...

Read this.

"Kenya cash shortfall over cabinet"
BBC News
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

"Kenya needs to find another $300m to pay for the expanded coalition cabinet formed after a power-sharing deal."

And what will they sacrifice for this...apparently, money for roads, new hospitals.....

Can't they sell a few cars? Can't they have less fancy desks? Can't MPs pay some more tax, like the rest of hardworking Kenyans have to?

In the course of my research lately, someone told me to study greed. He asked me, sighing, "Why are people greedy? Why do they want more, when they already own all this? Yes, that's one thing you should study. Greed."

This man was a politician, crazily enough. May he be blessed and not be eaten alive by the quagmire that is Kenyan politics.........

Oh and in case you haven't had enough of this farce for one day: http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=122218.
http://politics.nationmedia.com/inner.asp?sid=1835&page=1

It has been a while. I have been away.

I return to a very cold England. The sky is low and grey. The wind carries specks of rain that prick at your face.

I went to the supermarket. Everything is so neatly bagged and polished. And expensive.

It's strange coming back. For this short while, before my blood thickens to take the cold again, there is a sense that I am rattling around in the place I was before. My shape's a bit different, my mind's a little bit somewhere else.

This is what Bush doesn't want banned?

"He said he rejected the intelligence bill, passed by Senate and Congress, as it took 'away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror'."*

What are these valuable tools? Read about them and make up your own mind about whether this is what the US should be doing...here is a list from a current BBC article also quoted above ["Bush Vetoes Interrogation Limits", March 8, 2008.] :

CIA 'ENHANCED INTERROGATION' TECHNIQUES

Water-boarding: prisoner bound to a board with feet raised, and cellophane wrapped round his head. Water is poured onto his face and is said to produce a fear of drowning

Cold cell: prisoner made to stand naked in a cold, though not freezing, cell and doused with water

Standing: Prisoners stand for 40 hours and more, shackled to the floor

Belly slap: a hard slap to the stomach with an open hand. This is designed to be painful but not to cause injury

Source: Described to ABC News by un-named CIA agents in 2005

incompleteness and the imperative to act...

Landscapes of power. Social fabrics.

Metaphors of three-dimensional space allow us to integrate geographical and temporal dimensions into explanations of history. They allow us to begin to capture the more intricate human moments of which our story is made. Meetings, distances, physicality, chronology, simultaneity, imagined futures and enshrined pasts....

Because that's the challenge isn't it? To keep the intricate alive in the macro story. To not let grand histories that "make sense" cover the confusions, the half-truths, the incomplete information with which we build our lives.

That's why history is as it is -- our lack of omniscience. This sounds a silly thing to point out, i.e. that we don't know everything, but I think it's important when trying to understand why many political actors behave as they do. They have got to pretend that they are sure, that they are confident, that they have the answer. And in general, we all have to act -- we cannot wait to know everything. We have to move on through time....it doesn't stop for us.

But it's all based on incomplete information. Incomplete information which then has to be used to create logics of action. So be suspicious of neat explanations, of overly determined histories of messy situations. This idea is stressed in a book I am reading about Somalia -- Anna Simons' Networks of Dissolution: Somalia Undone (1995), which is well worth checking out.

All this does not mean that history cannot be told. Indeed, it makes that task more urgent....how to express not only what happened but how it was told, is told, and can be told. A tough calling....

Petals and buds

So I promised I would let you know. Four flowers are out. They bloom so quickly -- every hour there is a change!

There had been some anxiety between us as I feared that I had overwatered my friend. But she (he? - it? - why is English's non-gendered single pronoun so personality-less??) recovered and now my room smells like white petals.

[This is very short I know, but my desk is covered with things to read so I must attend to it...a la prochaine!]

the new arrival

Yesterday I bought a plant. It's a small little plant -- not even in real soil. The three main shoots sit inside a glass vase, and their roots swirl round some lovely terracotta coloured pebbles. They are very pretty roots, big bulbous blobs with silky tassels pressing against the glass.

