Essa viagem textual nos leva por caminhos de transformação corporal-emocional-espiritual que abrem horizontes para a imaginação criativa de artistas afrodescendentes da Colômbia e do Brasil. Por via de uma sinergia de meios artísticos como poesia, documentário, memórias, performances coreográficas e musicais, o/a leitor/a-espectador/a-ouvinte acompanha os movimentos dos corpos, as lembranças, os sonhos e as ilusões das pessoas enquanto elas meandram por territórios geográficos complexos onde enfrentam novas correntes, ganham impulso, ocasionalmente são ameaçadas de dissolver-se indefinidamente, apenas para ressurgir, adquirir novas tonalidades e florescer. A coleção é produto de uma pesquisa-ação participativa que explora e experimenta modos de cocriação de conhecimentos, refletindo sobre a (re-)existência individual e coletiva por meio de práticas artísticas em comunidades periferizadas.

In large collaborative, transdisciplinary and potentially geographically distributed research projects, joint data management enables not only the collection of research artifacts; it also fosters discovery and generation of new knowledge in the form of previously invisible interconnections between data. At the same time, a successful system for Research Data Management (RDM) offers immediate benefits to individual researchers: it helps save time finding, sharing, or editing relevant data objects, and can help prevent data loss through centralized backups. Following generations of researchers might benefit from a smartly maintained data collection. Furthermore, funding bodies increasingly require a concept for RDM as part of a grant proposal. As such, a resilient concept for RDM should be considered part of good scientific practice. With these aspects in mind, we present the Digital Research Environment at the Cluster of Excellence Africa Multiple and outline how it can foster best practices for data collection and discovery. Specifically, we introduce WissKI (Wissenschaftliche Kommunikationsinfrastruktur, “scientific communicationinfrastructure”), the system where research data is collected and new interconnections between data items can be determined programmatically.

More explicitly than in most other countries, the case of Colombia reveals that for members of minoritised groups such as Afrodescendant and indigenous communities, transculturality can be both a mobilising vision of hope and resistance, and a traumatising experience of colonisation and marginalisation. Against this backdrop, our chapter focuses on self-writing as a means of exploring the historical and ethical preconditions for a jointly envisioned transculturality, which are often overlooked in neoliberal discourses of a globalised world. Based on ethnographic experiences and self-writing research from Colombia, we examine how memory, corporality and territoriality constitute avenues of transcultural imagination. We argue that transculturality needs to be rooted in a critical consciousness of historical processes of colonisation, collective trauma and persistently unequal power relations. For peoples of formerly colonised spaces, rewriting the self is a matter of urgency and agency. It is the basis for the (re)negotiation of their existence, interaction and exchange with other cultures.

The leftist traces of Thomas Sankara, Africa’s Che, in Burkina Faso and beyond is undeniable. The recent insurgency that overthrew Blaise Compaoré and his long-standing government framed itself as a second revolution, referring extensively to Sankara, whose image proved to mobilize many young protesters. Political parties that identify as Sankarist have opposed Compaoré over decades and managed not to fade away despite the increasing temporal distance from the first revolution led by Sankara between 1983 and 1987. This contribution argues that Sankarism survived in Burkina Faso’s party system because partial political liberalization allowed Sankarist politicians to compete against Compaoré, and because Sankarism adapted to a changing institutional environment and turned away from socialism to become social democratic by trend. In other words, contingently emerging pockets of liberal democracy have let Sankarism survive.

Abstract This paper analyses the differential effect of trade agreements on income per capita of subnational regions with international borders. We construct an extensive panel dataset covering 1350 regions in 86 countries worldwide between 1950 and 2017. Our results show that trade agreements are positively associated with income per capita of regions sharing contiguous borders with trading partners, relative to regions sharing borders with countries with whom no trade agreements exist. For border regions, the positive relationship of trade agreements and regional income roughly compensates potential income disadvantages of having international borders. These insights help in explaining and mitigating regional inequalities.

