A studio and a church; includes narration of Liberian history; Robert Gaye (Cameraman); James Diah (Cameraman); Nathaniel Giddings (Cameraman); Adolphus Taylor (VTR operator); Rebekah Scotland (Audio operator); Ansu Fahnbulleh (Visual designer); Charles McCrumada (Floor manager); Jonathan Okyere (Graphics); Jefferson Zeon (Graphics); David Zor (Duty technician); Sam Mensah (Studio engineer).
Urban bias remains a debated topic in South Africa in many spheres of society. Due to the logic of apartheid, ‘rural’ came to mean ‘black’; or in post-apartheid-speak ‘previously disadvantaged’. Up to today, the effects of long-term structural and systematic disadvantaging are quite tangible in the country. Though in parts also applicable to urban settings, poverty, insufficient infrastructure and lack of access are largely foremost still a problem of the rural – and mostly black – population. These structural imbalances are purported through a number of social fields including academia. Often, studies are conducted where access and conveniences are close and risks impeding the successful completion of research projects are low. While the tendency to consider feasibility in research is not per se questionable, the total body of research projects and results might foreground a distorted reflection of South Africa’s sociolinguistic landscape. Binary categories of urban/rural, however, carry a certain bias within themselves and are thus not comfortably fitting in a South African context but call for deconstruction. On this background, the chapter presents a critical review of 135 scholarly articles (2010–2017) from the eminent linguistic journal Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies examined for traces of urban bias in the research set up and weighs the results in the light of the current socio-political situation in South Africa.
Promoting human mobility and reducing inequality among countries are the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) targets. However, measuring human mobility, assessing its heterogeneity and changes, and exploring associated mechanisms and context effects are still key challenges, especially for developing countries. This study attempts to review the concept of human mobility with complex thinking, assess human mobility across forty countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and examine the effect of climatic and socioeconomic factors. Based on the coined definition of human mobility, international migration and cross-border trips are taken to assess human mobility in terms of permanent migration and temporary moves. The forty SSA countries are hence classified into four mobility groups. Regression models are performed to identify key determinants and estimate their effects on mobility. The results reveal that seven of these forty countries had a high mobility, whereas most experienced a decline in permanent migration. Lesotho, Cabo Verde, and Namibia presented high temporary moves, while Eritrea, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, and Liberia had a high permanent migration. Climatic and socioeconomic conditions demonstrated significant effects on mobility but were different for temporary moves and permanent migration. Wet extremes reduced mobility, whereas extreme temperature variations had positive effects. Dry extremes promoted permanent migration but inhibited temporary moves. Economic wealth and political instability promoted permanent migration, while the young population counteracted temporary moves. Food insecurity and migrant networks stimulated human mobility. The analysis emphasises the interest in analysing human mobility for risk reduction and sustainability management at the multi-county level.
