn5zfl_tO4hl9w_JFPxZi7RYZ1iuycKpXo_pX-efFaLZjwAJl_-k6XffyH4kC5H1fUGxwn9F4S8mepUM3SQOH9wgDFXA6OK13golxPA/s400/election+7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458458291534872162" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another DUP poster. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpROvD-_I0fR8b0aAPmtoA9Fx-TqV4TPbMtFtDbdWticQwIzIKJXhb442zLp8emS1qHdd-QkU-plucNNqeCnY10tXo2d_icwFQ4IMaihfrcTaOPcGVoC3KPPiJZL6838Zi-KlC31syNA/s1600/election+6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpROvD-_I0fR8b0aAPmtoA9Fx-TqV4TPbMtFtDbdWticQwIzIKJXhb442zLp8emS1qHdd-QkU-plucNNqeCnY10tXo2d_icwFQ4IMaihfrcTaOPcGVoC3KPPiJZL6838Zi-KlC31syNA/s400/election+6.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458458285096810754" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">An independent. He has chosen a football.</span></span></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsfE6t8sJ1zqRtCXrw3aWm75uVFSMZGsD1fji_72t77l77ZUnE4anUwwyi4E83JbhcHekSwEb5mC-2EVYFMz-SlbKfs7RmIsj4LNviZ21bMDXTh4iCBGgy2XSc3nse1hhkIQwD7F1Tg/s1600/election+5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsfE6t8sJ1zqRtCXrw3aWm75uVFSMZGsD1fji_72t77l77ZUnE4anUwwyi4E83JbhcHekSwEb5mC-2EVYFMz-SlbKfs7RmIsj4LNviZ21bMDXTh4iCBGgy2XSc3nse1hhkIQwD7F1Tg/s400/election+5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458456342142979490" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Galal Mohamed Salah Al Naqari. The PCP party (Turabi's party).<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Turabi was part of the government in the early 1990's. He was pushed out and formed his own party, the PCP. They are still taking part in the election.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6wpmrwfK_ZAYJMFQMBowwX3284rBSEiT8GWTT64SqKsV1qgMGkHWRcrEPpNJg8B1Vz7O11uP4Z088Iu_hPEBILTCPvIjiX48RJPX3NjEzpWAbCLTunbNWxMzZIKF8VvsaIYPprcC9A/s1600/election+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6wpmrwfK_ZAYJMFQMBowwX3284rBSEiT8GWTT64SqKsV1qgMGkHWRcrEPpNJg8B1Vz7O11uP4Z088Iu_hPEBILTCPvIjiX48RJPX3NjEzpWAbCLTunbNWxMzZIKF8VvsaIYPprcC9A/s400/election+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458456332533517250" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here he is for the disabled and handicapped. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwXskQzet-6qgmNp7GoEIFoeQYCIg84bNPSn03JaC1GhK92tcjDvUhxAfXuyMYJxTe67nI6vRTh976sH5O4NZPkzAGKK69W9M_BQMEwsZCtS2qEq1OsEcUBBq6q_u8V0dfqMVD6jWBw/s1600/election+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwXskQzet-6qgmNp7GoEIFoeQYCIg84bNPSn03JaC1GhK92tcjDvUhxAfXuyMYJxTe67nI6vRTh976sH5O4NZPkzAGKK69W9M_BQMEwsZCtS2qEq1OsEcUBBq6q_u8V0dfqMVD6jWBw/s400/election+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458456318941402642" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A huge Yassir Arman sign on the side of the road. The rumour is that they had to pay A LOT of money to the NCP for this privilege. <br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPW0WuY-B_tsuT9cmZUzE4oQIwK3x2VkHkHbJvbQCitYjHezQ0S_pDNaPk1dlSe2Knd9_BmScaY91PGcsGsuf2VILdIHDfWuo0KQux9Eq0N-rpKpgYzqS82bre-y2_fUYJ-wme70xuQ/s1600/election+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPW0WuY-B_tsuT9cmZUzE4oQIwK3x2VkHkHbJvbQCitYjHezQ0S_pDNaPk1dlSe2Knd9_BmScaY91PGcsGsuf2VILdIHDfWuo0KQux9Eq0N-rpKpgYzqS82bre-y2_fUYJ-wme70xuQ/s400/election+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458456313098201602" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Women's alliance parties.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">List of Women running for the National Council.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"For the sake of a better life for the Good People."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1SOsqTkLHRTTR41GjUgfJtjz0-Zu-suQwk7bHcjUpwCMXFbhG0Hul32u87NqpYVF9qTf5CUhMyC_zYXFmu-QhUYh93_8XXsIZnBuBBqfkxJBbGsPi6gB87W6FV2TJl4z8XNqAyxZ2g/s1600/election+7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1SOsqTkLHRTTR41GjUgfJtjz0-Zu-suQwk7bHcjUpwCMXFbhG0Hul32u87NqpYVF9qTf5CUhMyC_zYXFmu-QhUYh93_8XXsIZnBuBBqfkxJBbGsPi6gB87W6FV2TJl4z8XNqAyxZ2g/s400/election+7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458449765971569858" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"There are many voters but one word: YES"</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMj8bHkTD9Ee1LRzIwropzqX30Sa6BzT6Jf2YoJa4fqjtq8UsP1UG8Qbx2qL2rfyD_Lc5QmjeCUSoz4JJ34bvI5P-TCTvkgeR7AyGHA0M_-5tpa_JzJGzwQuoRPLXZoMSZVECydFGWPA/s400/election+6.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458449756909566498" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">An independent for Khartoum state. He has chosen a bell as his symbol.<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW-VDTglzQj7sExLSh8H-GBCpQGhyKJoY8NmpR5Krr90l0u_zjrJJ5f5WK5tBsk4RRyD8aE-CuZ276ffHsKN_b8hJcB0HmykBT9EOldMAfPZ00zcAtgx-alC-2dg-_t34RTyD4-uTBw/s1600/election+4.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHW-VDTglzQj7sExLSh8H-GBCpQGhyKJoY8NmpR5Krr90l0u_zjrJJ5f5WK5tBsk4RRyD8aE-CuZ276ffHsKN_b8hJcB0HmykBT9EOldMAfPZ00zcAtgx-alC-2dg-_t34RTyD4-uTBw/s400/election+4.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458445800358564194" /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For the Khartoum State Assembly, Umma Party: Mohamed Akasha Ahmed Akasha</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGkHkeG4N6oQTVtH7613Ox75ZZX5iXGom_jaavWbNXzkvJajGDwzKEyv5iI9qBAtHYcbsbWAXFRbDdXxVf3J0iFksdBD_14mD_0zAenN5EjP26o-B-gWiFs5kB44Dr4xjRN5qvVcVJQ/s1600/election+5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGkHkeG4N6oQTVtH7613Ox75ZZX5iXGom_jaavWbNXzkvJajGDwzKEyv5iI9qBAtHYcbsbWAXFRbDdXxVf3J0iFksdBD_14mD_0zAenN5EjP26o-B-gWiFs5kB44Dr4xjRN5qvVcVJQ/s400/election+5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458445792183194562" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This photo comes from the rally after the ICC indictment. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It's only a little reassuring that they can't spell. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRUXD_ozObj5UJ-8Hi_UGxAKadmLwy_0IfaikPqaLS2yxy4teUCmOsmTazXF50gIUrpfIj7Sfr6AFSMNpyIoLtQw65qbSv7-3kHw6HAgtfw-OnnzHekK0_xxyKeBjuUJ166vRtGyi9Q/s1600/election+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRUXD_ozObj5UJ-8Hi_UGxAKadmLwy_0IfaikPqaLS2yxy4teUCmOsmTazXF50gIUrpfIj7Sfr6AFSMNpyIoLtQw65qbSv7-3kHw6HAgtfw-OnnzHekK0_xxyKeBjuUJ166vRtGyi9Q/s400/election+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458445782976055810" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Another SPLM.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLEagUln2nuP0H7O-igDOTgQKiwxwiZ9f788ajYGh3G8XZaqAqH2b8vZ1gzicBwEiiAeta7PvSg5j_vEp_dmdyY5YDiPBV88tRxuQdSTMh0TyzDgNtWc61sKY4KOd3r25hLZEN2x1XQ/s1600/election+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 393px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLEagUln2nuP0H7O-igDOTgQKiwxwiZ9f788ajYGh3G8XZaqAqH2b8vZ1gzicBwEiiAeta7PvSg5j_vEp_dmdyY5YDiPBV88tRxuQdSTMh0TyzDgNtWc61sKY4KOd3r25hLZEN2x1XQ/s400/election+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458445776907528994" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This time his poster reads "For peace, security and prosperity!"</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdr2E1Gr10x3HJNHVDKPHHuOQAWe0NKu8KwkkUphcTH2nFYJogJwC3lACmUB9DUNgFquIY2gqPBMi3x5OGZwiGtmProxmzSv44WJ0AdgTQnUirfSGYZUrIhsU_8n9q-72r55NiXF01Q/s1600/election+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdr2E1Gr10x3HJNHVDKPHHuOQAWe0NKu8KwkkUphcTH2nFYJogJwC3lACmUB9DUNgFquIY2gqPBMi3x5OGZwiGtmProxmzSv44WJ0AdgTQnUirfSGYZUrIhsU_8n9q-72r55NiXF01Q/s400/election+1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458445769220977346" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hope and Change? Inshallah....</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-88501629077580348722010-04-10T01:52:00.000-07:002010-04-10T05:46:53.158-07:00What we should learn from this election.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcKXsHl3u6UMcIY0MND4TPJ9_xVrrrHz99pmwbgJpHNG-iGCGCCivkxbxU1kv48hvd0zTKRyKBQgf-HKpnJIVw52YoFc9Yejs8SzlXQR24mAKPoPHyCSQfzcMynqyaV6qM8AHmcFApg/s1600/DSCF4811.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcKXsHl3u6UMcIY0MND4TPJ9_xVrrrHz99pmwbgJpHNG-iGCGCCivkxbxU1kv48hvd0zTKRyKBQgf-HKpnJIVw52YoFc9Yejs8SzlXQR24mAKPoPHyCSQfzcMynqyaV6qM8AHmcFApg/s200/DSCF4811.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458434751759643090" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"HEY HEY HEY!"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"Stop the car, there is a khawajia chasing us!"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"Why stop the car if she's after us? She looks mean!"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"Just stop the freaking car!"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The car stops. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Breathless, the words surface in my mouth, salty dry words that have been baked to a crisp by the chase. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"I.... want.... a.... poster."</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"You want a poster?"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"Naam!"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"An Omar Bashir poster?"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Eyes roll up and down like extremely dubious yo-yos. Clearly I am not your typical NCP customer, but then who isn't these days? Even the mother of my Coptic landlady seems to love the cha cha man. "He good" she says to me, "strong!"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I try to get into character, "Yes, I want an Omar Bashir poster!" I forcibly silence the reason in my brain to spit out the words, "I have chased you down half of Africa Road, haven't I?"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"> "You like Bashir?" Narrowed faces almost poking at me. The reason's getting rowdy. Pipe down, I command! My eyes twitch. "A big time fan?" </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"More or less", I concede, not explaining less is the operative word. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">"Very well then."</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">They hand them over. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Alhamdulilah! </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I have been collecting campaign posters from speeding vehicles, snapping inconspicuously at the road side and doing my damn well best to acquire political items of clothing- it began with a rather convincing Salva Kir hat, then an Umma waistcoast, now a beautiful SPLM t-shirt. But it's all a little sobering. I have done all of this for a non-election. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Last Sunday I went to the Rashid Diab arts centre to listen to a seminar about the elections. One of the speakers urged the foreign monitors to accept this election, unlike he said, Iran and Palestine. He got lots of cheers. A real crowd pleaser. But it's kind of hard to accept an election that none of the other parties accept (or didn't accept before they were bribed... but that is just a rumour!)</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">For those unfamiliar with Sudan's current election, it's important to think of it as a gift. A gift of legitimacy from the opposition parties to the ruling regime. He is clearly going to win the thing. He has all the state's resources to use at his disposal. He has twenty years of power under his belt, systematically destroying all opposition, kicking out and silencing intellectuals and monopolizing the media. He is also credited for bringing peace to the South, oil from the ground and stability to the country as a whole. Elections are in his interest. A gift. A democratic crown (probably made by Chinese workers)!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The gift is part of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and the South, and as such, it comes with strings. Some of these strings are public: when it comes to the election- an abrogation of the emergency laws, an independent election commission, limitations on campaign spending and widening of press freedoms. There are also lots of rumors about backroom dealing: hidden strings. It seems a little puzzling that the opposition parties waited until one week before the elections to announce their boycotts. You have to speculate that they have been negotiating with the ruling party: we will take part in this "show" if you meet our demands. Some say that the SPLM and the other parties had an agreement to cooperate with one another and when the SPLM pulled out (possibly by request from the NCP in return for a smooth referendum next year) the others withdrew angrily. Did the NCP manipulate the Juba Alliance in order to bring about this collapse? Did they underestimate the other parties' tenacity? The latest rumour is that the DUP has been paid millions of pounds to re-enter the election (certainly their posters have shot up dramatically these past couple days). Whether this offer was also extended to the Umma party, we can only speculate. Was the bribe not big enough? Did they resist on the basis of principles or do they have other tricks up their sleeves?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">At first I was really angry at the other parties. Regimes aren't removed overnight. They take multiple elections. They take dilution. They take time. Whatever his image in the Western media, Omar Bashir is an extremely popular man- especially in Khartoum. And the other parties can't expect anything else. For me, this election was the first step of many. Of course the NCP was going to win, but the idea was to get people going. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">From a Khartoum perspective, Sudan is booming. Roads are being built, parks and public spaces are being transformed, development projects have been jump-started all over the place over the past year (some say as a form of election campaign). And most importantly, people are scared of change. This is not surprising. Omar Bashir is all about stability. The last democratic period in Sudan was a time of great economic crisis, shortages in basic supplies, war and mass exodus of Sudanese professionals and experts abroad. Most of the people I have asked about the elections believe that Sadiq ElMahdi and his democracy failed to pull Sudan out of trouble. Whether it is fair to compare a three year term with a twenty year term is beside the point. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">What this election has really drummed into me is the idea that democracy does not begin and end with elections. Democracy is about a relationship between a state and its people. This is something Justin Willis spoke about in his lecture on the history of Sudanese elections last year. I wish the opposition parties had listened. For a real democracy to blossom, there has to be expectations. Demands! Promises extended and votes as contracts! Democracy is not supposed to be about loyalty, about charisma per se, but about interests, policies, development. This is not the situation in Sudan and has not been the case in past elections. Probably the most surprising thing about Omar Bashir's success is his popularity among those hardluck souls who don't have any wasta. The other week I met a taxi drivers with a PhD in Engineering who said he will still vote for Bashir. When I ask, "Why? You have a PhD and you're driving a taxi! Clearly not a good economy, not a good system!" He explained that he is better than the others. "They don't want change, they just want power." There are SO many people like this. Maybe they don't all have PhDs, but a vast number of the unemployed and semi-employed are university graduates who are dissatisfied with the labour market. If you can't convince these people to vote for you, then you aren't trying hard enough. It's really that simple. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">This sentiment was echoed by a University of Khartoum professor, Atta El Battahani. He mused that perhaps the only party that really wants to change the system is the SPLM. The others just want to take over what the NCP has built. Many Northerners feel that the SPLM is a party of the South. After the referendum, they will be irrelevant and it would be foolish to squander your vote on a party that will soon be gone. When I went to the SPLM offices this week to interview someone about government employment, I was surprised about the number of Northerners in the office. It was kind of lovely: a snapshot of a new Sudan, Southerners and Northerners drinking tea together beneath a line of framed photographers of the late John Garang. Mash'allah! But without the philosopher-king, the SPLM doesn't seem to garner wide scale support in the North. