No description available.

From mid-2006 to 2010 grassroots perspectives of Acholi people in Northern Uganda followed Non-Governmental Organisations’ roles in post-war social recovery. For over 20 years of war between the Lord’s Resistance Army and Uganda Government, displacement and home-returns, Acholi people relied on NGOs. This study explores how far NGOs can transform and rebuild social authority structure and support social reconciliation in Acholiland. Using a qualitative methodology, Acholi returnees’ views were triangulated with those of NGOs, Government officials and relevant actors following grassroots perceptions on roles NGOs played. From this study, NGOs play participatory political and social roles at grassroots level; fail to address the root causes of conflicts. The contentious NGO roles involve a separation of inflated expectations from what is achievable. Social realities of Acholi people are in theory and ideally over-ridden by practical NGOs’ levels, typologies, activities, budgets, policies and codes of conducts. NGOs played key roles in the interlocution and encouragement of a discourse for rebuilding Acholi lineage-based authority without middle-class elites that links grassroots population. With NGOs’ withdrawal from post-war reconstruction, Acholi remained in a weak social authority and loose social bonding with lesser meaning and reality of social reconciliation. With raised disappointments on NGOs, Acholi people are stuck between a rock and hard place in respective villages.

Considerable historical attention has been paid to the end of Empire in Britain’s East African colonies and the consequences of this for postcolonial states. The forced migration of minority South Asian populations from the new nation-states of East Africa has received considerably less attention. South Asians remain at the margins of African and British national histories, constructed variously as either fringe opponents of anti-colonial nationalist movements or marginalised minorities. Yet re-assessing the history of these ‘refugee’ communities has the potential to enhance scholarly understanding of both colonial and postcolonial power relations and migrant-refugee identity formulation and re-formulation. Moreover, studies of migrant communities in Britain have tended to treat South Asians as a homogenous group, paying relatively little attention to the specific identity trajectories of those who were expelled from the new nation-states of East Africa. In contrast, this research takes as its starting point the transnational experiences of East African Asians as multiple migrants, exploring the reformulation of political and cultural identities during the course of their expulsion, migration and resettlement in and between postcolonial states.

No description available.

Amidst growing concerns due to a rise in incidents of inter racial conflict between African Caribbean and South Asian young men; this thesis draws on the concept of identity formation as an instigating factor in terms of why young people may get embroiled in conflict with other cultural groups. Drawing on semi structured questionnaires with professionals and community workers, an ethnographic study with young people involved in or party to the incidents and a few in depth focus groups it explores the historical issues associated with the conflict, the development of identity and how and why this may be different for those from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups and how it can then materialise into conflict when threatened. It aims to contribute to practice, knowledge and understanding of inter racial conflict and how the creation of positive identities can reduce these incidents. It also seeks to identify approaches and interventions most likely to be effective in addressing this which include working with parents, carers and the wider community who may carry some of the historical issues that allow the conflict to exist. Findings point to identity formation being complex and multifaceted, which can be affected through personal and social experiences: many of these being different for young people from BME communities. Identity is fragile and can be shaped and changed through these experiences which can be compounded by interrelated needs and anxious backgrounds which can then manifest into behaviour that targets those that they may feel threatened by. This study cites the importance of cultural specific responses and interventions which are holistic, informal and flexible to meet the distinct needs of not only young people but those that are influential in their lives. In addition it highlights the importance of work associated with identity formation and the creation of positive identities as a precursor to reducing conflict situations.

The subject of this thesis is the temporary and travelling exhibition Velorios y santos vivos: comunidades negras, afrocolombianas, raizales y palenqueras [Wakes and living saints: Black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero communities]. ‘Velorios,’ as many people involved in the project referred to it, portrayed Afro-Colombian funerals and devotions to Catholic saints, and was on display in the temporary exhibitions hall in the National Museum of Colombia, in Bogotá, from 21 August to 3 November 2008. Before it closed, a travelling version was designed that began to go around the country in 2009. When I wrote this thesis, ‘the Itinerante,’ as the travelling version was referred to at the Museum, was still available as one of the displays that its Travelling Exhibitions Programme (TEP) offered to the public. I use Velorios and the Itinerante as the main ‘characters’ in an ethnography of the National Museum of Colombia, where I explore the different instances in which this major exhibition produced visibilities and invisibilities regarding the place of Afro-Colombian people in the nation. As a museum, this institution is responsible for managing, researching and displaying its four collections (of art, history, ethnography and archaeology) but also, as one of the Ministry of Culture’s ‘special administrative units,’ it is in charge of designing and implementing policies that regulate all the other museums in Colombia. This is in keeping with national and international official legislation regarding cultural heritage, like the National Culture Plan and UNESCO’s resolutions, and in support of the development and strengthening of museums, museology and museum design in the whole country. Here I show what these responsibilities and duties translate into on the ground. The themes that the thesis explores are i) (in)visibility, ii) participatory collaboration and, also as the means to approach these themes, iii) documents and documentation. They are all components of the kind of curatorship that this museum exhibition conveyed.

