M.A. Salih - Böcker

This work explores the intricate relationship between liberation movements and environmental struggles in contemporary Africa. It is premised on the question why some movements are called environmental while others are "liberation." What socioeconomic and political circumstances lead to the making or dissipation of such distinctions? African liberation movements commonly offer alternatives in terms of political order and the means of earning a livelihood. The prominence of the environment (land, water, forests, oil, minerals, etc.) in the political objectives of most African liberation movements leads Salih to argue that in Africa, as well as in other developing countries, the distinction between environmental and liberation struggles is apparently superfluous. Liberation, in this broader perspective, therefore offers an emancipatory political potential that transcends the environment to include the laudable quest to transform the state and the authoritarian institutions of government that sustain it.

This book is the first of its kind to explore the intricate relationship between liberation movements and environmental struggles in contemporary Africa. It is premised on the question why some movements are called 'environmental' and others 'liberation'. What socioeconomic and political circumstances lead to the making or dissipation of such distinctions? Common among African liberation movements is the promise to offer alternative political order and livlelihood possibilities. The prominence of the environment (land, water, forests, oil, minerals, etc.) in the political objectives of most African liberation movements leads Salih to argue that in Africa - as well, probably, as in other developing countries - the distinction between environmental and liberation struggles is apparently superfluous. Liberation, in this broader perspective, therefore offers and all-encompassing emancipatory political potential that transcends the environment to include the laudable quest to transform the state and the authoritarian institutions of government that sustain it.The book also explains the role of local/international NGO partnerships with African liberation movements in extending humanitarian as well as advocacy support to the victims of state oppression.

The Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) is a network of social scientists in the sub-region established in 1980. Its main objectives are to encourage and promote interest; to engage in collaborative research; to facilitate scholarly exchange of ideas and publication between individuals and institutions engaged in the study and research in the social sciences. OSSREA also aims to promote the training of social scientists from the sub-region in the study of and research in the social sciences and to encourage establishment of institutions dedicated to this goal. In pursuance of and consistent with its objectives, OSSREA established a fund to provide research grants and training fellowships to social scientists from the sub-region. Every year OSSREA offers, on a competitive basis, two limited types of research grants: the first on topics related to the social sciences in general and the second on gender issues in particular. The grants assist the social scientists to conduct field research in an eastern or southern African country, society, institutions, sector, or problem area. The objectives of the social science competition are intended to encourage and promote upcoming scholars from the sub-region to conduct research in the social, economic, political or other problems. Moreover, it aims to strengthen and raise the capacity of faculty members and students in field research, and promote the subsequent availability of research fmdings for teaching as well as to inform individuals and institutions.