Suchergebnisse

Looks at how France colonized and claimed an area of Africa 14 times its own size, between 1830 and 1910 – which was subsequently split into French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa. Has a deep insight into the forming and investigation of the areas by one woman officer from the French West African Education Department. Concludes that Savineau's study is a documentary of quite extraordinary value in the study of "other" races over 13,000 kilometres, reporting on "The condition of the African Woman and the Family", before the Second World War.

This e-book contains the first English translation of a unique report on women living under the colonial rule in West Africa. Denise Savineau's 'Report on Women and the Family in French West Africa' (1938), which is held in the National Archives of Senegal, highlights the French colonial social development agenda

Abstract: This essay addresses two unanswered questions on gender justice in postcolonial Francophone Africa. It asks why countries of Francophone Africa invariably occupy the lowest ranks in global gender equity tables, and why this underperformance continues to map onto the colonial geography of the continent three generations after the end of colonial rule. Existing sociological methodologies aimed at evaluating gender equity are failing to identify why gender inequalities in countries of the former French African empires remain more pronounced than in any other part of the world. Drawing from fieldwork and research conducted in countries across Francophone Africa, it is argued that the creation and persistence of such inequalities are better understood if evaluated in the context of the cultural histories of the regions in which they persist. As the cultural histories of the former colonies are still being written, the discussion incorporates new and emerging historical research on earlier studies of African women led by female researchers during the 1930s. These include the reports and correspondence of a substantial colonial tour commissioned by the French Socialist government of 1936 to record the social impact of colonisation on African women living in seven colonies of French West Africa. In addition, analysis of the records of two pioneering French researchers, the first women to conduct anthropological fieldwork in French Africa, is helping illuminate how gender has been perceived by colonisers in this part of the world, and combined with contemporary fieldwork and policy analysis, contributing to our growing understanding of why inequality persists in certain geographical contexts that share a colonial history, and why in the former colonies of French Africa, the path gender equity has been following differs from those observed in all other postcolonial developing areas to the point where the situation in Francophone Africa is historically unique.

As memories of slavery re-emerge in the historiography of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, contemporary artists from Francophone Africa are engaged in reassessing how this period in Africa's recent past has extended beyond its historical era to play a role in shaping the development challenges of present-day Africa. Exploring connections between Atlantic slavery and the use of African labour in contemporary modes of production in West Africa, recent art works from the region that once formed the heartland of the French slave trade are providing a discursive platform on which to challenge traditional post-colonial nationalist discourses of modernity and change. An iconography of slavery dating from the era of the Atlantic slave trade and the capture, enslavement and transportation of over eleven million people from Africa to the Americas over the four hundred year period of the 'terrible trade', has appeared in a body of digital and material art work produced between 1995 and 2015. Artists originating from countries across Francophone Africa (the former French and Belgian colonies on the African mainland), many of whom now live and work in Europe, have independently been moving towards a re-contextualised use of visual imaginary that both invokes explicitly the history and legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This chapter explores the context in which 'les arts plastiques' have been produced in the French-speaking areas of Africa, both historically and into the present day, and explores how art offers an alternative platform for political discourse and dissent in the Francophone Africa today.

This article explores the space between politics and literature occupied by feminist writers in Francophone Africa. In the social realist novel, these writers have established an arena in which to engage in the politics of gender, modernity and change in Francophone sub‐Saharan Africa and articulate a culturally‐located discourse of development. The reception of this literary genre in its locality helps reposition the discourse of gender and development within the region, offering a culturally‐embedded voice in the gender and development debate that has been marginalised in the framing of the international development agenda for Africa over the past half century.

PurposeThe purpose of this monograph is to present the first English translation of a unique French colonial report on women living under colonial rule in West Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe issue begins with a discussion of the contribution this report makes to the history of social development policy in Africa, and how it serves the on‐going critique of colonisation. This is followed by the English translation of the original report held in the National Archives of Senegal. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes, translator's comments, a glossary of African and technical terms, and a bibliography.FindingsThe discussion highlights contemporary social development policies and practices which featured in identical or similar forms in French colonial social policy.Practical implicationsAs the report demonstrates, access to basic education and improving maternal/infant health care have dominated the social development agenda for women in sub‐Saharan Africa for over a century, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in the Millennium Development Goals which define the international community's agenda for social development to 2015. The parallels between colonial and post‐colonial social policies in Africa raise questions about the philosophical and cultural foundations of contemporary social development policy in Africa and the direction policy is following in the 21st century.Originality/valueThough the discussion adopts a consciously postcolonial perspective, the report that follows presents a consciously colonial view of the "Other". Given the parallels identified here between contemporary and colonial policy‐making, this can only add to the value of the document in exploring the values that underpin contemporary social development practice.

PurposeKevin Bales' work on contemporary slavery has brought this under‐researched field of social enquiry to the attention not only of the academic world but to a wider global audience through his prolific publishing, his film work and not least his presidency of Free the Slaves, the US anti‐slavery organisation. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of his findings and methodologies currently prevailing in this field.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on an interview with Kevin Bales conducted in April 2009 and subsequent discussions with Claire Griffiths.FindingsDisposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, the book that brought Bales global recognition over a decade ago, reinstated slavery as a key human rights issue on the research agenda for the twenty‐first century. This interview is condensed from a longer discussion between Kevin Bales and Claire Griffiths on researching contemporary slavery. In this conversation they explore the relationship between slavery, trafficking and prostitution, a theme that leads the discussion to the gendered nature of slavery through the centuries. The interview concludes with some indications of where slavery studies research is going in the twenty‐first century.Originality/valueThis paper provides new insights into the emerging and interdisciplinary field of modern slavery studies.

