Call for articles in Africa Studia vol 17

Scientific Exploration in Africa at the age of the Berlin Conference

The CEAUP is organizing a special issue of its Journal Africana Studia dedicated to the Scientific Exploration in Africa in the age of the Berlin Conference.

The process of producing science is often neglected when its final results are presented. In the case of Social Sciences it is consensual that these have consolidated themselves in the second half of the XIX century – particularly the geographical sciences – mainly serving the colonialist expansion of European powers. 

The African continent was certainly the part of the world where this association of phenomenon became stronger and, simultaneously, more spectacular. The interest of the industrialized societies of Europe in creating markets and domains in Africa led to the establishment of an alliance between the State and the civil society in order to mobilize efforts in the entrepreneurship and in scientific research.  At the same time, geographical “explorations “in Africa were coincident with the appearance of mass media. This fact became a powerful leverage in the formation of public opinion. Geography was never so popular, and simultaneously, so politized. 

The historiographical interest about this social and political phenomenon – after the commemorative phase of these events, celebrated by the colonial administrations – has been growing in the last two decades. Much of the documentation on what truly were the motivations, the organization and the objectives of these travels lies still in public and private funds, partially or completely ignored. Moreover, the profile of the explorers themselves is in a phase of reconstruction. Besides the well-known European travelers, we now know much more about their Africans supports that many times preceded them in the opening of routes.  We know also more about who did not write nor publish and about what the famous did when they weren’t corresponding with the scientific academies. 

This is a call for articles which can reflect the present the state of the art regarding this particular scientific field: the history of geographical exploits in Africa during colonial and pre-colonial times.

Call for Articles: 1^st July-30^th November 2011.

Norms for publishing

Articles should be signed stating the institutional affiliation of the author.

Articles should be sent in 12 Times New Roman, with one and half space.

Articles should not be over 70.000 characters, including space and foot notes.

Each article should include an abstract in 2 languages with a max. of 500 characters and a set of keywords. 

In case of images this should have at least 10x6 cm, 1200x800 pixel (300 dpi). 

Bibliographical references 

References within the text should follow the norm (author, year). In case of references of an author referring to the same publishing year the author’s name should be followed by a small cap letter: Ex: (Rodrigues, 2000a) (Rodrigues, 2000b). 

Quotations should be in italic. 

Foot notes should be limited to substantial information and preferably not over 5 lines.

Final bibliography should contain only the complete references used in the text of the article, listed by alphabetical order and by chronological order within the same authors’ entrance.

Info: http://www.africanos.eu/ceaup/

AfricaInEs Recomenda: Biblioteca Publica e Virtual sobre el continente Africano

La biblioteca pública y virtual es un proyecto de oozebap que empieza en el verano del 2005. Mayoritariamente todos los libros, documentos y revistas que se pueden consultar se han seleccionado laboriosamente entre otras bibliotecas virtuales, páginas privadas, universidades y también de las propias webs de las revistas, autores y editoriales. El fondo se irá ampliando periódicamente, y os ofrecemos la posibilidad de recibir por correo electrónico los títulos de las novedades, así como otro tipo de información complementaria (con la posibilidad de borrarse automáticamente).

Información técnica.
Todos estos archivos son de acceso libre y gratuito. Si hay revistas que son de pago pero tienen un número de acceso libre, éste lo hemos enlazado directamente. Si los contenidos de las publicaciones son de libre acceso, optamos por enlazar el sumario general de todos los números, indicando en nuestra página los números y volúmenes a los cuales se tiene acceso desde esta biblioteca. Los tres formatos que se utilizan son: PDF, HTML y RTF. Para los archivos PDF se necesita el lector gratuito Acrobat Reader. Para los archivos HTML y RTF sólo es necesario un navegador. En cada documento especificamos qué tipo de archivo es, así omo su idioma. Podéis encontrar archivos en inglés, francés, español, árabe, catalán y portugués. Cada artículo, libro o cualquier otro documento que hemos seleccionado tiene unos derechos de autor y reproducción específicos que ya indican sus autores y editores.