All in all very cute. I believe we have already bonded. At least I think we have; it hasn't really said much yet, and I don't know what it thinks of my room, which can get a bit chilly. I put it on the windowsill during the day but at night move it to the desk so it doesn't get too cold. Also that way we get to sit together and try to understand regional economic integration and other exciting topics.

Apparently -- and according to the picture that came on its tag -- it is going to have lots of pretty white flowers. They are supposed to be quite smelly too. I hope it blooms soon. It has been very grey of late here and is still getting dark early. Even if it's not outright raining, there is always some form of water falling from the sky. Plus tonight we had a thunderstorm, which is a rare event. So some little flowers in my room would be nice.

I will let you know when they arrive.

Dow's Human Element?

One thing I have noticed in magazines lately in the last year or so is adverts from Dow Chemicals touting their "human element". Now as many of you know, Dow bought Union Carbide back in 2001. Union Carbide -- as in the corporation that owned the Union Carbide Pesticide Plant in Bhopal back in 1984.

In light of that history, I find their slogan kind of -- well, very sick. One of the worst examples of corporate irresponsibility, dishonesty, and abuse. Sure enough, from a google search, I find that other people feel the same way about the company. And from their work and others I find many other reasons to find Dow's "human element" campaign very disturbing.

Twisted and poisonous are two words that come to mind.

Wow. I just read more. I had no idea how despicable this corporation's record is.

hearing the music

"We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,/ but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have/ the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless/ furnace of this world. To make injustice the only/ measure of our attention is to praise the Devil./...We must admit there will be music despite everything."

--Jack Gilbert

I heard some music today.

Asymmetric Warfare? Please can we wake up from these lies...

Well hello. I find myself back at my desk. Here, where it feels like home, which is nice -- especially when coming from my other home. There are beloved people all over! Thanks be for them.

I was on a plane and several trains -- in transit -- on January 11th when all the protests against Guantanamo Bay were going on, so I couldn't participate. I did however recently buy a book that I thought I would share with you. You should most definitely check it out.

It's called Poems from Guantanamo: the Detainees Speak. Put together by a team of volunteer lawyers who first visited the military detention center in November 2004, it provides a rare glimpse into the suffering going on 'inside the wire'.

I think the first thing to appreciate is just how incredible it is that these poems have been shared with us. The introduction to the book is harrowing. Some excerpts:

"My colleagues and I -- all volunteer lawyers -- first visited Guantanamo in November 2004, after receiving 'secret' level security clearances from the FBI. What we learned from our clients on that trip was shocking. During the three years in which they had been held in total isolation, they had been repeatedly abused. They had been subjected to stress positions, sleep deprivation, blaring music, and extremes of heat and cold during endless interrogations. They had been sexually humiliated...They were denied basic medical care. They were broken down and psychologically tyrannized, kept in extreme isolation, threatened with rendition, interrogated at gunpoint, and told that their families would be harmed if they refused to talk." (1)

"It is difficult to see how hope can flourish in such an environment, where the only contact with the outside world is an occasional visit from a lawyer or an infrequent and heavily censored letter from a relative. Indeed, dozens of prisoners have attempted suicide by hanging, by hoarding and then overdosing on medicine, or by slashing their wrists. (The military, in true Orwellian fashion, has described these suicide attempts as incidents of 'manipulative self-injurious behavior." When three detainees successfully killed themselves in June 2006, the military called the suicides acts of 'asymmetric warfare.") (2)

I don't know about you but those last few sentences really made me want to throw up. I don't really know what else to say.

Most poetry written by inmates gets thrown away, so the poems in the book are only a few of many other creations that will never reach the eyes of the outside world. Go read them.

For more on the book, read this Guardian article (and anothere here) which has other related links. Buy the book from Amnesty International here. The site also has links to info about their campaign to close the detention centre. The book's full citation is: Falkoff, Marc (ed.). Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak. Iowa City: Iowa UP, 2007.

Seek more info please.

I got a text yesterday from another friend in Kenya -- telling me to hope. Yes, telling me (as in the person sitting in a hotel in North Carolina) to hope. So I am hoping and believing in the spirit of his words (also read this about grassroots peacebuilding). And I will continue to try to add here any resources I can find about what has been going on in the country since the elections.