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I have a lot of sympathy for the other parties. They are up against a mountain but at the same time, they could have done better. They could have made this election about issues, about the economy, about education, about jobs! There are so many frustrations simmering. They have really wasted an amazing opportunity to change the language of democracy away from loyalty and towards a discussion of the reality on the ground. There is so much opportunity in this country- oil, agriculture, universities galore and many of its problems (like the mismatch between education and employment) are due to terrible mismanagement, an amazing lack of coordination among government ministries and a complete lack of responsibility on the part of officials. I was completely stunned when the Minister of Labour told me it was not his responsibility to look at the career prospects of Sudanese graduates- that was the job of the Ministry of Higher Education. This government could be doing so much MUCH better- even leaving aside any discussion of Darfur. I have been saying all along that I don't really care which party wins, as long as they raise the expectations of the population, as long as they make government accountable. That is what democracy should bring: accountability. That is the whole bloody point, isn't it?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Instead it seems this election has brought the opposite: legitimacy without justification and we are all to blame. Obviously the NCP is to blame. They have manipulated the election and undermined the unity of the other parties. The other parties failed to change the language of democracy and make the "wasta-less" realize that change is possible. Of course they are scared, but people can be made to be brave! The international community is to blame for pushing and pushing without remembering the true purpose to begin with: to bring accountability. Those who understand Sudanese politics best- and I believe Atta and Justin are among them- have been recommending for this election to be postponed for months. It was clear that the country was not ready. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I hope that we all learn from this experience for next time and I do believe there will be a next time. Voter education should not just be about the mechanics of choosing, but about making demands and searching for solutions. A campaign should be a time of great discussion, a focus on national problems and a cacophony of suggestions. The international community is so obsessed with the mechanics of elections: the ballot papers, the finance, the posters, the journalists, the monitoring, but what about the issues? What about that relationship between people and candidate? How can we re-formulate interventions and programs that seek to promote democracy towards accountability? That is the lesson we should learn from this election, I believe.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I am still happy there will be an election. For one of my best friends here, this will be the first time he has ever participated in an election. It should be a time of celebration. In some ways, he is lucky. He wants to vote for an independent. He can still mark his "x" where he chooses. It is a fine thing to vote and we need to celebrate!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">We shall see what the week ahead brings. What kind of celebrations are in order. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><br /></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-41220134266716342562010-03-26T04:42:00.000-07:002010-03-28T02:18:00.671-07:00Action Research: the responsibility behind change.<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnNdk5amE3WBxZ84k39Wchn6I5zq0hPcvJmK3ubfKr6aMrpiBrxxHiKInpgRnKjy1bGPa5TeBlV5I8O7tXRdsg7Hq_IZuBShyphenhyphenJ4bLBjm7gwmfKfxHw1i7eIKQmAroN2U37-dJxthIUg/s200/DSCF4789.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452911147718486114" /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Paul Fean gave a beautiful presentation to the seminar series last week in which he again confirmed how ingenious and simple Action Research can be. <br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Action Research, if you are unaware, is practitioner focused research that encourages practitioners to identify problems, introduce innovations and then track the progress of those innovation over time. The whole process is seen as a cycle, innovations continually change the system and new learning comes out of each new round. Importantly, practitioners must choose a problem that they have the power to change. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">In Paul Fean's case, he works with teachers and headmasters. They identify problems in schools and try to develop new innovative ways of dealing with these problems. There is also a collaborative aspect, the teachers come together and share their experiences- maybe an innovation that works well in one school can be replicated in another. He did his doctoral research with teachers in adult education centres in Omdurman and then more recently, he worked with the Sudanese Ministry of Education working with 50 headmasters from across Sudan. </p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The really great thing about Action Research is that it forces stakeholders to take responsibility over their field. Sudanese will often complain that there is no "system" to things in Sudan. There is no support from above, no recognition by the state and little funding available for change. While this environment is not wholly conducive to change, there are exceptions. I have interviewed some pretty inspiring people who have made change through heart battering personal perseverance. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">One of the things I want to address in my PhD is the idea of change comes to pass in Sudan. My examples come from professional associations. When there is no "system" (in the sense of an explicit structure), how do individuals cope and create space for change? How can their personal efforts become models for others to use? And ideally, how can the state learn from these models to implement large scale change?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Action Research has this potential. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">In the discussion session after his presentation we got into the discussion of whether Action Research is more about "treating symptoms, than treating the root causes". We heard about how some primary school classes have more than 100 students. Can you imagine teaching 100 seven year olds?! If the methods of teaching and the materials originate in countries where class sizes are in their twenties and thirties, you begin to understand the uphill battle to teach in Sudan. If you</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"> add on to this the fact that 9 out of 10 teachers are not properly trained, then the problem gets even more serious. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Quite a few of my interviewees said they started their careers as teachers- this was back in the 70s- when teachers got good salaries and a certain amount of prestige and respect. These early teachers went on to become captains of industry. Now, teaching salaries are meager and most teachers have to work as private tutors to make ends meet. It is no surprise that teachers struggle and have little time to think about innovations in their classrooms. They believe they do not have the power and control over the problems that they face. 100 students in one class? What do you want me to do?!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">And quite right too! </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Some of these problems do require action at the top- more funding, better teaching training, smaller class sizes, more appropriate teaching materials and methods. But still, there is room for change. Some of the Action Research teachers involved in Paul's project chose the topic "How to develop better teaching methods for huge class sizes." This is the kind of research we need in this context! </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Action research begs the question: in the absence of change from above, what can be changed on the ground? And who knows- maybe one individual can prove through success that things can work. Their hard work can get scaled up. I think there are examples of this in the world of professional associations (but give me time to write this part of my PhD up!). </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The other big insight that I got from Paul's presentation is the importance of legitimacy. Participants in these projects were part of a bigger endeavor, especially in the case of the head-teachers, they had the backing of the Ministry of Education. They had a "foreign expert" training them in a new research methodology called "Action Research". It gave them the support and encouragement to believe that change was possible. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">When you listen to Paul Fean speak about Action Research, it is difficult to resist imagining other Action Research applications:</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">How can businesses use Action Research to deal with wasta?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">How can students use Action Research to deal with unemployment in their area?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">How can universities use Action Research to encourage wider collaboration among academics?</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Action Research gets people to take responsibility for change. Yes, there is something I can do about this and this is how I am going to do it! Maybe it is just a fancy name for things that people should already be doing, but this sense of legitimacy and framework is important- here is a "system" of change that we can use.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px">There is one weakness to Action Research. If the innovations originate from the minds of practitioners working in the school environments in question, then the innovations might not always be the most radical. At the same time, their innovations will be more appropriate and contextually relevant, but not radical. It is preferable in this case, to mix practitioners from around the country and to share insights from abroad. Paul seemed to think that this might have been the case with some of his projects, that the change was not radical enough but he didn't want to interfere too much in the process. He was there to study the process itself. He talked about how he might try to play with this balance in the future: the balance between appropriateness of change and radicalness of innovation. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">A friend recently posted a nice article on <a href="http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en/articles/Winning-hearts-changing-mindsets">change management</a>. It spoke of the need to look out for the drivers of change:</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 19.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; color: #4c4c4c; background-color: #f2f2f2">"An important insight from complexity science is that any effort to intentionally bring about development and change should be built on and link into supporting, self-reinforcing processes of endogenous change" (De Lange, 2010). </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 19.0px; font: 13.0px Arial; color: #4c4c4c; background-color: #f2f2f2; min-height: 15.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 19.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I feel like when it comes to Sudan, Action Research can play a big role in this innovating for change, bringing in these processes of endogenous change into a wider frame of action... so Shukran Paul Fean for your insights! </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-5469747467390044912010-03-11T22:36:00.001-08:002010-03-11T22:36:58.509-08:00My latest oasis in Khartoum<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">A GREAT new library in Khartoum</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I thought I had been to the Development studies library. I thought wrong.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The Development Studies and Research Institute has opened a new library. There are now actually two: one downstairs (old school and dusty where I found a mysterious reference: "Proceedings of the Minister of Monosters") and one upstairs, a veritable oasis: new, cool (in terms of temperature!), hooked up to the internet and very well organized. They are still moving books and sorting things out but they have a great collection of UN and World Bank books- very up to date. They also have a lot of books about gender, especially in Sudan (you have to search through the dusty files for this, but there are some treasures!). I think they are slowly moving the books upstairs so their collection will probably increase over the next year. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">It is also just a great place to study- very quiet and as I said, very cool! So if you are stranded in the heat of the city and need a place to study, go to the Development Studies library at the University of Khartoum. It is half way between the staff club (on Sharia Jamieat) and the bookstore on the other end. The head librarian is called Hussein and he is very helpful. </p><p></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-54570216097073847362010-02-25T06:12:00.000-08:002010-03-11T23:03:27.599-08:00Treasures in the Library: The University of Khartoum Development Studies and Research Centre Monograph Series<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The other day, I went along to the University of Khartoum to track down a professor but he was not in his office. Malesh. Instead I went to the Anthropology library where I found treasures hidden on the bottom shelf- U. of K. papers from the 1970s and 1980s. Some of them were really great- one paper on social mobility! With much excitement, I asked the librarian where they came from. She told me they had all the Red Sea Area papers in a special room but the others had been printed by the Economics Department. So I went along to the Economics library (I love how all the departments in the University of Khartoum have their own libraries).</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Here another librarian took one look at them, scratched his head and then began to search a storage closet. It was a very exciting (and dusty) afternoon for us both. We found (almost) the complete series after searching and climbing and searching some more. He let me take them away to make photocopies and I promised to type out the names and give him a copy. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">After spending about half an hour typing in the endless stream of names, I thought I would post them online just in case they are interesting to anyone else. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">If you would like to read a copy and you are in Khartoum, go to the Economics library and ask for Faisal Al Tayb Eissa Youssif. He will help you find them and probably make you a cup of tea in the process. If you are not in Khartoum but are my friend (or potential friend and live somewhere close to Edinburgh), I can try and photocopy them for you. One day, in the far off future, when I return to Sudan with a digital sender, I will digitize such treasures.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">If you want to look at the Red Sea Area collection, then go to the Anthropology library and ask for Jowahir Mubarak. I am not sure if she will make you tea, but she is also very friendly. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">This whole episode has made me realize how vibrant and wonderful the research community of University of Khartoum was in those days. I really wish it could be returned to its former glory... with a little human will and a little bit of funding! </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Nevertheless these papers should not be forgotten... Here they are (some of them are missing):</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Development Studies and Research Centre. Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, University of Khartoum. Monograph Series.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">1. The Five Year Plan (1970-75): Some Aspects of the Plan and Its Performance. 1977. Sayed Nimeri. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">2. Vocational Training and Economic Development in the Sudan. 1977. Ahmed H. El Jack and Abdel Rahman E. Ali Taha. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">3. Educational Policy and the Employment Problem in the Sudan. 1977. M. O. Beshir. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">4. Development Budgeting in the Sudan. 1977. B. A. Azhar.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">5. The Estimation of Human Population by the Capture-Recapture Method. 1977. A.E. El Goul. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">6. How to Survive Development: the Story of New Halfa. 1977. Gunnar M. Sorbo.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">7. An Evaluation of the Six Year Development Plan of the Sudan (1977/78- 1982/83). 1978. Sayed Nimeri. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">8. The Problem of Desterification in the Republic of the Sudan With Special Reference to Northern Darfur Province. 1978. Dr. Fouad N. Ibrahim. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">9. Sudanese Labour Mobility: A Statistical Investigation. 1978. Z.A. Beshir and Siddiq M. Ahmed. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">10. Local Government and Local Participation in Rural Development in the Sudan. 1978. Salih Abdalla El-Arifi. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">11. Urbanization and Exploitation: The Role of Small Centres. 1979. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed and Mustafa Abdel Rahman. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">12. Patterns of Family Living: The Case Study of Two Villages on the Rahad River. 1979. Ellen Gruenbaum. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">13. A Bibliography of West African Settlement and Development in the Sudan. 1980. Ahmad Abd al-Rahim Nasr and Mark Duffield. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">14. MISSING.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">15. A Consumption Function For the Sudan. 1983. Ahmed Al Sheikh.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">16. Origins of the Underdevelopment of the Southern Sudan: British Administrative Neglect. 1983. Raphael Koba Badal. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">17. Import Policy in Sudan 1966-1976. 1984. Siddiq Umbadda.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">18. Monetisation, Financial Intermediation and Self-Financed Growth in the Sudan (1960/1- 1979/80). 1984. Mekki El Shibly.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">19. Towards an Appraisal of Tractorisation Experience in Rainlands of Sudan. 1984. Khalid Affan. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">20. The Evolution and Transformation of the Sudanese Economy Up to 1950. 1984. Elfatih Shaaeldin.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">21. Towards an Understanding of Islamic Banking: The Case of Faisal Islamic Bank 1985. Elfatih Shaaeldin and Richard Brown.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">22. The Labour Force in Sudanese Agriculture. 1984. Abdel Sadiq Ahmed El Bashir. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">23. A Modelling Approach to Forecasting. A Critique of Some Essential Aspects of the Sudanese Six-Year Plan. 1985. Ahmed Elsheikh M. Ahmed and Beshir Omer M. Fadlalla. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">24. Some Aspects of Sudanese Migration to the Oil-Producing Countries During the 1970's. 1985. Mohd. El Awad Galaeldin.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">25. The State of Women Studies in the Sudan. 1985. El-Wathiq Kamier, Zeinab El-Bakri, Idris Salim and Samiya El-Nagar.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">26. Proposal for a Nile Water Treaty. 1986. Omer Mohamed Ali Mohamed. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">27. Structural Analysis For the Production Function of the Sudan Economy. 1986. Ahmed Elsheikh M. Ahmed. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: right; font: 12.0px Geeza Pro"><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">28. </span>البراهين على الطبيعة التصاعدية الجميع انواع الزكاة <span style="font: 12.0px Lucida Grande">1987</span>. أحمد صفي الدين عوض</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">29. MISSING</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">30. Economic Development Urbanization and Induced Migration. 1987. Mohamed Abdelhameed Ibnoaf. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">31. MISSING</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">32. MISSING</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">33. Resource Allocation Under the Joint Account and the Land-Water Charge Systems: Is There a Case for Abandonning the Joint Account? 1989. Samir Taha Saleem.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">34. Female Participation in Trade: The Case of Sudan. 1989. Alawiya Osman Mohamed Salih. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">35. The Kordofan Region of the Sudan, 1980-1985. A Case Study of the Problems of Regionalism. 1989. Kamal Osman Salih.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">36. Tradition and Modernization in Sudanese Irrigated Agriculture: Lessons From Experience. 1989. Sharif El-Dishouni. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">37. Economic Expansion Domestic Distribution and North-South Trade. 1991. Hatim A. Mahran.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">38. The Institutionalization of Capital Accumulation and Economic Development in the Sudan. 1991. Medani Mohamed Ahmed.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">39. MISSING</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">40. MISSING</p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-84000004055937877632010-02-17T23:03:00.000-08:002010-04-03T05:40:16.779-07:00Patience pays off... but sometimes the dividends are monkeys<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Research is sometimes a matter of endurance and patience, especially when conducted under the Sudanese sun. But at the end of it all, there is reward. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A couple weeks ago I turned up to an interview and found that the manager had double-booked me . In order to placate the look in my eye, his secretary gave me extremely strong tea and told me to come back in a couple days. Instead I asked if I could get some information about the organization to better prepare myself for the interview and accordingly, I was directed to another floor. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here, I was given some more tea and then told to wait while a man fetched some books. I sighed and resigned myself to the sugary mix. If research is sometimes a matter of endurance, then in Sudan this endurance is represented by tea. How much tea can you consume in a single day? How much tea can you consume when you have already consumed four cups before lunch and feel like your eyes have been hooked up to a ECG and need a medical consent form in order to be blinked? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I look into the cup, wondering how expensive a stomach transplant is in Sudan, but etiquette dictates endurance and so I bring the cup to my lips.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While I am waiting and plotting the logistics of pouring the tea into the potted plant on the desk, an old man comes into the office. He has a smile on his face that would lift a beached whale and a little twinkle in his eye that says "I don't give a damn". </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I wonder.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He sits down in a chair, put his hands above his head and tells me he's going to tell me "what's really going on in here". What follows is nothing but the most honest and deep internal description of the workings of an organization that I have ever heard. He has a happy growl of a voice, the kind of voice you would expect a sheepdog to have if you were lucky enough to catch him in a monologue. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Is this fate? One interview postponed so you can have another with a sage-like shepherd?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This morning I had a similar experience. I was supposed to have a meeting at 10 am. I had been told to come to a specific bank on the other side of town. The company's office was right next door... or so they told me on the phone. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On the way over, I called up the secretary to check but she was not there. I asked the man on the phone if he could give directions to the driver but it turns out that this man was both the most confused and the most confusing man on the planet. The taxi driver hung up midway through the conversation declaring "This man is crazy! He probably just wandered in and picked up the phone! He is an idiot!" I decided to call the manager directly. He reassured me that the company was right next door to the bank. "JUST come to the bank" He said. So I did. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I got out of the taxi, paid my fare and then proceeded to wander around like an idiot in the sun looking for the company's sign. I couldn't find a single sign that didn't involve the words "Pepsi" or "Zain". The advertising seemed to loom like the sun. And I became thirsty. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I called up the secretary's line again. I didn't want the manager to think I was a complete idiot. This time, the simultaneously confused/confusing man had been replaced by a stern woman who was, unfortunately, equally confusing. She told me that I was in completely the wrong place and I should get into another taxi. Confused, I handed the phone to a new taxi driver and after a very long winded explanation, the man hung up and said:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ten pounds.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Excuse me? Ten pounds? The man said it was right here!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is far, far, far, far away! </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then the driver added, </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ten pounds.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I decided I did not trust this man. The manager had said that I should come to this bank and even if all his secretaries seemed to doubt their location in the universe, I was going to trust the boss. It was his company, surely he knew where he was sitting. I started to wander in the direction that the woman had described on the phone, all the while trying the number again- but now no-one was picking up.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Downtown Khartoum is probably the hottest place I have ever been. It is not just the sun and the lack of shade, but the noise and bustle of the traffic and the dust that wafts every time a bus screams past. I looked at my watch. 10:35. I was hot. I was angry. I was so utterly confused. Had I entered some fantastical research universe in which people contradict themselves and send you on wild-goose chases for kicks? Why had three different secretaries told me completely opposite directions? Why had the manager told me to come one place while the taxi driver seemed to want to take me to Kassala or some other far flung spot? I took a deep breath, ducked into an abandoned building site and called the manager one last time. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This time- low and behold, Ilhamdulilah, praise be to the single cloud in the sky- the original secretary picked up the phone.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Laura? Her voice was like a cool breeze, Come to the bank and I will find you.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have no idea what was going on. When I think about it in my head, I feel like there must be some plausible explanation. Were they just messing with me? Was their phone line split between two companies on opposite sides of town? Or am I just a little bit mad? When I entered the building, I looked into the faces of the other secretaries and wondered which ones had spoken to me. Which ones needed to acquaint themselves with reality. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Or was it me that had lost the plot?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I cooled off. Literally.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The nice (sane) secretary gave me water- ice cold water that swept away the heat from my brow and then a nice man came in with a tray of tea, peanuts and dates. Peanuts? It was as if my stomach had perused the menu and made an order... and at 11:00 when I was sufficiently cooled and well fed, I finally had my interview-- which went really well. Thank you kind souls!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now I sit in a nearby park. I have my notebook out, my list of possible interviewees on my lap, my phone pressed against my ear. But someone is watching me. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A monkey. She sits up above in a tree, a baby monkey strapped to her back. They are both giving me the eye. I wonder if they can smell the peanuts on my breath. </span></p><p></p></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheutHkLVBY6YGnM7wVO2xGyf6_kqbW1ojHDquerIcgCKkK8Ky_h9948UvDu18Fzn7Q2GgPXbxj5LHJVd_HKj-xbzSb5myPAy7NghHXafKNE9m0Qf54i0C9qi1-Iy-qHkLn-2eJjBNOTQ/s200/DSC00747.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439497235312211490" /><div style="text-align: left;"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And it suddenly dawns on me, I am a lucky girl. This is research in Sudan and I am going to miss it when it's over.</span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-25397025217218759492010-01-29T05:35:00.000-08:002010-02-07T13:57:04.697-08:00It is official. The Sudanese winter is over.<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">How do I know that?<br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Because my shoulders are still pink and pulsing with the memory of the morning shower. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">It's a great pity because I have really been enjoying the mechanical switching on and off of the water heater each morning. First thing out of bed, I rush to the bathroom, flick the pleasant red switch and then stand there, singing to myself: tadaaa, beam of red is iniated. Rockets are ready to launch. Time to proceed to tea, news and email before leaping into the steaming waves of water that shall issue happily from my recently stolen shower head with a great big smile on my face. Ilhamdulilah. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">But this morning was not such a picture of happiness. Instead of turning on the hot tap, I might as well have jumped into a vat of chemical solvent and then stuffed myself with gravy. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Anyone can tell you that laws of thermodynamics that usually pertain to bathrooms do not apply in Sudan. The hot tap produces cool water which has been stored in the mini tank in your bathroom, while the cold tap produces water that could be used in hospitals to singe off unsightly boils and cysts from peoples' necks and bottoms. If you foolishly turn on your heater, you basically heat water that has already been boiled: The kind of hot that even the most resilient Japanese and/or the immortal Ancient Greeks would whine and bitch about. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Yes, it is rather depressing. Winter is over. Heat has returned to reign victorious. Good bye novelty of socks! Goodbye open car windows! Goodbye pleasure of waking up at 5, switching off the ceiling fan and then jumping back into bed to savour the last couple hours beneath the warm and cosy sheet. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Still, I suppose I should dust off my stiff upper lip: the encroaching spring heat will no doubt compare favorably with the Scottish sky: Hey ho, what delights have been brought from the moon by golden storks with tails like peacocks? Oh majesty of white! Clouds, so clean and crisp they could be used as table cloths on the tops of Downing street... but they will soon to turn grey... and then to black... and then produce physical masses of cold that shock on arrival. Sun, bake me while you last... For I shall not complain. </span></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-23389074546512826222010-01-26T04:24:00.000-08:002010-01-26T05:07:49.773-08:00Those that can't...<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Unemployment sucks. It not only deprives you of your financial security, but also your dignity and respect. You have to ask for help, you have to show your shame. In the UK, it's the welfare office but in Sudan, there is another kind of social insurance institution: the family. <br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Sudanese family members help each other out---without question. If you can't find a job, your parents will happily support you until you do. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you need it, someone in your family will look after you. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Older interviewees talk about how this "cushion" makes youngsters too picky or over-ambitious in their job search. Instead of getting a job at the bottom of a company and working their way up, they say that young Sudanese want to start at the top. They are not patient enough for the workforce. They say that in the past, they had to earn their positions through hard work. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Part of the problem is that most jobs today do not involve training and promotion like they did in the past. A company that offers recent graduates training will see it as a favor, not as a necessity. Young graduates simply don't want to get stuck in a job for five, ten years without further training. Their qualifications will become void and they will not be able to improve their position. It may pay to be picky. (and I would add, that it is difficult for young people to get any kind of job at all!) </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">If you can't study, one alternative is to study. If you can't find a job with a bachelor degree, you can do a masters. If you can't find a job with a masters, you can do a PhD. This up-hill educational slide is especially true of women. While a young man must think of saving for his wedding day, young women are less constrained financially and are therefore more able to pursue their professional ambitions. In certain fields, like architecture or bio-chemistry, for instance, I have been told that women dominate because there are so few jobs, men opt out for more profitable but less professionally ambitious careers. Women stick it out. As Sudanese culture places a huge emphasis on education, further education for women is seen as a worthy pursuit. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I recently spoke with Hind Abbas Ibrahim, a communications professor at the University of Khartoum and she commented that this uphill slide was the one positive side of unemployment in Sudan... but I have noticed yet another silver lining. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">If you can't get a job, you can volunteer. So many of my Sudanese friends volunteer and give considerable portions of their free time to social organizations and charities... and especially those without jobs. It is seen as a good way to wait for a job.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Long ago, I was a volunteer research assistant at the Population Council in Cairo. I was helping out on their study of the costs of marriage and Gulf migration. I remember reading an article about how Egyptian unemployed young men were "bare branches" and might pose a security risk. The rise of harassment has also been blamed on this economic state of affairs. While this is possibly true of Egypt, I feel that in some ways, these bare branches might also be positive in other parts of the world. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">You could say: There are a great number of young, educated Sudanese who are extremely frustrated by their economic situation and could pose a security risk to the public. They are dangerous!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">But you could also say: There are a great number of young, educated Sudanese who have plenty of free time which they do not want to waste at home. They are brimming with potential and are ready to volunteer for good!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Just a thought...</p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-54008547725156098802010-01-20T06:37:00.000-08:002010-03-28T03:17:28.107-07:00Looking through a Sudanese telescope: the beauty of complex valuation<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 142px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXKEi5zCDSl_auhWlYcuzlgh9FxCunNjpxlPOkUabU5cxRyfonZIrXXvzJy9QzW67gEgfx59QQneLUUiZ9hKaYD5p_LO0ofqa9tk2N1rm-GPrOnVVRYyNj8REYhBP0ZmWlr8W-Vp5vA/s200/g_telescope%5B1%5D.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428837583270263442" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Arial;"><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=-pONUIuS2okC&printsec=frontcover&dq=escapism+tuan&source=bl&ots=xtLUajmSPM&sig=W6H0nnnp1g9__m8mQQkCii_iYBc&hl=en&ei=WhtXS6aMOtXP4gaAiYnDAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">From my favourite Georgrapher</span></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXKEi5zCDSl_auhWlYcuzlgh9FxCunNjpxlPOkUabU5cxRyfonZIrXXvzJy9QzW67gEgfx59QQneLUUiZ9hKaYD5p_LO0ofqa9tk2N1rm-GPrOnVVRYyNj8REYhBP0ZmWlr8W-Vp5vA/s1600-h/g_telescope%5B1%5D.gif"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">:</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Biological nature that is accessible to the naked eye is actually a tangled mess, and whatever mathematical order there is may be just coincidence. Physical nature- the stars above- is by comparison more orderly, but even there modern scientists tend to discover chaos, historical accident, and violence rather than the simple harmony taken for granted by their predecessors. Still, physicists have not given up. The test of profound truth is still beauty. As the astrophysicist S. Chandrasekhar puts it, 'In my entire scientific life, extending over forty-five years, the most shattering experience has been the realization that an exact solution of Einstein's equations of general relativity... provides the absolutely exact representation of untold numbers of massive black holes that populate the universe. This 'shuddering before the beautiful,' this incredible fact that a discovery motivated by a search after the beautiful in mathematics should find its exact replica in Nature, persuades me to say that beauty is that to which the human mind responds at its deepest and most profound" (</span><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=-pONUIuS2okC&printsec=frontcover&dq=escapism+tuan&source=bl&ots=xtLUajmSPM&sig=W6H0nnnp1g9__m8mQQkCii_iYBc&hl=en&ei=WhtXS6aMOtXP4gaAiYnDAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Tuan, 2000, 157</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">)."</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I have long wondered why, how and when mathematics began its slow and painful encroachment into my world. As a child, I was never particularly pleased to find myself in a Maths classroom with my eyes stuck on a graph or sum. For sure, I had some lovely maths teachers over the years. An amazing East Bergholt-ite who allowed us to spend a week charting a commet across the sky. I remember his revealing that, if the commet had come but six months later, it would have filled the entire sky at night...wow... But when it came time to make important decisions about my preferences in life, I did my very best to avoid any serious mathematical thought. Who needs to know the slope of a line anyways? I live in East Anglia, possibly the flattest part of the UK! My future lay in words, in history, in politics, in anything that did not start a sentence with a "x" and end it with a "y". The mathematical creep had yet to begin its chase.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first instance of creep took place in Econ B at LSE. Full of spirit and enthusiasm, I soon realized that my beloved Economics, rather than involving social-political discussions, instead involved unsavory looking equations whose symbols seemed to taunt- what the hell is that little triangle doing in here?!- I plowed on ahead, reluctantly teaching myself the laws of Calculus and forcing my eyes to confront the endless stream of numbers and symbols that bled down my professors' powerpoint slides. Day in, day out, oh how my eye balls shed tears! By the end of my first year, I no longer winced at the sight of an equation but I had firmly decided that my future lay somewhere else... somewhere a whole lot less mathematical. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was therefore, somewhat of a disappointment to learn in the other half of my undergraduate degree, that nature, yes, nature could be reduced to number: contigent valuation, the assigning of economic value to environmental goods. This little "trick" of environmental economics has managed to persuade the world to factor the environment into its economic and financial calculations... ilhamdulilah- Necessity is the mother of all invention. But can you really assign value to nature? Is the value of a tree or flower reducible to its market price? Is the value of a national park reducible to the travel costs of its visitors? Is the value of an island reducible to the compensation of its inhabitants in the event of a flood?I remember answering an essay question: Is any number better than no number at all? NO, I said, NO it isnt you creeping little mathematical equation, you! It is only because the environment tends to be rather mute, that we happen to think so. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Now, far away from environmental economics, in the safety of sandy Sudan, I have found my passion in something else, in the study of social networks. But here too, mathematics is encroaching. Run away! Run away! Social capital, the assigning of economic value to social relations, has begun to creep this way! </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Don't get me wrong! It would be wonderful to "measure" social relations, to assign value to different sorts of relationships: which are important, which are draining, which relationships will get you a job, which relationships instead ask YOU to get THEM a job.. the cheek!... but wait, there is something wrong with this... </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We assume that all human beings value things in the same way. But many Sudanese interviewees have forced me to confront an important chicken-or-egg lesson: Are relationships the pathway to money, or is money the pathway to relationships? The family firm is a case in point. To what purpose is a business run, to make money or to make a family? Do we live to work or work to live?</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Today I was interviewing a Sudanese businessman-academic- ex-civil servant (the triple threat of Khartoum) about the problems of privatization in the field of agriculture. He had taken part in the privatization of the telecommunications industry in the 1990s and was frustrated that other industries, like agriculture and transportation, were less amenable to his model. He explained that many agriculturalists did not want to sell their land. They valued the land more than the money. Try as the government may, these stubborn farmers/landowners could not be bought. This reminded me of the story of the Darfuri cattle herder, who was very wealthy in terms of of cattle but lived simply and did not spend money lavishly. In the end, this was to prove his undoing. Instead of choosing an expensive bus ticket, he chose the cheapest alternative and died in a terrible bus crash. His cattle herd was not convertible into money. It was the well of his prestige, even in death. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Not everyone sees money as the absolute source of value. For many Sudanese like the Darfuri herder, cattle is the source of their dignity and identity. It is the currency of marriage and the currency of prestige. Social relations ARE the ends, not the means in this particular community. In fact money might not even be A means at all. Incorporating these individuals into the same economy as the rest of Sudan has been a challenge that has faced many governments throughout the country's history. It is a dilemma that needs a more complex solution than simple monetary bargaining. But there is an important lesson here. We should not assume that everything of value can be bought. We cannot assume that everything of value can be measured with the same currency. Instead we should build models that acknowledge different kinds of value in different social settings. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yes, as I said before, necessity is the mother of all invention, including different kinds of capital. We want to be able to incorporate natural and social "goods" in order to avoid taking them for granted. We do not want economic development to destroy the fabric of our social relations and natural environments and we should therefore endeavour to find cunning ways of including them into our decision-making processes... but we should also remember that these capitals (social, natural and even </span><a href="http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=6206909"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ethnic, if you go with the latest Comaroff book</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">) are, by their very nature, convenient inventions of our minds. We have invented these different kinds of capital to serve a need. They are built not on some physical reality "out there", but on our own considerations of value. In this sense, they are extremely contextual: they have been constructed out of particular ways of choosing what is and what is not valuable to society at one point in time and one place in space. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It is a frustrating lesson, because like the mind of the physicist, there is an allure to maths, there is a yearning to find simplicity in the workings of the world, but perhaps there is a deeper source of beauty in this lesson, for we learn that, as human beings, we are far more beautiful than the stars and the moons above, because in contrast to our cosmic companions, we CANNOT be reduced to numbers. Instead of shuddering before the beauty of simplicity, we should shudder before the beautiful complexity of our (human) nature and the myriad ways in which we view the same world. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Isn't that more beautiful than anything you can see through a telescope? For when did a star make value from its mind? Never. Abadan! </span></p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-56324080031728280682010-01-16T23:49:00.001-08:002010-01-17T00:51:41.178-08:00I promise there is a post or two coming, but in the meantime.I have been out of the cyber loop for a while and I promise there are some posts to come, but in the meantime, here is my Christmas movie:<div><br /></div><div>Little Bird Shuffle on the Boardwalk, featuring Fats Waller on vocals... For Loula.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxIXBBNkEk7cpciMHyiQMhRpCttER_Y7T9U1JvKZtYdqUJTJf8sk4-LTFLUoumCW39yR3gDAFv2Rc-FqO4iAA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-55447990077601722492009-12-12T07:15:00.000-08:002009-12-12T08:02:50.131-08:00The Sudan Studies Conference in South Africa: thinking about personalities.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWnZajCZaLnWDQXRU7DpACtXaCgTbrut5glD6OXMRv18FKi-fNdVZrYavsTq58DE5UMFfBPbF8boIlAsbBiZXH4cEmEDgAmZnhJ-6cTTc8gMGtipogutUCZ-TPME9FXB6PomoupcF1Q/s1600-h/DSCF3635.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWnZajCZaLnWDQXRU7DpACtXaCgTbrut5glD6OXMRv18FKi-fNdVZrYavsTq58DE5UMFfBPbF8boIlAsbBiZXH4cEmEDgAmZnhJ-6cTTc8gMGtipogutUCZ-TPME9FXB6PomoupcF1Q/s400/DSCF3635.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414377845891620802" /></a><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The conference was not what I had expected. The format was a bit rushed and some sessions might have been better held as discussions rather than formal papers, but there was also something inspiring about the week... and something very very cool! <br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It was this: the fact that it took place in South Africa, in a country that many observers see as a miracle of social transformation and at UNISA, a university engaged in the training of the Southern Sudanese government. Thabo Mbeki was there and many of the younger South African participants told me that they really believed that Sudan matters to Africa as a whole. They said Sudan is not just about Sudan, but about Africa too. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had never really thought to compare the two countries, despite being in an African studies department dominated by South Africans and those who study the country, but in some ways, the South Africans at UNISA really inspired me and made me wonder about the pan-Africanist project more deeply. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A Sudanese De Klerk?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One presentation in particular got my attention. Gavin Bradshaw gave a paper on Conflict Transformation and the Future of Sudan, comparing the South African experience with the Sudanese situation. He emphasized that South African liberation involved intensive pre-negotiation and that reconciliation was central to the country's transformation. In Sudan's case, the CPA might have been too rushed in comparison and issues of justice were overlooked. In the question session afterwards, Taban Lo Lyong from Juba University made a fascinating point: </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"That year, there was more than one person who won the Nobel Prize. You come from the Mandela University, but there is no De Klerk University. Surely we don't just need a Mandela but a De Klerk as well. Who will be our unexpected saviour?"</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bradshaw welcomed the comment and asked the audience to figure out who in the NCP represented a Sudanese versions of De Klerk? Who will have their "road to Damascus moment"? Who will negotiate? Who will concede power? Who will listen to pressure? Bradshaw spoke of the need to approach and cultivate this person, show him (or her) that there are other sources of support and legitimacy from which to draw power. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have been doing a lot of South African reading since I got back to the Edinburgh library. Primarily I am interested in learning more about Black Economic Empowerment and how successful the government has been in addressing the economic legacies of apartheid, but there is so much more to learn as well. I am currently reading </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Liberation-Thabo-Future-African/dp/0230619991/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260632344&sr=1-2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mark Gevisser's biography of Thabo Mbeki: A Legacy of Liberation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. I whole heartedly recommend it to anyone interested in the South African story. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A Sudanese Mbeki?