Texto: oozebap
Info: http://www.oozebap.org/biblio/index.htm

AfricaInEs Recomenda: Máster universitario en Ciencias Sociales del Desarrollo: Culturas y Desarollo en África

Els estudis africans estan en creixement global, a diferència del que ha passat amb altres estudis d'àrea. Les raons d'aquest dinamisme entronquen amb les que han forçat l'actual visibilitat de les societats subsaharianes amb iniciatives tan influents com el Pla Àfrica o la creació de Casa Àfrica pel Ministeri d'Afers Estrangers. Aquesta presència creixent de l'Àfrica genera una demanda social que s'estableix en un ampli espectre, des de professionals i voluntaris de la cooperació (oficial i a través de ONGs) fins a investigadors universitaris. I la demanda s'enfoca cap a un màster perquè el que es reclama és un coneixement de les societats africanes en la seva diversitat i en l'actualitat, més enllà dels estereotips i els receptaris: precisament els fracassos reiterats de les polítiques de desenvolupament a l'Àfrica estan empenyent molts d'aquells que operen al continent cap als estudis universitaris.

Així l'objectiu del Màster és, formar professionals i investigadors capacitats per detectar, analitzar i, en el seu cas, dinamitzar, els factors socioculturals, polítics, econòmics i històrics, externs i, sobretot, interns, que intervenen, en els processos de desenvolupament de les societats africanes, incloses les comunitats de la diàspora tant a l'Àfrica com a Europa.
Aquest coneixement expert de les condicions culturals del desenvolupament des d'una perspectiva històrica i dinàmica ha estat absent en la major part de l'experiència de cooperació a Àfrica, fins i tot entre els tècnics africans, el que explica en bona mesura el fracàs reiterat de projectes i programes de desenvolupament. D'allà el perfil doble del màster: professionalitzador i d'iniciació a la investigació avançada de nivell acadèmic


Info: http://www.urv.cat/masters_oficials/es_africa.html

IDENTITATS COMPLEXES A L'ÀFRICA ACTUAL: FRONTERES CULTURALS, FRONTERES MÍTIQUES

Curs d'Estiu a la Universitat de Girona
Juliol 2001
Coordinadors: Jacint Creus i Alberto López (ARDA), i Xavier Besalú (UdG)

En aquest Curs pretenem apropar-nos a algunes realitats identitàries de l'Àfrica i dels africans, tant pel que fa a les comunitats d'origen com als espais de la diàspora, a Europa i en general a Occident. I ho pretenem fer des d'una sèrie d'escenaris identitaris complexos que, per la seva naturalesa, manifesten les dificultats que els investigadors i els ciutadans d'Europa tenim per orientar-nos en aquesta complexitat quan, amb massa freqüència, les identitats tendeixen a construir-se sobre bases suposadament nítides. No es tracta que no hi hagi identitats que no siguin complexes, sinó que n'hi ha algunes que ho són especialment perquè en la seva pròpia cristal·lització donen testimoni d'aquest mestissatge o hibridació. D'aquesta manera, aquest curs no és solament un intent per copsar les realitats africanes; sinó també, i principalment, un esforç per mostrar de quina manera un conjunt de societats o de pobles han construït la seva identitat, no pas sobre el rebuig i la diferència, sinó a partir de la suma i de la síntesi.


Info: http://www.ub.edu/africa/

Conference on Globalization and Development: Rethinking Interventions and Governance- 2011

Call for papers

GCGD is a newly established interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Gothenburg. Its focus is on the links between globalization and development. We support 

research on international economic integration and new ways of organizing production and 

how they affect economic and political development, and social relations in the South. Other 

key areas for GCGD are peace, security, environmental sustainability and climate change and their relationship to development. And governance is increasingly important in all these areas.  

