Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library

Princess Anne launches new Diamond Jubilee Seminar Series on the Monarchy and the Commonwealth

2012-01-27T09:13:00.000Z

Princess Anne launches new Diamond Jubilee Seminar Series on the Monarchy and the Commonwealth

On 11 January 2012, the Chancellor of the University of London, the Princess Royal, visited the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to launch a series of seminars for the Diamond Jubilee Year exploring the relationship between the monarchy and the Commonwealth. She participated in the first seminar in the series, which was introduced by the Institute’s director, Professor Philip Murphy.

Among the other speakers was the former Nigerian diplomat, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who served as Commonwealth Secretary-General from 1990 to 2000. Chief Anyaoku paid warm tribute to the Queen’s personal role as head of the Commonwealth. The title ‘Head of the Commonwealth’ was established by the London Declaration of April 1949. In the view of most constitutional experts it is not hereditary, and will therefore not pass automatically to the next British monarch. Hence, there is some uncertainty as to what will happen to the title at the end of the current reign. In an important intervention on this issue, Chief Anyaoku expressed his personal view that when the time came, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth should inform Commonwealth member states that, in keeping with the London Declaration, the headship of the Commonwealth should pass to the Queen’s successor as monarch.

Another speaker was the Nigerian-born artist, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, who was commissioned to produce a portrait of the Queen for the Golden Jubilee in 2002. The portrait – which depicts the Queen as head of the Commonwealth, hangs in Marlborough House in London, the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat. Chinwe recalled the Queen’s warmth and humour during the sittings for the portrait.

The Princess Royal herself recalled some of her own visits to Commonwealth countries and spoke about the forthcoming tours of the Commonwealth by members of the royal family to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee year. She noted that, along with other members of the royal family, her exposure to a multi-cultural environment while growing up had been thanks to the Commonwealth – in terms of both visits to and visitors from its member states. She remembered with affection her visit to Kenya in 1971 and spoke of meeting its President, Jomo Kenyatta, as ‘a highlight of my life’. What had struck her on her various visits were, she claimed, the similarities across the Commonwealth rather than the differences.

The Diamond Jubilee Seminar Series will run throughout 2012. The next seminar - on the Crown, the media and the Commonwealth - will take place on 20 March, 17:30-19:30. Information on this and all forthcoming seminars will be posted to the Institute’s events pages.

Diamond Jubilee Series opening seminar podcast

Interview with Professor Philip Murphy podcast

Australia Day

2012-01-26T09:27:00.000Z

Marking Australia Day (the 26th of January) we wish to highlight two archive collections which reveal how Australian's have celebrated their history in the past. Both collections relate to the 1988 celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the founding of Australia.

ICS 113 Australian Bicentennial Celebrations comprises of a selection of leaflets and other publicity literature for events in celebration of the Australian Bicentennial, including material produced by the Australian Bicentennial Authority, the New South Wales Bicentennial Council, the Bicentennial Festival of Sydney and for events in the UK.

ICS 144 Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee comprises of the records of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC) which was set up in 1984 by the British Government through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to supervise the British involvement in the Australian Bicentennial.

One of the tasks of the BABC was to make a recommendation for the UK gift to Australia for the Bicentennial. Several ideas were put forward for consideration, notably a re-enactment of the voyage of the First Fleet under Admiral Arthur Philip, This was decided against, although the re-enactment fleet did sail from the Isle of Wight, 13 May 1987 and arrived in Australia 26 Jan 1988, without the support of the BABC. The UK gift to Australia was eventually decided on as the sail training schooner STS Young Endeavour, proposed by Arthur Weller. The building of STS Young Endeavour, was supervised by the Schooner Trust, supervised by Weller. The Bicentennial events in the UK were widespread including balls, banquets and church services, notably at Westminster Abbey led by Archbishop Robert Runcie, 14 Jul 1988.

The collection includes administrative and strategy papers of the Britain Australia Bicentennial Committee (BABC), from 1984-1990, including early minutes, agendas and minutes for BABC meetings 1985-1988; weekly reports of the Executive Secretary, newsletters, 1986-1988 and related papers and correspondence. Also included are papers of National Task subcommittees, minutes of the Schooner Trust and details of the proposal for the First Fleet re-enactment; and papers of regional committees including the City of London committee; Bath and West Country committee; East Anglia committee; Midlands committee; North East committee; Northern Ireland committee; Lincoln committee; Liverpool committee; Whitby committee and Scotland committee. Papers relating to other events to celebrate the Bicentenary including a banquet at Guildhall, London; an exhibition to be held at the British Museum (Natural History) entitled 'First Impressions: the British discovery of Australia', 1988 and the Mansion House Hawke dinner, 21 Jun 1989.

This latter collection is not fully catalogued but a handlist is available on request.

website survey

2012-01-23T09:24:00.000Z

We are currently taking feedback regarding the Senate House Library website.

Please help us with this process by completing a printed questionnaire available from the Library's Circulation Desk or completing the online survey, which is available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2S522N3
Your comments will help our redesign of the website which will take place later this year.

Call for Papers on Citizenship in Africa: ASAUK Conference 2012

2012-01-20T15:11:00.000Z

Call for Papers on Citizenship in Africa

ASAUK Conference 2012

Deadline for submission of papers 27 April 2012

This is a call for papers for 4 panels: details are given below.

Submissions should be made via the conference website, not direct to the organizers: www.asauk.net/conferences/asauk12.shtml But for more details please contact Florence Brisset-Foucault (feb37@cam.ac.uk ) or Emma Hunter (elh35@cam.ac.uk)

1. "Citizen" and "subject": States, kingdoms, chiefdoms and multiple belongings

Convenor: Florence Brisset-Foucault, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

In numerous African countries since colonization, sub-national (and sometimes transnational) political entities like kingdoms and chiefdoms have or have had important political and cultural influence. This panel explores the way individuals articulate these different belongings, which should not be seen a priori as fundamentally antagonistic or exclusive. How do leaders and ordinary "citizens" (or "subjects") imagine, combine, or oppose these different belongings? What are the political and philosophical values attached to each of them? Are the categories "citizen" and "subject" appropriate to seize these sentiments and practices? How do these belongings influence each other? This panel invites both historical and present case studies to explore the articulation between these different spheres of government and belonging.

2. 'Being a true citizen': Creating political belonging through social practice in Africa past and present

Convenor: Emma Hunter, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

In contrast to the focus on the institutions of the state, such as ID cards, or educational practice in creating, challenging and sustaining modes of conceptualising citizenship and political belonging explored in other panels in this stream, this panel moves into the realm of social practice. Beyond the institutional structures which create political belonging, distinctive communities have always been created through modes of behaviour, such as dress, religious practices, gender identities, sporting or associational culture. How do individuals perform their political identity, or remake it to express political allegiance? How does social practice serve as a means of inclusion or exclusion, beyond legalistic conceptions of membership? This panel focuses on the ways in which modes of behaviour can serve to provide a space in which to reinforce or to attempt to renegotiate the boundaries of community, the relationship between individual and community or conceptions of political membership, and invites both historical and contemporary case studies which reflect on the ways in which political belonging has been defined through social practice.

3.Creating Citizens: Political Education, Political Philosophy and Practices of Citizenship in Africa

Convenor: Emma Hunter, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

A central concern of contemporary policy makers is the teaching of citizenship. This has led to a flowering of 'citizenship education'. At election time, public space is taken over not only by party election posters, but also by posters instructing citizens on their rights and duties. In some African countries, NGOs and the State encourage citizens to enrol in civic and political education workshops and training.

Historically, colonial and post-colonial states have employed didactic texts, newspaper editorials and political speeches to teach practices of citizenship. Beneath an apparent homogeneity of language and approach, didactic texts and courses often promote very specific political philosophies, for example in their view of the relationship between citizen and state or the proper role of political parties. This panel explores this phenomenon both historically and in the present, and invites case studies from across Africa which explore political education as a space in which conceptions of citizenship are developed.

4.Fixing Identities: Identity papers, history and contemporary practices of census in Africa

Convenor: Florence Brisset-Foucault, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

This panel intends to be a multi-disciplinary discussion on identity papers and census practices in past and present Africa. The way identities are processed through bureaucracy is often at the core and heart of bitter controversies and can play a direct role in fuelling violence. In several African countries, the recent introduction of identity cards has triggered heated debates on what constitutes a "proof" of identity and what is to be notified on the IDs as the fundamental characteristics of an individual.

This panel calls for contributions on the history of the registering and identification processes, criteria and techniques, deployed by the State and other actors, as well as analysis on the present debates on identification and daily uses of "papers" on the continent. Who are the actors involved in census and identification processes? According to what criteria are people classified? What kind of differences can we trace between countries on the continent? What has been the influence of the international context, such as the "war on terror" and the anti-immigration policies?

Kotuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online; Open Access journal from Royal Society of New Zelaand

2012-01-19T10:20:00.000Z

Kotuitui is an online opan access (free to view) journal published by the Royal Society of New Zealand and hosted by Taylor and Francis.

The journal aims to showcase the increasing number of collaborative research endeavours across the social sciences. Although of particular relevance to New Zealand, the journal’s subject matter is of worldwide relevance and interest to researchers in universities, research institutes, and other centres. The Maori name ‘Kotuitui’ means ‘interweaving’, and reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the journal.

Kotuitui publishes original research papers, short communications, book reviews, and letters. Although the journal predominately highlights research in the New Zealand context, international submissions are welcomed. The journal’s subject matter includes contributions from long-established fields (including psychology, economics, human geography, sociology, education, political science, anthropology, social work, population studies, and history); as well as more recent disciplinary and inter-disciplinary fields such as public policy, development studies, conflict resolution, gender studies, international relations, security studies, human rights, cultural and ethnic studies, ethics, criminology, health, sustainability, communications, and media studies.

The journal is freely available online, facilitating the distribution of New Zealand social science knowledge both nationally and internationally. Papers with likely high impact will be fast-tracked for rapid publication.

Contemporary Developments in Aboriginal Issues - British Association of Canadian Studies’ Aboriginal Studies Circle

2012-01-18T09:38:00.000Z

Contemporary Developments in Aboriginal Issues

British Association of Canadian Studies’ Aboriginal Studies Circle, at the University of Leeds Centre for Canadian Studies, Leeds (UK)
1st February 2011

The British Association of Canadian Studies is pleased to announce a one day colloquium of its Aboriginal Studies Circle. Many diverse indigenous populations around the globe have been the victims of marginalization as they confront the vast array of issues resulting from both historical injustices and contemporary global challenges. This colloquium seeks to bring together academics and other professionals with an interest in indigenous studies to discuss the broad issues that affect indigenous peoples both in Canada and elsewhere. Through building an interdisciplinary network, it is hoped that discussions of the challenges facing indigenous peoples can be drawn from the periphery of contemporary political, social, cultural, and legal discourses and brought into the mainstream.

Keynote Speakers:

•Prof. Joy Hendry (Oxford Brookes University)
•Dr. Colin Samson (University of Essex)
•Dr. David Stirrup (University of Kent)
•Dr. Pamela Palmater (Ryerson University)

Registration please use this form

Programme

Joy Hendry (Oxford Brookes University) Anthropology Keynote: Aboriginal Science: putting the First Nations of Canada in a broad Indigenous Context

Pamela Palmater (Centre for Indigenous Governance, Ryerson University Canada) Law & Society Keynote: The Myth of Post-Colonialism in Canada: How Modern Laws and Politics Impact Indigenous Peoples.

Colin Samson (University of Essex) Sociology Keynote: The Future of the Past: Cultural Revitalization As a Means of Addressing the Unjust Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

David Stirrup (University of Kent) Literature Keynote: George Copway, Ojibwa Conquest, and the Indigenous Ideal

Dominic Alessio Richmond (The American International University of London) Monopoly Imperialism: The Buying and Leasing of Empires

Sinéad O'Sullivan (University of Manchester) Métis and the Canadian State: Claiming an Aboriginal Identity through the Legal System

Katya Brooks (University of Essex) Considering Cultural Collision: Reflections of Being a White, Middle-Class, British, Young(ish), Female Researcher in Sub-Arctic Canada

Roy Todd (University of Leeds) Urban Indigenous Youth: Diverse Contexts, Complex Transitions

Alfred Wong & Roxanne Gomes (The Friends of Aboriginal Health Association, Vancouver Canada) Impact of Advanced Telecommunication on Remote First Nation Communities

Zalfa Fegahli (University of Nottingham) The miracle of martyrs: Gregory Scofield's Revisionist Louis Riel

Maggie Bowers (University of Portsmouth) Storytelling and Sovereignty: Enacting Literary Self-Determination

Gundula Wilke (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Germany) Alternative History Lessons by Marginalised Writers

New archives list available for download - Simon Taylor papers

2012-01-17T12:17:00.000Z

The Taylor family papers are one of the most used collections in the Institute of Commonwealth Studies archives collection.

Mainly comprising letters written and received between 1770 and 1835 by Simon Taylor, his family and heirs, and his friends, agents and business partners. About a quarter of the letters are contained in Simon Taylor's letterbooks. Though the majority of the correspondence consists of letters either to or from Simon Taylor up to his death in 1813, there is also correspondence between other family members, notably his brother Sir John Taylor, his sister-in-law Elizabeth Haughton Taylor, Sir John and Lady Taylor's son (and Simon Taylor's heir) Sir Simon Richard Brissett Taylor, and Simon Taylor's second cousin and business partner Robert Taylor. The subject matter ranges from the domestic (illness, family quarrels, disinheritance, bigamy) to business (slaves, sugar, trade and shipping, the effects of hurricanes, the introduction of a steam engine on an estate), to politics (the Maroon and French wars, the anti-slavery movement and abolition of the slave trade). The collection also includes detailed reports on the estates made for Anna Susannah Watson Taylor in 1835.

International Refugee Law Seminar Series

2012-01-15T10:21:00.001Z

International Refugee Law Seminar Series
Human Rights Consortium Refugee Law Initiative

Tuesday 31 January 2012 5.30 pm
IALS, Council Chamber

Professor Stephen Meili, University of Minnesota
“Comparative approaches to the Use of international human rights law in asylum cases in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States"

Tuesday 21 February 2012 5.30 pm

IALS, Council Chamber

Professor James C. Simeon, York University Toronto
"The supervision of international refugee law"

Tuesday 13 March 2012, 5.30 pm
IALS, Council Chamber

S. Chelvan, No5 Chambers
“The fast-developing field of LGBTI refugee law”

Thursday 10 May, 2012, 5.30pm
Senate House, Chancellor’s Hall

Professor Patricia Tuitt, Birkbeck, University of London
“Refugees, Law and Postcolonial Theory”

Tuesday 5 June, 2012, 5.30pm

Senate House, Chancellor’s Hall

Professor Geoff Gilbert, University of Essex
“The law of exclusion from refugee status: recent developments”

Convenor: Dr David James Cantor, Director of the Refugee Law Initiative

With the support of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

ADMISSION FREE – ALL WELCOME

If you wish to attend any of the above please RSVP to RLI@sas.ac.uk

2012 Frederick Douglass Book Prize

2012-01-14T12:31:00.000Z

The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition is pleased to announce the 2012 Frederick Douglass Book Prize, an annual award for the most outstanding nonfiction book published in English on the subject of slavery and/or abolition and antislavery movements.

Publishers and authors are invited to submit books that meet these criteria.

We are interested in all geographical areas and time periods. Please note, however, that works related to the Civil War are acceptable only if their primary focus relates to slavery or emancipation.

Nominations for books published in 2011 will be accepted beginning in January 2012. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2012. To receive instructions on how to submit a book (information will be available in late fall/early winter), please contact the Gilder Lehrman Center, MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, at 230 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, fax (203) 432-6943, or e-mail to gilder.lehrman.center@yale.edu

New Zealand Studies Network (UK and Ireland) Inaugural Conference - New Zealand’s Cultures: Sources, Histories, Futures

2012-01-13T10:01:00.000Z

New Zealand Studies Network (UK and Ireland) Inaugural Conference - New Zealand’s Cultures: Sources, Histories, Futures

Hosts: Birkbeck, University of London and the University of Northampton

Friday 6 July to Saturday 7 July 2012 at Birkbeck, University of London

This conference aims to examine the ‘making of New Zealanders’ in the past, present and future. It will focus on New Zealand and its many different cultures, exploring their origins, historical sources and influences, contemporary changes and future developments. It aims to embrace as many as possible of the disciplinary fields within the humanities, social sciences and the natural sciences.

We anticipate that the cultures that will be explored will include not only the more obvious national, ethnic and religious ones, but the practices and mindsets of governmental, professional, business, educational, religious and sporting subcultures, and of cultures found in other daily occupations and interests, such as eating, drinking and entertainment.

We are interested in how elements of national culture have been imported from the Pacific, the UK, the USA, Europe and Australia, and how they have been exported through migration, disapora, and the media. We welcome proposals that approach New Zealand’s cultures from alternative, ‘outsider’ perspectives, and those that consider whether or not New Zealand's cultures exhibit any remarkable ‘exceptionalism’ .

Topics might well be located in or refer to one or more of the following categories of culture:

National
Local
Political
Ethnic
Immigrant/diasporic/minority
Professional
Business
Creative Arts
Gastronomic
Sporting
Historical / critical writing
Environmental
Religion

Keynote speakers: Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas; Hugh Lauder (Professor of Education and Political Economy, University of Bath). Others to be confirmed.

In the evening of 6th July, will be the launch of the 25 New Zealand Poets for the UK Poetry Archive 2011, with Directors, Sir Andrew Motion and Richard Carrington, Co-ordinating Director Jan Kemp, and readings by some of the poets.

Abstracts: for 20 minute papers of c 250 words plus brief biosketch by 31 March to info.nzsn@gmail.com Intending delegates should be current members of the NZSN. For details of how to join see the NZSN website at http://www.nzstudies.com/. The website will post regular updates of the conference, including accommodation, registration fees etc.

For any queries write to the convenors, Professor Janet Wilson at janet.wilson@northampton.ac.uk and Andrew Sharp at a.sharp@auckland.ac.nz

African Literary Awards Database

2012-01-13T09:31:00.000Z

Highlighting today an interesting and useful resource produced by the Library at Indiana Univeristy, Bloomington, the African :Literary Awards Database.

Each year dozens of works written by African writers and works about Africa win prestigous international and national literary and scholarly prizes. The African Studies section of the Libray at Indiana University has produced a database, which is the first attempt to gather a comprehensive list of African literary awards and their laureates. It is constantly being expanded by the addition of recent prize-winners and historical literary awards. The initial focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa, but it is intended to eventually cover the entire continent.

This database provides information about awards in an easy-to-search format. You may search by an award, title, or author. Clicking a "search" button without entering information in a search box will return a full list. Complete bibliographical information for the original published edition of each work is only available through title searches.

