Two papers from the ANU were presented at the annual conference of the African Studies Association of Australasian and the Pacific (AFSAAP):
Christina Kenny
‘There’s this belief that they can’t lead, that’s why they didn’t stand up’: Women’s experience of civil and political rights at the 2013 Kenyan General Elections
In the lead up to the 2013 General Elections in Kenya, public expectations of Kenya’s new democratic institutions and processes reached a high water mark. For women, the pre-election emphasis on the constitutionally enshrined ‘2/3rds gender principle’ and women’s representative seats contributed to an already complex and confusing political environment. Nevertheless, many Kenyan women were hopeful that the new regulatory frameworks created by the 2010 constitution would provide new opportunities for women to attain elected public office. This hope was not realised. No women were elected to the positions of Member of Parliament, or Senator.
David Lucas and Barbara Edgar
African Australians in Australia in 2011: their demography and human capital
The 2011 Population Census shows that around a third of a million (337,826) Africa-born were enumerated in Australia, with a majority born in South Africa or Zimbabwe. The overall increase between 2006 and 2011 was 40% but this masks a variety of growth rates for individual countries. This paper firstly considers inter-censal changes in birthplace data for each Africa countries between 2006 and 2011. Further analysis using the ABS 2011 Census TableBuilder software enables comparisons to be made between the South Africa-born and the Zimbabwe-born, and those born in Sudan (and South Sudan), and in the Horn of Africa. Since many of those from Sudan and the Horn of Africa came to Australia as a part of the humanitarian intake, often via refugee camps, their children may have been born in third countries, so ancestry may be used as an additional variable. The analysis focuses on human capital variables such as education and labour force participation, showing the advantaged position of the South Africans and Zimbabweans. A final section considers the future of Africa Australian youth.Also presenting from the ACT was
Alec Thornton , University of New South Wales, Canberra campus
Space And Food In The City
A shift towards post-modernist approaches in city planning has led to rapid growth in community-based ‘urban greening’ movements. The spatial and socio-environmental justice themes are largely playing out in the ‘North’, or western cities. This paper will position urban agriculture within radical urban theory, in an effort to conceptualise a phenomenon that takes place in both the ‘global North and South’ in response to various ‘justices’ but are played out at different scales with very different results. Case study examples are drawn from Africa, North America and the South Pacific.