The theme of the conference reflects these research interests of GCGD. It deals with the 

relationship between external interventions, governance, and development. The ability of 

countries to achieve sustainable development depends on social structures, institutions and 

policies, geography, and available resources. How effectively resources are used depends on 

the character of institutions, policy making, and policy implementation within states or 

governance, as well as influences and interests which transcend state boundaries. We invite 

papers that can help to improve our understanding of how the governance structures needed 

for development are affected by external interventions. Domestic social and political ocesses are crucial determinants, but the development of domestic institutions and policies is increasingly influenced by international relations. Governance processes of interest are not only at the national level, but they can also be regional or local. The international environment in which the domestic governance processes take place has undergone major changes in recent years. It is not yet very well understood why nstitutional reforms are successful in some instances but fail in others. This interdisciplinary conference is open to papers from the full range of social sciences, economics and business, legal science, or explicitly interdisciplinary papers. 

We hereby invite all interested scholars to submit paper proposals for presentation within this area. Please submit your paper abstract (maximum 400 words) before the 15th of August 2011 to globaldevelopment@gu.se  

For further information please contact eva-lena.neth@economics.gu.se.  

Info: www.globalstudies.gu.se

African Studies Association United Kingdom (2012)

We are beginning to plan the 2012 ASAUK conference. The ASAUK Biennial conference will be held in Leeds in 2012 and will run from 2pm on Thursday Sept 6th to 1pm on Saturday 8th September 2012.

Streams

There will be no overarching 'theme', but there will be a number of 'streams' running through the conference. A 'stream' could be anything between 4 and 9 panels (of 3/4 speakers each). We would like to encourage journals, centres, networks and individuals to make preliminary proposals for streams, so that we can begin to plan. We would welcome anything that reflects a current area of research. If you wish to propose a stream of panels for the conference then please email David Kerr d.kerr (at) bham.ac.uk

Panels

We are encouraging those journals, centres, networks and individuals who do not wish to propose streams to offer panels for the conference. At this stage we are asking interested parties to submit panels into the conferences online abstract submission website. To submit a panel you will then need to register via the link below. Once you have registered you can then log into the online submission system and set up a panel. In the system that we are using panels are called symposia and so to register your panel please go to the "set up a new symposium" section of the system. Panels require abstracts, however these can be submitted once the panel has been set up on the system.

Once you have submitted your panel/symposium it will appear on the website and those who are giving papers can register and submit papers into your panel.

It is worth noting that you can use your one email and password to propose several symposiums and abstracts. Should you wish to amend your personal, panel or paper details you can this by logging into the system at any time up until the close of submissions.

Abstracts Submissions: https://asauk.conference-services.net/authorlogin.asp?conferenceID=2615&language=en-uk

Info: http://www.asauk.net/

CAS@50: Cutting Edges and Retrospectives 50th Anniversary Conference of the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, 6-8 June 2012

Over 2012, the Centre of African Studies (CAS) in Edinburgh will celebrate its 50^th anniversary. The focal point for the year-long celebrations will be an international conference from 6-8 June on the theme ofCAS@50: Cutting Edges and Retrospectives

Emerging out of the Hayter enquiry into Area Studies in the United Kingdom, CAS was established with an explicitly interdisciplinary brief. Since 1962, our reseachers have maintained one foot in a core discipline – such as Social Anthropology, History, Geography, Education, Economics, Development Studies, and Politics – and the other in African Studies more broadly. Over the past 50 years, CAS has generated leading research on themes as diverse as Pan-Africanism; Creole communities in colonial West Africa; hunter-gatherer societies in Southern and Central Africa; democratisation; migration and urbanisation; Africa and international education; labour and politics; gender and legal pluralism; and religion and society. More recently, reflecting a generational turnover, it has added biotechnology, borderlands, information technologies, land- and waterscapes, heritage and commemoration, and post-conflict transitions to the list of current research.

CAS@50 expects to use the anniversary not merely to look back upon the history of the Centre with a critical eye, but also to reflect on the trajectories of African Studies itself: to what extent is the terrain of academic debate from the early decades recognisable today, and might there be something to be said for looking afresh at some debates that have become obscured with the passage of time? Also, in what respects can one talk of genuine breakthroughs in our understandings, and where do unresolved issues reside? Other parts of the conference look forward to emerging areas of research and, whether construed in terms of methodology or perspective, what might we regard as cutting edge today?

