Health, Power and Politics in Windhoek, Namibia, 1915-1945

Health, Power and Politics in Windhoek, Namibia, 1915-1945
Author: Marion Wallace
Publisher:
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2002
Genre: Blacks
ISBN:

In this book, The Author explores the coloniel health care system in Windhoek. She examines the develoment of hospitals, public health policies and mossionary nursing, analysing the dynamics of race, gender and class that shaped them and at the same time building a history of African experience in the capital.

Historical Dictionary of Namibia

Historical Dictionary of Namibia
Author: Victor L. Tonchi
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 587
Release: 2012-08-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 0810879905

On March 21, 1990, Sam Nujoma was sworn in as the first president of independent Namibia. This ceremony marked the end of a struggle that lasted more than two decades and a period of colonialism that lasted more than a century. Finally, after decades long wars over grazing in the 19th century, genocidal colonial suppression by Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, repressive apartheid racialism throughout the 20th century, and a prolonged armed liberation struggle, Namibians had the chance to choose their own leaders, develop a democratic political process in a free society, and to bring economic development and greater equity to their country. The Historical Dictionary of Namibia covers the history of Namibia through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has several hundred cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Namibia.

The Gender Politics of the Namibian Liberation Struggle

The Gender Politics of the Namibian Liberation Struggle
Author: Martha Akawa
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2014-05-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 3905758504

Womens contributions against apartheid under the auspices of the Namibian liberation movement SWAPO and their personal experiences in exile take center stage in this study. Male and female leadership structures in exile are analysed whilst the sexual politics in the refugee camps and the public imagery of female representation in SWAPOs nationalism receive special attention. The partys public pronouncements of women empowerment and gender equality are compared to the actual implementations of gender politics during and after the liberation struggle.

Constitutionalism, Legitimacy, and Power

Constitutionalism, Legitimacy, and Power
Author: Kelly L Grotke
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2014-09-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0191034711

If one counts the production of constitutional documents alone, the nineteenth century can lay claim to being a 'constitutional age'; one in which the generation and reception of constitutional texts served as a centre of gravity around which law and politics consistently revolved. This volume critically re-examines the role of constitutionalism in that period, in order to counter established teleological narratives that imply a consistent development from absolutism towards inclusive, participatory democracy. Various aspects of constitutional histories within and outside of Europe are examined from a comparative, transnational, and multidisciplinary historical perspective, organized around five key themes. The first part looks at constitutions as anti-revolutionary devices, and addresses state building, monarchical constitutionalism, and restorations. The second part takes up constitutions and the justification of new social inequalities, focusing on women's suffrage, human rights, and property. The third part uses individual country studies to take on questions of how constitutions served to promote nationalism. The use of constitutions as instruments of imperialism is covered in the fourth part, and the final part examines the ways that constitutions function simultaneously as legal and political texts. These themes reflect a certain scepticism regarding any easy relationship between stated constitutional ideals and enacted constitutional practices. Taken together, they also function as a general working hypothesis about the role of constitutions in the establishment and maintenance of a domestically and internationally imbalanced status quo, of which we are the present-day inheritors. More particularly, this volume addresses the question of the extent to which nineteenth-century constitutionalism may have set the stage for new forms of domination and discrimination, rather than inaugurating a period of 'progress' and increasing equality.

The Aftermath of the Cassinga Massacre

The Aftermath of the Cassinga Massacre
Author: Vilho Shigwedha
Publisher: BASLER AFRIKA BIBLIOGRAPHIEN
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2017-04-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 3905758806

It took the former South African Defence Force (SADF) less than four hours to kill more than eight hundred Namibian refugees at Cassinga on May 4, 1978. Thousands of survivors were left with irreparable physical and emotional injuries. The unhealed trauma of Cassinga, a Namibian civilian camp in southern Angola before the massacre, is beyond the worst that the victims of the attack experienced on the ground. Unacceptable layers of pain and suffering continue to grow and multiply as the victims’ grievances and other issues arising out of the aftermath of the massacre have been ignored, particularly following Namibia’s political independence. In this book, the afterlife of the victims’ traumatic memories and their aspiration for justice vis-à-vis the perpetrators’ enjoyment of blanket impunity from prosecution, in spite of their ongoing denial of killing and maiming innocent civilians at Cassinga, are explored with the aim to create public awareness about the unfortunate circumstances of the Cassinga victims.

History of Namibia

History of Namibia
Author: Marion Wallace
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 475
Release: 2014-01-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0197513867

In 1990 Namibia gained its independence after a decades-long struggle against South African rule--and, before that, against German colonialism. This book, the first new scholarly general history of Namibia in two decades, provides a fresh synthesis of these events, and of the much longer pre-colonial period. A History of Namibia opens with a chapter by John Kinahan covering the evidence of human activity in Namibia from the earliest times to the nineteenth century, and for the first time making a synthesis of current archaeological research widely available to non-specialists. In subsequent chapters, Marion Wallace weaves together the most up-to-date academic research (in English and German) on Namibian history, from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. She explores histories of migration, production and power in the pre-colonial period, the changes triggered by European expansion, and the dynamics of the period of formal colonialism. The coverage of German rule includes a full chapter on the genocide of 1904-8. Here, Wallace outlines the history and historiography of the wars fought in central and southern Namibia, and the subsequent mass imprisonment of defeated Africans in concentration camps. The final two chapters analyse the period of African nationalism, apartheid and war between 1946 and 1990. The book's conclusion looks briefly at the development of Namibia in the two decades since independence. A History of Namibia provides an invaluable introduction and reference source to the past of a country that is often neglected, despite its significance in the history of the region and, indeed, for that of European colonialism and international relations. It makes accessible the latest research on the country, illuminates current controversies, puts forward new insights, and suggests future directions for research. The book's extensive bibliography adds to its usefulness for scholar and general reader alike.