First -- this article offers an overview of the political situation and explains why the violence that has occurred is directly linked to two main factors: first, the strategies of political parties and politicians involved in the election and second, the fact that where extreme levels of poverty and inequality exist, politicians have much power to manipulate people and whip up violence. The result of this corruption and abuse of power is that people suffer. In particular, it is often the young who suffer. They are the ones who in many cases voted for the first time only to see the promise of free and fair elections disappear in smoke. They are the ones whose hope was smothered by politicians' greed and inability to swallow their pride and do something about the post-election violence. It is young people who are recruited into gangs supporting politicians at all levels and it is young people who die in the largest numbers.

So what can you do? Well, one of the absolute worst things people in the international community can do at the moment is to draw metaphors to other situations and to generalise -- we need to try and understand what is happening and not put it in terms that make a grabbing headline. Think of all the complicated dimensions of your country's political system -- everywhere is this complicated. Kenya has its own history, its own political institutions, its own politicians, its own troubles -- so go and read up from sources other than some of the major media houses (though BBC has put up a worthwhile article with links to blogs and I just found this article in the Canadian Mail and Globe which offers a more informed perspective).

Why is this important you ask? Well, from Kenyan Pundit: "One key resolution was for those of us [in the Kenyan Diaspora] who have access to the media to demonstrate that the situation is a lot more nuanced than Kikuyu vs. Luo and than “tribal war” - this tag by the international media is leading to piecemeal solutions being offered that won’t really address the underlying issues."

For a list of resources I compiled yesterday (in particular blogs from various perspectives), see my previous post from Friday. And go here for a news video from the streets of Nairobi today. There's also a link to other videos taken by reporters with mobile phone cameras. Such journalism deserves your attention.

I'll try to post some articles that will give you some background on the political system as soon as I can later this week. For a start, read the article I posted at the start of the entry.

And - to help directly, please donate to the Kenyan Red Cross Society, who are an excellent organisation providing much needed aid to internally displaced people and others in need. For info on them and how to make a donation, go here.

Thinking About a Beloved Kenya

Reports on the events following Kenya's 2007 elections have now been featured on news outlets around the world. There are also many Kenyan bloggers covering the events with much more insight than you'll find in most of the articles in the US/UK media in particular.

For example, read this piece of citizen journalism from Nairobi and please skip to the bottom of my entry for links to more information. For a comprehensive list of blogs covering events, go here. Visit Kenyan Pundit's blog for important information about the last few days and go here for Insight Kenya, a new picture blog. Firoze Manji sums up the current state of affairs well on Pambazuka News: "It is the Kenyan people who have lost the election" as does Mukoma wa Ngugi in an article here.

My entry that follows here is not seeking to describe or explain events; it's just the thoughts occupying my mind right now.

....

In the past two years, I have begun to know a little bit more about Kenya than I did before. I had visited the country when I was very little but did not have the chance to go back until 2006, which was when I started this whole blog. I returned for a short visit in early 2007 and hope to return in a few months.

I don't know what it was about my trips, but they were full of random meetings and chances to listen to many people. And my visits, however brief, left me with very dear friends. Friends of great grace and generosity, humor, and kindness. People that I think about and communicate with on a regular basis -- cell phones and e-mail mean regular conversations aren't totally thwarted by distance. Indeed, I was surprised by the depth of the friendships that were created in such a short time and how they continue to enrich my life.

This past week, reading the news, my friends and their families, friends, and neighbours have been on my mind all the time. I don't know if thinking about people and hoping for their country does any good. I pray that it does.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know who Madi is -- a friend I met when travelling with my friend Tiffany in Coast Province in summer 2006. He took us under his wing and showed us all around Mombasa before taking us to his Ngomeni, his village and adored island just north of Malindi. I visited him and his family back in January. I heard from him today in a text which began "Just pray for our beloved country" and went on to describe his views on what unbelievable steps politicians will take to stay in power.