Conference: Fifty years of Jamaican Independence: Developments and Impacts

2012-01-11T10:30:00.000Z

Conference: Fifty years of Jamaican Independence: Developments and Impacts

Friday 10 February 2012
Institute for the Study of the Americas, Room 349, 3rd Floor, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

Entrance to the conference is free but please RSVP to olga.jimenez@sas.ac.uk

Programme:

10.00 Welcome

10.15 Opening Address
H.E. Anthony Johnson, Jamaican High Commissioner in London

11.00 Break

11.15 Panel One
Andrew Okola: Jamaican Politics Today
Steven Wilson: Jamaica and Caribbean Integration: Did One from Ten leave Nought?

12.15 Panel Two
Amanda Sives: Reconstructing Citizenship: From Empire to Nation to Diaspora Karen Hunte: The Britain that Jamaica made

13.15 Lunch

14.00 Panel Three
Jean Besson: Maroons, Free Villagers and ‘Squatters’ in the Development of Independent Jamaica David Howard: Informality, security and neighbourhood development in downtown Kingston David Dodman: Caribbean environments in the post-colonial era: resources, risk(s) and responses

15.30 Break

16.00 Keynote Address
Professor Brian Meeks, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

17.00 Close and drinks

Funded by the Joint Initiative for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean

Seminar and Book Launch: George Price: A Life Revealed, by Godfrey P. Smith

2012-01-10T16:33:00.000Z

Seminar and Book Launch: George Price: A Life Revealed, by Godfrey P. Smith

Wednesday 1st February
18.00-20.00

The Beveridge Hall
Senate House
London WC1E 7HU

The Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies cordially invite you to a seminar and book launch to celebrate the publication of the authorised biography of Belizean Prime Minister and father of the nation, George Price, by Godfrey Smith.

Speaker: Godfrey P. Smith
Commentator: Lord Michael Ashcroft

George Price, who died in 2011, was one of the last of the generation of Caribbean leaders whose political careers were moulded by the struggle for independence. The story of Price is inseparable from the story of the modern political development of Belize, involving the birth of nationalist politics; the formation of political parties; the struggle for independence and maintaining the territorial integrity of Belize against claims by Guatemala. Godfrey Smith examines the life and career of Price within the broader Caribbean context, critically appraising his place within the canon of Caribbean nationalist leaders and the legacies for Caribbean politics today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Godfrey Smith is a former member of the Belize House of Representatives for the Pickstock Division previously held by George Price. He served as a cabinet minister in the PUP administration of Said Musa from 1999-2008, holding various positions including Attorney General and Foreign Minister. Smith is a practicing attorney and writes an online blog www.flashpointbelize.com.

Please RSVP to Olga Jimenez on olga.jimenez@sas.ac.uk

ABOUT THE BOOK:

George Price: A Life Revealed, by Godfrey P Smith Ian Randle Press, 2011

An ascetic and failed priest, a stoic, father of the nation, prime minister and first national hero of the Central American nation of Belize, George Price remains one of the most enigmatic leaders of the 20th century. Nothing in the early years of Price’s life gave any indication that he would become the most uncompromising adversary of the British government in the struggle, first for self-government and later for Belizean independence, and in the process dominate Belizean politics for over 40 years. An indifferent scholastic career, failure to complete studies for the priesthood followed by a decade as the right-hand man for one of the colony’s most astute businessmen, were less than impressive a track record for a future national leader and political firebrand.

Yet for close to 50 years, the story of George Price was inseparable from the story of the modern political development of Belize, involving the birth of nationalist politics; the formation of political parties; the struggle for independence and the national objective of maintaining the territorial integrity of Belize against claims by Guatemala. Here is the story of a man who never married or raised a family, who never had a romantic liaison with a woman and who up to the time of his death at the age of 92 had remained celibate all his life. Price’s first and only lifelong love, his sweetheart, wife and family were Belize and its people.

In this even-handed and revealing authorized biography, Godfrey Smith does not attempt to canonize Price or denigrate his rivals and detractors. Rather, he exposes the contradictions that were a feature of Price s life and career. On the one hand the reader is shown Price as the ardent nationalist and a man of uncommon discipline and tenacity who pursued his vision of an independent Belize with clear-minded focus, courage and determination, yet who by his own admission, had secret relations with Guatemala whom most Belizeans regarded as the enemy.

On a personal level, Smith paints a picture of Price as one who beneath his pious exterior could often be found to be petty, secretive and vindictive, and a man who did not suffer slights lightly. Few political leaders from the region have recorded their memoirs or, like Price, given access by way of interviews or opened their personal papers to researchers or biographers. As one whose political career spanned both the colonial and post independence eras, the information, experiences and insights Price has freely given to his biographer will make this work an important contribution to the study of the political personality, the development of political parties and party politics in the Caribbean at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

In addition, the book sheds new light on Price’s adversarial relationship with local British governors and officials of the Colonial Office in London, and on the central role that the Guatemalan claim on Belize and Price's controversial affiliations with Guatemala played in both the negotiation and timing of Belizean independence. The value of Godfrey Smith’s work as the biographer of George Price lies in the fact that it is at once the revealing story of an important and controversial political leader, and at the same time, a history of the anti-colonial struggle and the modern political development of Belize.

SCOLMA 50th anniversary conference, June 25–26 2012

2012-01-09T10:16:00.000Z

SCOLMA 50th anniversary conference, June 25–26 2012,

Rothermere American Institute, Oxford

Dis/connects: African Studies in the Digital Age

Provisional Programme
(NB This programme is subject to change)

Monday 25 June

9.00–10.00 Coffee and registration

10.00–11.00 Keynote: Dr John Darwin, Beit University Lecturer in the History of the British Commonwealth, Nuffield College, Oxford ‘Africa in Global History’

11.00–12.30 Panel 1

Jos Damen, African Studies Centre, Leiden ‘Who needs a paper library in Africa?’
Jonathan Harle, Association of Commonwealth Universities ‘Understanding the research environments of African universities and their implications for the use of digital resources’
Ian Cooke and Marion Wallace, British Library ‘African studies in the digital age: Challenges for research and national libraries’

12.30–1.30 Lunch

1.30–3.00 Panels 2 & 3 in parallel

Panel 2

Daniel A. Reboussin, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida ‘Library research behaviour in the digital environment: Implications for librarians’
Brenda van Wyk, UNIZULU Library Service, University of Zululand ‘Information and content management of institutional repositories in southern Africa: A comparative study’
Pier Luigi Rossi, Research Institute for Development (IRD), Bondy ‘Log analysis and text mining on internet access to dissertations of the Dakar sports faculty (INSEPS)’

Panel 3

Chris Saunders, University of Cape Town, and Peter Limb, Michigan State University ‘Southern African history in the digital era’
Angel David Nieves, Hamilton College and Marla Jaksch, The College of New Jersey ‘Using digital history to narrate the liberation struggle in Tanzania and South Africa’
Lucia Lovison-Golob, Afriterra Foundation (tbc) The Integration of Historical Cartography into Present-Day Cartography: The Darfur Case’

3.00–3.30 Tea

3.30–5.00 Panels 4 & 5 in parallel

Panel 4

Simon Tanner, King’s College London ‘The impact of digitisation in Africa’
James Lowry, International Records Management Trust ‘Digitising colonial and post-independence government papers in Kenya’
Edgar Taylor, Ashley Rockenbach and Natalie Bond, University of Michigan ‘Archives and the past: Cataloging and digitization in Uganda’s archives’

Panel 5

Kate Haines, University of Sussex ‘Dialogue, text and memory: Social media and literary responses to the post-election violence in Kenya’
Jenni Orme, The National Archives (UK) ‘Viewing “Africa through a lens”: Using digitisation and online tools at The National Archives to widen audience reach’
Thomas Sharp, University of Manchester ‘A counter-hegemonic archive? The revelation of hidden histories on the internet: a case study from Cameroon’

5.15 Tour of Rhodes House

7.00 SCOLMA Golden Jubilee conference dinner
St Cross College
Guest speaker: Professor John McIlwaine, Emeritus Professor of the Bibliography of Asia and Africa, University College London

Tuesday 26 June

9.30–10.15 Keynote: Christine Kanyengo, Deputy Librarian, University of Zambia Library

10.15–10.45 Coffee

10.45–12.30 Panel 6

Stephanie Newell, University of Sussex ‘From stacks to pixels: How archival preservation shapes (re)search methods in African news’
John Pinfold ‘“Can you write a biography without papers?”: Researching the life of African adventurer Herbert Rhodes’
Diana Jeater, University of the West of England ‘Data, data everywhere, but not a byte to think: Use of digital resources in the HE Humanities sector in southern Africa’

12.30–2.00 Lunch and SCOLMA AGM

2.00–3.30 Panels 7 & 8 in parallel

Panel 7

Michelle Guittar & David L. Easterbrook, Melville J. Herskovits Library, Northwestern University ‘Digitization at the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies: A consideration of processes and outcomes’
Geoffrey Mukasa, University Library, Uganda Christian University Library, Mukono (tbc) ‘Digital library information resources in Uganda’
Guy Thomas, Archives and Library, Basel Mission ‘Reconfiguring concepts of living archives through remote access’

Panel 8

Gabriela Redwine, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin ‘At home and abroad: Born-digital African literary archives in the digital age’
Amidu Sanni, Lagos State University (tbc) ‘The West African Arabic manuscript heritage: challenges of the digital revolution in a research economy’
Korklu Laryea, University Library, University of Ghana (tbc) ‘Research pathways in African studies’
Massimo Zaccaria, University of Pavia ‘Recovering the African printed past. The case of a dispersed collection and the attempt to virtually rejoin it: the Eritrean case’

3.30–4.00 Coffee

4.00–5.00 Plenary: Dis/connects: Building and maintaining digital libraries on Africa
Led by Peter Limb, Michigan State University

For enquiries and bookings please contact the SCOLMA Secretary:

Lucy McCann, Archivist, Bodleian Library of Commonwealth & African Studies, Rhodes House, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RG
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 270908 Email: mailto:lucy.mccann@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

SCOLMA website: http://www.scolma.org/

ANC Centenary

2012-01-06T12:52:00.000Z

It is one hundred years since the African National Congress was founded, On January 8th 1912, chiefs, representatives of people`s and church organisations, and other prominent individuals gathered in Bloemfontein and formed the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), later named the African National Congress (1923). The ANC declared its aim to bring all Africans together as one people to defend their rights and freedoms.

The ANC has a website showcasing their history and events taking place as part of the celebrations.

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies has a wide range of material on and published by the ANC, as well as other important groups who were part of the South African liberation struggle. The collection includes material catalogued as part of our political pamphlets project, and the library holds over 400 individual titles published by the ANC, including newsletters and journals as well as pamphlets, leaflets, manifestos, etc.

Archive collections include a specific collection of material from the ANC and Indian organisations in South Africa (in both print and microfilm), the Mandela Trials papers, as well as papers of activists including Ruth First, Mary Benson, Ruth Hayman, Marion Friedmann , Baruch Hirson, Tim Matthews, Z K Matthews, Josie Palmer.

The archive collection also includes Ralph Johnson Bunche's account of the Silver Anniversary meeting of the African National Congress in Bloemfontein in December 1937

New Books - November and December 2011 (Part 2)

2012-01-05T10:16:00.002Z

Part 2 of our list of new book added to the catalogue in November and December 2011

Kirk, Neville, Labour and the politics of empire : Britain and Australia, 1900 to the present, Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2011.

Hoffstaedter, Gerhard, Modern Muslim identities : negotiating religion and ethnicity in Malaysia, Copenhagen : NIAS [u.a.], 2011.

Teo, Youyenn, Neoliberal morality in Singapore : how family policies make state and society, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2011.

Jega, Attahiru M. and Jacqueline W. Farris (eds), Nigeria at fifty : contributions to peace, democracy, and development, Abuja, Nigeria : Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation, c2010.

Kelsey, Jane, No ordinary deal : unmasking the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement, Wellington, N.Z. : Bridget Williams Books with the New Zealand Law Foundation, 2010.

Granatstein, J. L. and Dean F. Oliver, The Oxford companion to Canadian military history, Don Mills, Ont. : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Courtney, John C. and David E. Smith (eds), The Oxford handbook of Canadian politics, Oxford ; New York, N.Y. : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Allan, Kate (ed), Paper wars : access to information in South Africa, Johannesburg : Wits University Press, 2009.

Waugh, Colin M., Paul Kagame and Rwanda : power, genocide and the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., Publishers, 2004.

Abidi, Syed A.H. (ed), Peace in Uganda : the role of the civil society, Kampala : ABETO, 2011.

Alfred, Taiaiake, Peace, power, righteousness : an indigenous manifesto, Don Mills, Ont. ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.

Mohanty, Manoranjan, Partha Nath Mukherji, with Olle Törnquist (eds), People's rights : social movements and the state in the third world, New Delhi ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, 1998.

Jeffery, Anthea, People's war : new light on the struggle for South Africa, Johannesburg : Jonathan Ball, 2009

Barchiesi, Franco, Precarious liberation : workers, the state, and contested social citizenship in postapartheid South Africa, Albany : State University of New York Press ; Scottsville, South Africa : University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, c2011.

Tan, Jeff, Privatization in Malaysia : regulation, rent-seeking and policy failure, London ; New York : Routledge, 2008.

Morck, Randall (ed), Recreating Canada : essays in honour of Paul Weiler, Montreal : School of Policy Studies, Queen's University, McGill-Queen's University Press, c2011.

African Human Security Initiative, Sierra Leone : a country review of crime and criminal justice, 2008, Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa : Institute for Security Studies, 2009.

Holt, John Clifford (ed), The Sri Lanka reader : history, culture, politics, Durham [NC] : Duke University Press, 2011.

White , Lucie E. and Jeremy Perelman (eds), Stones of hope : how African activists reclaim human rights to challenge global poverty , Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, c2011.

de Feyter, Koen and George Pavlakos (eds), The tension between group rights and human rights : a multidisciplinary approach, Oxford : Portland, Or. : Hart Pub., 2008.

Singapore Economic Roundtable (10th : 2008), The tenth Singapore Economic Roundtable, December 2008, Singapore : Straits Times Press Reference, c2009.

De Schutter, Olivier (ed), Transnational corporations and human rights, Oxford ; Portland, Or. : Hart Pub., 2006.

Mamdani, Mahmood, When victims become killers : colonialism, nativism, and the genocide in Rwanda, Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2002, c2001.

Waring, Marilyn et al (ed), Who cares? : the economics of dignity, London : Commonwealth Secretariat, 2010.

New Books - November and December 2011 (Part 1)

2012-01-04T10:03:00.006Z

New books acquired and added to the catalogue in the last two months of 2011 included the following:

Kitakule, Sarah and Margaret Snyder, Above the odds : a decade of change for Ugandan women entrepreneurs, Trenton, N.J. : Africa World Press, c2011.

Quataert, Jean H., Advocating dignity : human rights mobilizations in global politics, Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2009.

Stapleton, Timothy, African police and soldiers in colonial Zimbabwe, 1923-80, Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2011.

Shapiro, Ian and Kahreen Tebeau (eds), After apartheid : reinventing South Africa, Charlottesville : University of Virginia Press, 2011.

Bangladesh Sixth Five Year Plan, FY2011-FY2015 : accelerating growth and reducing poverty, Dhaka : Planning Commission, Ministry of Planning, Govt. of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, 2011.

Hodgson, Dorothy L., Being Maasai, becoming indigenous : postcolonial politics in a neoliberal world, Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2011.

Hamilton, Carolyn, Bernard K. Mbenga, and Robert Ross, The Cambridge history of South Africa, Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010-<2011>

Samara, Tony Roshan, Cape Town after apartheid : crime and governance in the divided city, Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c2011.

Bourne, Richard, Catastrophe : what went wrong in Zimbabwe?, London ; New York : Zed Books, c2011.

Kamya, John (comp), Children's rights : a compilation of international, regional, and Uganda's legal and human rights instruments, Kampala : Fountain Publishers, 2008.

Kumssa, Asfaw, James Herbert Williams and John F. Jones (eds), Conflict and human security in Africa : Kenya in perspective, New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Mulwafu, Wapulumuka Oliver, Conservation song : a history of peasant-state relations and the environment in Malawi, 1860-2000, Cambridge, UK : White Horse Press, 2011.

BakamaNume, Bakama B. (ed), A contemporary geography of Uganda, Dar es Salaam : Mkuki na Nyota, c2010.

Nweze , Chima Centus, Contemporary issues on public international and comparative law : essays in honor of Professor Christian Nwachukwu Okeke, Lake Mary, Fla. : Vandeplas Pub., c2009

Kangumu, Bennett, Contesting Caprivi : a history of colonial isolation and regional nationalism in Namibia, Basel : Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Namibia Resource Center & Southern Africa Library, 2011.

Ker-Lindsay, James, The Cyprus problem : what everyone needs to know, Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2011.

Kathyola, Janet and Oluwatoyin Job (eds), Decentralisation in Commonwealth Africa : experiences from Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania, London : Commonwealth Secretarial c2011.

Keating, Christine, Decolonizing democracy : transforming the social contract in India, University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, c2011

Newbury, Darren, Defiant images : photography and apartheid South Africa, Pretoria : UNISA Press, c2010.

Altink, Henrice, Destined for a life of service : defining African-Jamaican womanhood, 1865-1938, Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 2011.

Tripodi, Christian, Edge of empire : the British political officer and tribal administration on the North-West frontier, 1877-1947, Farnham, Surrey ; Burlington VT : Ashgate, 2011.

Wasswa-Matovu, Joseph, Effects of transaction costs on community forest management in Uganda, Addis Ababa : Organisation For Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa, 2010.

Singapore Economic Roundtable (11th : 2009 : Singapore), The eleventh Singapore Economic Roundtable, June 2009, Singapore : Straits Times Press Reference for National University of Singapore, c2010.

Chamberlain, Mary, Empire and nation-building in the Caribbean : Barbados, 1937-66, Manchester, UK ; New York : Manchester University Press.

Ang, James B. Financial development and economic growth in Malaysia, London ; New York : Routledge, 2009.

Wallimann and Michael N. Dobkowski, Genocide and the modern age : etiology and case studies of mass death, New York : Syracuse University Press, 2000.

Beneria, Lourdes and Savitri Bisnath (eds), Global tensions : challenges and opportunities in the world economy, New York : Routledge, 2004.

Watson, James and Lachy Paterson (eds), A great New Zealand prime minister? : reappraising William Ferguson Massey, Dunedin, N.Z. : Otago University Press, 2011.

Juma, Monica and Jennifer Klot, HIV/AIDS, gender, human security, and violence in Southern Africa, Pretoria, South Africa : Africa Institute of South Africa, 2011.

Friedman, John T., Imagining the post-apartheid state : an ethnographic account of Namibia, New York : Berghahn Books, 2011.

Wolpert, Stanley, India and Pakistan : continued conflict or cooperation? Berkeley, Calif. ; London : University of California Press, c2010.

Mawdsley, Emma and Gerard McCann (eds), India in Africa : changing geographies of power, Cape Town : Pambazuka Press, 2011.

Srikanth, H. Indigenous peoples in liberal democratic states : a comparative study of conflict and accommodation in Canada and India, Boulder, Colo. : Bäuu Press, 2010.

