Gado Alzouma
Phone: +2348107881591
Address: American University of Nigeria
School of Arts and Sciences
Lamido Zubairu Way, Yola By-Pass,
PBM 2250, Yola, Adama State, Nigeria
Address: American University of Nigeria
School of Arts and Sciences
Lamido Zubairu Way, Yola By-Pass,
PBM 2250, Yola, Adama State, Nigeria
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Papers by Gado Alzouma
In recent years, various authors have highlighted the role that unions have played in the democratization process in Niger Republic. However, in the overwhelming majority of the studies, the focus so far has been on what happened between the end of the 1980s and after 1990. The goal of this paper is to retrace the history of the Nigerien unions from the early years of their existence to date and to show that they draw their many successes and their strength from a long experience of “political unionism” and civil society interventionism which have prevailed over sheer corporatism. The paper argues that the unions’ struggles in Niger have never been separate from the political struggles. The political context, both under colonization and following independence has indeed heavily shaped and oriented most of organized labor protest movements.
smartphones, is being used by the members of a transnational Nigerien
family to communicate on a daily basis. In particular, it explores the
potentials of WhatsApp for sociability and the effects of WhatsApp on a
contemporary extended family’s ties in western Niger. In contrast with some earlier authors, who stressed the “transformative” or “deterministic” character of mobile phone technology, the paper argues that family groups of affiliation and intrafamilial forms of solidarity being created through exchanges using WhatsApp actually mirror preexisting conversation groups, support groups, and everyday manifestations of commitment and attachment to the family. From this perspective, WhatsApp plays an important role in the regeneration of the extended family. However, it is not replacing or serving as a substitute for the kin group in real life. The paper uses a Bourdieusian framework. As such it conceives of the family as an entity that, to perpetuate, needs to produce and reproduce a continuous set of social and symbolic bonds that hold the members together and distinguish them from others. The paper is based on semi-structured interviews carried out both face-to-face and by phone with 15 members of the WhatsApp extended family (named M.B. for anonymity convenience) in May and June of 2017. The paper is divided in three parts. The first part provides the background for the study population and presents the major social characteristics of the
population. The second part details why the members of the family group chose WhatsApp as a messaging service as well as what they use WhatsApp for, particularly when it comes to intrafamilial sociability. Finally, the third part discusses the paradoxical consequences derived from the use of WhatsApp.
This paper examines the place that science and technology occupy in today's black identity discourse as expressed online on the websites of the diaspora of African descent. Our main questions are the following: what are the tools and symbols associated with science and technology that are being used online to express black identity? What are the online representations of black scientists and black inventors? What are the representations associated with the scientific or technological achievements of black people and their relationship to black identity? The main argument is that science and technology are given meaning within the context and in opposition to a perceived ‘’white cultural hegemony’’ which is to be countered by an identity discourse that aims to show, not only the contributions of people of "African" or "black" descent to scientific and technological progress, but also to reintegrate them into the historically constituted scientific communities. This counter rhetoric is based on the supposed ability of the Internet to (re)negotiate the meanings associated with black identity. Theoretically, the paper takes place within the structuralist-constructivist framework designed by Bourdieu. It apprehends identity constructions as the result of symbolic struggles which the purpose is to impose a vision of social divisions. Methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative analysis of the design, the content, and the impact of a sample of black diasporic websites.
Keywords: science, technology, black identity, counter-discourse, websites, black transnational virtual communities.
In recent years, various authors have highlighted the role that unions have played in the democratization process in Niger Republic. However, in the overwhelming majority of the studies, the focus so far has been on what happened between the end of the 1980s and after 1990. The goal of this paper is to retrace the history of the Nigerien unions from the early years of their existence to date and to show that they draw their many successes and their strength from a long experience of “political unionism” and civil society interventionism which have prevailed over sheer corporatism. The paper argues that the unions’ struggles in Niger have never been separate from the political struggles. The political context, both under colonization and following independence has indeed heavily shaped and oriented most of organized labor protest movements.
smartphones, is being used by the members of a transnational Nigerien
family to communicate on a daily basis. In particular, it explores the
potentials of WhatsApp for sociability and the effects of WhatsApp on a
contemporary extended family’s ties in western Niger. In contrast with some earlier authors, who stressed the “transformative” or “deterministic” character of mobile phone technology, the paper argues that family groups of affiliation and intrafamilial forms of solidarity being created through exchanges using WhatsApp actually mirror preexisting conversation groups, support groups, and everyday manifestations of commitment and attachment to the family. From this perspective, WhatsApp plays an important role in the regeneration of the extended family. However, it is not replacing or serving as a substitute for the kin group in real life. The paper uses a Bourdieusian framework. As such it conceives of the family as an entity that, to perpetuate, needs to produce and reproduce a continuous set of social and symbolic bonds that hold the members together and distinguish them from others. The paper is based on semi-structured interviews carried out both face-to-face and by phone with 15 members of the WhatsApp extended family (named M.B. for anonymity convenience) in May and June of 2017. The paper is divided in three parts. The first part provides the background for the study population and presents the major social characteristics of the
population. The second part details why the members of the family group chose WhatsApp as a messaging service as well as what they use WhatsApp for, particularly when it comes to intrafamilial sociability. Finally, the third part discusses the paradoxical consequences derived from the use of WhatsApp.
This paper examines the place that science and technology occupy in today's black identity discourse as expressed online on the websites of the diaspora of African descent. Our main questions are the following: what are the tools and symbols associated with science and technology that are being used online to express black identity? What are the online representations of black scientists and black inventors? What are the representations associated with the scientific or technological achievements of black people and their relationship to black identity? The main argument is that science and technology are given meaning within the context and in opposition to a perceived ‘’white cultural hegemony’’ which is to be countered by an identity discourse that aims to show, not only the contributions of people of "African" or "black" descent to scientific and technological progress, but also to reintegrate them into the historically constituted scientific communities. This counter rhetoric is based on the supposed ability of the Internet to (re)negotiate the meanings associated with black identity. Theoretically, the paper takes place within the structuralist-constructivist framework designed by Bourdieu. It apprehends identity constructions as the result of symbolic struggles which the purpose is to impose a vision of social divisions. Methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative analysis of the design, the content, and the impact of a sample of black diasporic websites.
Keywords: science, technology, black identity, counter-discourse, websites, black transnational virtual communities.
imaginé qui influence les pratiques et les comportements et oriente le cours de l’histoire africaine. Nous nous efforcerons de montrer comment la croissance démographique, l’expansion des technologies de l’information et de la communication en Afrique et l’indigénisation de la maîtrise de la technologie au travers du développement des startups, engendrent des attentes de nature sotériologique liées à une vision du futur de l’Afrique bâtie autour de la technologie.
A noter que toutes que toutes les citations en anglais ont été traduites en français par l’auteur.
Mots-clés : Afrofuturisme ; Technologie ; Messianisme ; Futur ; Culture