Jacob Mati | University of the Witwatersrand (original) (raw)

Papers by Jacob Mati

I n the course of implementation of the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) for Albania, the Instit... more I n the course of implementation of the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) for Albania, the Institute for Democracy and Mediation has cooperated with a wide range of institutions present in the country. These reach civil society associations, central government, legislative body, independent institutions, local and regional public bodies, national and international organisations, the private sector, media reporters and observers, and the academic community. IDM would like to express its high esteem and gratitude to all members of the CSI project'

Voluntas, Feb 15, 2024

Fiji's multi-ethnic society is historically characterised by low levels of inter-ethnic trust and... more Fiji's multi-ethnic society is historically characterised by low levels of inter-ethnic trust and a segregated civil society, typified by low participation of youth, the poor, ethnic minorities, and less literate members of society. How does this actually existing civil society shape the social transactions, value subjectivities, norms and habits of citizenship bred through volunteering and other forms of civic engagement in these contexts? Drawing on data from a mixed method study on youth volunteering in Fiji, this paper interrogates prevailing normative assumptions on volunteerism's role in retooling civic renewal and citizenship. Being socially situated, the outcomes of youth volunteering vary. Specifically, youth volunteering in organisations that value inclusion has midwifed progressive citizenship values; while, participation in bonding type civil society reproduces exclusionary citizenship, social disparities and patterns of discrimination and privilege. The implication is that for volunteerism to produce desired progressive citizenship values and attitudes, civic organisations transmitting such values need to be specifically focussed on progressive goals.

Data from the East Africa Philanthropy Data Portal by Candid and East Africa Philanthropy Network... more Data from the East Africa Philanthropy Data Portal by Candid and East Africa Philanthropy Network (2020) indicates that 21 Tanzania-based funders collectively disbursed a total of 1,223 grants amounting to USD 26.7 million between 2003 and 2019 to 932 different organizations spread across four countries (Tanzania, Zimbabwe, India, and United States). Of this amount, a total of USD 2,648,483, representing 9.9 percent of total grants during this period was granted to non-Tanzanian domiciled organizations by Tanzanian donors/philanthropists. Of this, USD 1,936,380 (7.24 percent) was granted to faith-based institutions such as temples in India. This is probably a reflection of a substantial number of Tanzanian citizens of Indian descent. A further USD 707,713 (2.65 percent) was granted to organizations domiciled in the United States, though most of them operate in Tanzania. Finally, USD 4,390 (0.02 percent) was granted to Harare-based Women in Law and Development in Zimbabwe. In effect, 90.1 percent of all grants made by local philanthropic actors are to recipients based in Tanzania. As such, Tanzanian Philanthropy, unlike in neighboring Kenya, is more national in terms of its grant making

Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Mar 21, 2023

International review of philanthropy and social investment, Sep 1, 2020

Why is giving a ubiquitous human behaviour in Kenya? What shapes Kenyan gifting practices? This p... more Why is giving a ubiquitous human behaviour in Kenya? What shapes Kenyan gifting practices? This paper argues that philanthropic behaviour is a product of multi-directional interactions between individual agency, experiences, and the socio-institutional structures. In Kenya, the socio-institutional structuring results from faith, African philosophical worldviews, the legal environment, and the widespread socioeconomic precariousness. Drawing from existing literature, analysis of legal documents and primary interviews, this paper utilises habitus-durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures and practices-along with Max Weber's four ideal type rationalities-instrumental, value, affectual and traditional-to explain why the philanthropic landscape in Kenya looks the way it does. It is argued that gifting and philanthropic behaviour is shaped and given form by both individual experiences and the socio-institutional structures within which they emerge.

This review contributes to a growing body of literature on conceptions and manifestations of Afri... more This review contributes to a growing body of literature on conceptions and manifestations of African philanthropy. The review illustrates a complex plurality of actions that fall under cultures and practices of giving in Africa. From an analysis of these practices, this paper proposes that African philanthropy can be conceptually structured on the basis of spheres of philanthropic practice, and the underlying bases and motivations for philanthropy.