Neuffer, Elizabeth. The key to my neighbour's house : seeking justice in Bosnia and Rwanda, London : Bloomsbury, 2002.

CARIBBEAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION 37th ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012 May 28 - June 1, 2012 - Le Gosier, Guadeloupe

2012-01-03T14:06:00.000Z

CARIBBEAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION 37th ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2012 May 28 - June 1, 2012 - Le Gosier, Guadeloupe

UNPACKING CARIBBEAN CITIZENSHIP[S] : Rights, participation and belonging

The Caribbean Studies Association issues a call for papers for its 37th Annual Conference with the theme "Unpacking Caribbean Citizenship: Rights, Participation and Belonging". We invite scholars and practitioners in the humanities, social sciences, public policy and members of civil society organizations whose works focus on the wider Caribbean and its diasporas to submit abstracts of approximately 200 words for research papers and presentations.

The aim of the 2012 conference is to throw light on the concept, its development, evolution and dynamics in particular in its three dimensions: Rights, Participation and Belonging. We want to explore the ways in which citizens in the Caribbean conceive and participate in decisions that affect their lives, their cultures and their environment.

This is a call for contributions for a Special Colloquium / Panel proposal on Corporate citizenship, ethics and social responsibility : Representations, practices and managerial innovations in Small Businesses (SMEs) and/or in the Caribbean

This panel is dedicated to understanding how small and medium enterprises (SME) are impacted by and react to societal issues and stakeholders demands such as sustainable development, social responsibility and ethics in business. Implementing such strategies questions SMEs' missions and goals, decision processes, values and relationships with stakeholders. Management therefore plays a key role in implementing such devices and spirit. Designing new ways, new processes, new organizations to introduce or develop ethics and social responsibility in SME remains an important challenge that calls for innovations abilities. Due to many structural constraints (size of enterprises, financial resources, geographical situation, competencies, etc.), SMEs have difficulties investing in technological innovation, although public policies insist on the necessity to innovate. But others ways exist for SMEs innovation as organizational levers can be mobilized for social and economic progress. Room for action and managerial innovation remains in terms of relevant strategic choices, decision processes, management of resources, sustainable human resource strategies, the development of core individual and collective competencies, responsibility.

We expect contributions that focus on the issues of SME's corporate citizenship, managers' ethics, social responsibility and managerial / organizational innovation.

More specifically, we welcome contributions that will bring answers to the following questions:

- What conceptual frameworks/concepts/theoretical approaches are adapted to understanding and analyzing these issues?

- What practices, what strategies of corporate citizenship in SMEs?

- What kind of processes/devices/categories of managerial innovation in SMEs?

- How do these issues impact working conditions and work relationships?

- What is the meaning given by actors to these strategies? How do these issues enable actors to give meaning to work?

- How do these issues impact professional identities and organizational culture?

- How do historical, post-colonial, social and cultural contexts impact corporate citizenship, ethical behaviours and social responsibility?

- In what manner do collective representations and/or social uses of History contribute to or limit the development of corporate citizenship and social responsibility strategies?

We invite contributions that will bring together different theoretical fields, new or critical perspectives in management and social science.

Interested contributors must send a communication proposal (around 250 words) in English or French before January 5th 2012 to :
management.research@univ-ag.fr

After the conference, authors will have the possibility to submit their paper for publication in an academic journal or a collective book.

Info : http://www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/

www2.univ-ag.fr/CRPLC/

Commonwealth of Learning - Learning for Development

2011-12-22T09:16:00.000Z

Current drafts of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)'s Three-Year Plan 2012-2015 and related Logic Model are now available on COL's website for review by stakeholders. The drafts benefit from wide consultation and results of surveys and evaluations.

Further input from all stakeholders is very welcome. Please see www.col.org/Draft3YP
Other documents that you may wish to consult as you review the drafts are the reports from this year's four regional meetings of COL Focal Points and Dr. Patrick Spaven's mid-term stakeholder survey (2010) - all available at www.col.org/3YP (under "Planning for 2012-2015" in the right-hand column). Dr. Spaven's draft conclusions and recommendations from his full external evaluation for the previous plan period (2009-2012) are included in an appendix to the draft Three-Year Plan.

Please provide your comments, advice and/or questions by Monday, 16 January 2012. You may submit your comments to the public forum on the COL website at www.col.org/Draft3YP or send them directly to COL at info@col.org.

CARIBBEAN SEMINAR SERIES

2011-12-21T13:19:00.000Z

CARIBBEAN SEMINAR SERIES

SPRING PROGRAMME: JANUARY-MARCH 2012

The Institute for the Study of the Americas and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies are part of the University of London, located in Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.

Series convenors: Kate Quinn (ISA); Mary Turner (ICwS)

PROGRAMME SUMMARY

“The most completely political Negro": The convergence of George Padmore’s pan-Africanism and Marxism in the West Indian Labour Revolts, 1935-1939
18th January 17:30 Room 349 (Third Floor, Senate House)
Leslie James, LSE

Born in Trinidad in 1903, George Padmore is best known either as one of the 'fathers of Pan-Africanism', or as the Communist International's most important 'Negro communist.' These categories have diminished his interest in, and support for, resistance in the West Indies. The Caribbean labour revolts, which began in British Honduras in early 1935 and culminated in the strikes, marches and demonstrations across Jamaica in 1938, became a major subject of George Padmore’s journalism and a key action point for his London-based International African Service Bureau (IASB). The IASB became heavily involved in West Indian affairs and although many see this period as Padmore’s stronger identification as an ‘African,’ it was also the period in which he was most involved in West Indian politics. This paper will show that Padmore's continued Marxism and his persistent encouragement of pan-African unity came together in his support for Caribbean workers.

Bio: Leslie James is a PhD candidate in the International History Dept, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is working on a biography of George Padmore.

Seminar and Book Launch: George Price, A Life Revealed: The Authorised Biography, Ian Randle Press (2011) by Godfrey Smith
1st February 18:00 The William Beveridge Hall (Ground floor, Senate House)
Speaker: Godfrey P Smith
Commentator: Lord Michael Ashcroft

"An ascetic and failed priest, a stoic, father of the nation, prime minister and first national hero of the Central American nation of Belize, George Price remains one of the most enigmatic leaders of the 20th century. Nothing in the early years of Price’s life gave any indication that he would become the most uncompromising adversary of the British government in the struggle, first for self-government and later for Belizean independence, and in the process dominate Belizean politics for over 40 years. An indifferent scholastic career, failure to complete studies for the priesthood followed by a decade as the right-hand man for one of the colony’s most astute businessmen, were less than impressive a track record for a future national leader and political firebrand. Yet for close to 50 years, the story of George Price was inseparable from the story of the modern political development of Belize, involving the birth of nationalist politics; the formation of political parties; the struggle for independence and the national objective of maintaining the territorial integrity of Belize against claims by Guatemala.

Here is the story of a man who never married or raised a family, who never had a romantic liaison with a woman and who up to the time of his death at the age of 92 had remained celibate all his life. Price’s first and only lifelong love, his sweetheart, wife and family were Belize and its people. In this even-handed and revealing authorized biography, Godfrey Smith does not attempt to canonize Price or denigrate his rivals and detractors. Rather, he exposes the contradictions that were a feature of Price’s life and career. On the one hand the reader is shown Price as the ardent nationalist and a man of uncommon discipline and tenacity who pursued his vision of an independent Belize with clear-minded focus, courage and determination, yet who, by his own admission, had secret relations with Guatemala whom most Belizeans regarded as the enemy.

On a personal level, Smith paints a picture of Price as one who beneath his pious exterior could often be found to be petty, secretive and vindictive, and a man who did not suffer slights lightly. Few political leaders from the region have recorded their memoirs or, like Price, given access by way of interviews or opened their personal papers to researchers or biographers. As one whose political career spanned boththe colonial and the post independence eras, the information, experiences and insights Price has freely given to his biographer will make this work an important contribution to the study of the political personality, the development of political parties and party politics in the Caribbean at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, the book sheds new light on Price’s adversarial relationship with local British governors and officials of the Colonial Office in London, and on the central role that the Guatemalan claim on Belize and Price’s controversial affiliations with Guatemala played in both the negotiation and timing of Belizean independence. The value of Godfrey Smith’s work as the biographer of George Price lies in the fact that it is at once the revealing story of an important and controversial political leader, and at the same time, a history of the anti-colonial struggle and the modern political development of Belize"

East Indian Civil Society in the Pre-Independence Caribbean
15th February 17:00 S264 (Second Floor, Senate House)

Speakers:
Feriel Kissoon, King’s College London: "How East Indians became West Indians": the Indigenization of East Indians in Trinidad and Tobago 1910-1930
Clem Seecharan, London Metropolitan University [title TBC]

Panel: Small Territories, Global Issues: Governance and Corruption in the Caribbean
29th February 17:30 S261 (Second Floor, Senate House)

Peter Clegg, UWE: The Turks and Caicos Islands: Can the cloud be banished?
Dylan Vernon, ISA: Our Turn to Feed: Big Implications of Rampant Political Clientelism in Small State Belize
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is one of 14 Overseas Territories (OTs) still overseen by the United Kingdom (UK). Underpinned by tourism, property development and financial services, its economy experienced growth amongst the highest in the world during the early to mid-2000s. However, it now appears that this economic success was built on a political, economic and social system that was seriously compromised, and which created ‘a national emergency’ that potentially threatened the very future of the territory. The paper considers the report of the 2009 UK government-appointed Commission of Inquiry into alleged corruption in the TCI, and draws comparisons with a similar Commission of Inquiry undertaken in 1986. Indeed the title of the article derives from a quotation from the first inquiry overseen by Louis Blom-Cooper which said ‘… I am driven to the conclusion that the time has come to disperse the cloud that hangs like a brooding omnipresence in a Grand Turkan Sky’. It is clear that this did not happen, and the paper investigates why. The paper considers the UK government’s system of oversight and the characteristics of the TCI, and whether these help to explain recent events and those in the mid-1980s. A final assessment is then made as to whether the TCI is particularly prone to breakdowns in good governance, what is being done to repair the territory’s reputation, and whether the cloud hanging over the TCI can be banished.

Bio: Dr Peter Clegg is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of the West of England in Bristol, and in 2009/2010 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He has published widely on the Caribbean, and teaches a range of courses on Latin American and Caribbean Politics.

The disproportionate expansion and prevalence of political clientelism in Belize since independence in 1981 have worrying implications for its democratic governance and development. From the ‘cultural normalcy’ of open vote-buying in local constituencies, to blatant patronage in the public service, to the backroom high finance deals for the ‘big boys’, the trading of political favour for political support is no longer just election addenda but a permanent state of affairs in daily political relationships of exchange and influence. Although intense party competition and high rates of poverty have jointly fuelled this political phenomenon, small state scale, highly personalised politics, and demographic shifts have also contributed significantly in the Belize context. The paper focuses on the ‘big’ governance challenges that pervasive political clientelism present for small Commonwealth Caribbean states such as Belize in terms of its relationship to political corruption, the disincentive effect on policy reform, the undermining of welfare delivery, and the creation of a mutually damaging dependency between people and their political leaders. Is this path of entrenched political clientelism inevitable for these small states?

Bio: Dylan Vernon is a United Kingdom Commonwealth Scholarship Fellow currently in his third year of completing a PhD in Caribbean Politics at the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the School of Advanced Studies, University of London. The presentation is based on his thesis (in progress) on the nature and implications of rampant political clientelism in Belize. Prior to ISA, his career included directing the Society for the Promotion of Education and Research in Belize (1994-1998), chairing the Belize Political Reform Commission (1999-2000), managing the United Nations Development Programme in Belize (2000-2005), chairing the Advisory Council on the Guatemalan Claim (2005-2009), lecturing at the University of Belize, and private consulting in the development sector.

Recent Elections and Communal Strife: Trinidad and Guyana
14th March 17:30 Room 349 (Third floor, Senate House)
Ralph Premdas, University of the West Indies, St.Augustine

In two Caribbean states that are ethnically plural, this seminar compares the persistence/disappearance of the ethnic factor through the prism of the last two elections in Trinidad and Guyana.

Bio: Ralph R. Premdas is Professor in the Sir Arthur Institute of Social and Economic Research (SALISES) at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He holds PhDs in Political Science (Illinois 1970) and Comparative Religion (McGill1991). His research focuses on issues of democratic governance and public policy in ethnically divided states. His publications include many books among which are Identity, Ethnicity and Culture in the Caribbean (2000); Ethnic Conflict and Development: The Case of Guyana (1997) and Trinidad and Tobago: Identity and Ethnicity in Public Sector Governance (2007).

New Rhodesia related archives list available on archives catalogue

2011-12-19T09:26:00.000Z

A PDF version of the handlist of the Anthony McAdam collection is now available on the Archives Catalogue.

This collection includes papers relating to Rhodesian politics collected by Anthony L McAdam, including correspondence and papers relating to the multiracial University College Rhodesia, 1964-1971; correspondence and papers relating to African National Congress (ANC) meetings, particularly relating to the ANC Committee in London, 1971-1972; and miscellaneous material on Rhodesia, 1970-1972, including correspondence on the right of entry to the United Kingdom for Rhodesian Africans.

Anthony McAdam was a Lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences, University College, Rhodesia in the 1960s and early 1970s. He later taught at Stirling University.

Christmas Opening Hours

2011-12-16T09:24:00.000Z

Vacation hours will be in operation next week, from Monday the 19th to Friday the 23rd of December 2011.
These are Monday - Friday: 09.00 - 18.00

The Library is closed 24th December 2011 - 2nd January 2012, inclusive

And will reopen on Tuesday the 3rd of January 2012. Vacation hours will continue that week until the 7th of January 2012.

Bridget Jones Travel Award: Call For Applications

2011-12-15T09:24:00.000Z

BRIDGET JONES TRAVEL AWARD: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Arts researchers or practitioners living and working in the Caribbean are eligible to apply for the Bridget Jones Travel Award, the deadline for which is the 13th January 2012. The winner of the award will present their work at the 36th Society for Caribbean Studies Annual Conference, which will be held at Oxford University from the 4th – 6th July 2012.

Eligibility

If you are an arts practitioner living and working in any region of the Anglophone, Hispanic, Francophone or Dutch speaking Caribbean, you may apply for the Award. The successful recipient will receive £650 towards travel expenses and, in addition, a full bursary to cover conference fees and accommodation. Applications are especially welcome from individuals with no institutional affiliations. We encourage applications from across the arts: from visual artists, performers, creative writers, film-makers, folklorists, playwrights etc.

How To Apply

To apply for the Award you must submit the following:

A covering letter
Curriculum vitae (no more than 4 sides of A4) Statements from 2 referees who are able to comment on your work

AND either

(a) A proposal for a presentation of your work in the areas of film, literature, visual or performing arts, or
(b) A proposal for a reading of original creative work.

Presentations normally last for up to one hour, including time for questions from the audience. The most important part of your application will therefore be a full description of the proposed presentation detailing the themes and rationale behind the presentation, as well as how the presentation will be organised and any props required (eg. if intending to screen clips of films; show slides of artwork; incorporate live performance etc).

Applications and enquiries should be sent by e-mail to Kate Quinn, Chair of the Bridget Jones Award Sub-Committee on kate.quinn@sas.ac.uk

Completed applications must be received by 13th January 2012. A decision will be made by the committee in late January.

For more information on the Bridget Jones Travel Award and the Society for Caribbean Studies, visit the Society website on http://www.caribbeanstudies.org.uk/

Foreign and Commonwealth Office - Colonial administration/migrated archives to be made available

2011-12-15T09:13:00.000Z

The Foreign and COmmonwealth Office will soon be making available to the public a large collection of files from former British territories, sometimes known as the "migrated archives". The files will be made available between April 2012 and November 2013.

The Foreign Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 5 May about the colonial administration files held by the FCO and subsequently informed Parliament on 30 June that he had appointed Professor Badger from Cambridge University as the Independent Reviewer.

Professor Badger has approved a timetable for the transfer of the migrated archive files to The National Archives (TNA). The first batch of files, representing around 16% of the total collection, is expected to be available at TNA in April 2012.

The files are being transferred in alphabetical order of the colonial territory concerned with the exception of prioritised release for Kenya, Cyprus, British India Ocean Territories (BIOT) and Malaya files where there has been particular interest.

Further details are available on the FCO website.

Culture and Conflict - call for projects and research proposals

2011-12-14T11:59:00.000Z

The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are calling for high quality, multi-disciplinary and innovative project proposals from civil society organisations addressing the issue of culture and conflict, within the framework of the Culture and Conflict Programme.

Grants will be awarded to civil society organisations in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Organisations should submit a proposal for the development and delivery of activities that use culture as a way of engaging with local communities. Projects should also include a tangible output that captures the experiences of the participants and highlights the impact of the project.

The Prince Claus Fund and the Commonwealth Foundation are also calling for high quality and innovative research proposals from individuals exploring the role of culture in conflict and post-conflict situations, within the framework of its Culture and Conflict programme.

Two researchers will be appointed with responsibility for examining arts and culture-led initiatives for conflict resolution, including the work of the Culture and Conflict Programme grant recipients in Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. One researcher will be appointed from Africa and another from Asia.

Applicants should have proven professional research experience or practice in the field of culture and conflict and/or development.

All applications and queries should be sent to: h.thomas@commonwealth.int

Deadline: 27 January 2012, 17:00 (GMT)

Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia)

2011-12-13T11:54:00.000Z

Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia)

The Legal Information Institute of India (LIIofIndia) is an international standard, free-access and non-profit, comprehensive online collection of Indian legal information which has been developed through cooperation between four leading Indian Law Schools (NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad; National Law School of India University, Bangalore; National Law University, Delhi, and Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur) in partnership with AustLII.
The LII of India currently contains 151 databases including:

legislation (the India Code from 1836, some State legislation, and commentary on legislation),
Indian case law (over 300,000 cases in full text from the Supreme Court, most High Courts, and tribunals),
treaties (all India treaties to 1975, plus many subsequent bilateral treaties),
law reform reports (from the Law Commission),
legal scholarship (six law journals to date, with scholarship repositories, books and judicial scholarship still to be developed),
cases concerning India in International Courts and Tribunals, and
cases concerning India from the pre-1873 English Reports.

