Isaac Koomson

Researcher, University  of New England

Contact: ikoomso2@une.edu.au

Kotzé, Hennie, and Jo-Ansie Van Wyk. “Paradise or Parking Lots? A Comparison between the Attitudes of the South African Business Elite and the Rest of the Elite on Selected Environmental Issues.” Politikon 21, no. 2 (1994): 28–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589349408705007.

Corporate South Africa was characterised in the past by a technocratic ideology, namely, that technology and scientific know-how will offer solutions to any environmental problems which might arise. This "marketplace" mentality often brought it into conflict with the environmental movement. This research article examines the new awareness of the South African business elite toward selected environmental issues and compares this to the attitudes of the rest of the South African elite. Although the environment was largely overshadowed by the constitutional negotiations it will continue to remain the crucial issue of this decade as the degradation of the environment is an indication of both poverty and wealth. Environmental questions fall within the sphere of the influence and power which important decision-makers exercise. An investigation into the views of the South African business elite and opinion-leaders on these issues can also give us an idea of their priorities on development.

Source: Article's abstract

Kouvouama A, Burrell J. “Some New Religious Movements in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Diogenes. 1999;47(187): 62-70.doi:10.1177/039219219904718706

For some years now the proliferation of new religious movements in Africa and the search by individuals for new meanings in belief have held the interest of scholars of religion. But their interpretations of the significance of these ’religious flowerings’ raise a number of questions, in particular questions about the meaning and applicability of the word ’new’ in religion. Instead of taking it literally, we should understand this religious ’innovation’ on two planes of transaction with the sacred, the horizontal and the vertical. First, on the horizontal plane this religious innovation may be discerned in the ongoing adjustments made by traditional African religions as they encounter, whether peaceably or violently, religions originating in the West or Asia; the seen counters have given rise to neo-traditional and prophetic movements and to independent Churches. We shall touch later on the two-way borrowings and adaptations that have taken place in some prophetic religions as regards their organization, rites, liturgy and charismatic communication of religious truth. On the other hand, religious renewal is discernible in the adjustments and innovative processes of elaboration adopted by such ’travelling religions’ as Pentecostalism and Charismatic Renewal in relation to the basic process of making sense of the life of the individual and the community of the faithful.

(Source: Except from article).

Kristiansen, Stein, and Anne Ryen. “Enacting Their Business Environments: Asian Entrepreneurs in East Africa.” African and Asian Studies 1, no. 3 (2002): 165–86. https://doi.org/10.1163/15692090260234001.

The main objective of this paper is to contribute to explaining the outstanding business success among the Asian diaspora in East Africa as compared to the native African population. Taking an actor's point of view, the business context is analysed against a theoretical background of alien entrepreneurship and a presentation of the history of Asians in the region. A main argument is that the alien entrepreneurs are in a better position to enact their business context in a manner favourable for success, based on ethnic resources such as kinship, education and pride, mobility and communication and social networking. The main policy recommendations include mechanisms to improve information flows and networking capabilities of indigenous businesspeople.

Source: Article's abstract

Chiurai Kudzanai

Artist (Painting, print, photography)

‍www.kudzanaichiurai.com/

Kuehn, David and Yagil Levy, eds. Mobilizing Force: Linking Security Threats, Militarization, and Civilian Control. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2021.

What leads a democratic government to use military force to counter a domestic or external threat? How does it legitimize this mobilization to its citizenry? And what is the significance for civilian control of the military? The authors of Mobilizing Force draw on case studies from around the world to systematically examine these critical questions, exploring the interrelationships among security threats, the militarization of security policy, and democratic accountability.

Source: Book description by publisher

Kumalo, R. From Plough to Entrepreneurship: A History of African Entrepreneurs in Evaton 1905-1960s. 1st ed. Oxford: Langaa RPCIG, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1b7421j.

From Plough to Entrepreneurship is motivated largely by the fact that Africans were deprived of economic and political autonomy by white government in South Africa. This marginalisation lies in the complex and interconnected processes of displacement and dispossession by which Africans were first dispossessed of their own land; then deprived of independent productive opportunities. The increasing scarcity of land as scarce commodity and African land ownership in Evaton, best explains the history of African local economic independence. For the local residents, land possession in Evaton provided a space where a moral economy that fostered racial pride and solidarity was forged. This richly sourced monograph develops the logical explanation that sticks together all forces that constrained Africans to give up labour to an industrial economy in Evaton. It provides the reader and student of racialised inequalities in South Africa with an understanding steeped in historical ethnography on how local Africans struggled for economic independence, and how whatever independence their struggles yielded, changed over time in Evaton.

Source: book description by publisher

Edward Kutsoati

Associate Professor - Economics, Tufts University

Email: edward.kutsoati@tufts.edu

‍