CAS invites both panel and roundtable proposals on any theme that relates to the interplay beween past perspectives and current research, but is especially interested in the following:

Politics, Power and Popular Culture: labour and politics; popular culture; electoral politics; the politics of the local; youth; international organisations; constitutionalism; urbanism

Histories and Connectivities: the slave trade, Africa and the Atlantic world; alcohol; consumption, ethnicity; nationalism; the African city

Religion: methodologies for the study of religion; religion in the public sphere; religion and politics; religion and health; diasporic religion

Development: international education; climate change; bioenergy; food systems; law; veterinary health; Scotland-Africa connections.

Peopling Places and Placing People: symbolising culture and thought, materialising bodies and places, and environmentalising futures.

Borderlands: It is anticipated that this strand will be run through ABORNE as a linked conference. Further information will appear in due course on the ABORNE website and through e-mail communications to ABORNE members.

Panel and roundtable proposals should consist of a ten line rationale and a list of speakers and paper titles. Please entitle your message ‘CAS@50 Proposal’ and send to African.Studies@ed.ac.uk. You should also indicate which strand the proposal is intended to relate to and whether it is a panel or a roundtable. We positively welcome proposals from disciplines not traditionally associated with CAS. These might include cultural studies, linguistics, or archaeology.

Proposals should be submitted by FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER. It is expected that notification of the outcome will be communicated at the end of September.

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

CIEA 8 - Congreso Ibérico de Estudios Africanos

En el año 2012, la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid acogerá la octava edición del Congreso de Estudios Africanos del Mundo Iberico. Después de siete ediciones en Madrid (1991, 1999), Lisboa (2001), Barcelona (2004), Covilha (2006), las Palmas (2008) y la última en Lisboa (2010), es el turno de que un centro español vuelva a organizar la próxima edición. El Grupo de Estudios Africanos presentó en septiembre en Lisboa su candidatura para acoger el próximo Congreso.

A lo largo de sus siete ediciones, el congreso de Estudios Africanos del Mundo Ibérico se ha convertido en un espacio de encuentro bienal para los centros de estudios e investigadores especializados en los estudios africanos de España y Portugal. Suele aglutinar a más de 100 investigadores de ambos países y de muy variadas disciplinas: historiadores, economistas, antropólogos, sociólogos, filólogos, etcétera. También asisten especialistas tanto de países africanos (especialmente de habla lusofona o castellana) como europeos. Se ha convertido en el principal congreso académico africanista en lenguas castellana y portuguesa y ha contribuido enormemente al fortalecimiento de redes y grupos de investigación entre los distintos centros africanistas existentes en ambos países, así como de otros países.

La edición del 2012 de este congreso pretende continuar la trayectoria de las anteriores ediciones por lo que tiene como principales objetivos:

• Promover una investigación académica de calidad sobre la realidad africana.
• Mostrar los principales avances en las múltiples investigaciones que sobre el continente africano se realizan en los centros de investigación y las universidades de España, Portugal y otros países.
• Fortalecer las relaciones entre los diferentes centros de estudios africanistas fomentando la creación de grupos de investigación conjunta a través de la presentación de paneles mixtos, etc.
• Promover un espacio de encuentro y debate con centros y universidades africanos que podría enmarcarse dentro de la red de encuentros de universidades españolas y africanas, con el fin de crear un espacio de debate conjunto y fortalecer la creación de grupos de investigación conjunta, redes, etc.

Incrementar la colaboración interdisciplinar (estudios histórico-culturales y antropológicos con los de las ciencias sociales y jurídicas), y buscar puntos de encuentro y de colaboración entre las diferentes  visiones/miradas de los estudios africanos (comunitaristas, culturalistas, poscoloniales, modernistas, desarrollo y derechos humanos, neomarxistas?)

Info: http://www.ciea8.org/presentacion/