Others have been in touch, but it is hard for people to find credit for their phones. People are also having trouble making it to internet cafes. In a few places, there is no electricity to charge phones either.

As I said above, my knowledge of Kenya is still very limited, gathered from short visits, meeting a few people, and a small amount of historical research. But I have seen enough to feel angry at the greed and pride of politicians who think they can continue to deceive their people. Enough to feel horribly sad that people die because, to put it simply, people with power lie and steal.

It happens all over the world (I am in the US as I write after all) and has happened for a long time. Once in a while though, individuals stand up to say enough is enough. People are capable of putting others before themselves, I believe this. Change can happen.

So to Kenyan politicians, come on, your country's people are watching you. The world is watching you. Prove that you're capable of thinking of someone other than yourselves. Prove that you really do care about the millions of people who have to live the outcomes of your actions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
For a list of blogs covering events, go here.

See Pambazuka's articles here.

Joint editorial by major newspapers: Save Our Beloved Country

"Our beloved country, the Republic of Kenya, is a burnt-out, smouldering ruin. The economy is at a virtual standstill and the armies of destruction are on the march in the Rift Valley and other places.

In the midst of this, leaders — who are the direct cause of this catastrophe — are issuing half-hearted calls for peace, from the comfort of their hotels and walled homes in Nairobi, whence they are conveyed in bullet-proof limousines.

It is unbelievable foolishness for Kenyans to destroy their economy, their homes and their entire way of life in the name of politics and on behalf of people whose lives of comfort and luxury are going on normally."

"Political leaders on both sides must be told in no uncertain terms that they are currently in great danger of losing their credibility in the eyes of Kenyans and the international community because of systematic killing of the innocent sweeping Kenya, destruction of the economy and the spread of disaffection throughout the land."

Read the rest. To read an opinion critiquing this campaign in the newspapers, go here. Oloo does make a good point that security alone does not bring justice.

Visit this site: http://josephkaroki.wordpress.com/

And read this blog by 'Kenyan Pundit': http://www.kenyanpundit.com/

An entry from Kenyan pundit:

Tears are rolling down my eyes as I’m writing this.

It is a sad day for Kenya when Ruto and Kosgey are the guys arguing for justice and fairness.

It is a sad day for Kenya when Karua and Kibwana are defending rigged results.

It is a sad day for Kenya when Kivuitu is cracking jokes at the state house swearing in ceremony while lives are being lost for people who could care less (10 people already dead in Kisii, 2 dead in Kakamega, at least one in Kisumu).

It is a sad day for Kenya when Kibaki who pledged to be a one-term president and is only president because Raila said Kibaki Tosha can now not be bigger than himself and his cronies.

It is a sad day for Kenya when a cabal that has been in power since independence still controls the countries destiny.

It is a sad day for Kenya when millions of first time young voters have had their voice ignored - how do you tell these people that their vote matters in 2012?

It is a sad day for Kenya that Kenyans will no longer trust the one avenue they have - the ballot box.

It is a sad day in Kenya that the democracy that has been painfully and slowly nurtured since 1992 has been damaged in one day.

It is a sad day.

There are a lot of clips on YouTube about the alleged rigging. Here is Kosgey from ODM addressing Kivuitu, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya:



and many articles from the Nation and the Standard, among other papers. For instance:

I acted under a pressure, says Kivuitu

Published on January 2, 2008, 12:00 am

By Isaac Ongiri

On Tuesday night, Mr Samuel Kivuitu made a damning admission that he announced results of the fiercely contested presidential election under pressure. ...

Demanding rights -- Considering power and all its potential brutality

I am thinking of dear friends and hope they are safe.

----

I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about an article I had read for class with which I really disagreed, but I only just published it on this blog. When I wrote it I was still feeling a bit frustrated so I left it in my drafts box to read over at a later date.

The current events in Kenya however brought it back to my mind and pushed me to put it up here.

Here are a couple lines from the article, written by Bratton and Logan in 2006 about voters in African democracies:

"They have not yet made a personal transition from mere voters into fully engaged citizens."
"Can Africans be helped to become rights-demanding citizens?"