Background: Approximately 50 % of paediatric weight management (WM) programme attendees do not complete their respective programmes. High attrition rates compromise both programme effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Past research has examined pre-intervention participant characteristics associated with programme (non-)completion, however study samples are often small and not representative of multiple demographics. Moreover, the association between programme characteristics and participant engagement is not well known. This study examined participant and programme characteristics associated with engagement in a large, government funded, paediatric WM programme. Engagement was defined as the family's level of participation in the WM programme. Methods: Secondary data analysis of 2948 participants (Age: 10.44 ± 2.80 years, BMI: 25.99 ± 5.79 kg/m 2 , Standardised BMI [BMI SDS]: 2.48 ± 0.87 units, White Ethnicity: 70.52 %) was undertaken. Participants attended a MoreLife programme (nationwide WM provider) between 2009 and 2014. Participants were classified into one of five engagement groups: Initiators, Late Dropouts, Low- or High- Sporadic Attenders, or Completers. Five binary multivariable logistic regression models were performed to identify participant (n = 11) and programmatic (n = 6) characteristics associated with an engagement group. Programme completion was classified as ≥70 % attendance. Results: Programme characteristics were stronger predictors of programme engagement than participant characteristics; particularly small group size, winter/autumn delivery periods and earlier programme years (proxy for scalability). Conversely, participant characteristics were weak predictors of programme engagement. Predictors varied between engagement groups (e.g. Completers, Initiators, Sporadic Attenders). 47.1 % of participants completed the MoreLife programme (mean attendance: 59.4 ± 26.7 %, mean BMI SDS change: -0.15 ± 0.22 units), and 21 % of those who signed onto the programme did not attend a session. Conclusions: As WM services scale up, the efficacy and fidelity of programmes may be reduced due to increased demand and lower financial resource. Further, limiting WM programme groups to no more than 20 participants could result in greater engagement. Baseline participant characteristics are poor and inconsistent predictors of programme engagement. Thus, future research should evaluate participant motives, expectations, and barriers to attending a WM programme to enhance our understanding of participant WM engagement. Finally, we suggest that session-by-session attendance is recorded as a minimum requirement to improve reporting transparency and enhance external validity of study findings.

Background: Current UK policy in relation to the influence of the 'food environment' on childhood obesity appears to be driven largely on assumptions or speculations because empirical evidence is lacking and findings from studies are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the number of food outlets and the proximity of food outlets in the same sample of children, without solely focusing on fast food. Methods: Cross sectional study over 3 years (n=13,291 data aggregated). Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each participant, overweight and obesity were defined as having a BMI >85 th (sBMI 1.04) and 95 th (sBMI 1.64) percentiles respectively (UK90 growth charts). Home and school neighbourhoods were defined as circular buffers with a 2 km Euclidean radius, centred on these locations. Commuting routes were calculated using the shortest straight line distance, with a 2 km buffer to capture varying routes. Data on food outlet locations was sourced from Leeds City Council covering the study area and mapped against postcode. Food outlets were categorised into three groups, supermarkets, takeaway and retail. Proximity to the nearest food outlet in the home and school environmental domain was also investigated. Age, gender, ethnicity and deprivation (IDACI) were included as covariates in all models. Results: There is no evidence of an association between the number of food outlets and childhood obesity in any of these environments; Home Q4 vs. Q1 OR=1.11 (95% CI =0.95-1.30); School Q4 vs. Q1 OR=1.00 (95% CI 0.87 - 1.16); commute Q4 vs. Q1 OR=0.1.00 (95% CI 0.83 - 1.20). Similarly there is no evidence of an association between the proximity to the nearest food outlet and childhood obesity in the home (OR=0.77 [95% CI =0.61 - 0.98]) or the school (OR =1.01 [95% CI 0.84 - 1.23]) environment. Conclusions: This study provides little support for the notion that exposure to food outlets in the home, school and commuting neighbourhoods increase the risk of obesity in children. It seems that the evidence is not well placed to support Governmental interventions/recommendations currently being proposed and that policy makers should approach policies designed to limit food outlets with caution.

Obesity is thought to be the product of over 100 different factors, interacting as a complex system over multiple levels. Understanding the drivers of obesity requires considerable data, which are challenging, costly and time-consuming to collect through traditional means. Use of 'big data' presents a potential solution to this challenge. Big data is defined by Delphi consensus as: always digital, has a large sample size, and a large volume or variety or velocity of variables that require additional computing power (Vogel et al. Int J Obes. 2019). 'Additional computing power' introduces the concept of big data analytics. The aim of this paper is to showcase international research case studies presented during a seminar series held by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Strategic Network for Obesity in the UK. These are intended to provide an in-depth view of how big data can be used in obesity research, and the specific benefits, limitations and challenges encountered.