Publications

Informality in international judicial selection practices has been acknowledged but rarely systematically researched. Described as “design innovations” that are hard to grasp, national judicial appointments to international courts (ICs), even in the most established democracies, are permeated by opacity and secretiveness that remains puzzling to researchers and the legal complex alike. This article presents evidence from three African sub-regional courts to reify the informal dimension of international judicial appointments. Drawing on qualitative research that employs two country case studies, Uganda and Malawi, we demonstrate how the particularly thin formal selection rules leave much leverage to informalities at various levels of governance. Through interviews and judicial biographical data, we reconstruct judicial appointment practices and their dynamics to account for relevant informalities and relations that shed light on the selection of judges to ICs. We argue that appointment practices are less ad hoc or arbitrary than they often appear but mirror the states’ commitment to regional integration, political assessment of the respective regional organisation, and perceptions of the courts’ relevance and ambitions in relation to the political appointers and selectors. Moreover, we raise new concerns about the risk of more silent and subtle backlash against bold regional courts.

Recent scholarship on judicial politics has highlighted the relevance of informal judicial networks and relations as a prerequisite for protecting judicial autonomy and independence. Relational dynamics unravel the concealed but salient ties and entanglements that inform, steer and shape the nature of judicial-executive relations. Our paper keeps in conversation with this strand of research and asks whether and how informalities feature in and influence judicial appointments to African Regional Economic Community (REC) courts. To conceptualise the governance and patterns of judicial appointments, we use an originally compiled dataset comprising all 105 judges who serve(d) on the four operational African Union sanctioned REC courts. We also draw on interview material to divulge the informal dimension of the appointment processes whilst accounting for their variations across regime types. We show that the formal selection rules are particularly thin, leaving much leverage to informal processes at various levels of governance. We, therefore, argue that appointments tell us at least part of the informal selection story from two angles: the merits, ties and efforts that enhance the chances of individuals getting selected, as well as the appointers’ strategies and criteria for selecting specific individuals from a larger pool of candidates.

Recently, there have been significant efforts in the integration of in-situ and satellite observations for effective monitoring of coastal areas (e.g., the Copernicus program of the European Space Agency). In this study, a 15-year diurnal variation of Water Constituent Concentrations (WCCs) was retrieved from multi-sensor satellite images and in-situ hyperspectral measurements using Radiative Transfer (RT) modeling in the Dutch Wadden Sea. The existing RT model 2SeaColor was inverted against time series of in-situ hyperspectral measurements of water leaving reflectances (Rrs [sr−1]) for the simultaneous retrieval of WCCs (i.e., Chlorophyll-a (Chla), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)) on a daily basis between 2003 and 2018 at the NIOZ jetty station (the NJS) located in the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea. At the same time, the existing coupled atmosphere-hydro-optical RT model MOD2SEA was used for the simultaneous retrieval of WCCs from time series of multi-sensor satellite images of the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) onboard ENVISAT, Multispectral Instrument (MSI) onboard Sentinel-2 and Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) onboard Sentinel-3 between 2003 and 2018 over the Dutch Wadden Sea. At the NJS, a direct comparison (Taylor diagram and statistical analysis) showed strong agreement between in-situ and satellite-derived WCC values (Chla: R2 ≥ 0.70, RMSE ≤7.5 [mg m−3]; SPM: R2 ≥ 0.72, RMSE ≤5.5 [g m−3]; CDOM absorption at 440 nm: R2 ≥ 0.67, RMSE ≤1.7 [m−1]). Next, the plausibility of the spatial variation of retrieved WCCs over the study area was evaluated by generating maps of Chla [mg m−3], SPM [g m−3], and CDOM absorption at 440 nm [m−1] from MERIS and OLCI images using the MOD2SEA model. The integration of the spatio-temporal WCC data obtained from in-situ measurements and satellite images in this study finds applications for the detection of anomaly events and serves as a warning for management actions in the complex coastal waters of the Wadden Sea

En el mundo contemporáneo, marcado cada vez más por desigualdades, confinamientos y restricciones de movilidad, nos insta analizar fenómenos relacionados con las fronteras, sean políticas, geográficas, simbólicas, sociales, psicológicas o virtuales, que controlan cuerpos y regulan vidas. Dichos fenómenos se encuentran presentes en las fronteras internas y externas de muchos países latinoamericanos. En esta ponencia nos referiremos a situar algunos proyectos que se nutren y retroalimentan de diversos discursos, acciones y posibilidades simbólicas, en zonas intersticiales (de espacio y tiempo) caracterizadas por oposiciones antonímicas, como centro/periferia, superioridad/inferioridad o riqueza/pobreza. Estos proyectos se nombran como arte de frontera, comprendiendo como tal, aquél que procura reconocer y replantear cualquier tipo de límite. Se realiza por artistas que enfocan su interés en espacios impregnados de violencia, incomprensión, conflictos, diferencias, resentimientos y malentendidos. Para analizar este acontecer seleccionamos las fronteras nacionales e intraurbanas pertenecientes a las ciudades de Tijuana (México) y Salvador de Bahía (Brasil). Citaremos artivistas que están atentos a los acontecimientos (políticos, territoriales, sociales, culturales, etc.) y comprometidos en evidenciar una visión crítica de las fronteras. Argumentamos que el arte bajo este enfoque, cuestiona circunstancial y performáticamente los bordes visibles e invisibles, para crear intersticios que generen irrupciones, debates y oportunidades. Este debate va adquiriendo importancia y nuevas dimensiones ante la actual crisis global, ya que la pandemia produce impactos diferenciados, que agudizan las desigualdades estructurales y restringen las movilidades en el espacio público. Por lo tanto percibimos que nos encontramos inmersas en nuevos límites, donde el arte de frontera puede coadyuvar a crear intersticios que engendren estrategias de resistencia, subversión e insurrección creativa.