I had to read these lines twice to be sure I wasn't imagining them.

It's hard to demand rights when you don't have them, whether or not you want to make a "personal transition".

It's hard to hold a peaceful demonstration when the police use live rounds to clear the crowd. It's hard to understand what's going on in your country when the government bans live broadcasts. And it's hard to check on family and friends when there is no more mobile phone credit available.

Tislam

I had to stop reading. I could not bear a single page more. Not a sentence more. I glanced across at the opposite page in an attempt to gain some courage to read on but had to lay the book down. It is sitting by my side now.

He is writing about a dream, an afternoon years ago -- a droplet of memory now. The story of this idyll lies trapped between two nightmares. And they are nightmares to make the sleeper shudder: visions of running, fleeing, then crawling away, slowly, weakly as the dogs chase. The nightmares of a prisoner.

But for just a moment between those flights of torture, there is in his palm something beautiful. It is about to crack in the next second, the very next moment -- but for the thinnest slice of time, there it is. It exists.

The fragility of a love. His love. A memory of time spent with a girl, a friend, a lover. With her.

I closed the book because I don't want to break it. I don't want it to shatter. I know it must. But I want some time to hold it. Examine it, knowing however that if I want to understand it, I have to read on. I have to open the book and cast my eyes on the pages and see it break.

I wish it didn't have to break.


(The book sitting next to me is I'jaam: an iraqi rhapsody, written by Sinan Antoon.)

falling prey to words (again)

I found some quotes.

"As for writing, it protects man from oblivion. It transports the self to those who are distant and absent."

"To write is to risk being misread or misunderstood. Words that survive their author are cut loose. They drift, take new shape, sprout new meanings. And there is always their ordinary ambiguity."

--Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century historian.

These quotes and two other fragile constellations of sound are at the front of a book I just bought. (Yes, I gave into temptation and entered a bookstore. I left weighed down with three books for my transgressions.)

I'jaam: an iraqi rhapsody by Sinan Antoon.

I'll let you know how it goes. I picked it up once before in a bookstore in Atlanta but time and lack of money dragged me away and I set it down after browsing the first few hundred words. This time I did not escape its grasp.

I also found two other books -- one about the development of the autocratic state in Ethiopia and the other about poems written by prisoners in Guantanamo which made my thoughts whirlwind for a few moments before I even opened it. I am going to give it to a friend -- one of those people that understands the value of words that escape from locked rooms.

I also went into a bookstore yesterday -- the Strand in New York -- where they have 18 miles of books! It seems quite humble from the outside...I got trapped there as well, falling prey to the political science 50% off shelf. I managed to escape from the random works of fiction that were launching themselves off the shelves at me. One hit me in the throat but after battling with its first couple pages, my fingers forced into my friend's hand who proved more resistant and calmly set it down on a nearby cart before asking me if I had finished browsing and perhaps it was time to go.....

3 NYC boroughs in 1 night

Mmmm, damn these brownies are good. I am staying with my friends in Brooklyn -- and they have left to go to work, abandoning me in a locked apartment alone with these brownies that for some reason are just very soft, moist, and more than a little bit chocolaty. As I am sure you know, grits followed by a brownie is pretty much the best breakfast a girl can hope for. Ahem.

Yes so my eating habits have been a little odd over the last couple days -- put it down to the jetlag as well as the food poisoning incident that happily decided to appear from the time I left Oxford till I arrived in New York. As a result not much food was consumed my first day here, which left me rather hungry yesterday. So I guess that's what caused yesterday's dinner:

-Appetizer: Subway sub sandwich while waiting for a friend (Subway is, I found out, expensive and rather wimpy tasting in NYC);
-2nd Appetizer (?): Hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup at a homelessness vigil/protest in the Bronx;
-Entre: Really amazing veggie burger near the Village before catching a movie;
-Dessert: And yes, a brownie upon arriving home. And tea.

As the above record of food consumption reveals, yesterday evening involved three boroughs and peeks into this city's tradition of extremes. I met my friend near Penn Station and from there we travelled up into the Bronx to attend a protest organised by Picture the Homeless, an advocacy organisation founded and staffed by homeless people. (Read about their history here and check out their blog here).

