Few revolutions in the 20th century have stimulated the fantasies and imaginations of the contemporaries more than the multiple events that unfolded in or culminated around the year 1989. In the public imaginary, fundamental political and sociocultural change in many different countries around... číst celé
Fifteen years after the transition from the Organisation of African Unity to the African Union, the project of building and fostering the continental organization remains ambitious both politically and financially. While political integration has garnered significant scholarly attention, particularly regarding the African Peace and Security Architecture and the evolving African Governance Architecture, the financial dimension has been less explored. This work focuses on the principles governing member states' financing of the Union, the non-compliance of some states with these principles, and the efforts to introduce compliance and sanctions mechanisms. It examines the shifts in member states' contributions to the Union's budget, the budget's composition, and the increasing reliance on donor funding, especially in peace and security. The discussion also highlights the urgent need for alternative funding sources to support the AU's ambitious agenda, reflecting on the challenges of ensuring stable financial resources for the organization’s objectives. This analysis aims to shed light on the complexities of financial governance within the AU and the implications of donor dependency on its operational effectiveness.
The Working Paper Series offers an opportunity to put interim results from the work of the PhD students and the units up for discussion.
The Working Paper Series offers an opportunity to put interim results from the work of the PhD students and the units up for discussion.
Politics in Africa is undergoing fundamental and rapid changes these days. On the one hand, since the early 1990s the African people have made substantial progress in consolidating democratic rule, insisting on good governance and claiming human rights. On the other hand, this progress has been constantly challenged since the early 2000s by regression in the quality of many formally established democracies, cases of election-related violence, a number of coups d’etat and other forms of unconstitutional changes of government. This edited volume problematises how this ambivalent constellation of the African continent between democracy and conflict has led to the emergence of new mediation practices evolving around the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Primarily these practices are based on changes in the norms governing the relations between AU member states. They are related to the creation of new Pan-African institutions, the emergence of a new division of labour between the African Union and the RECs, but also conflict of interests among AU member states. And, finally, they reflect Africa’s changing relations with its external environment.
Die Themen Erinnerung und Transnationalität sind von großer Bedeutung, doch die Verbindung beider Forschungsfelder ist bislang unzureichend untersucht. Dieser Band zielt darauf ab, diese Lücke zu schließen. Zentrale Aspekte sind: 1. Die Bildung transnationaler Erinnerungsgemeinschaften erfordert eine tiefere Analyse, insbesondere im Hinblick auf ein mögliches europäisches oder globales Geschichtsbewusstsein, das empirisch erfasst und zeitlich sowie räumlich erklärt werden kann. 2. Die Zirkulation von Erinnerungsmodellen und deren Institutionalisierung fördert die grenzüberschreitende Verständigung über historische Ereignisse. Hierbei spielen master narratives, Musealisierung und der Umgang mit Diktaturen und Kriegen eine wichtige Rolle. 3. Neue Weltordnungen beeinflussen die Kategorien des Gesellschafts- und Geschichtsverständnisses, die über nationale Grenzen hinausgehen. Die Beiträge des Bandes diskutieren, wie sich die Schwerpunkte einer europäisierten und globalisierten Erinnerung verschieben. 4. Langfristige Gedächtnisverschiebungen werden in gesellschaftlichen Auseinandersetzungen um Deutungen, oft anlässlich von Jubiläen, politisch zugespitzt. Ein weiterer Fokus liegt auf der Erinnerung an die Ereignisse von 1989 in Europa. Die Autoren untersuchen diese Themen in drei Kapiteln: Teil 1 behandelt den Nationalsozialismus in transnationalen Bezügen, Teil 2 widmet sich „1989“ und den Veränderungen der Erinnerungskulturen, un
If one looks at the recent wave of geopolitical debate, it becomes clear, why there is such an exuberant interest in „world orders“. Following an interdisciplinary perspective and distinguished by disambiguation, historicisation, typological differentiation and by empirical grounding, the recent research is overrunning vehemently the platitudes and stereotypes which characterises the first “discovery” of a new world order through the media. The chapters in this edited volume address research topics which pose a challenge to the mainstream of academic debate in their respective disciplines. In the first part of this volume “World order knowledge” the authors and editors are dealing with forms of mental mapping and the construction of knowledge in the production of world order. In the second part of this volume “World order practice” they are introducing different perspectives on the practice of constructing or being part of a particular world order which come from the Global South, the Southern hemisphere, the Global South within or the East. This volume goes back to the 6th summer school of the Graduate Centre Humanities and Social Sciences of the Research Academy Leipzig which was held in September 2008 at the University of Leipzig.
Although Germany has been a major international player in Africa ever since West Germany's readmission to international politics after 1955, surprisingly little has been written about this topic, and even less reliable knowledge has been established. This study poses the need for a review of Germany's relations with the African continent over the past decades. It challenges scholars to fill the factual gaps that characterize the state of research so far.Ulf Engel is associate professor of politics in Africa at the Institute of African Studies, University of Leipzig. Robert Kappel is professor of politics and economics at the Institute of African Studies, University of Leipzig.
* Ulf Engel / Matthias Middell: Bruchzonen der Globalisierung * Karin-Irene Eiermann: The Russian Concession in Wuhan (1896-1925): Imperialism and Great Power Rivalry * Hartmut Elsenhans: The Empowerment of Labor and the Transition to Capitalism * Michael Mann: Kolonialismus in den Zeiten der Cholera. Zum Streit zwischen Robert Koch, Max Pettenkofer und James Cuningham über die Ursachen einer epidemischen Krankheit