After two years of virtual collaboration on questions of the African diasporas, three Latin American research partners of the Cluster project Moral Geographies of Re-Existence visited Bayreuth in 2021: Rigoberto Banguero Velasco, Laís Machado, and Diego Araúja. Their guest stays set the project’s transdisciplinary knowledge production afloat.

In the last two decades, Turkish Islamic movements have extended their influence to Niger, a predominantly Muslim state. Diverse Turkish Islamic movements, such as the Nur Cemaati, Süleymancı Cemaati, and Erenköy Cemaati, are actively engaging in Islamic education through Qur'anic schools and education centers in Niger. This paper, specifically, delves into the activities of the Hayrat Vakfi (Hayrat Foundation), a branch of the Nur Cemaati (Nur movement). The central thesis of this paper asserts that the presence of Turkish Islamic actors has initiated a "silent transformation" within Niger's Islamic landscape. To comprehend this phenomenon, the paper addresses three key inquiries: (a) The internal socio-political and economic dynamics of Turkey that drove Turkish Islamic movements toward internationalization, (b) The expansion strategies employed by Hayrat Vakfi for the dissemination of its Islamic teachings, and (c) The implications of its presence in the transformation of Niger's Islamic landscape. Methodologically, this research employs a single case study approach with ethnographic and historical analysis. Existing scholarship on Turkish actors in Africa has predominantly focused on topics such as humanitarian aid, trade, and diplomacy. Therefore, this study aims to expand the scope of scholarly exploration to encompass other dimensions of Turkish presence in the African continent.

This paper presents the first results of a research project that focuses on the moral dimension of health discourse. With the emergence of Covid-19 in early 2020, we focused on the communication accompanying the evolution of the pandemic in two French-speaking African countries: Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire. Based on data consisting of interviews, focus group discussions and media discourses collected on site between May and November 2020, our article studies the imaginary of the new disease from its discursive construction. It is based on the hypothesis that, firstly, the discourse on Covid-19 is grafted onto an imaginary that already exists in the collective consciousness by reactivating elements of a previous epi- or pandemic discourse and, secondly, that this discourse has a strong moral content. We focused on the issue of vaccines, which were still in the development phase at the time, as they were at the centre of many controversies and often provoked highly moral reactions. Using a pragmatic-discursive approach that employs qualitative analyses, we examined how Ivorians and Cameroonians position themselves in relation to what is right and wrong and how they make moral judgements about the actions and behaviour of others. This pilot study shows that the discursive practices observed in the different formats collected in the two countries are very similar. Moreover, the cross-sectional views on Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon, as well as the comparison with other pandemic discourses, enhance both a relational and multiple perspective while contributing to the question of how Africa lives and perceives this health crisis triggered by the outbreak of the coronavirus.

We live in technology-driven societies, especially shaped by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The performance of AI models depends heavily on data quality—particularly the issue of data bias. Among the many sources of bias, one critical yet often overlooked type is silent data. This typically originates fromo rganizations with low digital maturity, which face challenges in effectively utilizing their data for operations and decision-making. These difficulties begin at the foundational level—data collection and data quality maintenance—hindering their ability to achieve strategic goals. In this work, we proposed comprehensive protocols for the management of the research projects and related administrative operations with a focus on data collection into two databases and on enhancing data quality. We also developed a strategy of maintaining data quality with limited resources, addressing the challenges posed by diverse and scattered data sources.

Refugee-receiving states do not live up to the universalist ideals of international refugee legislation but are selective and discriminatory. The case of Poland’s acceptance of Ukrainians while simultaneously building a border wall to keep out non-Ukrainians is an obvious case. Based on historical research on the British Empire’s policies towards European refugees, this article looks into a comparable moment when governments made an exception to their established anti-refugee policy and accepted certain groups of refugees. The British colonial administration in East Africa rejected Jewish refugees but accepted a specific group of Poles during the Second World War. This exception under war conditions was legitimized with an emphasis on the group’s gender, race, and connection to the co-belligerent Polish army. They were the white women and children of the Polish male soldiers fighting with the British against the Axis. The recent welcome for Ukrainian refugees in Poland followed similar lines of argumentation.