No description available.

Cette thèse porte sur l’évolution des représentations de la diaspora antillaise en Grande-Bretagne depuis la deuxième moitié du vingtième siècle. La recherche se fonde sur l’hypothèse que le processus d’intégration est lié aux représentations. L’intégration ne peut se faire pleinement que lorsque les représentations négatives datant de l’époque coloniale sont complètement démantelées. Impuissante dans les années 1950 et 1960 face à l’hostilité de la population autochtone à son égard, la première génération de la diaspora antillaise en Grande-Bretagne ne pouvait que subir la discrimination raciale et les inégalités sociales dont elle fut victime. Cependant, dès la fin des années 1960, libérée du joug colonial britannique et se reconnaissant dans un discours de fierté noire venu des États-Unis, la diaspora antillaise se mobilisa, créant des associations de quartier et se donna de nouvelles représentations postcoloniales. Cette étude examine différentes stratégies déployées par une panoplie d’acteurs sociaux, politiques et culturels issus de la diaspora antillaise. L’évolution des représentations est certes bien amorcée, mais les résultats sont encore ambivalents. De nombreux travaux témoignent de la persistance d’un racisme institutionnel qui touche tout particulièrement les jeunes générations. L’éducation et les relations avec la police sont des domaines où des progrès sont encore à faire. Aux premières années du vingt-et-unième siècle, plus de soixante ans après son installation en Grande-Bretagne, la diaspora antillaise n’est toujours pas complètement intégrée à la société britannique. / This doctoral thesis focuses on the evolution of the social, political and cultural representations of the Caribbean diaspora in Great Britain since the second half of the twentieth century. It puts forward the hypothesis that integration is linked to representations and will only be successful when the negative representation of the colonial era is completely deconstructed. In the 1950s and 1960s, the members of the Caribbean diaspora were the passive victims of racial discrimination and social inequality. At the end of the 1960s, thanks to a growing political awareness and the emergence of Black self-help and protest groups encouraged by the U.S. Black Power movement, the diaspora began to weave its own new post-colonial social, political and cultural representations. Examples of the various strategies deployed to cast off detrimental colonial representations are analyzed. Representations have undoubtedly changed, but the results are mixed. Numerous reports indicate that institutional racism has not been eradicated from the British education system or from the police and that the younger generations are particularly vulnerable. At the beginning of the twenty-first century and after over sixty years of presence in the country, the Caribbean diaspora in Great Britain has still not achieved full integration.

Cette thèse s’intéresse aux parcours de femmes ouest-africaines à Rouen issues de plusieurs pays (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinée Conakry, Mali, Mauritanie, Nigéria, Sénégal). Elle vise à comprendre leurs vécus, leurs histoires, leurs conditions d’immigration et d’intégration dans la société d’accueil. Elle se propose de déconstruire les stéréotypes produits sur les migrantes dans l’histoire, longtemps considérées comme victimes aux droits bafoués. Cette thèse donne à voir les situations d’oppressions multiples et croisées (genre, ethnie, classe) vécues par ces femmes dans le temps et l’espace, à partir de leurs expériences concrètes. Le contexte migratoire leur permet de modifier et réorganiser les rapports sociaux de sexes et de sélectionner les pratiques culturelles de leurs communautés d’origine. Cette recherche se propose d’analyser le processus d’autonomisation et d’émancipation des femmes ouest-africaines à partir de leurs stratégies d’acquisition de pouvoir (travail, associations, réseaux professionnels, technologie, transports). Dans le contexte de mondialisation, les migrantes se positionnent comme actrices du développement économique, parties prenantes du changement social de leur continent. Le choix d’une méthode qualitative, de l’observation prolongée dans le temps du quotidien des femmes et de leurs interactions avec les hommes favorise une immersion dans leur espace personnel. / This dissertation addresses the experiences of West African women in Rouen hailing fromseveral countries of the sub-region (Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeriaand Senegal). It is aimed at facilitating a better understanding of their lives, their histories, their conditions of immigration and integration in the host society. It seeks to deconstruct thehistorical stereotypes regarding female migrants that have long been viewed as victims ofviolated rights. This dissertation casts light on the situations of multiple and crossed oppressions (gender, ethnicity, class) endured by these women in time and space, based on a series of concrete experiences. The migratory context enables them to modify and reorganize the social gender relations and select cultural practices of their native communities. This research seeks to analyze the process of West African women’s empowerment and emancipation from their power acquisition strategies (work, associations, professional networks, technology, and transports). Against the backdrop of globalization, female migrants position themselves as key stakeholders of economic development and social change in their continent. The option for a qualitative method, and a protracted observation of women’s daily life and their interactions with men required an immersion in their personal space.