Recent updates and additions include:

cases from the High Court of Calcutta (Appellate Side) 2003- and High Court of Calcutta Port Blair Bench 2008-
the NALSAR Media Law Review 2010- and NALSAR Environmental Law and Practice Review 2011-
the Indian Journal of Law and Economics 2010-
29 State and Territory Schemes databases and
West Bengal Acts 1848-

Three new Partner Institutions have joined LII of India: Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar (GNLU); Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University, Chennai (TNDALU); and Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala (RGNUL)

Events - Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, Kings College London 2011-2012

2011-12-12T12:17:00.000Z

Events - Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, Kings College London 2011-2012

Wednesday 14 December 2011

18.15, Room K6.63, King’s Building, Strand Campus
Jeannine Baker (Melbourne)
Australian women war correspondents: Reporting the Second World War 'from a woman's angle'

Tuesday 17 January 2012
Lecture
Alison Bashford (Sydney) ‘Malthus and the New World'
17.00, Lecture Theatre K-1.56, King’s Building, Strand Campus
(A joint meeting with the Centre for the Humanities and Health)

Wednesday 18 January 2012
Seminar
Keir Reeves (Monash University/King’s College London Rydon Fellow)
‘A Centenary History of Anzac Day at Home and Abroad’

Wednesday 1 February 2012
Seminar
James Taylor (Sussex)
‘Painting around Australia 1801-3: Re-discovering the Art of William Westall (1781-1850)’

Wednesday 8 February 2012
Seminar
Jatinder Mann (King’s College London)
'The evolution of Commonwealth citizenship, 1945-48: The Canadian Citizenship Act; the British Nationality Act; and the British Nationality and Australian Citizenship Act'

Thursday 16 February 2012
‘Peter Porter: a memorial celebration’
Among the participants will be poets Martin Bax, Alan Brownjohn, Wendy Cope, Laurie Duggan, Emma Jones, John Kinsella, Tim Liardet, Sean O’Brien, Jaya Savige and Anthony Thwaite; scholars and editors Roger Covell, Warwick Gould (IES), Ian Henderson (KCL) and Don Paterson; and cellist Kwesi Edman.
18.00, Downer Room, Australia House (A joint meeting with the Institute of English Studies)

Wednesday 22 February 2012
Seminar
Simon Sleight (King’s College London),
‘Australian Youthscapes, 1860-1914’

Wednesday 29 February 2012
Seminar
Commodore Peter Lockwood, RAN, Defence Adviser, Australian High Commission, London
‘The Australian Defence Outlook’
Wednesday 14 March 2012

Seminar
Hugh White (Australian National University)
‘Australia and China’

Wednesday 21 March 2012
Seminar
Simon Potter (Bristol)
‘The ABC and the end of the British ‘embrace’, 1945-70’

Wednesday 28 March 2012
Seminar
Helen Idle (King’s College London)
‘Exhibiting Australian Aboriginal Art/Artifacts in European Museums’ (title tbc)

Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012

2011-12-08T10:43:00.000Z

Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012

The Department of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies invites submissions for the Edgar Graham Book Prize 2012.

This academic prize was established in 1984 to commemorate Edgar Graham who at the time of his death in 1983 had been Governor of the School for seven years. Edgar Graham's own book, The Modern Plantation in the Third World, was published posthumously by Croom Helm (1984). The prize of £1000 is awarded for a work of original scholarship on development in Asia and Africa.

Authored and co-authored books published between 2010 and 2012 are eligible for the Prize. Please submit 2 copies to the following address:

Brita Pouget, Prize Administrator
School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh St. Russell Sq.
London WC1H 0XG
(bp@soas.ac.uk)

You may include reviews with your submission.

The closing date is July 1st, 2012.

Illustrated London News Collection. New Zealand collection 1842-1902

2011-12-07T11:20:00.000Z

Illustrated London News Collection. New Zealand collection 1842-1902

The Illustrated News Collection ia an interesting digitisation project from the University of Waikato Library who have scanned all images and text relating to New Zealand from the Illustrated London News during this period.

The Illustrated London News was a picture newspaper that ran for over 150 years, its first issue appearing on 14 May 1842. The paper was published weekly until 1971 when it became a monthly. It provided a general source of news but its main appeal lay in its use of woodcuts and engravings to enhance the text. Later, photographs were introduced to provide the illustrations. The paper was highly popular and successful and, while it had an emphasis on Britain, world events were covered, especially where Britain was involved or affected. To this end, Britain's imperial interests and the emerging colony of New Zealand received some coverage especially during the period of the New Zealand Wars.

This database produced by the University of Waikato Library includes scanned images of the all the text and illustrations that refer to events in New Zealand during the first sixty years from volume 1 in 1842 to volume 121 in 1902. The entries can be searched by keyword or you can browse in chronological order.

Key topics covered include social, economic and political history. The Senate House Library also has access to the printed copies of the Illustrated London News.

Open Access and the Pacific

2011-12-06T11:49:00.000Z

With thanks to the Savage Minds blog:

Open access is a growing trend in scholarly publishing, and a particularly important one enabling better access to scholarly work in the developing world. The Savage Minds blog has recently highlighted that some of the most focused journals on anthropology and the Pacific are available open access.

The blog author states: "These journals are small and specialized — despite the size of the Pacific, the scholarly community is pretty small — but despite this they are all being made more and more available online. Or maybe I should say because of this. I also think that we, like the physicists, are a group of people with a strong sense of community and a commitment to the values of our discipline — and the Pacific is a place where people value share and community."

Highlighted journals include Pacific Studies which has posted over thirty years of back issues available for free on its website; The Contemporary Pacific which has placed over twenty years of its issues online; and
the University of the South Pacific's Journal of Pacific Studies which currently has 8 volumes of its back issues available open access and has abstracts and tables of contents for the remaining issues online, while work is ongoing to provide full text access to these.

At the University of Hawaii the Center for Pacific Island Studies has done a superb job of making its work available open access. It includes a occasional papers series that began with relatively staid titles like Pacific-Related Audiovisual Materials for Secondary Schools to truly new and exciting scholarship by Pacific Islanders such as Indigenous Encounters: Reflections on Relations Between People in the Pacific edited by Katerina Teaiwa and The Space Between: Negotiating Culture, Place, and Identity in the Pacific by Marata Tamaira.

For the full blog post please go here.

Christmas Fare from the Empire

2011-12-05T09:53:00.000Z

Stir up Sunday has been and gone but it is not too late for Christmas baking. Today we want to highlight a publication produced by the Empire Marketing Board, Christmas Fare from the Empire.

The Empire Marketing Board (EMB)was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote inter-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. Amery was the first Chairman of the EMB, Sir Stephen George Tallents was its Secretary, and Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd was Assistant Secretary. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies holds archive collection from both Sir Stephen Tallents and Edward Mayow Hastings Lloyd from or about their time with the Empire Marketing Board.

The EMB supported scientific research, promoted economic analysis about trade and produced publicity for Empire trade. While scientific research took up a large proportion of the EMB's work and budget researchers have more often been interested in the publicity and promotion of trade. The EMB organised poster campaigns, exhibitions, 'Empire Shopping Weeks', Empire shops, lectures, radio talks, schools tours, and advertisements in the national and local press and of shop window displays. Publicity work included that of the EMB film unit led by John Grierson, often considered the father of modern documentary film.
Christmas Fare from the Empire is a good example of the work of the Empire Marketing Board, providing consumers with recipes clearly stating ingredients and prefered origins.

The recipe for mince pies includes ingredients from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, South Africa, the British West Indies or British Guiana, India, Zanzibar, Canada, Palestine, Cyprus and Jamaica. This recipe for standard Christmas fare thus shows not only the work of the Empire Marketing Board, but more generally reflects on the interplay between trade, empire and diet.

New Zealand Official Yearbook

2011-12-02T17:22:00.000Z

Statistics New Zealand has decided to stop producing a printed version of the New Zealand Official Yearbook.

A press release from Statistics New Zealand states that "Research shows that the way people search for information has changed dramatically. Increasingly, people expect to find the most up-to-date data online, meaning that providing a book with static data is no longer in tune with their needs. As a result, we have seen a significant reduction in sales of the Yearbook in recent years and consider that the costs now outweigh the benefits of producing a printed version."

Statistics New Zealand will be looking at ways of making the kind of information previously found in the Yearbook available online, but note that an online Yearbook may not be an exact replication of the printed version. They plan to consult widely during our investigations and welcome any suggestions on how to make Yearbook data and information available in a way that best meets its readers' needs. If you have any feedback please email info@stats.govt.nz

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library holds a full run of the print Official Yearbooks, first published in 1892. These remain an important historical record and a quick reference source for historical statistics throughout New Zealand's history.

Six-Country Africa Public Library Perception Study

2011-12-01T14:38:00.000Z

Six-Country Africa Public Library Perception Study

"Most people in six African countries believe public libraries have the potential to contribute to community development in important areas such as health, employment and agriculture. However, libraries are small and under-resourced, and most people associate them with traditional book lending and reference services rather than innovation and technology."

These are among key findings of groundbreaking research into perceptions of public libraries in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda.

EIFL’s Public Library Innovation Programme (PLIP) commissioned the research to deepen understanding of the role of public libraries in Africa and of the vision, aspirations and expectations of the general public, librarians and national and local government. The study was conducted by the social and marketing research company, TNS RMS East Africa Ltd., from December to July 2011. It makes for interesting reading and produces a list of recommendations including advocacy to improve services based on community development needs, increased access to digitial technology, and building librarians' technical skills, as well as increasing outreach to particular user groups, including women.

New Books - October 2011

2011-11-29T12:12:00.000Z

A selection of new books added to the catalogue in October 2011, including a number of books purchased to support our growing collection in human rights, which support the Institute's MA in Understanding and Securing Human Rights

Moyn, Samuel. The last utopia : human rights in history. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.

Gatwa, Tharcisse. The churches and ethnic ideology in the Rwandan crises, 1900-1994. Milton Keynes : Paternoster, 2005.

Bronkhorst, Salomé. Climate change and conflict : lessons for conflict resolution from the Southern Sahel of Sudan. Umhlanga : African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), 2011.

Dinstein, Yoram. The conduct of hostilities under the law of international armed conflict. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Kalshoven, Frits and Liesbeth Zegveld. Constraints on the waging of war : an introduction to international humanitarian law. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Sibomana, André. Hope for Rwanda : conversations with Laure Guilbert and Hervé Deguine, translated and with a postscript by Carina Tertsakian ; foreword by Alison Des Forges. London ; Sterling, Va. : Pluto Press ; Dar Es Salaam : Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, 1999.

Hoffman, David and John Rowe. Human rights in the UK : an introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998. Harlow : Longman, 2010.

Hutching, Megan. Leading the way : how New Zealand women won the vote. Auckland : HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.

Bunte, Thimna and Laureline Monnier. Mediating land conflict in Burundi. Umhlanga : African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), 2011.

Seecharan, Clem. Mother India's Shadow over El Dorado : Indo-Guyanese politics and identity, 1890s-1930s. Kingston ; Miami : Ian Randle Publishers, c2011.

Social accountability & poverty reduction in Ghana : community assessment of five districts / by the Centre for Budget Advocacy (CBA) of ISODEC ; with the support of the Department for International Development (DFID), through the Institute for Policy Alternatives (IPA), and of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), through Diakonia. Accra : Centre for Budget Advocacy (CBA) of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), [2005]

Wednesday 30th November - library will close at 3.00pm

2011-11-29T09:44:00.000Z

Please note that the library has a planned closure of 3.00pm on Wednesday 30th November.

This is to enable arrangements for the University's Foundation Day. This year is the 175th anniversary of the University and also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the opening of Senate House (1936) and the completion of the refurbishment of the Senate House Libraries. Linking these significant milestones together the University plans to create an event that showcases our history, our standing, our vision and our people.

As part of Foundation Day celebrations Honorary degrees will be conferred by the Chancellor, HRH The Princess Royal, on the following eminent individuals:

Sir Keith Ajegbo, education consultant, Doctor of Literature (Education)
William Kentridge, artist, Doctor of Literature
Mary Quant OBE, fashion designer, Doctor of Literature
Dame Alison Richard, former Vice-Chancellor, Cambridge University, Doctor of Laws
Andrew Ritchie, inventor, Doctor of Science (Engineering)
Sir Magdi Yacoub, professor of cardiothoracic surgery, Doctor of Science (Medicine)

Please note that some services may also be affected by strike action, and we recommend checking in advance of your visit.

Violence, Memory and Commemoration: Perspectives from Southern, Eastern and Central Africa

2011-11-28T09:24:00.000Z

Southern Africa: History, Culture and Society Seminar Series

Centre for African Studies, University of London

Violence, Memory and Commemoration: Perspectives from Southern, Eastern and Central Africa
Tom Lodge (Limerick), ‘Sharpeville and Memory’
Rachel Ibreck (Limerick), ‘The Time of Mourning: The Politics of Commemorating the Tutsi Genocide’
Annie Coombes (Birkbeck), ‘Learning from the Lari Massacre(s): Object Lessons from Contemporary Kenya’
Discussant: JoAnn McGregor (UCL)

9 December, 2011; 13.00 – 16.30
Birkbeck College
CLO GO1
Clore Management Centre

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/maps/centrallondon.pdf

Seminar convenors: Wayne Dooling (SOAS); Rebekah Lee (Goldsmiths); Hilary Sapire(Birkbeck)
RSVP h.sapire@bbk.ac.uk

African Human Rights Case Law Analyser

2011-11-25T10:02:00.000Z

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is the oldest human rights complaint-handling body in Africa. Established by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Article 30), since 1988, the African Commission has been receiving and determining cases (called communications) on human rights violations in Africa. It has through the years developed a valuable and uniquely African body of human rights case law, which is available here in its most exhaustive collection.

The African Human Rights Case Law Analyser offers the most exhaustive access to the decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in English and French.

The African Human Rights Case Law Analyser (CLA) is a joint project of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) and Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems (HURIDOCS). Its principal aim is to promote human rights in Africa by filling the information lacuna on the African Human Rights System.

Pakistan Forum : Voice of a Progressive Pakistan

2011-11-24T10:02:00.000Z

Pakistan Forum : Voices of a Progressive Pakistan

http://www.pakistaniaat.net/

Started by the editors of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies (based in the English Department of the University of North Texas, and the sponsored journal of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies) this is a public forum for all those interested in Pakistani history, culture, and politics. The website includes current affairs discussion, blog postings, book reviews and links to many Pakistan based blogs.

Independence and After: Dr Eric Williams and the Making of Trinidad and Tobago

2011-11-23T09:23:00.000Z

To mark the centenary of the birth of Dr Eric Williams and in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of independence in Trinidad and Tobago, a one-day conference Independence and After: Dr Eric Williams and the Making of Trinidad and Tobago was held at the Institute for the Study of the Americas on the 27 September 2011. This conference explored the shaping of Trinidadian politics and society under the Williams’ administration and the legacies of this period today.

The conference was filmed and all panels are now available to view on:

http://americas.sas.ac.uk/events/videos-podcasts-and-papers/independence-and-after-dr-eric-williams-the-making-of-trinidad-tobago.html

(Programme below)

The Institute is grateful to the Eric Williams Memorial Collection Research Library, Archives & Museum at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago for their generous funding of this conference.

PROGRAMME

10.00-10.05 Welcome and Introduction

10.05 – 11.15 Dissecting the Man and the Myth
• Paul Sutton, Reader Emeritus, Hull University "Ryan on Williams: An Appreciation and Critique"
• Selwyn Ryan, University of the West Indies, St Augustine "Response"
• Colin Palmer, Schomburg Center "Response"

11.30 -1.00 Politics & Ethnicity
• Colin Clarke, Professor Emeritus, Oxford University "Reflexions on Race, Religion and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago either side of Independence"
• Brinsley Samaroo, University of the West Indies, St Augustine "Dr Williams’ Academic East Indian Concerns"
• Humberto Garcia Muniz, University of Puerto Rico "The Pan-Caribbeanism of Eric Williams"

2.00 – 3.15 Politics & National Culture
• Teruyuki Tsuji, Kwansei Gakuin University "Villaging the Nation: Eric Williams and the Engineering of National Culture"
• Jacqueline Nunes, London School of Economics "Voice of the oppressed or the oppressor's tool? A quantitative analysis of the relationship between calypso and the PNM"

3.15 – 4.30 Personal Reflections on Political Times
• Raoul Pantin, journalist and writer, Trinidad and Tobago "Eric Williams: A Personal Reflection"

4.50-6.00 Legacies of the Williams Era
• Matthew Bishop, University of the West Indies, St Augustine "The Legacy of Eric Williams and Contemporary Trinidadian Politics"

• ROUND TABLE followed by open discussion: Reflections on the Williams Era, including:
- Colin Palmer, Schomburg Centre, New York
- Selwyn Ryan, University of the West Indies, St Augustine
- Brinsley Samaroo, University of the West Indies, St Augustine

Narrating the Caribbean Nation: A Celebration of Literature and Orature

2011-11-19T10:10:00.000Z

Narrating the Caribbean Nation: A Celebration of Literature and Orature

Convened by Peepal Tree Press at Leeds Metropolitan University
13th – 15th April 2012

Peepal Tree Press is pleased to announce that a two-day conference, Narrating the Caribbean Nation: A Celebration of Literature and Orature, will be held on 13-15th April 2012 at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. The conference will celebrate the Silver Anniversary of Peepal Tree Press and highlight the contribution of its own authors and other Caribbean and Black British writers to contemporary world literature.

We are also delighted that Kwame Dawes has confirmed his participation as a keynote speaker. Widely recognised as one of the Caribbean’s leading writers, Kwame is also Chancellor’s Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, and Associate Poetry Editor at Peepal Tree Press.

The conference aims to bring together writers, academics, students, teachers and people with an interest in Caribbean literature to discuss the rich body of both Caribbean and Black British writing and to explore the relationship between the two. Our investigation into the ‘narration of nation’ centres around a definition of the Caribbean nation as one rooted in a rich, unique and plural community which transcends physical borders and extends across the Caribbean and the Caribbean Diaspora.

We will examine culture, politics, identities, childhood, performance and many other topics in the context of the Caribbean and its diasporas and discuss how the past 25 years of Caribbean writing connects to, and builds on, classic texts of Caribbean literature. Moreover, the conference will offer opportunities to hear the ideas of new and established writers and to watch them perform.

The conference will juxtapose academic papers with less formal presentations from activists and practitioners in the field in order to raise the profile of writers of Caribbean heritage. Over the course of the conference, Leeds-based Peepal Tree Press, which has been the home of the best in Caribbean, Black British and South Asian literature for 25 years, will showcase new and classic works in print and in performance by its authors from around the world.

Possible paper topics may include but are not limited to:

• Caribbean identities
• Diasporic Caribbean identities
• Resistance, politics, racism
• Publishing writing from the Caribbean and its diaspora
• Gender and sexuality
• Indo-Caribbean literature
• Classic Caribbean texts
• Discovering new Caribbean writers
• Oral narratives and storytelling
• Auto/biography, memoir, life writing
• Caribbean texts in translation
• Caribbean women writers
• Caribbean poetry
• Teaching Caribbean writing
• Caribbean short story
• Intersections between Caribbean literature, orature, and visual arts
• Writing for children
• Sport and pastimes in the Caribbean and its diaspora

Please send abstracts of 200 words and brief biodata (via Word attachment) to Claire Chambers, Emily Marshall, and Emma Smith on narratingnation@gmail.com with ‘Abstract’ in the subject line by 23 December 2011.

We also welcome poster presentations (for examples, see http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/presentations_poster.html)

Further details about the conference are available on http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/2458986896

Or contact Kadija George: mailto:narratingnation@gmail.com

Selected papers will be published in a journal special issue and/or an edited collection.