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A common complaint among Southerners living in Khartoum is that the SPLM does not include them in the re-building of Southern Sudan. They tell stories of how they are labelled "Jelaba" when they try to return "home". They are seen as outsiders or worse, traitors and are informed that they did not earn the spoils of peace because they did not fight in the struggle. I was even told that the Southern government brought in huge numbers of Kenyan and Ugandan teachers, because those in the North are either not competent enough or trusted enough to teach. The language card is often played: Northern educated southern Sudanese grew up in an Arabic speaking educational system; their qualifications are therefore, inappropriate. But one interviewee told me something quite beautiful. He said "What they fail to understand is that we were fighting too. We were fighting to become teachers. We were fighting to become engineers. We were fighting to become doctors. We had our own fight in Khartoum." But it seems as though this side of the struggle remains unacknowledged by the SPLM leadership. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You get the sense that the ANC understood the importance of exile to the struggle. They understood that education was key to liberation. Thabo Mbeki himself was sent away in order to study. Gevisser suggests that even his own father, Govan, who was at the very heart of the movement's armed wing, the MK, saw that his son was not a soldier but an intellectual:</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"I asked Goven Mbeki why he took such a strong line on his son, given that he himself was on MK's high command and an avid adherent of armed struggle. "I didn't approve of him joining MK," he said resolutely, "or of him staying in the country. All the young people were excited about fighting, but we elders knew the other side. We realized not everyone was going to be a soldier." Perhaps, then, Govan Mbeki's hard line with his son masked a deeper perceptiveness. He knew enough about Thabo to understand that his destiny was not as a soldier on the barricades but as an intellectual. There was a different world of engagement in the struggle waiting him abroad, one that would suit him far better and take him much farther". (Gevisser, 2009: 79). </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So we should therefore not just ask who is the Sudanese de Klerk, but who are the Sudanese Mbekis as well. Certainly as the SPLM attempts to transform itself from a rebel military movement into a legitimate political party and government, it needs to make use of these educated "Jelabas" in the North. And as Southern Sudan transforms itself from a battlefield into a functioning country, these teachers, engineers and doctors are needed to get the country going again.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After the conference, Gavin Bradshaw approached me to talk about the Juba version of the Khartoum Student Seminar Series, organized by Lotje de Vries in the South. He said he was involved in training hundreds of young Southerners in order to get them up to the Masters Level. He was dying to find such seminars to stimulate these students outside the classroom. I am glad that the SPLM is now acknowledging the need for education. THIS IS GREAT! But I wonder whether this precludes the inclusion of the educated outsiders who are still waiting for homecoming in Khartoum. Especially if the South becomes independent, what will their futures hold?</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You have to ask: Is their exclusion an issue of trust or power? There is another interesting aspect of the Mbeki story that might offer clues. In autumn 1962, a group of young South Africans travelled out of South Africa (in a roundabout way) to Tanzania to be sent abroad to study. Gevisser writes:</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"The PAC comrades were given the choice of scholarships in the West. With the exception of Mbeki, however, all the ANC comrades were told they would be going to the Soviet Union and other Eastern European bloc countries. Mbeki did not stay long in Dar-es-Salam: He had been expected at Sussex in early October, and he was already several weeks late. Neither knowing that he had a preexisting scholarship nor understanding why he alone was being sent to the West, Mbeki's contemporaries in exile harbored resentment about his early departure to Britain was to fester for years. Vincent Mahali believed that the 'pre-existing scholarship' story was concocted by the ANC to cover the fact that Thabo was being given 'special treatment' because he was Govan's son, that this released him from the 'months and even years of deprivation... that most of us 'commoners' would have to go through." The impression would linger, and cast a long shadow over his ambitions" (Gevisser, 2009: 84). </span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gevisser, Mark (2009) A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream. New York: Palgrave, Macmillan.</span></span></div>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-11029156761600078032009-12-07T07:46:00.000-08:002009-12-12T08:13:12.860-08:00the space of economy.<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I have come back to bonny Edinburgh for a couple weeks to figure out my plan for the year ahead. I only have a few months left in Sudan and I want to make the most of that time by summing up what I have already learnt and looking at what I need to explore in more depth. Today, I am trying to construct a “mindmap” in order to explain all my ideas and models to my supervisor tomorrow afternoon.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sigh.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Rather inefficiently, I have spent the whole morning thinking about space. Perhaps this is due to the view outside my friend Paul’s window: Grey horizons speckled with meandering seagulls and endless roofs.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Space.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">What a word.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In some ways, the word speaks to a certain ambiguity, to a lack of meaning, a lack of identity. To paraphrase <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Yi-Fu%20Tuan">Yi Fu-Tuan,</a> space is undefined place. Or perhaps place is defined space. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">To give a concrete example, when you drive between village A and village B, you pass lots of space. If, however, you have a collision somewhere along the way, part of that space suddenly becomes a place in your mind: you will always think of that bend or that tree as the place where “it” happened. It is imbued with certain memories, emotions and meanings.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">What I find so interesting in economics is this dichotomy between the economy as a "space" and the firm as a “place”. One has experience and relationships within a firm: we have to finish the order before the holiday next week, my colleagues like to hang out in the evenings in the pub but I have a baby to look after so I can’t come, the office is in a nice location but the factory is too far away and so I try not to make too many visits, and, for the life of me, I can’t understand the secretary on the third floor who seems to arrange all the office files in transliterated Farsi. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal">People recognize the social and spatial limitations of their own immediate environment and can see how the iron laws of economics are sometimes constrained by the practicalities and prejudices of everyday life. Even within the discipline of economics, we have a whole branch of organizational theory (which <a href="http://groups.haas.berkeley.edu/bpp/oew/">Oliver Williamson</a> just won the Nobel Prize this year) in which the incentives and motivations of competing interests within the firm are analyzed and addressed. However when it comes to the economy as a whole, it is much more difficult to theorize about such issues because the economy cannot be so firmly rooted in place, in reality; it is everywhere in fact.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Yes, the economy is a space. It is ambiguous. It is arena full of abstractions. How long would it take to ‘map’ all the social connections and spatial peculiarities of an economy? Is that even possible? I sometimes wonder whether it is merely the size of the economy that makes aggregation so convenient or whether there is something deep within our way of thinking that blinds us to consider a more concrete lived experience of the economy.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I have all these ideas about how different social connections within the Sudanese company allow the system to function. How different cogs within the machine allow and restrain other parts to turn, and how these cogs are rooted in quite different ideologies and beliefs about the nature of the country as a whole. There are competing visions of how the economy must be run. I have started to play and experiment with the organizational theory of firms to try and map these connections, but I have yet to find such a theory applied to economies, especially developing economies.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In some ways, a developing economy is seen as an organization in its own right: How do we develop “the economy”? they say over a bowl of fuul in their offices. But in order to speak of the “economy” as a kind of organization, we need to place it somewhere. We need to transform the economy from a space into a place.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">How do we turn the economy into a place? That’s what I want to know.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Now I shall get back to that mindmap...</p> <!--EndFragment-->Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-46327130379384357282009-11-01T01:18:00.000-07:002009-11-01T23:36:34.409-08:00Corruption and Culture: wasta is embedded but not inevitable.<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Last week I read a great paper: <a href="http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3.nsf/(ynDK_contentByKey)/ENTR-7BMBLJ/$FILE/Studies%2030.pdf">The Impact of Favouritism on the Business Climate, A Study on </a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><a href="http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3.nsf/(ynDK_contentByKey)/ENTR-7BMBLJ/$FILE/Studies%2030.pdf">Wasta</a></i><a href="http://www.die-gdi.de/CMS-Homepage/openwebcms3.nsf/(ynDK_contentByKey)/ENTR-7BMBLJ/$FILE/Studies%2030.pdf"> in Jordan</a>. It was based on a research project conducted in 2006 by the German Development Institute. SO much of it is relevant to my project here in Sudan that I spent the whole day scribbling notes and quivering with excitement (and yes, I do recognize that this is probably not the normal emotional response to such an article but PhD students have strange emotional responses to a variety of seemingly benign stimuli).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">First of all, it made me realize how much corruption specialists in Africa and the Arab world need to talk to one another. Take for instance: Jordan. It is a tribal society operating beneath an authoritarian regime that uses patron-client relationships to shore up its support base. It is experiencing a dramatic yet temporary economic boom due to a war in a nearby country, which has brought both large numbers of people and rent flows across the border. In addition to the relocation of military personnel and aid groups from said country, it has also received its own huge influx of aid and yes, it is also experiencing a construction boom in its capital due to returning oil migrants and their remittances. Can anyone see the similarities with Sudan? And say, a whole bunch of other African countries?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">It makes sense to look beyond your region for clues and inspiration. I am lucky to study Sudan in this regard because it straddles both the Arab world and the rest of the African continent so I am exposed to two sets of literature. One thing I have noticed about these two worlds is the way in which corruption is talked about. In the Arab world, corruption is generally seen as upholding stabile (but authoritarian) regimes, while in Africa, corruption is seen as a de-stabilizing force that needs to be stamped out from above. There have been attempts to move away from this approach, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Corruption-State-Citizens-Officials/dp/1842775634">Blundo and Olivier de Sardan's “Everyday Corruption and the State: Citizens and Public Officials in Africa”</a> and John Githongo’s work on Kenya show how it is deeply embedded in society; tackling corruption requires broad-scale social change from the bottom up. Some corrupt practices are upheld by traditional values about respect for family and loyalty to kin and tribal groups and sometimes it is so commonplace that people might not perceive it as out of the ordinary, as something that can even be changed. It is seen as inevitable. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">As I was reading the Jordanian piece, I began to think of my own reaction towards the preferential treatment I receive in Sudan because of my gender. For example, when I go to buy electricity, I am ALWAYS shepherded to the front of the very long queue. The first time it happened, I was reluctant. No! I said to myself, I will not give in to this patriarchal system in which men think I am unable to stand in the heat like everyone else. We should be equal! But then the men really insisted and made me feel quite bad. And of course, it was a bit hot in the office, so I decided- just this one time- to oblige. The next time I went, I was in a special hurry because I had to get to an interview, so I decided- just this second time- and then so on and so on. Now when I go to buy electricity, I don’t need to be obliged. This is what we women do! I know my rights! I have become embedded! I push the front with a certain degree of entitlement and no-one says a word. Because that’s the thing; the men WANT me to cut them. They expect me to cut them. And they might very well tease me if I don't. If I were to resist, I would probably be seen not only as a bit of a weirdo, but also as a bit of a social deviant as well and I am guessing if a Sudanese woman refused this preferential treatment, she would be perceived as rejecting her own culture. She would be mocked by all present. It is very difficult to resist culturally sanctioned forms of privilege… especially when one is late... or particularly hot. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">The Jordanian article does a good job of showing that while <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta</i> is thoroughly integrated within Jordanian society and is often defended as a form of tradition, it is still widely perceived as undesirable and something that people would like to change about their society. I like this approach; understanding that it is embedded in culture and yet not “letting it off the hook” in some bow to cultural relativism.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Last week, I read another article about corruption: John Hooker’s “<a href="http://wpweb2.tepper.cmu.edu/jnh/corruption.pdf">Corruption from a Cross-Cultural Perspective”</a>. Hooker defines corruption as any process that undermines or corrupts a cultural system. He argues that while the West sees relationship-based business practices as inherently corrupt and undesirable, in certain parts of the world, they maintain the trust in the economy:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">“In much of the world, however, cronyism is a foundation for trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A purchasing agent does business with friends because friends can be trusted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He or she may not even ask to see the company financials, since this could insult the other’s honor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It is assumed that cronies will follow through on the deal, not because they fear a lawsuit, but because they do not wish to sacrifice a valuable relationship in an economy where relationships are the key to business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In such a system it is in the company’s interest for the agent to do business with friends, and cronyism may therefore present no conflict of interest. " (Hooker, 2008: 3)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Now I see the benefit of relations in business. IN every part of the world, business is structured around relationships and intimate trust between partners. However, for every relationship, there are others involved; those who do not have such close relations and are therefore excluded from the cronyism. This is the biggest problem with corruption in my eyes; in that it excludes and carves society into those who are ‘in’ and those who are ‘out’. Sometimes this ‘in’ and ‘out’ is based on characteristics such as family, tribe, and gender- things that cannot (easily) be changed or faked- and sometimes this ‘in’ and ‘out’ entails political and civic engagement with the state. Corruption can turn the state into a private club and that just ain’t right anywhere in the world.