A report on the racial and cultural conflict in Mauritania. The author argues that the black population is being discriminated by the ruling Arab population.

The current situation in Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF government shows increasing signs of abuse of power by those in political control. They also direct their desire to suppress criticism towards the media. Press organs in private ownership have been closed down and journalists have been physically harassed, arrested and expelled. Laws are abused to regulate and man...

Migrant remittances – money and gifts sent to relatives back home – have attracted increasing international attention. The flow of remittances has become a major source of revenue for developing countries, exceeding the volume of aid. Three recent studies at Uppsala University bring this issue to light in the context of Sweden’s Policy for Global Development. Very ...

The case of Cape Verde shows that the relationship between remittances and inequality in migrant-sending countries depends on a number of factors. The situation is thus more complicatedthan the dominant pessimistic view of the 1970s and 1980s or today’s “development optimism” discourse. Among the factors are changes over time in the selectivity of migrants, variati...

Africans arriving by rickety fishing boats to the Canary Islands, risking the passage across the Straits of Gibraltar or washed upon the Italian island of Lampedusa are familiar examples of therecent growth in migration from Africa to Europe. There is a darkside of migration in human trafficking, but the picture of a continenton the move also includes highly skille...

Models for Life: Advancing antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa is based on two conferences that were held in Copenhagen and Uppsala, in September 2004. The events brought together more than 70 key actors from Denmark, Sweden and Uganda in the field of HIV/AIDS and its treatment: antiretroviral therapy. The conferences were unique in that each panel and the...

It has been argued that aid donors should focus more on supporting low-income countries to broaden their tax base and raise overall taxation. Besides increasing revenue, this has also a political objective. When citizens are taxed without excessive coercion, taxation can contribute considerably to improved governance and accountability, and to state building. Due t...

Hip Hop has become a global force in recent years. However, when taken up by youth outside its American birthplace, it is often dismissed as a shallow adaptation or imitation of American popular culture. However, its global popularity cannot be questioned, and its proliferation is aided by its adaptability to local contexts. It has become associated with an emergen...

"This is not a contribution to nation-building. I hope it helps disrupt nation-building". These words by film-maker Zackie Ahmat gave a kick-start to the discussions at the international conference on "National Identity and Democracy" held at the University of the Western Cape 14-18 March 1997, and they also introduce the theme for the book with some of the best co...