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2016

Scholars of volunteering have long excluded the radical, political forms of formal volunteering f... more Scholars of volunteering have long excluded the radical, political forms of formal volunteering from their analytical gaze, especially more contentious social movements and collective activist-protest volunteering. This false dichotomy hinders scholarship by perpetuating analytical blinders. The present chapter helps remedy this oversight by reviewing research and theory highlighting overlaps between conventional volunteering, including conventional political volunteering, and unconventional, social movement activism as volunteering. Conventional political volunteering and unconventional political activism are bothmeans for inclusion, participation, accountability, and change (sometimes even democratization) of polities. Both conventional political volunteering and protest activism rely on commitment, values, solidarities, and often altruism, as ordinary citizens seek solutions to collective problems/issues.

Voluntas, Jan 18, 2019

Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by International Socie... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com".

Instrumentalized ethnic identity has been a key variable in the mobilization and molding of Kenya... more Instrumentalized ethnic identity has been a key variable in the mobilization and molding of Kenyan politics since Britain's colonial divide and rule policies imposed ethnic and racial dualism that emphasized difference. At independence, the post-colonial elite did not dismantle the structural architecture of ethnic-based politics. Ethnic identity therefore remains the basis for mobilization and structuring of politics in contemporary Kenya. This dominance of ethnic-based politics, though explained variously, is a product of the conflation of political economyinduced interests where elites instrumentalize ethnicity in political mobilization to ensure their own survival and reproduction.

Brill research perspectives, Jan 13, 2017

Despite the availability of a wide range of literature on what is can be construed to be philanth... more Despite the availability of a wide range of literature on what is can be construed to be philanthropic behaviour in Africa, there is limited conceptual discussion on what constitutes philanthropy in African context(s). Yet, philanthropic behaviour is culturally rooted phenomena manifesting in diverse forms, expressions, and models. This review contributes to a growing body of literature on conceptions and manifestations of African philanthropy. The review illustrates a complex plurality of actions that fall under cultures and practices of giving in Africa. These include the giving of money, time, knowledge, influence and visibility in support of a cause, valuable goods, and body parts/organs from living and dead. While some of these actions conform to dominant Western notions of philanthropy, others do not. From an analysis of these practices, this paper proposes that African philanthropy can be conceptually structured on the basis of spheres of philanthropic practice, and the underlying bases and motivations for philanthropy. On spheres of philanthropic practice, at least three forms of philanthropy exist: institutional (formal); non-institutional (nonformal/informal/direct); and a hybrid form that blends practices from the formal and informal spheres. On motivations for giving, the predominant forms are based on mutuality, solidarity and counter-obligation inherent in collectivist and humanistic African philosophies of life. Further, motivations are drawn from religious obligations, institutional requirements on corporate bodies, and institutional arrangements in the development process. There are, nonetheless, significant overlaps between spheres of practice and motivations in contemporary philanthropic practices in Africa. For instance, philanthropic culture in Africa manifests as religious giving, donations to individuals or institutions, mutual aid, reciprocal, self-help revolving fund organisations, corporate social responsibility activities, and individual/family donations to public benefit organisations. These practices highlight a rich tapestry of spheres of practice and motivations for giving practices, where the wealthy and the poor are equally involved. The review, concentrates (by choice) on giving of money and time (volunteering, especially informal volunteering) due to dearth of academic literature on other forms of giving as philanthropy in Africa.

Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Mar 21, 2017

Struggles for transformation of the Kenyan constitution brought into alliances disparate movement... more Struggles for transformation of the Kenyan constitution brought into alliances disparate movements from below, sections of middleclass, and factions of political, economic and religious elites, in challenging the government. The emergence of these alliances presents useful cases for examining the dynamic relationship and politics between these movements, and also for probing social movement theory. Specifically, given the centrality of identity consciousness in movements, how were intrinsic class, religious, gender, generational and ethnic identity interests, contestations and cleavages overcome to enable inter-identity alliances in these struggles? More critically, how relevant are the dominant social movement theories in explaining this phenomenon? Is theoretical straightjacketing useful for analysing movements with such diversity? Drawing from in-depth interviews and existing literature on Kenyan constitutional reform struggles, this paper illustrates how alliances between the different identities and movements were forged to allow for a common struggle. The paper further illustrates that while political opportunity structures explain certain aspects of this phenomenon, framing, civic education and community organising strategies were critical enablers for collective identity formation.