The weather involved a rather unpleasant combination of sleet, snow, rain, and cold, so we did not expect a huge crowd. And at first, we couldn't find it and almost turned around to go home, especially as many people around seemed unclear about the location of the street we were looking for. It was dark and the ground was soggy -- in stark contrast to Manhattan and Brooklyn, the ground had not been salted or cleared of snow here.

Finally though, when my right boot had shown its complete disdain for the descriptor "waterproof" and my toes were swimming in frigid water, we saw about 15 people huddled under some scaffolding. We trotted over and after a few minutes were warmly greeted and after another few minutes given some much needed hot chocolate.

"So what organisation you from."
"Oh, er, none, we just came."
"You just came? Damn. We need more citizens like you."

And another conversation...."Say, who these white girls?" This is a white preacher laughingly saying this. I tell her I am just in New York for a few days, at the start of my vacation.

"This is how you spend your vacation? You know I know some really great psychiatrists."

Ok, so maybe it's not your traditional first-night-in-New-York kind of activity, but I wish they had not been so shocked that people would turn up for a vigil just cuz -- just because they think homelessness is an issue that should be thought about more by people who have warm places to go at night and policymakers who design the rules that say who does and does not get to have a bed or a home and who does and does not get to keep their children.

After a short vigil, we held a press conference attended by an independent Bronx TV station. A series of speakers took the mic -- the preacher that had led the vigil, a local councilwoman (whose district by the way stretches from East Harlem as well), and a representative of Picture the Homeless. Then several people gave testimonials about their experience with the latest New York housing and shelter rules. The first couple spoke about having their daughter taken away from them. I could not hear them very well as I was at the back of the crowd and the wind and people's chatter took the words away from my ears. But I did see the father, after speaking, push through the crowd to escape, to get some air. He was angry and the night air clung around him, oblivious.

The mother continued to speak, explaining. The kind of tired firm eyes that bear the mark of a sad story and the courage to tell it until something changes.

There was another family. The mother was terrified at first to go on camera. She thought they would never give her shelter if she went on camera -- was it really safe? Others there encouraged her, told her in the past going on camera and telling a story that can be checked out has often resulted in a faster result. She agrees as others affirm that if we don't all stand up for our rights, they will never arrive......

The last speakers I saw were two young teenagers describing their months in the housing system which meant separation from their families, time out of school, hungry nights, and general disrespect. I was really impressed with their eloquence -- the first girl in particular was so articulate, so firm, but yet so calm as well.

After my candle had burnt down to a waxy mess, someone pushed a warm bowl of soup into my hands, which I gratefully accepted. My friend and I then started the soggy trudge back to the subway station.

There are around 36,000 people in the New York shelter system. No one knows how many more are on the street.

We took the subway to the Village, where the streets were clear of snow. There after a swift stop a burger joint, we checked out the film Across the Universe, a crazy musical about the 1960s built around Beatles songs and the iconic transformations of those years. I would recommend seeing it -- it is over the top but a lot of fun too. The main drawback is that it does not explore enough of the characters in depth, focusing on lives of a young Liverpudlian steelworker and a white American brother and sister from a very rich family. Frustratingly, there are tantalizing hints at the stories of others revealing more neglected dimensions of the period's social conflict and defiant creativity. All the same, the film is worth seeing for its psychedelic weaving of love stories, scenes of hilarity, and piercing shots of war, oppression, and bitterness.

Following the film, we took a subway home to Brooklyn. After a last brownie, I fell into bed. Warm blankets are so wonderful after a slushy walk in the cold. A friend's home is so welcome in this vast city...

Are you serious?! On 'Unclaimed' Democratic Rights

The following quote is from Michael Bratton and Carolyn Logan's paper, "VOTERS BUT NOT YET CITIZENS: THE WEAK DEMAND FOR VERTICAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN AFRICA’S UNCLAIMED DEMOCRACIES", Afrobarometer Working Paper No. 63, September 2006. Available at http://www.afrobarometer.org/conference.html.

