Written amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this edited volume draws on the expertise of social scientists and humanities scholars to understand the several ramifications of Covid-19 in societies, politics, and the economies of Africa. The contributors examine measures, communicative practices, and experiences that have guided the (inter)action of governments, societies and citizens in this unpredictable moment. Covid-19 tested governments’ disaster preparedness as well as exposed governments’ attitudes towards the poor and vulnerable. In the same vein, it also tested the agency of the generality of the African populace in the face of containment measures and how these impacted on everyday social, cultural and economic practices of the ordinary peoples. In this vein, our concern is to understand the relationship between growing vulnerability on the one hand and ingenuity of agency on the other, and how both were embodied, narrated and discoursed by the African poor, university students, religious entities, and middle-classes, and those that bore the major brunt of the lockdowns. Lastly, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted regional trade and other bilateral relations in Africa, creating possibilities for regional entities such as ECOWAS and EAC to demonstrate their creativity (or a lack of it) in dealing with the pandemic. The contributors thus examine the regional dimension of the crisis and particularly evaluate how covid-19 tested the resilience of multilateralism, regional trade networks, cross border informal economies, and human movements. The volume is thus a useful resource for scholars of Africa, policy makers and those who want to understand Covid-19 in Africa. It provides a multiplicity of perspectives of the pandemic and African responses at different levels of society, economy and the political spectrum. The continental focus of this volume gives room for broader comparative analyses. Lastly, this interdisciplinary work benefits from the input of medical historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, political scientists, literature scholars, urban planners, geographers and others.

Written amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this edited volume draws on the expertise of social scientists and humanities scholars to understand the many ramifications of Covid-19 on societies, politics, and the economies of Africa. The contributors examine measures, communicative practices, and experiences that have guided the (inter)action of governments, societies, and citizens in this unpredictable moment. Covid-19 tested governments’ disaster preparedness as well as exposed governments’ attitudes towards the poor and vulnerable. In the same vein, it also tested the agency of the African populace in the face of containment measures and their impact on everyday social, cultural, and economic practices of ordinary people. In this vein, our concern is to understand the relationship between growing vulnerability on the one hand, and ingenuity of agency on the other, and how both were embodied, narrated and discoursed by the African poor, university students, religious entities, middle-classes, and those who bore the major brunt of the lockdowns. The volume is thus a useful resource for scholars of Africa, policy makers and those who want to understand Covid-19 in Africa. It provides a multiplicity of perspectives of the pandemic and African responses at different levels of society, economy and the political spectrum. The continental focus of this volume gives room for broader comparative analyses. Lastly, this interdisciplinary work benefits from the input of medical historians, anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, political scientists, literature scholars, urban planners, geographers and others.

The complex and refined creative imagination of Carlo Mollino - an eclectic personality of the Italian 20th century - is the common thread that unites the research documented in these pages, which combines a selection of photographs from the fifties and sixties, shot by Mollino himself, with the works of Enoc Perez and Brigitte Schindler, artists united by a visionary spirit aimed at experimentation. The volume opens with the shots of the splendid and provocative models portrayed by Mollino (Turin, 1905-1973), through which the author on the one hand explores the beauty of female nature and on the other aims to compose an image – subjective and transfigured – of the woman as the ideal counterpart of his existence. Enoc Perez (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1967) began a personal investigation in the nineties on a series of iconic twentieth-century architectures, which he transposed into paintings with an indefinite, sometimes dreamlike flavour: among these stands out Casa Mollino – the architect’s last enigmatic and secret residence, which now houses the Museum – visited by the painter in 2019 and the subject of the works presented here. The same house, designed by Mollino down to the smallest detail and conceived as a mirror of his worldview, was a source of inspiration for Brigitte Schindler (Munich, 1972), whose photographs intercept the mystery suspended in the rooms, the subtle connections between the objects carefully chosen and positioned by the owner. The volume includes contributions by Mario Diacono, Fulvio Ferrari, Enoc Perez and Brigitte Schindler, together with extracts from “The message from the dark room” by Carlo Mollino. Text in English and Italian.

A comparative study of identity shifts in two large ethnic groups in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. Ethnicity in Zimbabwe: Transformations in Kalanga and Ndebele Societies, 1860-1990 is a comparative study of identity shifts in two large ethnic groups in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. The study begins in 1860, a year after the establishment of the Inyati mission station in the Ndebele Kingdom, and ends in the postcolonial period. Author Enocent Msindo asserts that-despite what many social historians have argued-the creation of ethnic identity in Matabeleland was not solely the result of colonial rule and the new colonial African elites, but that African ethnic consciousness existed prior to this time, formed and shaped by ordinary members of these ethnic groups. During this period, the interaction of the Kalanga and Ndebele fed the development of complex ethnic, regional, cultural, and subnationalist identities. By examining the complexities of identities in this region, Msindo uncovers hidden, alternative, and unofficial histories; contested claims to land and civic authority; the politics of language; the struggles of communities defined as underdogs; and the different ways by which the dominant Ndebele have dealt with their regional others, the Kalanga. The book ultimately demonstrates the ways in which debates around ethnicity and other identities in Zimbabwe-and in Matabeleland in particular-relate to wider issues in both rural and urban Zimbabwe pastand present. Enocent Msindo is Senior Lecturer in History at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.

Perseguian los judios mostrar a otros el camino que les permitiria ascender a los cielos y alcanzar a Dios? Cuando se escribio el Libro de los secretos de Enoc, a principios de nuestra era, lo que creian la mayoria de paganos y judios era que habia siete cielos alrededor de la Tierra, como si fueran esferas, y Dios estaba tras el mas externo de ellos. El proposito fundamental del Libro de los secretos de Enoc es presentar al patriarca como el que consiguio ascender al cielo para convertirse en un inmortal, al estilo de los heroes griegos de antano. Enoc es el nuevo heroe que hizo lo que Adan no pudo: resistir la tentacion y ser merecedor del reino de Dios. Como recompensa fue elevado al cielo por encima de los angeles, recibiendo de Dios secretos que ni los propios angeles conocian. Es este, el Libro de los secretos de Enoc, el que marca un antes y un despues respecto al Libro de Enoc -escrito dos siglos antes-, pues se empieza a describir y vislumbrar un misticismo que no solo permite ascender a los cielos, sino tambien dejar de lado a los dioses y la religion idolatra pagana del momento y de siglos anteriores.

El libro de Enoc ha sido mencionado en muchos otros libros a lo largo de la Historia. Esta catalogado como literatura apocaliptica judia, libros en su mayoria no reconocidos por la Iglesia (apocrifos) los cuales tienen la siguiente estructura: aparece un sabio notorio o un profeta biblico, como Adan, Ezra o el propio Enoc, a quien durante un sueno le son reveladas una serie de visiones que un angel va interpretando. Da a conocer no solo a los arcangeles sino tambien a muchos angeles. Explica que estos pueden caer y cuales son los motivos de su caida, y a la vez narra los origenes del mal. Se presenta aqui una nueva traduccion de la que realizo Richard Laurence del manuscrito original etiope.

Reflexion de un grupo de juristas sobre los derechos de los ninos en el contexto de la sociedad tardomoerna y los nuevos perfiles de la demografia juridica.