Amidst economic challenges and soaring unemployment rates in Kenya, a significant number of young individuals have turned to migration in pursuit of temporary employment opportunities in Middle Eastern countries such as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan. Facilitated by employment agents who broker deals with Gulf-based employers, many of these migrants, predominantly comprising women, undergo brief, clandestine training periods in secluded Kenyan locations before assuming roles as domestic workers in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia has emerged as a primary destination for Kenyan women seeking domestic employment within the region. However, this trend has brought attention to the prevalent issues of abuse and dehumanizing treatment faced by foreign workers in the Kingdom. This paper delves into the journey of Kenyan women transitioning to employment in Saudi Arabia, documenting their work experiences, prevailing conditions, and the endurance of these slave-like circumstances. Emphasis is placed on the plight of Kenyan women engaged in domestic labor within Saudi Arabia. Employing a descriptive research design, this paper scrutinizes the exploitation of Kenyan women in the Gulf, utilizing firsthand accounts from returned victims of labor exploitation alongside secondary sources such as books, articles, newspapers, and video interpretations. The study contends that the ordeals faced by Kenyan women in Saudi Arabia constitute a violation of their freedom from exploitation. Using the globalization theory, dependency theory, and neo-Marxist perspectives, the article posits that the kafala system, coupled with the failure of both Kenyan and Saudi Arabian governments to safeguard these migrant domestic workers, perpetuates this form of modern labor exploitation. Moreover, ineffective bilateral labor agreements between Kenya and Saudi Arabia exacerbate the situation. To combat this egregious exploitation, the paper recommends fostering a cohesive partnership between the Kenyan government, recruitment agencies, and Gulf-based embassies. This alliance aims to proactively address and eliminate the systemic factors contributing to the perpetuation of exploitation experienced by Kenyan women in Saudi Arabia.

La présente étude est dédiée à un aspect spécifique de la variation pragmatique: le marquage évidentiel en français camerounais. Basée sur des interviews conduites pendant la pandémie de Covid19, elle s’intéresse au balisage de rumeurs et aux pratiques épistémiques qui les accompagnent. D’un point de vue linguistique, les rumeurs que l’on peut qualifier comme de courtes narrations aux contenus controversés et non légitimés par les instances officielles, ont un double visage: s’y amalgament information incertaine et reprise de paroles d’autrui à l’origine obscure. Alors que la source inconnue est fréquemment signalée à l’aide d’un marquage évidentiel, le statut contesté de l’information engendre souvent des négociations épistémiques. Notre étude pilote est consacrée à une exploration de ces deux facettes de la rumeur. L’analyse empirique se focalise sur une forme régionale de français fortement influencée par les langues de contact présentes dans son milieu. Par ce fait, elle vise à contribuer à une meilleure connaissance de la variation diatopique du marquage évidentiel et, de manière globale, de l’épistémicité, encore peu étudiée jusqu’ici.

The article examines how communities in the tri-border region of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Benin manage security and cooperation after the weakening of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the rise of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Using interviews, observations, and social network analysis, the study reveals that, in the absence of strong state or regional authority, local actors—such as chiefs, market women, religious leaders, and youth groups—develop their hybrid systems for resolving disputes, ensuring security, and managing cross-border trade. While these informal and locally rooted arrangements often fill gaps left by formal institutions and can be effective and innovative, they also have serious limitations. They may exclude outsiders, reinforce old hierarchies, and sometimes escalate tensions or insecurity. Digital tools like WhatsApp are increasingly important, but access is unequal. The article argues that real regional integration and security depend on recognizing and supporting these local practices, while also addressing their shortcomings and not just relying on top-down solutions from organizations like ECOWAS. The experience of these borderlands challenges traditional ideas about borders and governance, showing that both resilience and vulnerability coexist in complex ways.