The Kenyan political landscape has, since the 1990's, been tumultuous and characterised by multip... more The Kenyan political landscape has, since the 1990's, been tumultuous and characterised by multiple political and social struggles centred on embedding a new constitutional order. This thesis is a qualitative case study of the Ufungamano Initiative, a powerful movement involved in these struggles between 1999 and 2005. Emerging in an environment of deep societal divisions and multiple sites of struggle, the Ufungamano Initiative is a remarkable story of how and why previously disjointed and disparate individuals and groups came together in a ‗movement of movements' to become a critical contender in Kenyan constitutional reforms. The movement utilised direct citizens' actions and was directly in competition with the Moi/KANU state for control of the Constitution Reform Process. This direct competition and challenge, posed a legitimacy crisis on the state led process forcing an autocratic and intolerant regime to capitulate and open up space for democratic engagement of citizens in the Constitution Reform Process. But the Ufungamano Initiative is also a story of the limits of social movements. While holding so much power and promise, movements are limited in their ability to effect fundamental changes in society. Even after substantial gains in challenging the state, the Ufungamano Initiative was vulnerable and agreed to enter a ‗coerced' merger with the state-led process in 2001. The merger dissipated the Ufungamano Initiative's energy. This study therefore speaks to the power and limits of social movements in effecting fundamental changes in society. Applying a socio-historical approach, the study locates the Ufungamano Initiative within the broader social, economic and political struggles to argue that contemporary constitutional reform struggles in Kenya were, in Polanyi's (1944) terms, double movement type of societal counter-movements to protect itself from an avaricious economic and political elites. Engaging the political process model, this thesis analyses seventy in-depth interviews and secondary data to explain the dynamics in the rise, operations, achievements and decline of the Ufungamano Initiative as illustrative of how movements emerge, take on a life of their own and sometimes metamorphose into phenomenal forces of change, or just fizzle out.

Voluntas, Jan 6, 2012

This article analyses the Ufungamano Initiative, a broad-based movement involved in constitutiona... more This article analyses the Ufungamano Initiative, a broad-based movement involved in constitutional reform struggles in Kenya. By analysing the rise, operations, achievements, and challenges of the Initiative, I argue that contemporary constitutional reform struggles in Kenya were societal responses to an avaricious political and economic class. It is further argued that the movement resulted from a fragmented elite consensus that widened political opportunities for contentious politics and therefore forced concessions for popular engagement in redefining the relationship between the people and the political class. Ultimately, the Ufungamano Initiative's power eroded as a result of multiple competing parochial interests in the movement. Résumé Ce document analyse l'initiative d'Ufungamano, un mouvement offrant tout l'éventail de produits impliqué dans des luttes de réforme constitutionnelle au Kenya. En analysant l'élévation, les opérations, les accomplissements et les défis de l'initiative, j'argue du fait que les luttes contemporaines de réforme constitutionnelle au Kenya étaient des réponses sociales à une classe politique et économique avare. On lui discute en outre que le mouvement a résulté d'un consensus réduit en fragments d'élite qui a élargi des occasions politiques pour la politique controversable et a donc forcé des concessions pour l'enclenchement populaire en redéfinissant le rapport entre les personnes et la classe politique. Finalement, la puissance de l'initiative d'Ufungamano érodée en raison des intérêts paroissiaux de concurrence de multiple dans le mouvement. Zusammenfassung Dieses Papier analysiert die Ufungamano Initiative, eine mit einer breiten Basis Bewegung, die in Verfassungsreformkämpfe in Kenia mit einbezogen wird. Indem ich den Aufstieg, die Betriebe, die Ausführungen und die

Springer eBooks, 2021

The chapter illustrates the traditional varieties and recent transformations of volunteering in f... more The chapter illustrates the traditional varieties and recent transformations of volunteering in five different cultural areas of the world (Anglo-Saxon, European, Latin American, East Asian, sub-Saharan African) and connects the peculiarities of domestic voluntary action to the different cultural and socioeconomic local patterns. It identifies in the intricate heterogeneity of local manifestations of volunteering one of the problematic challenges for the global research and policy-making agenda on the topic. Problematic aspects and cultural specificities with regard to the core elements of the common definition of volunteering – free will, unpaid, general interest – are put in focus. Opportunities and challenges of the future work with the ILO Manual are assessed.