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Most importantly, by excusing corruption as a manifestation of traditional culture, you preclude the fact that culture can change. Cultures can become more inclusive of outsiders and more amenable to new technologies and ideas. New modern Sudanese businesses are a testament of this fact. They bring in foreign management experts at the beginning to set up systems of employment and management, but then they make these systems their own. They don’t want to hire foreigners forever; they usually have a strategy to ‘Sudanize’ their businesses in the long run. We should not view such systems as inherently Western; they can be moulded to fit different cultural systems and be made part of that culture. Of course, we also have to question how 'accessible' these modern businesses are to ordinary people (but that is another post!).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Which brings me to my last point, relationship-based business practices are not always efficient or sustainable. When it comes to employment, hiring someone solely on the basis of her relationship with you is probably not going to get you the best candidate for the job. It is all very well hiring your cousin to man your sweet shop, but when we start talking about important industries like water, petrol and health, you might want to dip into their qualifications just a bit to see if they have ANY experience with water, petrol or health. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wasta</i> is not just unfair; it is also inefficient and possibly dangerous. Take for instance, the awarding of pharmaceutical contracts by state insurance companies: do we want to approve a drug from a company that has a close relationship with the manager of the insurance agency or do we want one that will provide safe and effective drugs to members of the public? I think the choice is clear. It doesn’t matter what ‘culture’ you subscribe to, for certain things, we should rely on rules, not relationships.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">I suppose what the John Hooker article was trying to argue is that it is necessary to pay attention to cultural beliefs and the way practices are embedded in peoples’ ordinary lives. The GDI article gives four potential reasons why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta </i>persists in Jordanian society:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">“ (i) because many people are not aware of the fact that they can reach many of their goals without <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta</i>, (ii) because there is little incentive to refrain from using it, (iii) because of socio-cultural norms which keep it in existence, and (iv) because of Jordan's political system, which benefits the political elite.” (Loewe et al., 2007: 2)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Some of these reasons must be tackled in a top-down approach that deal with the state, but some are more dispersed. We can start looking at public information, incentive systems and ways to lower the costs of non-corrupt practices. In the GDI article, they talk about how governments can streamline their regulation to make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta</i> redundant: why would anyone bother resorting to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">wasta</i> if they can do things without it? When we talk about hiring, we can lower the information costs for companies by providing a centralized database of candidates. We can make sure qualifications mean something so that strangers are trusted. We can work with businesses and universities to insure that information about graduates is accurate and that they have learnt the right skills while at university. We can employ more equitable training and internship schemes that give everyone the opportunity to acquire experience.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">Yes, corruption is governed by culture… but culture can change!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">One thing that the Hooker article seems to neglect is that contemporary African corruption is partly a result of colonial corruption; Indirect Rule and Native Administration and that “African” (never mind mentioning the individual countries) culture has been changing for centuries and centuries. It is not a romantic constant. He ends his article by saying:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:Times;mso-bidi-mso-ansi-language:EN-USfont-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">"Yet African cultures kept the human species alive for countless millennia, while they were the only cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In an age increasingly concerned with sustainability, we may see a return to some of the communal values of traditional cultures, while practices that are now dominant on the world stage may come to be seen as corrupting because of their unsustainability. " (Hooker, 2008: 17)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">I think the main problem with such articles is that they do not dig deep enough. They try to survey the whole world in twenty pages and then ask us to be culturally sensitive. It seems highly irresponsible to defend corrupt practices as culture without understanding the cultures in question in the first place. If you want to be culturally sensitive then you have to listen to what people from that culture are saying. In the Jordanian article, the reader gets a very clear impression that people do not want <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta</i> to carry on as usual. It may be sustainable in the sense that it is deeply embedded in society and difficult to change, but it is not particularly sustainable if we think about the frustration and marginalization of sub-groups. In Sudan, I have the same impression. Most people want to talk to me about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta</i> because they are not happy about it. Some hate it because they are excluded. Others hate it because they see that it is unfair to their friends and colleagues and others yet, because it is in inefficient and unsustainable for business. Of course everyone tries to resort to it because sometimes there is no other way… but that does not mean it is inescapable. We can be creative in our policies and we must listen to ordinary people: why do they engage in it and what might encourage managers and business owners to adopt alternative practices?</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">I sometimes like to compare corruption with environmental costs. There is a cost to society that is not being addressed by conventional cost-benefit analysis- I think there are some interesting parallels to make. I remember when we studied environmental management systems at LSE. We learnt that while most big businesses eventually adopt environmental management systems either because they are cost efficient or because they have come under lobbying pressure, small businesses are less willing to do so. They see themselves as too small to care. And yet such small businesses account for over 50% of the UK business carbon emissions. They also hire over 50% of employees. If we can find ways of bringing these companies together and lowering the costs of environmental measures for them as a group, then we can get at a huge chunk of carbon emissions in the UK.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">In a similar vein, in Sudan we might be able to encourage big businesses to adopt equal opportunity hiring practices because it makes economic sense for them to do so- they want the best candidates for the job and they can invest time and money into finding them- but for small businesses, this is simply not possible. This is why it is so important to find ways to lower the costs of information about candidates and make qualifications really mean something to employers. We have to find creative ways of changing the incentives of business to make them forsake <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta </i>on their own.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Times;font-size:12.0pt;">It is reassuring to read papers like the Jordanian piece because we can learn lessons from other countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I really liked hearing about how their project had created a public discussion about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta </i>in Jordan. Their report was seen as proof that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">wasta</i> was hurting the economy. I also appreciated that the team talked about corruption in a way that people could relate to. By labeling something as “CORRUPTION” you immediately make people feel like they are under attack. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Wasta</i>, on the other hand, is something that people want to talk about. In my own research, I see this every day. I am not so sure I would have the same success talking to people about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fasad</i> (corruption). These little things matter. This is why we must be culturally sensitive, because we need people to talk about it openly and frankly. But we shouldn't give in to cultural relativism and forget that it can be unfair and exclusive.. nor should we ever view it as something inevitable. Culture can change. </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-24443845535425976562009-10-26T01:55:00.000-07:002009-10-26T06:30:35.049-07:00Harassment in Egypt: An Economic Model minimizing negative externalities<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Last weekend I came across another “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8314091.stm">Egypt wins the Noble prize for works in the field of Harassment</a>” article on the bbc website. This particular article was about men harassing women on their mobile phones, sometimes in quite aggressive and unpleasant ways. After spending two years in the epicentre of harassment (a.k.a. Cairo), such stories do not surprise me at all… the only surprise is how quickly women get used to such verbal pollution. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Yes, even shy young 21 year old Laura learnt how to walk down the street completely oblivious to men and boys yelling at her at all hours of day and night. She was once followed home by half a dozen policemen and then chased by a man in a trench coat on a deserted beach at night. She won't mention the taxi driver incident because that was really quite unscrupulous (and arguably the worst commute in the history of commutes). Recently, a friend told me she got harassed eight times while crossing a street (the Egyptians really want to keep that noble prize). </p><p class="MsoNormal">In the end, you build up this toughness inside of you that allows you to get through the day. You are an island of Zen in a sea full of sleaze and you imprint a stiff upper lip upon your mouth that cannot be shaken by catcalls.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">*It must also be said that Cairo is a beautiful, interesting, exciting city and I wouldn’t have lived there if I did not enjoy the place and the people and learn so SO much* </p> <p class="MsoNormal">But when I go back to Cairo on holiday that I realize how much tougher I was back then. Sudan has weakened my defences and has made me forget how to be mean. But there is one trick I still remember and I want to share it with any girls who might still have to put up with this ****.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is called applying economic principles to men… specifically sleazy men.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lesson One: The internalization of externalities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We might like to think of the harassment as a form of pollution. It has a social cost that is not born by the emitter (the boy in the tight t-shirt on the corner giving you the eye, is a kind of factory, a factory of sleaze, if you may). </p><p class="MsoNormal">Please refer to the graph below, on which we have the X axis with the quantity of harassment and the Y axis with the price or cost of harassment.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgNDtLHyNigI22f8R_KYO4kOsJ3qmDGvMvTZlZ564Fs6URmI84G4Nbox0Fn2zZ65FhAjeJ6DpLJrPJ6IANLxf34CwjneZXxi0dFl16FbO1VKeviz_ISMMlMakWnm6zxJuilHGMAhd1GQ/s6400-h/harassment+internalization.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgNDtLHyNigI22f8R_KYO4kOsJ3qmDGvMvTZlZ564Fs6URmI84G4Nbox0Fn2zZ65FhAjeJ6DpLJrPJ6IANLxf34CwjneZXxi0dFl16FbO1VKeviz_ISMMlMakWnm6zxJuilHGMAhd1GQ/s1600/harassment+internalization.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396831502736395346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px; " /></a></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">We also have a demand curve. Although it is actually a little more complicated than that because we are dealing with a delusional demand curve- i.e., the harasser thinks that the service he is providing is desirable to consumers or “ladyfoxes” but he is in fact delusional and therefore produces a very rare form of demand curve that is usually found in only extremely command controlled economies in which the planner has no grasp on reality at all. This is why we can never eliminate harassment completely because it is based on non-rational human behaviour. We must abide by an equilibrium of sorts. If these men were utility maximizing individuals (with more profitable ways of spending their time) they would pursue other ventures. But given the state of Egypt’s economic, political and legal policies (which are conveniently out of the confines of this model), we must move on to the two supply curves…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Like a factory producing a toxic gas, there is both a private and public price/cost of harassment. The private cost, or price reflects the harasser’s own costs: his need to preen himself in the morning, watch American movies with pen poised in hand, perhaps spend hours in front of the mirror perfecting his delusional behavior and then finally the effort it takes him to leave his house, acquire ladies' phone numbers and loiter on the street aimlessly. If we consider his opportunity costs, this private price of harassment might be extremely high (especially if he has enough wasta to get a job). These private costs produce the supply curve on the right and we find the equilibrium level of harassment at Qp and Pp.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">However, this is not where the story ends… for there is also a public cost, the shared frustration of Cairene womankind: their reluctance to leave their houses when grumpy, the added noise and environmental costs of travelling on public transportation, the costs of occasional humiliation and perpetual aggravation, the costs of having their supposed FRIENDS hit on them unexpectedly and unscrupulously, using lines from Saved by the Bell and Top Gun… I don’t need to carry on here, right, ladies? So there is this whole other set of costs that the delusional emitter is not considering. He is operating at a level of harassment way above equilibrium! Bad harasser; one must abide by the iron rules of economics!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is why we must internalize his externality…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">There are many ways of internalizing pubic costs to the polluter. In environmental economics you can do this with pigovian taxes, credit schemes, industry agreements/bench-marking standards and finally civil tort law when it gets really bad. But in this case, we need to introduce the principal that the polluter pays… because, let's face it, he is the delusional one. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">So how do we do this with annoying men calling you at all hours of the day?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is very simple. You make him pay for the call.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">When an annoying boy calls you, you answer the phone and put it down on the table in front of you. He can listen to whatever ambient noise is in the vicinity of your phone. He can listen to your flatmates discussing who was the last person to take out the rubbish. He can listen to your cat hunting flies. He can listen to people on the bus silently filling out questionnaires. He can listen to the judges on ‘So you think you can dance’ give their verdicts. He can even listen to Arabic classes if he likes… But he will pay for the call and he won’t get to talk to you.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The polluter PAYS!</p><p class="MsoNormal">Importantly, there should be no verbal exchange. Answer, place phone on table, ignore. Eventually he will internalize this public cost as his credit slowly trickles away and he will lose interest in the failing enterprise. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is a great way of internalizing the cost of harassment and it works extremely well. It might even help to diminish the original delusional demand curve slightly, which is something the model cannot quite explain (I really wonder if there is a researcher working on the economics of harassment. I’d like to see his models). </p><p class="MsoNormal">And boy do I wish there was a way to internalize those street costs. Any ideas people?</p> <!--EndFragment-->Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-87440836851629411402009-10-17T05:51:00.000-07:002009-10-17T06:34:35.971-07:00The Implementation of Paranoia: the UK government's Prevent programme<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziDASacFAEWASim_nOIqg1gkbHvJV5Cs8c9rNBxfFcAa7yH_H_On8mzlLYBbKe7LcRVyRlkD8FnwCpAgggUwy5ga8XLmQS1vNr-lpfn1GjJhPpIiC3XyD09_xqfEjMgyHf_HWsVBURQ/s1600-h/big_brother_is_watching_you_red.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 156px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgziDASacFAEWASim_nOIqg1gkbHvJV5Cs8c9rNBxfFcAa7yH_H_On8mzlLYBbKe7LcRVyRlkD8FnwCpAgggUwy5ga8XLmQS1vNr-lpfn1GjJhPpIiC3XyD09_xqfEjMgyHf_HWsVBURQ/s200/big_brother_is_watching_you_red.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5393557457425417410" /></a><p class="MsoNormal">I have occasionally been made to feel very paranoid while doing research in Sudan. You hear stories about informants watching researchers and passing on information about the lives of foreigners living in Sudan. My own topic isn’t so sensitive but even I have the odd bout of hysteria from time to time. When a new acquaintance seems very eager to spend time with me or seems to know things about me that I don’t think I have told him, I feel disarmed and paranoid… I question his motives. But this makes me feel terrible, because at the end of the day, people here are so kind and sweet that it is entirely normal for someone to aggressively befriend you in an unexpected manner. For instance, last week I met this extremely sweet lady at a party, who two days later, rang me up to tell me ‘she loved me’. I smiled. This is Sudan. I suppose in the UK, this would seem strange but here, you go from stranger-hood to intimacy in about an hour. Really. No need to exchange life stories. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I really really hate being made to feel paranoid about such kind souls.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But that is what this kind of information gathering does to you; it makes you feel paranoid and mistrustful, always guessing the motivations of new friends and colleagues even when you have absolutely nothing to hide (because I don't). I have heard of such feelings within foreign NGOs and companies in Sudan too, especially in sensitive areas. Covert information gathering damages intimate bonds between INNOCENT people and to me, this is the absolute worst kind of repression: damaging relationships. If I was Braveheart (which thankfully, I'm not), I think I would modify his battle cry somewhat: yes, you can take my freedom (well, a bit), but you can never take the innocence with which I approach new friendships!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So… I was so very shocked and outraged when I read about the UK government’s “Prevent” programme. Here is an article about the programme and a video describing both sides of the argument:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/16/anti-terrorism-strategy-spies-innocents">http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/16/anti-terrorism-strategy-spies-innocents</a></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Now putting aside the humorous image of suicide bombers dancing to “mood music” (I wonder what kind of music they prefer- probably Celine Dion), doesn’t this make every other Briton completely shocked and liable to pick up a flaming plank of wood and swing it wildly in the direction of Westminster? What the hell does the government think they are doing? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Really, really you think it is ok to collect information in schools and mental health projects?!!! Mental health projects?! Mental bloody health projects? I mean, really!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">My whole research project is about social capital and trust, about how we might be able to design policies that move the Sudanese labour market away from internal-group trust towards more inclusive social-wide patterns of training, recruitment and promotion… social wide trust!</p><p class="MsoNormal">But back in the UK, my government is trying to do the exact opposite. I do not want my government to alienate huge numbers of my fellow citizens in this way. That is precisely the way you create frustration and extremism in minority groups, by pushing people out of the community of trust and depriving them of their human dignity. We can beat extremism by offering British Muslims exactly what we offer each other; the right to live a private happy life. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I think we need some outrage right about now! Who is with me?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">P.S. I promise to return to more “Sudanese happenings” next time. I still have a whole bunch of historical tipping points to write about. What treats for you! ;)</p>Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-46136118117930865192009-10-10T05:36:00.000-07:002009-10-10T13:19:55.417-07:00The 1964 Tipping Point(s): Collins and Gladwell (and a bit of Father Jon)<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I finally (after much procrastination) finished the late Robert Collin’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/History-Modern-Sudan-Robert-Collins/dp/0521674956">A History of Modern Sudan</a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx4aC37MGgelIi0TLq9QcjSnJSJCOpBFVy_i5YrQQfl8W7RdWv6QFsV39Zrx-Hvb0MzA7RE-z4pxPJfBYo5g_WYJmIDsKIh2JX5hIzCc42UNcjKY-Xe2HWZXh1C-lcQ-VmtTY0plHUpQ/s320/collins.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390953499627868018" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first few chapters were tough going. I sincerely believe that Sudanese leaders throughout history have conspired to share similar names so as to confuse future generations of historians. I also believe that someone needs to workshop Sudanese liberation movements on the use of more varied acronyms. At least Anya-nya had some panache. The others: SLA, SPAF, SPAFF, SSDF, SPDF, SALF, SSIM, SSLM, SSUM and of course the splinter SPLMs (Nassir, United, etc.) need to let some new letters in on the action otherwise they will be forgotten for all eternity.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A couple weeks ago I took a break from “strictly necessary reading” to read “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255178919&sr=1-1">The Tipping Point</a>” by Malcolm Gladwell. This book is currently making its merry way round Khartoum (my friend Melissa, the librarian, says someone should do a PhD about what kind of books make their merry way round Khartoum and I agree). I wonder if the Tipping Point will tip Khartoum.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 129px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBf0w5uNrHhAVU0vKfozIy5foufOFik-6N6N8IgCoKTNdSNJP_XZ3IPkYegQZUsc8lcAtayarc4OuQTRkNhRuTXkQBS23xvHqGqiAYqcqdPitsX4y1-FoE397IX__4LZwENBttwTkLQ/s200/the-tipping-point-740155.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390953744520302050" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Tipping Point is all about how the velocity of social change should be compared with the velocity of epidemics to show how small but important individuals and groups can “tip” wider society into profound change. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It demonstrates how often seemingly extraneous pressures can have profound unforeseen impacts on society; a slight change in the social temperature might cause the virus of an idea to spread. The ‘tipping point' is that crucial moment when ideas or trends cross a critical threshold and bring along the whole of society in their wake.</span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sudan is a good case study to look at “tipping points”; there have been so many attempts at democracy: elections that have produced indecisive governments, which in the context of underlying tensions have led to social discontentment, uprisings, and finally, military coups. It seems crazy when you consider how many different “types” of government have held the reigns of Sudanese politics; the government swings from left to right, barely ever stopping in the middle to assess the past. In some ways this is both disheartening and comforting. It suggests that there are many different groups silently present within Sudanese society that rise and fall with time, depending on context and public opinion. Who knows how the future might tip…</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first tipping point I want to write about is 1964. The year that Sudan had its beautiful “October Revolution” but also the year that the Southern conflict truly burst from its womb.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Robert Collins writes,</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“In 1959 the Southern Problem as it came to be known, did not exist. To be sure, all the elements were in place- the northern Sudanization of southern administrative positions, the mutiny and subsequent disturbances, the broken promises of federalism for Sudan, and the deep-rooted ethnic, cultural, and religious differences that found their expression in the disdain for, disenchantment with, and discrimination against southern Sudanese by northerners. The harsh repression of the “Southern Sudan Disturbances” after the 1955 mutiny had stunned the southerners into momentary passivity, a brooding bitter silence awaiting a spark to ignite the conflagration known as the Southern Problem” (Collins, 2008: 77-78).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To Robert Collins, this spark came in the form of educational policies in Southern Sudan. “Papa” Abbud, the new “prime minister” who had taken power in the coup of 1958 carried on the former government’s policy of Arabization and Islamization of southern Sudanese education. Six Islamic schools were opened in the South, along with mosques and the changing of the day of rest from Sunday to Friday. These changes were not accompanied by increases in economic funding and some projects actually had their funding re-directed to projects in the North! The government also targeted missions in the South, forbidding missionaries from opening new schools and from practicing Christianity outside of their churches. Finally in 1964, missionaries were completely expelled from Southern Sudan. Many Southern Sudanese Christians fled to Uganda during this time, where, under the leadership of Joseph Oduho Aworu, a Latuka school teacher and Father Saturnino, a Latuka Catholic priest, they founded the Sudan African Closed Districts National Union (SACDNU) which was later changed into the Sudan African National Union (SANU) in 1963. Within Khartoum, there was also the “Southern Front” and the formation of small armed guerrilla movements within Southern Sudan. With the support of Joseph Oduho and Father Saturnino, these guerrillas formed into the “Anya-Nya” movement in 1963.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In 1964, the Anya-Nya had its first significant success in an attack against the Bahr al Ghazal capital, Wau. This was met with harsh reprisals by the Sudanese army and from this point on, the army started to enforce its rule more harshly throughout the South.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I recently met Father Jon, an Italian priest at <a href="http://www.combonikhartoum.com/combonicollege.html">Comboni school</a> in downtown Khartoum. He had been in Khartoum during this time and remembers the year well. He confirmed Robert Collin’s reading of the period, that it was the attack on the missionaries and changes in education that really sparked the conflict (of course, he would say this as a missionary!). Father Jon also remembers other smaller changes in the atmosphere of Khartoum that Collins does not mention. He says that in the 1960’s the composition of Christians in Sudan and Khartoum in particular, had begun to change. In the late 50’s/early 60’s, the Christians of Khartoum were mostly foreigners but there were also significant numbers of Hindus in the capital. When pressure against Christians and foreigners in general began to rise, many fled to South Africa and Comboni became increasingly Sudanized. It had always been a place of “encounter” (as Father Jon likes to describe it), a place where Christians and Muslims could meet and mix, but in the early 1960’s, Christians in Khartoum had begun to leave in drones. He also said that the government attempted to shepherd foreign businessmen in the South into the three main towns: Wau, Juba and Malakal. He explained that the army did not want them to see what was happening in rural areas. Many left Sudan, going to Uganda and Kenya to settle permanently.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Robert Collins gives the impression that Northerners knew what was happening in Southern Sudan during this time and that is why the students at the University of Khartoum had their famous meeting. The priest remembers it differently. He told me that the students (like many in the North) did not really understand what was happening in the South and that they wanted more information from the government. Whichever source you believe, on the 22</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">nd</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> of October 1964, students from the University of Khartoum violated a government ban against their meeting and publically challenged the police. Many were injured during the clash and one student, Ahmad Qurashi died in hospital following the incident. This prompted huge demonstrations in the capital against the regime. There had been growing discontentment before this time. There had been rebellions within the army, opposition from Nubian groups (which were joined by the Sudanese communists) against the building of the dam and the flooding of their lands, and of course, the growth of the Muslim Brothers in Sudan. But these isolated opposition needed some general feeling among the population in order to tip them into mass action. The Southern Problem and the visible repression of the student demonstration in the form of the death of Ahmad Qurashi pushed these feelings into a wider arena and precipitated the end of the Abbud regime:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“On Saturday 25 October 1964 the High Court, using its supreme authority, issued a permit for a large demonstration led by a spontaneously organized group of teachers, engineers, lawyers and even doctors calling themselves the National Front of Professional, who were soon joined by trade unionists and radical members from the Gezira Tenants’ Association” (Collins, 2009: 81).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Papa” Abbud apparently watched from the balcony of his palace as the whole city drew into the streets. On the 26</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> of October, he dissolved the Supreme Council. Father Jon remembers this day, for it saw mass celebrations in the capital. He said there were so many people in the street, you could only see heads, no bodies, no feet. From Collins:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“the usually reserved Sudanese poured into the streets, men dancing and women ululating to gather in huge crowds charged with delirious joy. An enormous celebratory wave swept through the capital, and the legend of a bloodless revolution soon became deeply embedded in Sudanese folklore. “Remember the October Revolution” became the rallying cry during the bloodless fall of Numayri’s military regime in 1985 and has remained so in Sudanese anti-government demonstrations ever since” (Collins, 2009: 81).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I ABSOLUTELY love this line of the book:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“President ‘Abbud quietly departed on 14 November 1964; the day after leaving the Palace he was cheered by shoppers in the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">suq</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> while purchasing oranges” (Collins, 2009: 81).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Sudanese population had successfully brought down a military regime through peaceful demonstrations in the capital. It was the combination of underlying resentment within specific communities: the Nubians, the communists and trade unionists, the military officers, the Islamists and finally, the Southern Sudanese and the students/professionals who joined in to push the regime over the edge. It became mainsteam.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">However the problems did not end with the dissolution of the Supreme Council. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1964 should not just be remembered as the year of the October revolution but also as the year that the North-South conflict first manifested itself within the capital. Father Jon said that in December 1964, a group of Southern Sudanese residents went to the airport to welcome the Minister of the Interior, Clement Mboro to the capital. He was the first Southern Sudanese minister in the government and was therefore a “big deal”. When his plane was delayed, the group got rowdy and marched downtown towards the palace. Collins describes it quite violently, saying the Southern Sudanese marched, “assaulting every and any </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">mudukuru</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (those who rise early in the morning before the dew dries to seize slaves)- a nineteenth century Bari term widely popularized among the Southerners after independence as a derisive epithet for any northern Sudanese Arab- in what became a ‘race riot’ that left nearly a hundred dead” (Collins, 2009: 82). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Father Jon remembers it quite differently. He says that the march started peacefully and that it was only when rumours began to circulate around the city that there was a Southern mob causing trouble, Northerners in a near-by stadium came to confront them. They met in the centre of the town, very close to Comboni school. Father Jon remembers that the school was attacked, windows shattered and that Muslim students in the dorm-rooms had raced out to placate the angry mob. In those days Comboni school educated mostly Muslim students (and the priest believes this is why the school was able to remain open throughout its troubled history, because senior civil servants had themselves been students of Comboni). But in the midst of the 1964 mob, Muslim boarders came out of their beds and rushed to the gates of the church to protect their school from being destroyed. Without them, the priests and their school might not have survived the night. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">December 6</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is known, as “Black Sunday” in Sudan, for it was the first time that the capital had seen a glimmer of the Southern conflict with their own eyes. In the wake of such public violence, attitudes towards Southerners began to shift and Northerners grew increasingly suspicious and antagonistic towards their Southern brothers and sisters.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It seems insane to me that a couple months after the October revolution there could be such a reversal in public opinion. The October revolution was such a beautiful moment in Sudanese history, a moment in which Northerners stood in solidarity with their fellow citizens in the South, demanding information about what their government was doing and standing in direct opposition to the government even when faced with the threat of violence and repression. But then, just two months later, an angry mob was able to tear down this solidarity in one bloody night.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Demonstrations and mobs can sweep people away. They can sweep away governments but they can also sweep away public opinion. In some ways, they are a manifestation of Gladwell’s “Power of the Few”.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If they are able to create a “sticky image”, like the death of Ahmad Qurashi or the visible image of Southerners killing Northerners and this image fit this into a context of underlying tension, a few angry individuals can swing public opinion in their favour.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Tipping Point is a powerful metaphor because it speaks of the fragility and susceptibility of social structure.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Things do not necessarily tip in the “right” way, but in a powerful sweeping way that can have profound and permanent change. And importantly, you cannot always tip back to where you once were.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In 1964, the impression of Southerners in the Northern imagination was still fresh. There were very few Southerners in the capital and they had little experience with the conflict itself. By 1968, this had changed.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Father Jon remembers Christmas day in 1968. On previous occasions, the church had not been full. Foreign Christians had long packed their bags and very few Southern Sudanese were present in the capital. On most days, Christians were not able to gather in huge numbers so it was difficult to assess their numbers. But on Christmas day in 1968, Father Jon said that the church was suddenly packed. It was impossible to get to the front. Southern Sudan had rather dramatically come to the North. Father Jon described this movement as an “invasion”: “Southern Sudan had invaded Khartoum, without firing a shot” He says. Unfortunately, this invasion came without power and without significant integration. The Southerners were kept apart, exiled to the outer reaches of the city. Some were able to penetrate the urban economy and the social body of the city but these were few and far between. In addition, the war had raged in the South and the impression of Southerners in the Northern imagination had hardened into more permanent feelings of strangeness and detachment. And here lies, the danger of Tipping Points.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Small things can make big differences but cannot as easily change back. 1964 was a real Tipping Point for Sudan. A Pandora's box of possibility that tipped out of hand. In this way, Malcolm Gladwell’s tagline: “How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” does not necessarily have to be positive. It can also be quite negative.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We should learn from these instances in history. We should learn how important mobs can be, how they can quickly damage public opinion in profound ways that do not match perfectly with reality on the ground. Symbolic events like demonstrations and riots can have deep and lasting effects on public opinion and policy. While it is easy to bring together discordant groups with a common enemy, it is much harder to reconcile deep-seated hatred and suspicion between groups who do not necessarily share common ground. The tipping point metaphor is useful in some instances but far less useful in explaining long-term processes like conflict resolution and peace building. At the end of the Tipping Point, Gladwell talks about the search for the “unsticky cigarette”; how you can make something so pervasive an seemingly indispensable unstick itself from social acceptance. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">His argument is all about threshold of nicotine and addiction among teenagers, but surely there are some problems, like social suspicion, distrust and deep-seated discrimination, that are not so easily measured and administered.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There are many fascinating projects and ideas about conflict resolution bustling in this city at the moment and I applaud all those people working on such a hard issue. I have heard that UNICEF is going to try to make it a key issue in the future and I am so happy about this. Because it is a hard slog uphill. I would love it if Malcolm Gladwell or others could try to apply the Tipping Point theory to conflict resolution. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It might not be as sexy as a fashion trend or even a popular revolution, but in some ways, it is much much more important. Revolutions can sweep away governments but it is not always as easy to sweep away prejudice. Please Malcolm Gladwell, take your theory into the darker corners of social change! You have so far shone in the light! </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2372931622336699440.post-62747650387417848482009-09-29T03:08:00.000-07:002009-10-11T03:13:33.549-07:00What to do....<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">So it has finally happened… A whole bus of people gave me the “You’re insane look” yesterday afternoon as I tried to explain that I didn’t actually care where the bus was going; I just wanted to go somewhere! Anywhere! With lots of people on it!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Blank stares. Lots of blank stares. “This girl clearly doesn’t know where she is going in life.” I think that’s what their stares meant.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am doing bus questionnaires at the moment and it is a 1) funny, 2) frightening, 3) interesting and 4) maddening experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have learnt that the Sudanese public transportation system is populated by a combination of extremely kind, obedient, friendly folk who want to fill out my questionnaire, young men who try to use my questionnaire as a way of subtlety giving me their phone numbers while failing to answer any of my questions and then lastly and most regretfully, completely crazy people who make me want to jump out of the window as we hurtle over the Nile river.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The good thing about Sudan is that for every mean bus traveller there are about ninety nine lovely bus travellers who give me sweets, bananas and teach me Chinese. I have noticed that when someone gives me a hard time (i.e. calls over a policeman to question me, asks me why I don’t go back to my own country or demands money for filling out my questionnaire), I get really shaken for about five minutes and then someone else comes along and makes me happy again. You can’t stay angry for more than five minutes on a Sudanese bus.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I had originally decided to do bus questionnaires because Ramadan was making it difficult to set up interviews with HR managers and I wanted to get a general picture of how other parts of the economy (outside my categories) recruited their staff. I am also trying to move away from the more official side of things and I want set up more interviews with individuals who have both succeeded and failed to climb up the social mobility ladder. Bus journeys provide opportunities to meet these people but they are also very very difficult.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">First of all, people on the bus are generally not the wealthier members of society. A great number of the people are either unemployed or illiterate. They often don’t volunteer this information and after I sit patiently for thirty minutes, they return my questionnaires blank but slightly crumpled. I don’t say anything because I don’t what to embarrass them. It makes me feel guilt that I have put them in this uncomfortable situation but I don’t know what else to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">I guess this brings me to the point of this post. It is sooo difficult to design a common research strategy for the whole population.</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before I started with my questionnaires, I went through this whole battle between using standard Arabic vs. colloquial Arabic. In the end I went with the advice of a Sudanese linguist who told me that if I wanted to make my questionnaire accessible as possible, then I had better use the simplest language possible. He also thought that it would encourage more reflection on the part of respondents. If someone is not used to reading colloquial Arabic, she might step back a moment and think about the questions in a deeper way before she responds. Some of the professors in my department at the University of Khartoum thought that I should use standard Arabic, saying that they always use standard Arabic for these things. One of them helpfully went through and corrected all the questions for me. I said thank you but then went with colloquial. I know that this was controversial and I often get funny responses. In big modern companies, I have had people laugh and smile when they read my questionnaires. Sometimes people try to correct them, telling me ‘this is not standard Arabic’. I know, I know, I know! I want to say. Others like the colloquial Arabic and tell me they think “it is sweet” that a khawaga is writing in this way. I don’t mind being teased if it means that more people can answer my questions but even with simple language, I cannot reach everyone. I am now working on an English version because I have had Southern Sudanese respondents tell me that they do not read and write Arabic despite speaking it fluently. This is true of even quite young Southern Sudanese. Very interesting! In some ways this mimics what I have found in a lot of work places: English as a written language, Arabic as a verbal language. Of course this depends on the work place and I wonder how much access Southern Sudanese have to these working places. I just find it so fascinating how this city is divided so much by language! Maybe that should be my PhD topic!</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Privacy and Literacy</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Buses are a great place to do questionnaires because they give you access to a diverse group of people outside of their offices. People seem to feel a lot more comfortable talking about their company when they’re not physically there. I am sure this affects how people answer my questions. Up until now, I have been handing out my questionnaires within companies with the official permission of their bosses. While I always try to stress that their responses are anonymous, I wonder whether the work place still inhibits them. Buses, in contrast, are strangely private places despite their congested nature. Whenever I have tried to hand out my questionnaires in public places, people always crowd around and the police turn up and harass me. I have my university letter and ID, so it doesn’t go any further, but it spooks me a little and I don’t enjoy the hassle. Buses let people sit quietly and take their time. Even the policemen I meet on the bus treat me differently. Instead of asking for my ID, they ask if they can fill one out! I have a natural distrust of law enforcers but they can be very nice when they are on their way home…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The two main problems with buses are:</p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"></p><ul><li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;mso-bidi-font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>figuring out how to include the Arabic-illiterate employed folk</li><li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;mso-bidi-font-family:Cambria;"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">-<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span>finding a way to make my sample representative, when I have limited information about what the general population looks like.</li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Buses are private literate places. As soon as you start speaking out loud, privacy dissipates. I know that if I really wanted to get information from the illiterate members of the population I would have to do it verbally, which is impossible in the close quarters of a bus. So it is difficult to include them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The second problems relates to sampling. Mack, my *<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">favourite</b>* neo-classical economist keeps freaking me out about how I need to make my questionnaires representative of the whole population (despite the fact that last year’s population census is controversial and we don’t even know what the population looks like statistically!!). How am I going to deal with all my responses once I have finished? Tell me Mack, tell me Oracle!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The other night I was having a discussion with Mack and Manuel, my current “research buddies”. We were discussing the benefits and limitations of quantitative vs. qualitative research. I was trying to argue that some topics are practically impossible to approach in a quantitative way. I used the example of my topic: social capital. A huge aspect of my project concerns discrimination, which is an extremely sensitive topic in Sudan. It is not something the government necessarily wants people to look into. This is why buses are a good place to reach out to people, but it is hard to do it in any kind of systematic way. It is easier to go through companies, but then again we have this difference between the official and unofficial response. And on buses, we have this problem of literate/verbal communication and privacy and then coming up with a way of making my sample representative. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I am trying my hardest to combine a little bit of the official and unofficial, quantitative and qualitative but I am getting frustrated by the quantitative side of things. I have started to see buses as a way of setting up interviews- using the questionnaires as communication tools. Of course, I shall look at what kind of data I get, but I am slowly being convinced that the quantitative aspects of my project are extremely tricky!!! If anyone has any advice, it would be much appreciated! I have open ears and eyes right now. You hear that, economists and statisticians out there, open ears and eyes- help me! Otherwise you will lose me to the “soft scientists” forever!<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03910866468847559392noreply@blogger.com4