Understanding Canada Program

2011-11-18T08:54:00.000Z

Through the Understanding Canada Program, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade fosters a greater knowledge and understanding of Canada, its values and its culture among scholars and other influential groups abroad. The Program consists of a comprehensive set of grants designed to enable foreign international academics to develop and teach courses about Canada, or to undertake research in their own discipline about an aspect of Canada, leading to publication in Canadian and foreign scholarly presses.

Grants for individuals: In programs designed for individuals, the awards assist selected academics and graduate students to undertake studies relating to Canada by contributing towards international airfare, and a flat-rate weekly or monthly allowance during their study visit in Canada, and/or research expenses within their own country and Canada.

Grants for organizations: The programs designed for organizations seek to assist foreign organizations in the promotion and development of the study of Canada (particularly through seminars, conferences, workshops and roundtables); the development of Canadian Studies programs or activities abroad; the strengthening of Canadiana library holdings in support of teaching and research about Canada; engage in research and publications about Canada and provide incentives to foreign publishing houses to publish scholarly works about Canada in the national language.

Upcoming application deadlines:

November 24th, 2011:

**Note: Please consult the attached deadline calendar as certain countries have different deadline dates: http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/feptable_en.php

• Faculty Enrichment Program (FEP): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/faculty-enrichment-program.php

• Faculty Research Program (FRP): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/faculty-research-program.php

• Doctoral Student Research Award (DSRA): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/doctoral-student-research.php

• Canada-Europe Award in Canadian Studies: http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/canada-europe-awards.php

• International Research Linkages (IRL): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/international-research-linkages.php

December 1st, 2011:

• Canada Conference Grant: http://www.international.gc.ca/studies-etudes/grantconf-subconf.aspx?lang=en&view=d

February 1st, 2012:

• Student Mobility Support Program: http://www.international.gc.ca/studies-etudes/mobility-mobilite.aspx?lang=en&view=d

Applications must be submitted to the local Canadian mission as outlined in the application.

________________________________________

Par l'intermédiaire du programme Comprendre le Canada, le ministère des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce international favorise une plus grande connaissance et compréhension du Canada, de ses valeurs et de sa culture auprès des universitaires et autres groupes influents à l'étranger. Le programme offre un ensemble de subventions visant à aider les organisations et universitaires étrangers soit à développer et offrir des cours portant sur le Canada; soit à entreprendre des recherches dans leur propre discipline et s’intéressant à un ou plusieurs aspects des réalités canadiennes et menant à des publications dans la presse savante canadienne et internationale.

Subventions pour les individus: En ce qui a trait aux programmes conçus pour les individus, les subventions ont pour objet d’aider des universitaires et des étudiants au doctorat à entreprendre des études sur le Canada, en contribuant à défrayer leurs coûts de transport par avion jusqu’au Canada, en leur versant une indemnité forfaitaire hebdomadaire ou mensuelle pour la durée de leur séjour et, dans certains cas, en incluant une allocation pour leurs frais de recherche dans leur pays et/ou au Canada.

Subventions pour les organisations: Les programmes conçus pour les organisations visent à soutenir les organismes étrangers dans leurs efforts de promotion et de développement d’études sur le Canada (notamment à travers des séminaires, des conférences, ateliers et tables rondes), d’aider les établissements d’enseignement supérieur et organismes spécialisés à créer des programmes d'études canadiennes, d’augmenter leur collection de livres canadiens afin de favoriser l'enseignement et la recherche sur le Canada, de participer à des travaux de recherche et à des publications sur le Canada et d’encourager les maisons d'édition étrangère à publier des ouvrages savants sur le Canada dans leur langue nationale.

Dates limites à venir:

24 novembre 2011:

N.b. veuillez consulter le calendrier ci-joint car certains pays ont des dates limites différentes: http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/feptable_en.php

• Bourses de complément de spécialisation (BCS): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/bourses-complement-specialisation.php

• Bourses de recherche en études canadiennes (BREC): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/bourses-recherche.php

• Bourses de recherche en doctorat (BRD): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/bourses-recherche-doctorat.php

• Réseaux internationaux de recherche (PARRI): http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/reseaux-internationaux-recherche.php

• Bourses Canada-Europe: http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/bourses-canada-europe.php

1er décembre 2011:

• Programme de conféérences sur le Canada: http://www.international.gc.ca/studies-etudes/grantconf-subconf.aspx?lang=fr&view=d

1er février 2012:

• Programme d'appui à la mobilité étudiante: http://www.international.gc.ca/studies-etudes/mobility-mobilite.aspx?lang=fr&view=d

Les demandes doivent être présentées à la mission canadienne locale tel que indiqué dans la demande.

CFP: Cultures of Decolonisation, c.1945-1970

2011-11-17T15:54:00.000Z

Please see below for details of a symposium entitled 'Cultures of Decolonisation' to be held at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in May 2012. There is a particularly interest to receive contributions about cultures of decolonisation in emerging and newly-independent states as well as in Europe. The key-note speaker for the event will be Dr Bill Schwarz (Queen Mary University of London).

Please send abstracts of 250 words or expressions of interest to Dr Ruth Craggs, St Mary’s University College (craggsr@smuc.ac.uk) and Dr Claire Wintle, University of Brighton (c.wintle@brighton.ac.uk) by 30 January 2012.

Cultures of Decolonisation, c.1945-1970
Date: Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Venue: Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, Senate House
Keynote Speaker: Dr Bill Schwarz, Queen Mary, University of London

This symposium will bring together scholars with an interest in the cultural practices, performances and material cultures of decolonisation, c.1945-1970.

While the problems of ‘empire’ and ‘the postcolonial’ have come under increasing scrutiny in the humanities and social sciences in recent years, and debate about the political and economic processes of decolonisation is well established, the cultural sites, spaces and social practices of this process in the middle years of the twentieth century have often been overlooked.

Yet new scholarship is beginning to point to the attention that the literary, visual and built environment paid to political, economic and social change in this period. In addition, the roles of individuals and institutions in cultural practices and performances of decolonisation are now drawing critical attention from a variety of fields. This symposium will bring together scholars from history, art and design history, cultural geography, literature, museum studies, architecture and other cultural fields to further explore these topics with regard to decolonisation between 1945 and 1970.

We invite contributions which examine aspects of cultural engagements with decolonisation. Papers may consider the peoples, sites, materials and practices of emerging and newly independent nations, as well as the processes of decolonisation as enacted in Europe. This event will lend new insights into debates about the contested nature of decolonisation, and into the impact of cultural practices on socio-political processes.

Papers might focus on:

• Cultural institutions and their reactions to and engagements with decolonisation
• Amateurs, professionals and enthusiasts in decolonisation
• Imperial knowledges, materials and collections, and their place in a decolonising world
• Specific media as arenas for political exchange
• Cultural sites of independence and decolonisation
• Visual and performance cultures of decolonisation
• Decolonising lives
• Networks of decolonisation

Symposium Website: http://commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/events/eventdetails0.html?id=10987

Supported by the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, University of London; Faculty of Arts, University of Brighton, and St Mary’s University College

CFP: Colonization and Domestic Service: historical and contemporary perspectives

2011-11-16T09:49:00.000Z

CFP: Colonization and Domestic Service: historical and contemporary perspectives
16-17 July 2012, Newcastle, Australia

The aim of this symposium is to bring together scholars to share insights and to enter into a conversation about the connections between domestic service and colonization. This symposium will provide an opportunity to workshop individual papers in a collegial environment, drawing out key themes, topics and issues across different sites and times. A selection of the workshopped papers will be included as peer-reviewed chapters in a book published by an international academic press.

Scholars of domestic service from all disciplines are invited to submit proposals for papers offering specific studies, historical or contemporary, of domestic service and colonization, or broader comparative and reflective studies. Established scholars, emerging scholars, and postgraduate researchers are encouraged to submit proposals for papers to workshop, and all are welcome to attend.

Confirmed keynote speakers are Professor Mary Romero (Arizona State University) and Associate Professor Swapna Banerjee (Brooklyn College of CUNY).

Proposals should include a title, a 250-word abstract, a brief (one-page) CV and full contact details. They should be addressed no later than December 1, 2011 to:

colonization.domesticservice@newcastle.edu.au

For further information see: www.newcastle.edu.au/institute/research-institute-for-social-inclusion-and-wellbeing/activities-and-events/colonization-and-domestic-service-symposium.htm

Or contact: Associate Professor Victoria Haskins Victoria.Haskins@newcastle.edu.au
Research Institute for Social Inclusion and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, +61 2 4921 5221

Dr Claire Lowrie Claire.Lowrie@newcastle.edu.au
School of Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Newcastle

ACAS Bulletin - The Sudans: Which Way?

2011-11-15T13:34:00.000Z

Announcing a new issue of ACAS Bulletin – The Sudans: Which Way?

http://concernedafricascholars.org/bulletin/issue86/

Although a Commonwealth member, South Sudan has expresed some interest in exploring the idea of joining the Commonwealth.

South Sudan gained its independence on July 9, 2011. The new situation in the South and in the North requires close examination and rethinking of old categories. Six different perspectives on possible paths for the peoples of the Sudan are outlined, and placed in the context of complex, burning issues of citizenship, race, democracy, gender, international relations, and peace.

The Sudans: Which Way? BULLETIN N°86 – NOVEMBER 2011

Table of Contents

Introduction
Horace Campbell and Peter Limb, Issue editors

Articles:

The Republic of South Sudan and the Meaning of Independence
Horace Campbell

Citizenship and Identity in Post-Secession Northern Sudan
Ahmad A. Sikainga

Gendering War and Peace in South Sudan: The Elision and Emergence of Women
Caroline Faria

Genealogies of Racial Relations: The Independence of South Sudan, Citizenship & the Racial State in the Modern History of Sudan
Elena Vezzadini

The State of South Sudan: The Change is about the New Sudan
Abdullahi Gallab

South Sudan Looks East: Between the CPA and Independence

British Library Scholarship PhD Project: Narratives and depictions of slaves and former slaves in Canada: 1800 - 1900

2011-11-14T15:15:00.000Z

British Library Scholarship PhD Project

Narratives and depictions of slaves and former slaves in Canada: 1800 - 1900

Supervisors: Dr Jane Hodson (School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics) and Dr Philip Hatfield (British Library)

The British Library Scholarships arise from the special relationship the University has with the British Library. They support projects that draw significantly on both the holdings and expertise of the British Library.

Project description

The aim of this research project is to explore narratives which describe experiences of slavery which took place in Canada. Canada has a positive popular reputation regarding slavery, being seen as one of the safest end points of a journey via the ‘underground railroad’. However, it also has a darker history, having witnessed both the enslavement of many Native Americans and the use of African origin slaves prior to abolition. A significant body of nineteenth-century literature by and about slaves and former slaves in Canada exists but it has been poorly researched, not least because it has often been overshadowed by American slave narratives (Clarke, 2005).

This project will work from the British Library collections to develop a database of Canadian slave narratives. The database will record information about the authoring, editing and publication of the narratives, plus a brief description and classification of the contents. Particular attention will be paid to the way in which the slave's voice, experience and perspective are handled.

The database will then be used to explore both what might be specifically Canadian about these narratives, and how these narratives relate to wider social, literary and political networks. This is of particular significance as it seems that some Caribbean narratives, such as that of Mary Prince, were sponsored and edited by prominent Canadian literary figures, in Prince’s case Susanna Moodie.

The project aims to address some of the following questions:

• To what extent do Canadian slave narratives constitute a specifically Canadian experience/depiction of slavery?
• How do these Canadian narratives connect to other nineteenth century discourses about slavery?
• In particular, how do these Canadian narratives align with key American and Caribbean narratives such as The History of Mary Prince (1831)?

Relevant Library Holdings

The British Library provides a uniquely centralised resource for considering the representation of slaves, former slaves and their narratives in Canada. The British Library collections hold the vast majority of texts published in North America which bear reference to African slave experiences. Materials published in Canada are extensively present in either original form (some of which are very rare) or reproductions. Further, and very significantly, the Library holds an extensive collection of newspapers from eastern Canada running from the mid 18th century. It has been noted that the majority of slave narratives (especially early ones) published in Canada would have been in these papers, as opposed to in monographs, and that this area requires more critical attention (Clarke, 2005).

Award details

The scholarship will cover the cost of UK/EU tuition fees and provides an annual, tax-free maintenance stipend at the standard Research Council rate (£13,590 in 2011-12). The recipient will also receive a Research Training Support Grant of £500 per year. International applicants will need to pay the difference between the UK/EU and Overseas tuition fees.

Eligibility

• Academic requirements – applicants should have, or expect to achieve, a first or upper second class UK honours degree or equivalent qualifications gained outside the UK in an appropriate area of study.
• Allowed study options – applicants should be registering on their first year of study with the University for 2012-13.
• Residency restrictions – awards are open to UK, EU and international applicants.

How to apply

• Applicants are advised to contact both supervisors (Jane Hodson j.hodson@sheffield.ac.uk; Philip Hatfield Philip.Hatfield@bl.uk) to discuss their application in the first instance.
• Complete an application for admission as a postgraduate student - http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply
• On the application form please state you are applying for this project and briefly outline (in less than 500 words) your reasons for doing so.

Applicants may be asked to attend an interview.
Closing date 3 February 2012.

CFP: Contemporary Developments in Aboriginal Issues - 1st February 2012, University of Leeds, Centre for Canadian Studies

2011-11-11T10:01:00.000Z

Contemporary Developments in Aboriginal Issues

British Association of Canadian Studies' Aboriginal Studies Circle

at the University of Leeds Centre for Canadian Studies, Leeds (UK)
1st February 2012
The British Association of Canadian Studies is pleased to announce a one day colloquium of its Aboriginal Studies Circle. Many diverse indigenous populations around the globe have been the victims of marginalization as they confront the vast array of issues resulting from both historical injustices and contemporary global challenges. This colloquium seeks to bring together academics and other professionals with an interest in indigenous studies to discuss the broad issues that affect indigenous peoples both in Canada and elsewhere. Through building an interdisciplinary network, it is hoped that discussions of the challenges facing indigenous peoples can be drawn from the periphery of contemporary political, social, cultural, and legal discourses and brought into the mainstream.

Keynote Speakers:

• Prof. Joy Hendry (Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University)
• Dr. Colin Samson (Sociology, University of Essex)
• Dr. David Stirrup (Literature, University of Kent)
• Dr. Roy Todd (Sociology, University of Leeds)

Call for Papers:

Proposals for 20-minute papers, to be presented in either English or French, are invited from any single disciplinary or multidisciplinary perspective including those which offer an informed view of Canada in comparative contexts. Broader possible approaches might include papers on:

* Indigenous peoples and a new history?
* Methodological and theoretical approaches.
* Self-determination and indigenous politics.
* Indigenous economic self-sufficiency.
* Indigenous law/ law and Indigenous peoples.
* Indigenous resource management & land claims.
* Environmental pressures on indigenous populations
* Indigenous languages.
* Indigenous health.
* Visual culture/film & Indigenous literature, art & culture.

This should not, however, be taken as an exhaustive list, and we welcome proposals for papers dealing with all varied interpretations of the theme.

Email abstract(s) of 200-300 words; and brief CV(s) (must include title, institutional affiliation & address(es) by 30 November 2011.

The Idea Exchange:

The Idea Exchange Session will consist of individuals at a table who are willing to spend 5 minutes to share experiences of something they are passionate about in terms of research or teaching and learning. Like a 'show and tell' but with a small group of people (2/3 max) sat a table listening to how you use a research or teaching and learning methodology/software/hardware/resource and giving them the chance to sign up/have a go/ask questions. We hope to have as many Idea Exchanges as possible running concurrently during this Session so as to maximise coverage and allow people to personalise their teaching, learning and research. This is an ideal opportunity for people who do not wish to present a full conference paper to share something that they are particularly passionate about and to gain constructive feedback. If you wish to sign-up to present an idea then you will be acting as a facilitator in order to get people engaged and familiar with your topic within 5 minutes - think guide on the side rather than sage on the stage! To register to present an idea exchanges please send a title for your session to the e-mail address below.

Registration: You can register to attend the colloquium as an audience member.

Enquiries and proposals to: c/o Thomas Snell, Tel: 44 (0) 191 222 6379. Address: rm 2.32, School of Modern Languages, Old Library Building, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU. thomas.snell@newcastle.ac.uk

Slavery collections

2011-11-08T14:08:00.000Z

Please note that the Senate House Library Slavery archive subject guides have been upgraded.

They now include relevant archives held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, including Taylor Family, West India Committee, Castle Wemyss Estate and Sandbach Tinne and Co collections, adding to the Senate House Library collections, including those of the Akers Family and of William Hewitt

http://www.shl.lon.ac.uk/specialcollections/archives/slaveryarchivesources.shtml

Returns Box

2011-11-07T17:08:00.000Z

Our ground floor book Returns Box is moving to the South Block reception from Monday 7th November.

The Returns Box can be used at anytime, including out of Library opening hours, but is cleared only once a day (just after the library opens in the morning).

The move to the South Block, is being done because the North Block is being closed for refurbishment from next week.

CFP: SUSTAINING CANADA: Past, Present and Future Environments, BACS 37th Annual Conference, 2-4 April 2012

2011-11-05T09:51:00.001Z

SUSTAINING CANADA: Past, Present and Future Environments

BACS 37th Annual Conference

Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, 2-4 April 2012

The British Association for Canadian Studies encourage contributions on any facet of the topic of Sustaining Canada within and beyond the field of Canadian Studies. Proposals for 20-minute papers, to be presented in either English or French, are invited from any single disciplinary or multidisciplinary perspective. Multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and comparative panel proposals, including those from postgraduate students, are welcome.

The following aspects are indicative and not comprehensive:

The origins and growth of environmentalism in Canada
Inter-Provincial contrasts? The impact of NAFTA? The sub-prime recession?
The environment of Canada and resource extraction
Long-term sustainability issues for energy and other sectors on a global level
Actions to sustain the environment of Canada
Local activism, municipal, provincial, federal dimensions
The environment of Canada and the human scale
Actions towards conservation: recycling, non-motorised transport
The environment of Canada: depicted, remembered, imagined
Idealised and devoid of human input? Or incomprehensible without it?
The environment of Canada and policy-making
A concern only in the good times or an enduring preoccupation?
The environment of Canada and the Law
Enforcement, conflict, Indigenous peoples’ land rights etc
The environment of Canada and ecological fragility#
Threatened environments: when, where, how?
The environment of Canada and the Business sector
Implications for corporate social responsibility: business costs, business practices

The British Association for Canadian Studies' Literature Group is pleased to issue the following Call for Papers for the 2012 BACS conference. We encourage contributions on any facet of the topic of Sustaining Canada in relation to Canadian literary and cultural study. Proposals for 20-minute papers, to be presented in either English or French, would be particularly welcome in the following areas:

• Ecocriticism in a Canadian context
• Narratives and/or poetics of environmentalism and activism
• Indigenous literature and culture
• Regional literature and culture
• Border studies
• Urban studies
• Landscape
• Representations of animals in Canadian culture
• Settler-invader narratives
• Travel literature
• The impact of literature and culture upon the environment
• Canadian culture in relation to different kinds of 'environment', e.g. domestic environment, national/international environment, linguistic environments, publishing or production contexts, etc.
• Sustaining Canadian culture, materially and/or ideologically
• Sustaining the culture of specific communities in Canada

Enquiries and proposals to:

Jodie Robson, BACS Administrator bacs@canadian-studies.org

Conference website https://sites.google.com/a/canadian-studies.org/bacs2012/

Proposals (panel and individual) and deadline:

Email abstract(s) of 200-300 words and brief CV (please do not exceed one page) which must include your title, institutional affiliation, email and mailing address by 20 November 2011.