Fait interculturel et transmédiatique mondialisé, le basket-ball reste toutefois lié à une identité pré-supposée afro-américaine, malgré son américanité de naissance et d’essence. Qu’est-ce qui réside derrière cette acculturation à rebours par une minorité d’un sport de la majorité ? En quoi l’afro-américanité du basket-ball est-elle un construit politique, culturel et social ? Quel rôle les médias jouent-ils dans la représentation de ce lien établi entre culture afro-américaine et basket-ball ? Et dans quelle mesure ce lien se retrouve-t-il dans les autres éléments de la culture populaire afro-américaine ?Cette démarche fait appel à différentes disciplines, de l’histoire culturelle aux études médiatiques, en passant par la sémiologie. Elle s’appuie sur un corpus complexe comportant principalement une étude de terrain, des analyses des commentaires de matchs, des documentaires sportifs et des productions audiovisuelles (films, séries TV, musique). Elle vise à exposer le dispositif de storytelling de la NBA, ainsi que la mise en images, en paroles et en musique de l’afro-américanité du basket-ball.La recherche met en évidences diverses phases dans l’évolution du sport, du Politique au Corporate en passant par le Symbolique, avec une récente phase Progressiste de retour du politique. L’analyse des commentaires des Finales NBA révèle la représentation de l’athlète noir à travers le prisme des médias. Mêlée au storytelling, la question raciale donne lieu à une mythologie sportive américaine où se joue le rapport à l’autre par le biais de la performance sportive et raciale des athlètes. L’étude des productions de la culture populaire fait émerger l’importance visuelle du corps de l’athlète noir et la figure du Basketteur noir dans l’imaginaire collectif américain. Le processus d’acculturation et d’appropriation culturelle se révèle ainsi partiellement à l’initiative de la communauté afro-américaine mais les médias et la culture populaire qu’ils véhiculent jouent un rôle essentiel dans le cadrage de la figure du Basketteur noir dans le grand récit du vivre-ensemble américain. / As a global cultural phenomenon, basketball is portrayed as a “black” sport, in spite of its origins in Mainstream America. What lies behind this acculturation in reverse, whereby a minority appropriates a sport of the majority? In what sense is the Afro-Americanness of basketball a political, cultural and social construct? What role do the media play in the representation of this link established between Afro-American culture and basketball? And to what extent does this link find itself reflected in the other elements of the Afro-American popular culture? The research methodology calls on various disciplines, from cultural history to media studies, including semiology. It relies on a complex corpus that includes ethnographic observation, the analyses of the comments of NBA matches, documentaries as well as audiovisual productions (movies, TV series, music). It aims at revealing the storytelling constructed by the NBA, as well as the representing in words and music of the Afro-Americanness of the basketball.The research highlights several phases in the evolution of the sport, from Political to Symbolic to Corporate with a recent Progressive phase of return to politics. The analysis of the comments of the Finales NBA reveals the representation of the black athlete through the media prism. Mixed with this storytelling, the issue of race is elaborated within an American sports mythology where the relation to the Other is mediated by the athletic and racial performance of the players. The study of popular culture underlines the visual importance of the black body and the figure of the Black Baller. The process of acculturation and cultural appropriation is thus partially related to the initiative of the Afro-American community but the media and the popular culture they convey play an essential role in the framing of the black Basketball player within the narrative of American togetherness.