I'm interested in what you think.

"Are African regimes therefore best regarded as being delegative democracies? Not necessarily. The term 'delegative' suggests a degree of agency on the part of individual members of society that may be misleading. Coming out from under the shadow of authoritarian pasts, Africans may not so much be intentionally delegating power to their governments, as failing to claim it from them. Whether unwilling, unable, or simply unaware, many Africans have hesitated to take advantage of the rights and opportunities – along with accompanying responsibilities – that are meant to be theirs in a liberalized political world. They have not yet made a personal transition from mere voters into fully engaged citizens. Thus, to the extent that democracy is supposed to mean 'power to the people' and not just 'a vote to the people,' democracy in Africa remains largely unclaimed. " (17)

Let's start with the statement in the middle of the paragraph: "Africans may not so much be intentionally delegating power to their governments, as failing to claim it from them." Both parts of the sentence (which use the verbs delegating and claiming) involve the idea that power can be held and passed from 'the government' to 'the people' or vice versa. To discuss power as a 'good' that can be handed around, like Tolkien's ring, seems to me to be rather weak conceptually speaking. Power is about relationships between actors. The very existence of a government and 'the people' implies that there is a specific power arrangement already at play, one that has been produced and reproduced over time -- one that has determined who in society makes the rules for others and who has access to various resources. That is what government refers to -- those that rule, that have authority over others. It does not make sense to say in this context that power can simply be shifted from the rulers to the ruled without changing the configurations that make up the power structures of the state.

Which begs the question -- what do the power structures of the state look like? This question unfortunately seems to be bypassed in much of the literature associated with the idea of the "Third Wave" of democratisation that apparently reached Africa in the 1990s. Posner and Young (2007) recently voiced related concerns: "In the past 20 years, there has been much debate about whether various African regimes should properly be viewed as 'pseudodemocracies', 'facade democracies', 'hybrid democracies', or in terms of some label that connotes democratic imperfection. Such efforts, we believe, risk diverting attention from the more basic issue of whether or not the behavior of political actors is constrained and, if so, whether by rules or violence or the threat of violence." Their analysis echoes a similar comment made by Joseph (1998)**: "...scholars should actively analyse and criticize configurations of power that involve the adoption and distortion of democratic institutions, rather than simply recommend policy adjustments based on their acceptance." Bratton and Logan would do well to consider these points.

Indeed, if people do not seem to have the rights and opportunities that "are meant to be theirs" in an idealised state (say similar to Dahl's polyarchy), it might be that the reasons lie in the configurations of the relationships of power that characterise their political regime. It might be that the "liberalized political world" that Bratton and Logan mention is not actually a reality (shock horror!).

As a result, I find the conclusions concerning 'unclaimed' rights and power somewhat misleading and rather disconcerting. I understand that the Afrobarometer data might not be able to take the paper much further than ascertaining that there appears to be a low demand for vertical accountability, but it might be better to end the paper with a question about why people's views seem to suggest this -- rather than jumping to a claim that Africans have yet to make that personal transition to fully engaged citizens...(which obviously people in other democracies around the world have all done...hmmm).

Instead in the paper we get another question (which I still cannot believe is in the paper): "Can Africans be helped to become rights-demanding citizens?" (17)

Though you'll be relieved to hear that they do conclude that it is up to citizens to seize their rights and the power of external agencies is limited...in case that's what you were worried about.

I don't understand how this stuff gets to be seen as authoritative work and makes it onto reading lists -- unless it's to raise the ire of hapless students. I think it's poor and condescending social science. But then maybe I am missing something...

References:
*Posner, D. and D. Young, "The Institutionalization of Political Power in Africa", Journal of Democracy 18(3), July 2007, pp 126-140.
**Joseph, R., "Africa, 1990-1997: From Abertura to Closure", Journal of Democracy 9(2), April 1998, pp. 3-17.

Amnesty ad in NY Times today...

from: http://www.amnestyusa.org/i/LadyJustice.gif?tr=y&auid=3222412.