Despite tremendous strides in the legal and institutional protection of human rights in Africa, which has seen the African Union champion the ever-growing framework of treaties and institutions dedicated to human rights protection, many African citizens still suffer the yoke of human rights abuses. In some cases, their situations seem worse than they were before the advent of widespread constitutional protection. Despite the establishment of these extensive legal frameworks, why do human rights violations still persist on a large scale? The chapters in this book address this core question by focusing on three intractable problems of human rights, which are defined by the seeming impossibility of resolving them.

Human Trafficking is one of the most relevant forms of human rights abuse and has its effects on the African continent in several ways. Overseas transit metropoles, slums, and big port cities, as well as rural areas that are hardly accessible for human rights defenders, are the scenes of action for forced prostitution, exploitative child labor, and forced recruitment of young children to non-state armed groups. Nigeria is just one prominent example with an estimated 750,000 to 1 million people forced into begging, prostitution, domestic servitude, armed conflict and labour exploitation.1 Despite existing international agreements to tackle this issue, numerous legislations at domestic levels, and a broad number of aid projects in this area, there are still notable deficits in the prevention and prosecution of human trafficking. These deficits result from insufficient involvement of communities that are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking in creating strategies to combat this issue, bureaucratic hurdles, and insufficient collaborations between state institutions and civil society organizations.2 This collection of essays gives a voice to upcoming African researchers, who portray systemic failures as well as potential solution approaches. Including African voices has two benefits here: On the one hand, it ensures epistemic justice. On the other hand, through this combination of theoretical and practical approaches, these essays better reflect on-ground realities. The collection at hand comprises five excellent essays submitted in response to the essay writing competition 'Your Voice in Tackling Human Trafficking in Africa.' The competition was organized and advertised by the Chair of African Legal Studies at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, a leading institution in the field, and funded by the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence. The competition addressed students, civil society actors, activists, and young researchers from the African Union's member states. The goal was to provide young people from the continent, whose voices are underrepresented in the global discourse on human trafficking, with the opportunity to share their perspectives. Due to their originality, the selected contributions can all enrich the discourse on African human trafficking.

Introducing the special issue on the memorialization of camps in Africa and beyond, this text discusses key questions of memory studies and the global history of encampment. Whatever their purpose, all camps are meant to be exceptional, transitory and temporary. Camps are often connected to contested histories and memorialization efforts by former inmates or others can lead to controversies and struggles over its interpretation. Building on a range of empirical examples from Africa and beyond, dealing with camps ranging from the most coercive to the benevolent and from the beginning of the twentieth century until today, this special issue invites a comparative, globally entangled and actor-centred view on camp memorialization.

We examine the effect of rising temperatures on regional economic development, using annual sub-national data for over 1500 regions in 152 countries between 1990 and 2017. In a panel setting with region- and country-year fixed effects, we find no evidence of a homogeneous or heterogeneous effect of rising temperatures on economic development as measured by regional per capita income. Additionally, we find no non-linear relationship between temperature and economic development. We also employ a long-difference approach that is attuned to exploring the long-run relationship between rising temperatures and regional income. Results indicate that rising temperatures have a negative long-run impact on regional per capita income for a minority of regions located in countries with weak economic, legal and political institutions. Furthermore, these vulnerable regions experience a decline in long-term population and human capital development. The use of alternative regional per capita GDP data from 1950 onwards yields similar empirical results. Our findings suggest that negative economic effects of temperature increase with time, only becoming apparent in the long run for regions in already disadvantaged countries. Thus, country-specific conditions may moderate regional economic vulnerability to future temperature increases due to global climate change.

Unser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über Themen der Kindheits- und Jugendforschung in Afrika. Im ausgehenden 20. und beginnenden 21. Jahrhundert wandeln sich gesellschaftliche, politische und ökonomische Verhältnisse und damit Aufwachsen, Erziehung und Bildung von Kindern. Trotz aller Vielfalt der Lebensverhältnisse in Afrika, zeigt sich, dass sich die Mehrheit der Jugendlichen derzeit in einer Phase der waithood befindet, in der sie hoffen, ihre Träume eines guten Lebens in einer weithin ungewissen Zukunft zu verwirklichen. Hierbei sind Kindheit und Jugend in Afrika in einem globalen Kontext zu verstehen.