Submissions will be acknowledged by email. Postgraduate students are especially welcome to submit a proposal and there will be a concessionary conference fee for students. BACS regrets that it is unable to assist participants with travel and accommodation costs.

Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement Conference - 18 November 2011

2011-11-04T09:46:00.000Z

Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement Conference

Macdonald House, Grosvenor Square, London, UK
18 November 2011

Since 2009, diplomats from Canada and the European Union have been in negotiations to produce a comprehensive trade agreement known as CETA. For people in the EU, the agreement would provide improved access to the Canadian market, a relatively small but prosperous country. For Canadians, CETA is perhaps even more important, for it provides alternatives to export dependency on the United States.

On 17 October, the ninth and final round of negotiations began. It is now a good time for academics to discuss the agreement and its implications for Canadians and Europeans. A small conference about CETA has been organized. It will take place at Macdonald House in London, UK on 18 November. [Nearest Tube Station: Bond Street]

Programme: Canada-EU Trade Agreement Conference

1pm Brian Parrot, Minister Counsellor (Commercial and Economic), Canadian High Commission. Welcome statement.

1:10pm Alan Hallsworth, Portsmouth Business School, and Tim Rooth, University of Portsmouth (40 minutes plus 10 minutes for discussion). "Historical Perspectives on CETA"

2:00pm Malcolm Fairbrother, Lecturer in Global Policy and Politics, University of Bristol. "Canadian Trade Policies from the FTA to the CETA: Myths and Facts" (20 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A)

2:30pm Andrew Smith, Coventry University. "Applying the Concepts of Cultural Distance and Imagined Communities to Understanding Canadian Economic Diplomacy" (20 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A)

3:00pm COFFEE BREAK

3:15pm Robert Hage, (retired Canadian diplomat), "Changing Canada: the Canada-EU Free Trade Agreement." (20 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A)

3:45pm Roundtable Discussion

4:15pm Conference Ends

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP Andrew Smith before 15 November 2010.

This conference has been generously supported by Coventry University, the London Canadian Studies Association (LoCSA), and the Canadian High Commission.

Royal Society journal archive - free open access

2011-11-03T09:42:00.000Z

The Royal Society has announced that its world-famous historical journal archive – which includes the first ever peer-reviewed scientific journal – has been made permanently free to access online. Around 60,000 historical scientific papers are accessible via a fully searchable online archive, with papers published more than 70 years ago now becoming freely available. These include both historic and modern papers on Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific and South Asia, as well as the British colonies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Early papers include descriptions of plants, animals and diseases; observations of earthquakes, magnetism, meteors, and atmospheric conditions; and letters and reports from expeditions.

The Royal Society is the world’s oldest scientific publisher, with the first edition of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society appearing in 1665. Henry Oldenburg – Secretary of the Royal Society and first Editor of the publication – ensured that it was “licensed by the council of the society, being first reviewed by some of the members of the same”, thus making it the first ever peer-reviewed journal.

The move is being made as part of the Royal Society’s ongoing commitment to open access in scientific publishing. Opening of the archive is being timed to coincide with Open Access Week, and also comes soon after the Royal Society announced its first ever fully open access journal, Open Biology.

Search the journal archive here

Trotskyist collections

2011-11-02T13:54:00.000Z

Please note that the Senate House Library Trotskyist archive subject guide has been upgraded. This now include relevant archives held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, including material from the CLR James, Baruch Hirson, Workers' Party of South Africa, and political pamphlets collection:

http://www.shl.lon.ac.uk/specialcollections/archives/archivestrotskyistsources.shtml

Lift now in operation!

2011-11-01T10:24:00.000Z

With a sigh of relief I am pleased to announce that lift access is now available between 4th, 5th and 6th floors of the Senate House Library.
The old lift was stripped out in the refurbishment process and it has taken a little while to set up list access. This has now been done and the lift went operational yesterday morning.

IHR lift that will, for the time being at least, act as the public lift within Senate House Library will open to readers shortly after I send this email.

The sets of double doors on the 4th, 5th and 6th floors will be wedged open. New secondary doors have been fitted to screen off the stairwell (staircase 7). These doors have been fitted with “screamer” style alarms and obviously signs that instruct readers not to use the doors except in an emergency. For those who may not already know I will leave instructions at the Enquiry Desk as to how the alarms can be re-set in the event of activation and will also tell those whose offices are nearest on each floor.

Please ask library staff for directions. The lift is located next to the Convocation Hall (ex-Exhibition Hall) on the 4th floor, in area 529 by the French collection on the 5th floor, and adjacent to the Commonwealth Studies collection and start of the Philosophy sequence on the 6th floor. The new lift (like the old one) unfortunately does not serve the 7th floor.

Wikipedian in Residence for WikiAfrica

2011-10-31T10:03:00.000Z

WikiAfrica is looking for a Wikipedian-in-residence hosted at the Africa Center in Cape Town. See the G doc at http://bit.ly/tWZ9BR to apply.

The Africa Centre is a Pan-African cultural and arts social innovator basded in Cape Town, South Africa. One of its projects is WikiAfrica, run in collaboration with lettera27. The aim of WikiAfrica is to redress the critical imbalance of factual information about historic and contemporary Africa on the Internet’s most utilised information resource, Wikipedia. Its goal is to Africanise Wikipedia by generating and expanding 30,000 articles by the end of 2012. For more information on the project, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiAfrica

With the growth in reliance on the web generally and the high prominence given to results from Wikipedia, for example in google searches, it is important to reflect on issues about coverage, depth, cultural bias, selectivity, and stereotypes. It is pleasing to see African initiatives to redress the imbalance in coverage, though there is also a continuing need to assess how we in the North do or do not contribute material about Africa, not only on Wikipedia but on the web more generally.

ICCS Biennial Conference: Cultural Challenges of Migration in Canada, Ottawa, May 22-24, 2012

2011-10-30T13:31:00.000Z

ICCS Biennial Conference: Cultural Challenges of Migration in Canada, Ottawa, May 22-24, 2012

The International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS) is pleased to announce that its next conference, entitled Cultural Challenges of Migration in Canada, will be held in Ottawa from May 22 to 24, 2012, in collaboration with the Universities of Ottawa and Carleton.

Migration is a factor, which has played a central role in the construction of a Canadian identity. Concepts such as multiculturalism, interculturalism and transculturalism are inextricably linked with phenomena pertaining to migration, and the effects of these phenomena have made themselves felt in Canada’s cultural dynamics. The question therefore arises as to which processes and channels of communication have been instrumental in transmitting these migratory dynamics, and in which form they have manifested themselves in Canadian everyday life and culture. What are the cultural challenges of migration in Canada in the context of “globalization”? Which are the areas where a specific cultural dimension has arisen which, in its turn, has acquired a model character within the global sphere linked to the knowledge-based society? Papers to be read at the symposium should address these questions with regard not only to scientific and popular media and communication, language and literature, music and the visual arts, but also to social and political sciences.

Sessions

1.The 21st Century Migration of Aboriginal Peoples: Identity Formation and Cultural Retention.
2.Latino Migration and its Influence in Canadian Multiculturalism.
3.Migration and Narrative – Narratives of Migration.
4.Migrants’ Views of and Reflections on their Life-Projects: Canadian Identity or Identities in a Pluralist Canada?
5.Migration, Partnership and Social Cohesion.
6.Cross-cultural exchange and interaction: their nature, limits and challenges for the immigrant and Canada as host society
7.The Migrant Spirit.
8.New Local Spaces of Intercultural Dialogue in Canada.
9.Language Challenges in the Immigration Process.
10.Cultural Challenges in the Migration Process on Canada’s East Coast.
11.Multiculturalisms in the Americas.
12.For a Love of the Hunt-Mobility, Family Networks and Social Cohesion in a Plains Metis Transnational Brigade, 1840-1890.

Click here to see abstracts of sessions.

CFP: Canada: Landscapes and Landmarks; Dublin, 10-12 May 2012

2011-10-29T13:23:00.000+01:00

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Canada: Landscapes and Landmarks
Dublin, 10-12 May 2012

ACSI (Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland) will host the XVIth Biennial Conference in Dublin on 10-12 May 2012. The theme for 2012 is: “Canada: Landscapes and Landmarks”

The image of the 'land' is an ongoing trope in both past and contemporary conceptions of Canada, from the national anthem, to the flag, to the symbols on coins, the land and nature remain linked to the Canadian sense of belonging as well as to the image of the nation abroad. Linguistic landscapes reflect the multi-faceted identities and cultural richness of the nations. If earlier portrayals of the land focused on a rugged, unspoiled landscape, such as in the paintings of the Group of Seven, contemporary notions of identity, belonging and citizenship are established, contested and legitimized within sites and institutions of public culture, heritage and representation that reflect integration with the land transforming landscape into landmarks. The Highway of Heroes from the Trenton military base, Grosse Île and the Irish Memorial National Historic Site in Québec, the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, The Rooms in St John's Newfoundland and Ireland Park in Toronto, are examples of landmarks that transform landscape into a built environment that endeavours to respect the land while using it as a site to commemorate, celebrate and promote Canadian identity. Similarly, in literature and the arts, the creation of the built environment and the interaction among those who share it is a recurrent theme.

We are seeking papers that consider the portrayal and interaction of the land and the landscape in social, cultural and literary spaces of representation. Possible topics could include (in French or English):

The land and landscape in the arts and literature
Linguistic and cultural landscapes within the official bilingualism of Canada
Spaces of memory and testimony
State museums/institutions and representations of citizenship, identity and belonging
Political management of the land and landscape
The transformation of the built environment and of public spaces
History, geography, heritage and the land and landscape
Public spaces as sites of difference and diversity
Diaspora, migrations, uprooting and ‘heritage’

Abstracts

Abstracts should be submitted before the 30th of November 2011 as a .doc or .rtf file to: ACSI2012@yahoo.ie

Abstracts should be no longer than 2 pages. On the first page note the name of your proposed paper, name, contact details and affiliated organisation; on the second page the title of your paper along with your anonymous abstract, 4 or 5 key words and cited references. The abstract should be no longer than 200 words.

We welcome submissions in French or English. Abstracts should be written in the intended language of the paper. Presentations will be allocated 30 minutes (20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for questions).

Proposals will be anonymously evaluated by at least two members of the scientific committee

CFP: Archives of Post-Independence Africa and its Diaspora, Dakar, Senegal, June 20-23, 2012

2011-10-28T11:29:00.000+01:00

Call for Papers: Archives of Post-Independence Africa and its Diaspora

Dakar, Senegal; June 20-23, 2012

Archives of Post-Independence Africa and its Diaspora is an international conference to be held in Dakar, Senegal, June 20-23, 2012, organized by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa(CODESRIA), the African Studies Centre, Leiden (ASC), and the University of California African Studies Multicampus Research Group (MRG).The conference features an interdisciplinary array of activities that include a public debate, training workshop, film screening, as well as four keynote addresses and academic panels.

The event is conceived as a forum with pre-circulated papers and contributions from a wide range of academics, archivists, librarians, public intellectuals, and artists from the African continent, Europe, North America, and beyond.

We are now accepting paper abstracts until November 30, 2011.

Abstracts should relate to one of the conference's five themes:

(1) Archival Absences and Surrogate Collections of the African State
(2) Performing the Archive
(3) Post-Independence Media Formations
(4) Spatialization of Art and the Archive
(5) Administering the Archive

A system for online submission of abstracts has been set up on the conference website: https://sites.google.com/site/dakarconferencecfp A French version of the website will be available shortly and will be accessible by a link from the English version of the site.

Any questions about the conference or the submission process? Please contact: archives.diaspora@codesria.sn

CFP: Caribbean Studies Association 37th Annual Conference, May 28-June 3, 2012, Le Gosier, Guadeloupe

2011-10-27T09:58:00.000+01:00

Call for Papers: Caribbean Studies Association 37th Annual Conference

May 28-June 3, 2012, Le Gosier, Guadeloupe

The Caribbean Studies Association issues a call for papers for its 37th Annual Conference with the theme "Unpacking Caribbean Citizenship: Rights, Participation and Belonging." We invite scholars, practitioners in the humanities, social sciences, public policy and members of civil society organizations whose works focus on the wider Caribbean and its diasporas to submit abstracts of approximately 250 words or less for research papers and presentations. We also welcome graduate student submissions and multi-lingual panels.

While we expect individual paper submissions, we especially encourage participants to submit proposals for complete panels (four presenters), roundtable discussions that engage with the conference's timely theme.

Unrelated topics will also be considered. More information on the conference's theme can be found on the CSA website, (http://www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org/). Submissions must be made electronically via the CSA website. Deadline for submissions is December 30, 2011.

With respect to the film/art/performance track: Next year, a very limited number of films that pertain to the conference theme as well as the Francophone Caribbean will be selected for presentation during the conference. This new direction is designed to both streamline and better integrate the film/art/performance track within the conference. Please see the CSA website for submission information. A visual art and performance component will be curated by a committee consisting of members of the Executive Council and CSA members.

CSA is able to offer a limited number of travel grants to assist selected participants. A call for applications for the travel grant will be issued on the CSA website as well as in the CSA fall newsletter scheduled for December.

For information concerning the program only, contact: Dr. Gina Athena Ulysse, Program Chair, csa2012@wesleyan.edu

For information pertaining to registration and membership, please contact: Mrs. Joy Cooblal, Secretary-Treasurer, Joy.Cooblal-CSA@sta.uwi.edu

For questions on the travel grants, please contact: Dr Samuel Furé Davis, Grant Committee Chair, sfuredavis@flex.uh.cu

Olive Schreiner Letters Project and the Olive Schreiner Letters Online

2011-10-26T09:43:00.000+01:00

Souith African writer, Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) is one of the world’s great feminist writers and social theorists, with her novels including The Story of an African Farm and From Man to Man, her allegories including Dreams and Dream Life and Real Life, and her political treatises including Woman and Labour. She also wrote over 5500 exceptionally important letters, the earliest dating from 1871, the last written just a few days before her death in December 1920.

Schreiner’s letters – all of them, full and complete just as she wrote them – will be published in January 2012 and will be freely available world-wide in a fully-searchable electronic edition. The Olive Schreiner Letters Online will provide a new, detailed, and unique electronic resource for feminist research, women’s studies and gender studies.

The Olive Schreiner Letters Online will be hosted at http://www.oliveschreiner.org/ from January 2012 on and will provide fully searchable transcriptions of Schreiner’s 5500+ extant letters located in archives across Europe, the US and South Africa, as well as a detailed editorial interpretive apparatus around these. The Olive Schreiner Letters Project has been funded by the UK’s ESRC (RES-062-23-1286) and the letters are being published by the renowned electronic research resources publisher HRIOnline. The research team includes Liz Stanley, Helen Dampier, Andrea Salter, David Shepherd, Michael Meredith and Kiera Chapman.

Schreiner’s letters are of exceptional interest because containing her unfolding thinking about her writing and publishing activities, and also her developing analysis and social theorising around the crucially important topics that preoccupied her, including: metropolitan feminism and socialism, prostitution and its analysis, imperialism and the ‘scramble for Africa’, war & peace, changing understandings of ‘race’ and capital, intersectional theorising around women, gender and ‘race’, the South African War (1899-1902) & its concentration camps & women’s relief organisations, governance & federation, international women's franchise campaigns, labour issues, international feminist networks, the Great War, diplomacy & pacifism, and much more as well.

Information about the Schreiner Letters Project is available at: http://www.oliveschreinerletters.ed.ac.uk/. Many Project publications are available to download and there is also information about Schreiner and her core concerns, including downloadable copies of her major publications.
If you would like to hear more about Olive Schreiner Letters Online and receive information about activities and events from across the globe concerning letters and other forms of life representation more broadly, please subscribe to the Lives & Letters mailing list by emailing oliveschreiner@yahoo.co.uk Alternatively, you can self-subscribe to the mailing list by sending a blank email to sympa@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk with the following in the subject: sub lives-and-letters.

JOB: Community Project Officer - Caribbean Images (National Archives)

2011-10-25T09:39:00.000+01:00

Exciting news of a new project, and a job opportunity for someone!

The National Archives is recruiting for a Community Project Officer to work with Caribbean images from their collection for a period of 18 months. Community engagement is fundamental to this project and the deadline is 7th November. Please pass this notice on to others you think might be interested.

The vacancy can be found on the National Archives website by searching under the jobs section, or following this link.
You may also be interested in viewing images of Africa from this collection: 'Africa through a lens' http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/Africa/

Australian Studies: latest issue

2011-10-24T11:34:00.000+01:00

The journal 'Australian Studies', is available online and free to access at the following address:
http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/australian-studies/issue/current

First appearing in 1988, 'Australian Studies' covers a wide range of disciplines (including geography, history, law, political science, economics, literature, the media, sociology, science etc). The journal has established itself internationally as a respected context for the publication of scholarship and comment on many aspects of the Australian scene, and is DEST recognised in Australia.

The journal's particular aim is to foster innovative critical approaches, and to encourage connections between traditionally discrete areas of research. Scholarly contributions to general issues are always welcomed, while contributions to themed issues are also commissioned. 'Australian Studies' is a fully-refereed journal, enjoying the support of a distinguished international body of scholars.

Various back issues are now also available online, together with a very handy index. For details, see:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/menzies/basa/journal.html

The latest issue, Vol 3, 2001 has just been rerleased and includes the following articles:
"The National Apology Three Years Later" Gay McAuley

"Circus Oz and Kangaroos: Performing Fauna and Animalness for Geo-National Identity"
Peta Tait

"Welcome to Country? Aboriginal Sovereignties and Asylum Seekers" Emma Cox

"I'll Write to Richie Benaud" Heather Nimmo

"'Not Celebrated for its Agriculture’: Emigrant Guides and Land Settlement in New South Wales, 1831-65"
Edward Cavanagh

"Transcultural Horizons and the Limitations of Multiculturalism in 'The World Waiting to be Made'" Lyn Dickens

"Traditional Australian Circus: Change and Survival"Andrea Lemon

"Shifting Visions: Developmentalism and Environmentalism in Australian History" Jillian Koshin

"A Ham Funeral: Patrick White, Collaboration and Neil Armfield" Elizabeth Schafer

"Appendix to 'A Ham Funeral': List of Productions of Patrick White's Plays" Elizabeth Schafer

Commonwealth Studies archives material in Kipling Exhibition

2011-10-21T15:00:00.000+01:00

Two items from our archive collections have been included within a small exhibition mounted on the 1st floor of Senate House, in association with the "Rudyard Kipling: An International Writer" Conference taking place from 21 - 22 October 2011.