From Amnesty International USA:

What's so important about today?

The Supreme Court will hear Bush administration lawyers attempt to defend the indefensible: that the President can hold people indefinitely, without charge and without question. With fundamental human rights principles on the line let's hope the Supreme Court rejects this lawlessness and demands an end to the injustice that flows from it.

A thousand miles from the Supreme Court steps, Amnesty International will be observing another crucial hearing today. This one will take place at Guantánamo Bay and while it will get less press attention, it is no less important.

While the Supreme Court considers whether or not Congress improperly took away the writ of habeas corpus from detainees in Guantánamo, a hearing will be convened to determine whether or not Salim Ahmed Hamdan is an "unlawful enemy combatant" and subject to trial by military commission. Under the Military Commissions Act, "unlawful enemy combatants" cannot challenge the evidence brought before them or object to being convicted on evidence obtained through brutal means.

The two hearings are not unrelated.

Both challenge the administration's attacks on our system of justice. Both challenge the assertion that fear, not freedom, guides our country. But even more important, both hearings present a clear opportunity to move our nation back on track -- to a place of respect for truth, justice and liberty. As four Supreme Court Justices put it, "[I]if this Nation is to remain true to the ideals symbolized by its flag, it must not wield the tools of tyrants even to resist an assault by the forces of tyranny."

home on the road

Yes it's calling...when this place starts to feel small, the road calls.

You know that scene in Wind in the Willows when Ratty and Mole are travelling back to the River Bank, back to Ratty's home? It's Christmas time and through the windows you can see the little lights on fir trees -- and other glimmers of gathering and feasting.

Mole is walking and suddenly smells home. A sharp pang of yearning to return to his long lost humble abode. But the wind is strong, and he can't shout loudly enough for Ratty to hear him. He has to tear himself away and keep on walking...

The road calls like that sometimes too though. Where have you been? Have you forgotten me? When did you last trace a line with your footprints, instead of travelling in interminable circles? Come, let's dance for a while. Let's peek through the windows at the lights and then keep on going, delighting in the stars and being awake when the dew falls.

A frosty road is calling....

3am. Toast. and Tea.

3am. Tea. In the kitchen.
Dispense with washing. Just dump some hot water in.
Swirl, tip, shake.
Teabag, water, milk.
Two cups.

He comes in. Also tea. Also dispenses with washing.
Asks me why I was annoyed.
I'm over it.
But tell me, why?
I said I am over it.
Ok. But I do want to know.

Fine. I'll tell you the story.
But I warn you, I was over it.
People. Not. Thinking.
About. The. Effects.
Of their institutional embraces.

Of their hierarchies of power.
Endorsements of hatred.
Protests too late.
Add to the fire.

There's no turning back the clock.
It's done.
It's happened.
And it's there.

That's why.

But wait.
I don't understand.
Why were you upset.

I told you.
I am over it.
Though now it is coming back.
At 3am.
And this was supposed to be a quiet cup of tea.
A quiet cup of tea. Or two.
And toast.

I want to concentrate on the toast.
But what about immigration.
Immigration.
At 3am.
With toast.

Only here.
Only here would this happen.
Put down my toast.
The end was soggy anyway.
Immigration.
News. Panic. Rash. Hatred.
Too much for 3am.

So now.
Toast eaten.
Tea drunk.
Words spent.

What. A. Morning.
Time to switch time zones.
It's 10pm.
Nice.

Great Man

"Tutu chides Church stance on gays"

Sunday, 18 November
(From the full BBC News article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7100295.stm)

"South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality."

"Archbishop Tutu referred to the debate about whether Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, could serve as the bishop of New Hampshire.

He said the Anglican Church had seemed 'extraordinarily homophobic' in its handling of the issue, and that he had felt 'saddened' and 'ashamed' of his church at the time.

Asked if he still felt ashamed, he said: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.

'If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God.'"

The more this man says, the more my respect deepens. Finally someone being sensible, practical, and aware on this issue. Sorry to be blunt, but most other opinion leaders in the Anglican Church need to get a grip.