This book emerges at a time when critical race studies, postcolonial thought, and decolonial theory are under enormous pressure as part of a global conservative backlash. However, this is also an exciting moment, where new horizons of knowledge appear and new epistemic practices (e.g. symmetry, collaboration, undisciplining) gain traction. Through our critical engagements with structural, relational, and personal aspects of knowing and unknowing we work towards a greater multiplicity of knowledges and practices. Calling into question the asymmetrical global economy of knowledge and its uneven division of intellectual labour, our interdisciplinary volume explores what a decolonial horizon could entail for African Studies at the crossroads.

Using letters exchanged between British colonial authorities and Chief Manga Williams of Bimbia, in the British Southern Cameroons, I seek to answer the following questions: What conceptualizations of age were adopted in these colonial letters? How did these differ in letters written by colonial administrators and colonized subjects – in this case Chief Williams? What repertoires of knowledges drove their production, rejection and perhaps co-construction?

Cet article adopte une perspective subalterne pour analyser les enjeux socio-économiques du projet de construction du plus long oléoduc d’Afrique reliant le Niger au Bénin. L’approche met l’accent sur la manière dont les populations locales du nord du Bénin perçoivent ce projet, un aspect souvent négligé dans les discours conventionnels, tout en tenant compte des enjeux socio-économiques associés. La réalisation du projet, confiée à la West African Oil Pipeline Company - Bénin (WAPCO-Bénin), filiale de la China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), est financée à hauteur de 45 milliards d’euros. L’article s’appuie sur une ethnographie multisite collectant des récits et des discours des communautés locales, révélant une diversité de points de vue allant de l’enthousiasme pour les opportunités économiques à des préoccupations concernant les pertes de terres agricoles et les impacts environnementaux. La construction de l’oléoduc a généré des retombées économiques positives, telles que la création d’emplois et des compensations financières. Cependant, des tensions subsistent en raison d’une communication insuffisante et tardive des autorités, ainsi que des contestations sur les modalités de compensation et de participation des populations locales dans le processus décisionnel. En privilégiant une analyse « par le bas », l’article apporte une contribution significative à la compréhension des dynamiques locales, soulignant l’importance d’une gouvernance transparente et participative pour assurer l’acceptabilité sociale et le succès des projets d’infrastructure en intégrant pleinement les communautés locales.

San Basilio de Palenque constitue un symbole historique et culturel fondamental en ce qui concerne la politique de l’identité et de l’héritage africain en Colombie. Fondée vers la fin du 17e siècle par les esclavisés africains suite à leur libération et reconnue en 2008 par l’UNESCO comme héritage oral et intangible de l’humanité, cette communauté des marrons a acquis une notoriété iconique comme sauvegarde de la culture « africaine » en Colombie, basée sur un discours qui la classifie comme un espace exceptionnel et particulier dans le paysage afrodescendant des Caraïbes hispanophones en général. Néanmoins, malgré son positionnement comme un lieu de continuité, de perpétuité et de ré-existence (Albán Achinte 2009) des valeurs et cultures africaines à travers le temps et l’espace, Palenque peut être perçu comme un espace mis en marge par le statut de Cartagena comme patrimoine de l’humanité de l’UNESCO avec laquelle il entretient une relation historique bien complexe. Le manque des ressources à Palenque a cependant donné lieu à une culture d’inventivité au quotidien et de l’auto-présentation tactique, qui visent à assurer la survivance des connections touristiques et la préservation de la culture africaine dans les domaines de la musique, spiritualité, historiographie, méthodes de guérison et d’autres aspects de la culture orale. Notre contribution examine les usages créatifs de l’espace et du temps à travers les concepts du musée vernaculaire (Mikula 2016) et de tactique (de Certeau 1980), analysant les différentes mesures de préservation de l’héritage culturel de Palenque dans le contexte de l’invisibilisation généralisée des peuples afrodescendants ainsi que la position de Palenque dans l’ombre de l’industrie imposante de la patrimonialisation de Cartagena qui exploite en même temps qu’elle éclipse la mémoire de l’esclavage. Dans une autre dimension, l’article analyse la relationalité particulière de Palenque avec ses diasporas, les autres communautés afrodescendants en Colombie et avec « l’Afrique » pour mettre en exergue la construction et l’entretien de son image à la fois comme un espace mythique des traces originelles d’Afrique en Amérique et une collectivité imaginée (Anderson 1983) dynamique. Dans cette optique, nous abordons aussi la question des traces de l’africanité (« huellas de africanía ») dans la poétique et la politique de l’héritage et le processus de (ré)signification qu’elle occasionne dans le contexte de Palenque. Eu égard aux transformations qu’ont subi les cultures africaines dans la diaspora, la contribution évalue dans quelle mesure les discours qui sous-tendent les traces culturelles sont déterminées respectivement et de manière interchangeable par les données historiques, l’ingéniosité dictée par des intérêts touristiques, les attentes situationnelles ainsi que la politique des gestes symboliques pratiquées à la fois par le gouvernement central et les différents groupes d’activistes.