Kipling, hailed as 'an interpreter of Empire' (Times, 18 Jan 1936), was regarded as a national institution when he died in 1936, and his funeral in Westminster Abbey was attended by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin. His current reputation is many-sided: sometimes condemned as a racist who embodied the imperial mind-set or dismissed as a writer 'whom nobody read', he is increasingly both valued and criticised for his complex response to the 'otherness' and diversity of races and classes in his writing.

This conference, sponsored by the Kipling Society, focuses on the figure of Kipling as an international writer. It seeks not only to re-assess Kipling's involvement in imperial ideology, but also to examine his interests in wider international affairs and his connections with foreign locations both within and outside the British Empire. The conference thereby aims to re-examine his work and achievement by exploring his diverse roles as an internationalist, and by considering his relevance to our post-modern globalising world

Senate House Library Special Collections staff have mounted this exhibition to highlight material relevant to the conference held in our collections. These include two items from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library collection - a letter from Kipling to Richard Jebb, thanking Jebb for a copy of an article from the 'Empire Review' and stating that he fears that he could not undertake to hold himself responsible for any deduction that may be made from anything that he may have written on the future of the Empire, and typescript notes by Sir Stephen Tallents, of a conversation with Kipling, held soon after Tallents took on his role within the Empire Marketing Board, to discuss ideas for the promotion of Empire good and EMpire trade.

Event Type: Conference / Symposium

Speakers

Keynote Speakers: Amit Chaudhuri and Charles Allen

Description

This conference, sponsored by the Kipling Society, focuses on the figure of Kipling as an international writer. It seeks not only to re-assess Kipling's involvement in imperial ideology, but also to examine his interests in wider international affairs and his connections with foreign locations both within and outside the British Empire. The conference thereby aims to re-examine his work and achievement by exploring his diverse roles as an internationalist, and by considering his relevance to our post-modern globalising world.

CFP: 36th Annual Conference of the Society for Caribbean Studies

2011-10-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

36th Annual Conference of the Society for Caribbean Studies

Wednesday 4th to Friday 6th July 2012
Rewley House and Kellogg College
University of Oxford

The Society for Caribbean Studies invites submissions of short abstracts of no more than 250 words for research papers on the Hispanic, Francophone, Dutch and Anglophone Caribbean and their diasporas for this annual international conference. Papers are welcomed from all disciplines and can address the themes outlined below. We welcome abstracts for papers that fall outside this list of topics, and we particularly welcome proposals for complete panels, which should consist of three papers. Those selected for the conference will be invited to give a 20-minute presentation.

Abstracts should be submitted along with a short CV by 6th January, 2012.

Proposals received after the deadline may not be considered.

PROVISIONAL PANELS
Oxford and the Caribbean
Independence
Sport and athletics
Cuba in the Caribbean
Knowledge production and circulation
Life-writing, memoir, and biography
Caribbean economics, past, present and future Citizenship, borders, and intraregional migration

To submit an abstract online, please visit our website:
http://www.caribbeanstudies.org.uk/

The Society will provide a limited number of postgraduate bursaries for presenters to assist with registration and accommodation costs. Postgraduate researchers should indicate that they are seeking a bursary when submitting their abstract, but please note that travel costs cannot be funded.

Arts researchers or practitioners living and working in the Caribbean are eligible to apply for the Bridget Jones Award, the deadline for which is also 6th January, 2012. For more information on the Bridget Jones Award, contact Kate Quinn at kate.quinn@sas.ac.uk or visit the website.

For further queries please contact the Conference Coordinator, Lorna Burns, at societyforcaribbeanstudies@gmail.com

The Commonwealth in the world: governance, resistance & change

2011-10-20T09:59:00.000+01:00

The Commonwealth in the world: governance, resistance & change

Please find below the details of the seminar 'The Commonwealth in the world: governance, resistance and change', organised by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau (CA/B) and the Université Paris Diderot. The first seminar will take place on 1 November 2011 in London and the second one in Spring 2012 in Paris.

The Commonwealth in the world: governance, resistance and change Occasional Seminar Series Institute of Commonwealth Studies Commonwealth Advisory Bureau (CA/B) and Université Paris Diderot

Pascal Bianchini: Anti-colonial scholarship: (re) discovering Jean Suret-Canale
Tuesday, 1 November, 12:30-14:30
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Senate House - Room ST275

How is it possible to lead two extraordinary careers in a same life? Jean Suret-Canale was a politically committed intellectual and a pathfinder in African history (though he was in fact a geographer). He could be compared to Basil Davidson with whom he had epistolary exchange. As Davidson, Suret-Canale was involved in the Resistance during the Second World War and tried to disentangle African history from its colonial bias.

Suret-Canale published some major volumes read by generations of African intellectuals and militants in the 1960's and the 1970's and many of them were translated into several languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, Japanese and even Chinese...) His correspondence reveals that he was in contact with some major intellectual and political figures from Africa (Ruben Um Nyobe, Sekou Toure, Mongo Beti, Mario de Andrade...) or with major academic figures working on Africa (Melville Herskovits, Walter Markov, Henri Brunschvig...).

Though Suret-Canale played a major role as a founding father in African studies, he was only appointed by a French university at the age of 57 and ended his academic career in the relatively junior position of assistant professor. This paradox is a major clue to a non-French audience about the reality of French African studies. Suret-Canale, in the interview he gave to Pascal Bianchini, (Suret-Canale. De la résistance à l'anticolonialisme) explained his setbacks in the French academe by his membership of the Communist Party (he was a member of the Central Committee and assistant director of Centre for Marxist Studies and Research in the 1960's) and his official status of geographer while his main work was in African history.

In addition, his personal story reveals that his consistent anti-colonial commitment had prevented him from making a career matching his international influence. Unfortunately, since the 1980's, he has been rejected and/or forgotten by contemporary French Africanists. He has also been criticized by African militants for his alleged support to Sekou Toure, the leader of independence in Guinea where Suret-Canale worked and lived from 1959 to 1963.

However, whatever criticism can be levelled at his political positions, his intellectual contribution to the decolonisation process is important and echoes through to the 'postcolonial debate' that occurred in recent years in France. Suret-Canale's name remains completely unknown to a new generation.

Attendance is free but contact Dr Leo Zeilig (leo.zeilig@sas.ac.uk) and Dr Mélanie Torrent (melanie.torrent@univ-paris-diderot.fr if you want to attend.

This seminar series arises from a double objective: to encourage research on transnational, transregional and international history, and to stimulate contacts between researchers across national spheres and academic disciplines. The history and current politics of the Commonwealth of Nations can only be fully understood when related to transformations occurring in other parts of the world and this seminar intends to focus on connections and encounters - be they governmental or non-governmental, open or secret, intentional or accidental, multilateral or bilateral, elite or grassroots.

This seminar series also arises from discussions held within the Commonwealth and Democracy Network, formed in June 2010 following the Round Table Centenary Conference on Democracy in the Commonwealth.

Investigating long-term evolutions, this seminar series hopes to generate debate on the processes of governance and regime change in the Commonwealth world from an international - but not necessarily strictly comparative - perspective. If national systems of governance and government institutions will be investigated, the scope of the seminar series is wider, also focusing on the governance at work in multilateral organisations (regional or international) and in non-governmental bodies.

The heart of the seminar series will be the Commonwealth of Nations, as an association of people, civil society groups and member governments which is open to the world and entertains constant discussion with non-members.

Papers presented at the seminar series will therefore be relevant for the study of Commonwealth history and politics but will not be solely focused on intra-Commonwealth affairs. Diplomacy, trade, migration or travel generate transnational networks and the formal and informal circulation of ideas which results from all this will have a central part in this seminar series. The Commonwealth of Nations spans all continents and the seminar series will intentionally have no geographic restrictions. Surveying transformations from the transitions to independence to current debates on democracy, development and human rights, the seminar series hopes to give prominence to new international and transnational insights into Commonwealth transformations.

In order to reflect this approach, this seminar series will be organised jointly by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies/Commonwealth Advisory Bureau at the University of London, and the Université Paris Diderot. This decision comes from the strong belief that relations between France and Britain, and between the French-speaking and English-speaking worlds in the post-independence era, have been rather neglected in the study of governance processes and resistance to oppression. This, however, does not restrict the seminar series to this dual approach - although papers will be presented in either French or English, for practical purposes. We are aware that attendance to both London-based and Paris-based seminars might be difficult and we intend to offer registered participants the possibility of accessing papers.

The inaugural seminar will be held at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies on 1 November, 12.30-14.30. Rm. ST275, Senate House, University of London. 'Anti-colonial scholarship: (re)discovering Jean Suret-Canale'

Pascal Bianchini. The joint organisers, Mélanie Torrent and Leo Zeilig, will also use the opportunity of the first seminar to present the series in further detail to the participants and exchange ideas.

The second seminar will be held at the Université Paris Diderot in the Spring of 2012 and will be followed by a discussion on future projects and areas of interest for the seminar series in 2012-2013.

New Zealand Studies Network Event - Disciplining the Europeans: Earliest Maori engagement with pen, paper, school

2011-10-19T13:42:00.000+01:00

New Zealand Studies Network Event

Disciplining the Europeans: Earliest Maori engagement with pen, paper, school

28th October 2011, 6pm
Room: 251 Malet Street, Birkbeck (Off Torrington Square)

This illustrated talk gives an account of how Englishmen were invited by Maori leaders – who were aware of the dangers of such an invitation – to establish the first school in New Zealand (the school was built in 1816). The talk will focus on the earliest Maori instruction of the European teachers, the Maori desire for writing, and make new connections with England through a series of unpublished letters about the Industrial Revolution written by two young Maori men who stayed in Shropshire in 1818, and saw ‘the iron run down like water’.

The research was carried out by Professor Alison Jones and Professor Kuni Jenkins. Professor Jones will also talk about the possibilities and impossibilities in telling ‘other people’s stories’.

Alison Jones is a Professor of Education at the University of Auckland. She currently teaches and writes in the field of Maori-Pakeha (indigenous-settler) educational relationships. She and Kuni Jenkins have completed a book entitled Words Between Us: He Korero: First Maori-Pakeha Conversations on Paper, due from Huia Publishers, NZ, later this year.

Alison works on the Maori Missionary Register and on Tuai and Titere, and Maori/Pakeha Conversations in the 19th century

Further recently added books (Sept 2011) - but not so new

2011-10-18T15:15:00.000+01:00

Through donation and purchase we're sometimes able to fill gaps in the collection, and add useful material to the shelves. In September this material included material published before the library was founded as well as more recent difficult to obtain reports: Some of the additional titles are:

King , Jaqueline A. (ed). The Bi-Centennial handbook, 1779-1979. [Kingston] : Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, 1979.

Britain and the Commonwealth : a St Catharine's conference held at Cumberland Lodge, April 1987. Windsor : King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St. Catharine's, [1987]

Morrison, C. Dennis. The citizen and the law : perspectives old and new. Kingston, Jamaica : Grace, Kennedy Foundation, 2004.

Colonial Office Conference, 1927 : memoranda and papers. Great Britain. Colonial Office. Miscellaneous [Publications] ; no.385. [London], 1927.

Colonial Office Conference, 1930 : memoranda and papers. Great Britain. Colonial Office. Miscellaneous [Publications] ; no.385. [London], 1930.

Quebec (Province). Declaration of sovereignty. London : Quebec Government Office, [1995]

Krishnan, N. Evaluation study on Commonwealth Secretariat/Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation assistance for Diplomatic Training. London : Commonwealth Secretariat, 1991.

Sealey, Sally, Wahome Mutahi, and Innocent Chukwuma. Monitoring state-sponsored violence in Africa : a practical guide. London and Johannesburg : Article 19 ; Lagos : Civil Liberties Organisation ; Nairobi : Kenya Human Rights Commission ; Durban : Network of Independent Monitors, 2000.

Coulombe, Françoise. The official languages in Canada : federal policy. Ottawa : Library of Parliament, Research Branch, Political and Social Affairs Division, c1995.

Cole, Fay-Cooper, The peoples of Malaysia. New York : D. Van Nostrand, 1945.

India. Labour Investigation Committee. Report on an enquiry into conditions of labour in plantations in India / by D.V. Rege, chairman, Labour Investigation Committee. Delhi : Manager of Publications, 1946.

Tourism Planning and Research Associates. St. Kitts and Nevis tourism development policy and marketing plan. St. Kitts and Nevis : Caribbean Tourism Organisation : St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Tourism, [1996]

Australia. Parliament. Statistical returns showing the voting within each subdivision in relation to the Senate elections, 1958, and the general elections for the House of Representatives, 1958; issued under the authority of the Hon. Gordon Freeth. Canberra : Commonwealth Government Printer, 1959.

Submission to the Working Group of Experienced Officials on the High Level Appraisal Group of the Commonwealth from the conference Joining in change : a commonwealth of peoples for the 1990s, held at Cumberland Lodge, 6-8 July 1990. Windsor : King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Foundation of St. Catharine's, [1990]

Quebec (Province). Text of the Agreement between the Parti Quebecois, the Bloc Quebecois and the action democratique du Quebec : in Quebec City June 12, 1995. London : Quebec Government Office, 1995.

You and the new pass laws. Johannesburg : Black Sash Publications, 1982.

New books - September 2011

2011-10-17T14:56:00.000+01:00

A selection of new books added to the collection in September:

Lopi, Barbara et al. Beyond inequalities : women in southern Africa : a profile on the situation of women in southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe : Southern African Research and Documentation Centre, Women in Development Southern Africa Awareness Programme, 2008.

Hale, Geoffrey, and Monica Gattinger. Borders and bridges : Canada's policy relations in North America, Don Mills, Ont. : Oxford University Press, 2010

Goldblatt, Israel. Building bridges : Namibian nationalists Clemens Kapuuo, Hosea Kutako, Brendan Simbwaye, Samuel Witbooi, Basel : Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2010.

Hubbard, Ruth and Gilles Paquet (eds). The case for decentralized federalism, Ottawa : University of Ottawa Press, c2010.

Jensen, Kurt F. Cautious beginnings : Canadian foreign intelligence, 1939-51, Vancouver : UBC Press, 2009.

Aronsen, Lawrence. City of love and revolution : Vancouver in the sixties, Vancouver : New Star Books, c2010.

Miller, J. R. Compact, contract, covenant : Aboriginal treaty-making in Canada, Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c2009.

Ooi, Kee Beng. In lieu of ideology : an intellectual biography of Goh Keng Swee, Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2010.

Cheema, Zafar Iqbal. Indian nuclear deterrence : its evolution, development and implications for South Asian security, Karachi ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Slumkoski, Corey. Inventing Atlantic Canada : regionalism and the Maritime reaction to Newfoundland's entry into Canadian confederation, Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c2011.

Handmaker, Jeff and Remko Berkhout (eds). Mobilising social justice in South Africa : perspectives from researchers and practitioners, Pretoria : Pretoria University Law Press (PULP), 2010.

Brodie, M. Janine and Isabella Bakker. Where are the women? : gender equity, budgets, and Canadian public policy, Ottawa : Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, c2008.

Free articles from Journal of African History

2011-10-14T14:36:00.002+01:00

To conclude the celebrations of 5 decades of publishing, the Editors of The Journal of African History have compiled a collection of key articles.

This is your final opportunity to access these 50 articles for free. The papers selected give a sense of how work published in JAH has shaped the development of the field. The offer ends 31st October 2011.

Film Africa 2011: Celebrating African Cinema

2011-10-13T14:35:00.000+01:00

Film Africa 2011: Celebrating African Cinema

November 3rd – 13th

The Royal African Society are organizing a Film Festival screening over 50 African films at 5 cinemas across London. You will find the details and the programme of films at: http://www.filmafrica.org.uk/

New photocopying and printing prices from Monday 10 October 2011

2011-10-11T13:01:00.000+01:00

From Monday 10th October 2011 the prices for photocopying and printing will change as follows:

- Self-service, A4 black and white photocopy 6p

- Self-service, A3 black and white photocopy 12p

- Self-service, colour A4 print, 40p

The Library makes every effort possible to keep photocopying and printing prices low. It has been necessary to make these changes to keep up with the significantly increased price of paper and consumables.

Walter Rodney Memorial Lecture: The Fanon-Rodney approach to Neo-colonialism and the Caribbean Nation-state Today

2011-10-11T09:58:00.000+01:00

Yesu Persaud Centre For Caribbean Studies - University of Warwick
Walter Rodney Memorial Lecture

Wednesday 19^th October 2011
R0.12, Ramphal Building, 5.00pm

Cecil Gutzmore

The Fanon-Rodney approach to Neo-colonialism and the Caribbean Nation-state Today

Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) and Walter Rodney (1942-1981) are two of the most significant revolutionary activist-intellectuals of the twentieth century. Both were African-Caribbean, functioning in the era of the Cold War. Their complex praxis saw them directly engaged in both African Diasporic and Continental African territories (Martinique and Algeria for Fanon; Jamaica, Guyana and Tanzania for Rodney). Both made important contributions to more than one academic discipline (between them psychiatry, political science, political economy and historiography). Their urgent and active concern with and for human liberation led them both to recognize capitalist-imperialism as the crucial current form of domination-exploitation. Both saw that, for Africans, victories against the colonial projection of such power represented an insufficient rupture, given its reincarnation in the structures and processes of neo-colonialism and its hegemonic global hold. This led them both to contribute theoretically and practically to the ongoing struggle against capitalist-imperialism as neo-colonialism, the concept having been coined by Kwame Nkrumah. Lasting victories in this struggle have to date been few. The principal concern of this lecture will be to examine the contemporary Caribbean nation-state, in all its apparent variety, in the light of Fanon’s and Rodney’s anti-neocolonial praxis.

All Welcome

New books August 2011 (part 2)

2011-10-10T13:10:00.000+01:00

A further selection of new titles added to the library's collections in AUgust 2011:

Olssen, Erik. An accidental utopia? social mobility and the social foundations of an egalitarian society, 1880-1940. Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press, 2011.

Holman, Jeffrey Paparoa, Best of both worlds : the story of Elsdon Best and Tutakangahau, North Shore, N.Z. : Penguin Books, 2010.

Maundeni, Zibani at al. Consolidating democratic governance in Southern Africa : Botswana, Johannesburg : EISA, 2007.

Murphy, John, A decent provision : Australia welfare policy, 1870 to 1949, Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, c2011.

Malone, David. Does the elephant dance? : contemporary Indian foreign policy, Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011.

David, Maya Khemlani et al (eds). Ethnic relations and nation building : the way forward, Petaling Jaya : Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD), 2010.

Jacobs, Keith. Experience and representation : contemporary perspectives on migration in Australia, Farnham, Surrey, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, 2011.

Ravi Raman, K. Global capital and peripheral labour : the history and political economy of plantation workers in India, London ; New York : Routledge, 2010.

Ashton, Paul and Paula Hamilton. History at the crossroads : Australians and the past . Ultimo, N.S.W. : Halstead Press, 2010.