As Long as They Dont Bury Me Here

As Long as They Dont Bury Me Here
Author: Inge Tvedten
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2011-12-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 390575844X

An increasing number of poor Southern Africans live in poverty-stricken urban slums or shantytowns. Focusing on four shantytowns in the northern Namibian town of Oshakati, this book analyses the coping strategies of the poorest sections of such populations. The study is based on fieldwork conducted intermittently during a period of ten years. It combines theories of political, economic and cultural structuration, and of the material and cultural basis for social relations of inclusion and exclusion as practise. The poorest shanty dwellers are marginalised or excluded from vital urban and rural relationships and forced into social relations of poverty amongst themselves. Having experienced long-term processes of impoverishment, the very poorest and most destitute in the shantytowns tend to give up improving their lives and act in ways that further undermine their position.

The Practice of War

The Practice of War
Author: Aparna Rao
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2008-03-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 085745059X

The fact is that war comes in many guises and its effects continue to be felt long after peace is proclaimed. This challenges the anthropologists who write of war as participant observers. Participant observation inevitably deals with the here and now, with the highly specific. It is only over the long view that one can begin to see the commonalities that emerge from the different forms of conflict and can begin to generalize. [From the Introduction] More needs to be understood about the ways of war and its effects. What implications does war have for people, their lived-in communities and larger political systems; how do they cope and adjust in war situations and how do they deal with the changed world that they inhabit once peace is declared? Through a series of essays that move from looking at the nature of violence to the peace processes that follow it, this important book provides some answers to these questions. It also analyzes those new dimensions of social interaction, such as the internet, which now provide a bridge between local concerns and global networks and are fundamentally altering the practices of war.

African Landscapes

African Landscapes
Author: Michael Bollig
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2009-06-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0387786821

Landscape studies provide a crucial perspective into the interaction between humans and their environment, shedding insight on social, cultural, and economic topics. The research explores both the way that natural processes have affected the development of culture and society, as well as the ways that natural landscapes themselves are the product of historical and cultural processes. Most previous studies of the landscape selectively focused on either the natural sciences or the social sciences, but the research presented in African Landscapes bridges that gap. This work is unique in its interdisciplinary scope. Over the past twelve years, the contributors to this volume have participated in the collaborative research center ACACIA (Arid Climate Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa), which deals with the relationship between cultural processes and ecological dynamics in Africa’s arid areas. The case studies presented here come from mainly Sahara/Sahel and southwestern Africa, and are all linked to broader discussions on the concept of landscape, and themes of cultural, anthropological, geographical, botanical, sociological, and archaeological interest. The contributions in this work are enhanced by full color photographs that put the discussion in context visually.

Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the 21st Century

Colonial Genocide and Reparations Claims in the 21st Century
Author: Jeremy Sarkin
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2008-11-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0313362572

More and more, the descendants of indigenous victims of genocide, land expropriation, forced labor, and other systematic human rights violations committed by colonial powers are seeking reparations under international law from the modern successor governments and corporations. As the number of colonial reparations cases increases, courts around the world are being asked to apply international law to determine whether reparations are due for atrocities and crimes that might have been committed long ago but whose lasting effects are alleged to injure the modern descendants of the victims. Sarkin analyzes the thorny issues of international law raised in such suits by focusing on groundbreaking cases in which he is involved as legal advisor to the paramount chief of the Herero people of Namibia. In 2001, the Herero became the first ethnic group to seek reparations under the legal definition of genocide by bringing multi-billion-dollar suits against Germany and German companies in a number of U.S. federal courts under the Alien Torts Claim Act of 1789. The Herero genocide, conducted in German South-West Africa (present-day Namibia) between 1904 and 1908, is recognized by the UN as the first organized state genocide in world history. Although the Herero were subjected to Germany's First Genocide, they have, unlike the victims of the Holocaust, received no reparations from Germany. By machine-gun massacres, starvation, poisoning, and forced labor in Germany's first concentration camps, the German Schutztruppe systematically exterminated as many as 105,000 Herero women, and children, composing most of the Herero population. Sarkin considers whether these historical events constitute legally defined genocide, crimes against humanity, and other international crimes. He evaluates the legal status of indigenous polities in Africa at the time and he explores the enduring impact in Namibia of the Germany's colonial campaign of genocide. He extrapolates the Herero case to global issues of reparations, apologies, and historical human rights violations, especially in Africa.