Since the 1970s, “World Englishes” (WEs) has developed into an encompassing research field. Its main focus has been on categorizing, describing, and studying the English language as used in different parts of the world. Initially viewing the varieties as deviations from the so-called native standard English, the field has evolved significantly over the years and now considers all varieties of the language as outcomes of similar evolutionary processes, hence the egalitarian appellation “World Englishes.” Braj Kachru's Three Circles Model triggered a shift in research attention from the political and colonial perceptions of non-native Englishes to linguistic investigations of their emergence, evolution, and sociolinguistic features. This shift placed these new varieties, theoretically, on a similar level as the native varieties. Since then, feature analysis, processes of nativization, language attitudes, identity construction, and the functions and educational implications of English in the new locations have been the dominant lines of research. This overview discusses the asymmetrical dichotomies in earlier categorizations of English and the suitability of five recent theories in WEs research: Dynamic Model of Postcolonial English, Cognitive Contact Linguistics, Variational Pragmatics, Postcolonial Pragmatics, and Cultural Linguistics.

In the Middle Ages and early modernity, celestial observation was frequently a subject for verbal rather than numerical and geometrical recording. These records can now be difficult to decode, since what they address is frequently obscured by formal conventions of genre, imagery, rhetoric, prosody, to name but a few. The volume collects essays exploring such configurations between literature and observation from Europe to China. How, contributors ask, were verbal representations of celestial phenomena encoded and self-consciously placed vis-à-vis other systems of representation and knowledge? What kinds of data are represented, and what are the modes in which they are communicated? What interpretational problems arise when present-day disciplines like climatology, meteorology, geophysics, and astronomy, but also literary studies, try to access them? How were discourses on religion, law, anthropology, aesthetics, colonialism etc. linked, in and through their verbal presentation, with astronomical observation and knowledge? How did individual scholars, texts, and concepts travel between European and non-European cultures, both in space and in time, and which constructions of self and other arose in the process?

Cet article analyse le concept de " yaƙin ƙwaƙwalwai " en Hausa, que je traduis par " guerre des cerveaux ", qui a émergé de mes recherches sur les projets de transformation sociale que poursuit l'association islamique Ihyaous Sunnah au Niger. Ce concept englobe leurs luttes contre ce qu'ils perçoivent comme relevant de l'impérialisme moral occidental et les influences occidentales dans les domaines du savoir et de l'être au Niger. Dans cet article, je présente les différentes dimensions de cette "guerre des cerveaux" du point de vue du Conseil des Oulémas de l'association et je les analyse dans le contexte de la décolonialité. Je soutiens que leur discours peut être compris comme un positionnement décolonial enraciné dans les épistémologies religieuses et conçu comme une alternative aux manifestations de la colonialité que l'on trouve dans les formes modernes de pensée, de connaissance et d'action.

Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es, gestützt auf französischsprachige Daten aus Kamerun, epistemische Praktiken in ihrem pragmatisch-diskursiven Kontext zu untersuchen und dabei ein besonderes Augenmerk auf evidentielle Markierungen zu legen. Als Grundlage für die qualitativ ausgerichtete empirische Analyse dient der durch Covid-19 hervorgebrachte Seuchendiskurs, zu dem auch zahllose Gerüchte gehören. Diese lassen sich in einer ersten Annäherung als in der Regel kurze, vom Hörensagen bekannte (Proto-) Erzählungen definieren, deren Inhalte strittig bzw. offiziell nicht legitimiert sind. Solche Erzählungen werden meist mit evidentiellen Markierungen vom Typ on dit 'man sagt' oder les gens disent 'die Leute sagen' versehen, die sie als Wiedergabe fremder Rede von unklarer Herkunft und daher meist ungewisser Qualität ausweisen. Im Mittelpunkt meines Beitrags steht jedoch nicht die Frage, ob die als Gerücht gerahmten Inhalte tatsächlich wahr oder falsch sind. Vielmehr interessieren Gerüchte hier, weil sie in der Interaktion regelmäßig zu Aushandlungen führen, in deren Verlauf sich die Teilnehmer*innen mittels epistemischer Praktiken und Positionierungen über ihre Herkunft und Qualität verständigen. Im Fokus stehen zum einen verschiedene evidentielle Markierungen im Zusammenhang mit der Rahmung eines Narrativs als Gerücht. Zum anderen richtet sich der Blick auf die Bewertung der entsprechenden Inhalte und die darin zum Ausdruck kommende epistemische Haltung der Teilnehmer*innen.