Jackson, Ashley and David Tomkins. Illustrating empire : a visual history of British imperialism. Oxford : Bodleian Library, 2011.

Hazell, Alastair. The last slave market. London : Constable, c2011.

Kilimwiko, Lawrence I.M. Media power and politics in Tanzania : critical analysis of media trends and practice, Dar es Salaam : Association of Journalists and Media Workers, 2009.

Matlosa, Khabele and Kebapetse Lotshwao. Political integration and democratisation in southern Africa : progress, problems and prospects, Johannesburg : EISA, 2010.

Cavalier, Rodney. Power crisis : the self-destruction of a state labor party, Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press ; [Clayton, Vic.] : Monash University, National Centre for Australian Studies, 2010.

Niazi, Zamir. The press in chains, Karachi ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Mpabanga, Dorothy. Promoting the effectiveness of democracy protection institutions in Southern Africa : Office of the Ombudsman in Botswana, Johannesburg, South Africa : EISA, 2009.

Musuva, Catherine. Promoting the effectiveness of democracy protection institutions in southern Africa : South Africa's Public Protector and Human Rights Commission, Johannesburg, South Africa : EISA, 2009.

Blaauw, Lesley. Promoting the effectiveness of democracy protection institutions in Southern Africa : the case of the Office of the Ombudsman in Namibia, Johannesburg, South Africa : EISA, 2009.

Chewe-Chanda, Annie. Promoting the effectiveness of democracy protection institutions in Southern Africa : the Commission for Investigations and the Permanent Human Rights Commission in Zambia, Johannesburg, South Africa : EISA, 2009.

Patel, Nandini. Promoting the effectiveness of democracy protection institutions in Southern Africa : the Malawi Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman, Johannesburg, South Africa : EISA, 2009.

Darga, L. Amedee. Promoting the effectiveness of democracy protection institutions in Southern Africa. The Ombudsman and the National Human Rights Commission of Mauritius, Johannesburg : EISA, 2009.

Holland, Alison and Barbara Brookes (eds). Rethinking the racial moment : essays on the colonial encounter, Newcastle upon Tyne : Cambridge Scholars, 2011.

Long, Joey Shi Ruey. Safe for decolonization : the Eisenhower administration, Britain, and Singapore, Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, c2011.

Mwebaza, Rose. Sustaining good governance in water and sanitation in Uganda, Pretoria: Institute of Security Studies, 2010.

Gender Links (ed). This seat is taken : elections and the under-representation of women in seven Southern African countries, Richmond, Johannesburg, South Africa : EISA, 2010.

Santos-Paulino, Amelia U., Mark McGillivray, and Wim Naudé(eds). Understanding small-island developing states : fragility and external shocks, London : Routledge, c2011.

Matlosa, Khabele Gilbert M. Khadiagala and Victor Shale (eds). When elephants fight : preventing and resolving election-related conflicts in Africa, Johannesburg : EISA, 2010.

New books - August 2011 (Part 1) (Canada)

2011-10-08T11:35:00.000+01:00

Catching up on publicising new books with a list of books added to the catalogue in August from or about Canada:

Howard, Heather A. and Craig Proulx (eds), Aboriginal peoples in Canadian cities : transformations and continuities, Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, c2011.

Aboriginal Policy Research Conference (3rd : 2009 : Ottawa, Ont.) , Aboriginal policy research : health and well-being Vol. 9, Toronto : Thompson Educational Publishing, c2011.

Aboriginal Policy Research Conference (3rd : 2009 : Ottawa, Ont.) , Aboriginal policy research : voting governance, and research methodology Vol. 10, Toronto : Thompson Educational Publishing, c2011.

Davis, Lynne. Alliances : re/envisioning indigenous--non-indigenous relationships, Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010

Mensah, Joseph, Black Canadians : history, experience, social conditions, Halifax : Fernwood Pub., c2010.

Palmer, Bryan D. Canada's 1960s : the ironies of identity in a rebellious era, Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, c2009.

Borrows, John, Canada's indigenous constitution, Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c2010.

DiGiacomo, Gordon and Maryantonett Flumian (eds). The case for centralized federalism, Ottawa : University of Ottawa Press, c2010.

Leduc, Timothy B., Climate, culture, change : Inuit and Western dialogues with a warming North, Ottawa : University of Ottawa Press, c2010.

Jeffrey, Brooke. Divided loyalties : the Liberal Party of Canada, 1984-2008, Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, c2010.

Kallen, Evelyn. Ethnicity and human rights in Canada, Ontario ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Smith, David E., Federalism and the constitution of Canada, Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c2010.

Koop, Royce, Grassroots Liberals : organizing for local and national politics, Vancouver : UBC Press, c2011.

Dutil, Patrice (ed), The guardian : perspectives on the Ministry of Finance of Ontario. Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, c2011.

Lachapelle, Réjean and Jean-François Lepage, Languages in Canada : 2006 census, Gatineau, Québec : Canadian Heritage, [2010]

A low-tax plan for jobs and growth : the next phase of Canada's Economic Action Plan : Tabled in the House of Commons by the Honourable James M. Flaherty, P.C., M.P. Minister of Finance, June 6, 2011. Ottawa : Public Works and Government Services, 2011.

Petter, Andrew. The politics of the Charter : the illusive promise of constitutional rights. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c2010.

Anderson , Cameron D. and Laura B. Stephenson (eds). Voting behaviour in Canada, Vancouver : UBC Press, 2011.

Bashevkin, Sylvia B. Women, power, politics : the hidden story of Canada's unfinished democracy, Don Mills, Ontario : Oxford University Press, 2009.

NZ-UK Link Foundation Visiting Professorship Lectures Programme

2011-10-07T11:16:00.000+01:00

THE NZ-UK LINK FOUNDATION VISITING PROFESSORSHIP

LECTURES PROGRAMME 2011-12

The NZ-UK Link Foundation, in conjunction with the School of Advanced Study, University of London, is delighted to announce that its second Visiting Professor, Jonathan Gardner, will deliver the Foundation’s series of Visiting Professorship lectures between October and December 2011.

The Foundation’s purpose is to make a significant contribution to the bilateral NZ-UK relationship in a changing world. For more information, please visit http://www.nzuklinkfoundation.org/

Booking is essential: Please contact Steve Rowland-Jones NZ-UK.Link@hotmail.co.uk

New Zealand is generally regarded as a world leader in marine protection because it has established 33 full ‘no take’ Marine Reserves, with several more planned. The UK currently has three statutory Marine Nature Reserves, in addition to a number of other types of Marine Protected Areas where some fishing is permitted. Professor Gardner is a marine biologist with extensive research expertise in the fields of Marine Protected Areas, biodiversity conservation and population genetics. During his lecture series Professor Gardner will bring together these fields to address the UK’s new Marine Bill, drawing on New Zealand’s own Marine Protected Area Policy and Implementation Plan. The Foundation believes that his work will contribute to a greater understanding of how Marine Protected Areas can most effectively be set up and run to achieve their conservation goals and help protect marine biodiversity.

Professor Jonathan Gardner, who is British born, has been based at Wellington’s Victoria University since April 1994. In December 1994 he became an active member of the South Coast Marine Reserve Coalition, a group set up to promote the establishment of a marine reserve on Wellington’s south coast at Island Bay, in front of the University’s marine laboratory. The Taputeranga Marine Reserve was formally opened in August 2008, almost 20 years after it was first mooted. Professor Gardner is therefore a long time activist for marine protection and has longstanding, first-hand experience of the marine reserve process. He has published more than 50 papers on various aspects of marine protected areas and on aspects of the population genetics of coastal plants and animals.

Mon 17 Oct 2011 6:00pm followed by reception
Venue: The Royal Society, Kohn Centre, London SW1

The importance of Marine Reserves & Marine Protected Areas - the New Zealand experience
In this lecture Professor Gardner will outline the development of Marine Reserves in New Zealand and the strengths and weaknesses of the legislation used to establish reserves. He will describe the different types of Marine Protected Areas in New Zealand and outline the roles played by different sectors in both supporting and opposing the establishment of Marine Reserves. He will assess the limitations and successes of marine protection strategies and will look forward to the new Marine Protected Areas strategy for New Zealand.

Thu 3 Nov 2011 6:00pm followed by reception
Venue: Plymouth University

The design of a Marine Protected Areas network
In this lecture Professor Gardner will discuss what genetics and connectivity tell us about the structuring of populations of New Zealand coastal species. He will outline the essential requirement of science to underpin the establishment of Marine Protected Areas as well as the relevance of genetic connectivity to Marine Protected Area networks. He will describe the New Zealand approach to marine conservation, including a review of New Zealand coastal species, the assessment of population genetic structuring and genetic connectivity, and the contribution of these to New Zealand’s Marine Protected Area network. He will also discuss future directions for science as it can contribute to network design.

Tue 29 Nov 2011 1.15pm
Venue: York University

Do Marine Reserves deliver conservation benefits?
In this lecture Professor Gardner will address the rationale, purpose and establishment of Marine Reserves in New Zealand and describe the expected conservation outcomes. He will explore the processes of monitoring, including the establishment of baselines, ‘before & after’ surveys, internal and external comparisons and habitat mapping. He will ask how Marine Reserve success can best be measured and indicate ways in which reserves can be used as long term conservation tools.

Wed 7 Dec 2011 6:00 pm followed by reception
Venue: Zoological Society of London, Huxley Theatre, Regents Park, London

The future of Marine Protected Areas
This lecture will concern Professor Gardner’s own personal view of Marine Protected Areas. He will review where Marine Protected Areas have been and where they are going in terms of global changes, what Marine Protected Areas can and cannot achieve and what science is needed to support the development of a network of Marine Protected Areas. He will discuss optimum timeframes for the establishment of Marine
Protected Areas as well as for sound conservation outcomes. He will give some examples of successes and failures and the lessons to be learned from these positive and negative experiences.

CFP: The Grenada Intervention 30 Years On: A Retrospective

2011-10-06T11:05:00.000+01:00

The Grenada Intervention 30 Years On: A Retrospective

Almost 30 years on from the intervention the events of that period are still strongly contested; so too the legacies of the intervention.

However, a number of recent developments have begun to heal some of the wounds. For example, several former detainees of the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), including current Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, are now serving in government. In 2006 a Truth and Reconciliation Commission published its report - Redeeming the past: A time for healing; in 2009 the international airport, which was a source of great controversy under the PRG, was renamed after Maurice Bishop; and also in 2009 the last members of the 'Grenada 17' convicted of Bishop's murder were released.

Therefore as the 30th anniversary of the intervention approaches it is a good time to reflect on the significance of these recent developments, as well as looking back at the PRG, the intervention and its aftermath.

Possible topics for inclusion in the special issue of The Round Table are (not exhaustive):

* The legitimacy/legality of the intervention from a contemporary perspective (post-Iraq etc.)
* The role of the US in the Caribbean after the intervention
* The PRG: a re-evaluation
* Intervention and the death of reformist left-wing politics in the Commonwealth Caribbean
* The UK and Grenada from associated statehood to intervention and beyond
* The legal/judicial story of the Grenada 17
* The legacy of the 1979 to 1983 PRG period for Grenada

Schedule for the special issue:

The deadline for papers is Friday 20 July 2012. The editing and peer-review process will take place between August and November 2012. Final copy will be submitted to The Round Table in December 2012. The issue will then be published in April 2013.

Instructions for authors can be found on The Round Table website here:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/ctrtauth.asp

For further information and/or submission of manuscripts please contact Dr Gary Williams or Dr Peter Clegg.

Dr Gary Williams, University of Essex, E-mail: gcwill@essex.ac.uk
Dr Peter Clegg, University of the West of England, E-mail: peter.clegg@uwe.ac.uk

‘In but not of the West’: Caribbean histories and geographies

2011-10-05T11:51:00.000+01:00

All are welcome to the Annual David Nicholls Memorial Trust Lecture

Regents Park College, Oxford, Pusey Street, OX1 2LB

5.00pm Tuesday 11th October, 2011

Dr David Lambert, University of Warwick
‘In but not of the West’: Caribbean histories and geographies

Dr David Lambert is Reader of Caribbean History in the Department of History at Warwick University and a former Visiting Fellow at Exeter College, University of Oxford. In 2009, he was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize. He works on slavery, abolition and empire in the Caribbean and wider Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His current book, Mastering the Niger: James MacQueen's Map of Africa and the Struggle over Atlantic Slavery (University of Chicago Press), examines the entanglements between slavery, exploration, cartography and empire.

The lecture starts at 5.00pm, with tea from 4.00pm and a poster presentation by Mark Tumbridge, the David Nicholls Memorial Trust Postgraduate Scholar at University of Warwick, on 'Representations of Indentured Labour and Asian Presence in Caribbean Cultural Texts from the 19th Century to the Present'.

A wine reception will be held following the lecture at 6.30pm, with an informal dinner at Regent's Park College at 7.00pm. The cost of the dinner will be £10, no advance booking necessary.

David Nicholls Memorial Trust
http://www.dnmt.org.uk/

Lecture: 'The Roots of Caribbean Identity: Creolisation, Nativisation and Enlightenment'

2011-10-04T13:41:00.000+01:00

Lecture: 'The Roots of Caribbean Identity: Creolisation, Nativisation and Enlightenment'

Peter Roberts, Professor of Creole Linguistics, University of the West Indies-Cave Hill.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

RHB139, Goldsmiths, University of London 16.30-18.30 All welcome

Professor Peter Roberts draws on historical sources to present the roots of Caribbean identity across the Spanish-, French- and English-speaking Caribbean. In assessing the significance of Haiti in the process of creolisation, key questions are raised concerning the visibility of creole language in the literature from the eighteenth century. Foremost among the questions are: How was Creole language both a symbol of identity and a medium of enlightment? What are the meanings of Creole enlightenment?

Peter Roberts is the author of From Oral to Literate Culture (1997) and West Indians and their Language (2007). His most recent monograph, The Roots of Caribbean Identity received the Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Memorial Award of Caribbean Scholarship in 2009 and is described as follows: 'The book is original in its conception, perspective and treatment of the languages and identities of the West Indies as a whole. The author makes extensive use of a huge range of multiple and multilingual historical sources to let the voices of the past speak for themselves, and unearths forgotten connections that reveal the interrelatedness of territories and their 'historical saga."

CFP: From Strangers to Partners? The Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union

2011-10-03T11:47:00.000+01:00

From Strangers to Partners? The Commonwealth of Nations and the European Union

23 March 2012 - Strasbourg

One-day conference organised by the Institut d'Etudes Politiques (IEP), Strasbourg, and Université Paris Diderot

The early history of relations between the Commonwealth and Europe is to be read in the light of Britain's own relations with the European Economic Community. As Britain twice applied and twice faced the French veto in the 1960s, the Commonwealth of Nations evolved radically. From an association essentially defined through its relationship with the ex-imperial power, the Commonwealth expanded as decolonisation gathered pace, was given a Secretariat in 1965 and Arnold Smith, the first Secretary General, contributed greatly to the assertion of an independent Commonwealth voice, determined to mark its relevance in a rapidly changing world.

The Commonwealth of Nations issued its first declaration of principles in January 1971, as Britain finally progressed towards EEC membership and officially joined in January 1973. For British foreign policy, the Commonwealth and Europe had long represented conflicting attractions and the determination to conciliate both sets of partners had initially been a seemingly insoluble dilemma. While the two spheres retained their specificities, they now intersected, not only through Britain, but through the association of a number of ex-British territories in the 1975 Lomé Convention and the later joint membership of Cyprus and Malta. Is the EU one of the "strategic partners" of the Commonwealth in its actions for development and democracy? To what extent do values converge? To what extent does the Commonwealth have any influence on EU development policies? How can the past and present framework for consultation between the EU and the Commonwealth be understood - and is there scope for improvement? At a time when tensions between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat partners of the coalition government in London have hit the headlines on European issues, and when Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for the reinvigoration of the Commonwealth, understanding current cooperation networks and possible ventures seems an essential undertaking.

The work of the conference will be articulated around two major themes:

1) Connecting institutional pasts

Possible topics for papers include:

- British foreign policy and diplomacy in Commonwealth and European circles: mutual influences, evolving interests and shifting identities
- The impact of Britain's application to the EEC, and membership of the EEC/EU on Commonwealth ties
- The role of Cyprus and Malta in bringing both organisations closer together and as vehicles for common understanding
- Intra-Commonwealth divisions on European relations

2) Present Dynamics and Future Cooperation

Possible topics for papers include:
- Lobbying and co-operation in multilateral organisations
- The articulation of Commonwealth policies and EU policies outside Europe (in the Pacific and the Caribbean where some territories are part of the EU, but also in Africa)
- European and Commonwealth approaches to development
- The scope for cooperation in democratic processes, from election observation to institution building
- Commonwealth and La Francophonie cross-influences in the EU, and the impact of Britain and France's imperial past on EU policies in developing countries.

This conference follows two previous conferences held at Université Paris Diderot in 2009 (The Commonwealth of Nations: a force for democracy?) and 2010 (The Commonwealth@60: identity and relevance in perspective).

Proposals (max. 500 words) and a short biography should be sent to the organisers, Ron Leask, Virginie Roiron and Mélanie Torrent (cweu2012@gmail.com) no later than 15 November 2011.

Participants are expected to cover their travel and accommodation expenses.

Maori art in Paris

2011-10-02T15:50:00.001+01:00

Two exhibitions devoted to Maori art open this week in Paris:

George Nuku & Rosanna Raymond: Face to Face
17 Rue des Beaux-Arts Paris 75006

The contemporary Maori art of George Nuku & Rosanna Raymond face to face with a selection of early Maori art

Opens October 4 from 18h to 21h in the presence of the artists

(NB: exhibition closes October 26)

For more information about the artists and the work, click here.

Māori: their treasures have a soul
Musée du Quai Branly
37, quai Branly Paris 75007

The exhibition presents a great range of artwork, including sculpture, adornment, daily and sacred objects, architectural elements, photographs, audiovisual documents, and so on. It highlights the links between taonga (ancestral Māori treasures) and contemporary art, shedding light on important issues and debates for Māori today.

The exhibition presents Māori culture as seen by Māori, free from Western views and biases. The heart of the exhibition features art that addresses the political, spiritual, and aesthetic developments that have shaped Māori culture.

The exhibition includes the remarkable Michael Parekowhai works that formed the NZ Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale.

From October 4 to January 22

For more information about the exhibition, click here

Beyond revolutions: the use of ICTs for political mobilization and participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

2011-10-01T14:41:00.000+01:00

Beyond revolutions: the use of ICTs for political mobilization and participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Friday, 11 November 2011

Location: CRASSH, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge.

Conveners: Dr Iginio Gagliardone (Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge);
Dr Sharath Srinivasan (Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge)

Workshop participation is limited: to register your interest, please email Iginio Gagliardone (ig282@cam.ac.uk) describing your background and why you would like to participate.

Conference Summary

After witnessing the critical role new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) played in supporting political change in Northern Africa at the beginning of 2011, expectations have grown that in Sub-Saharan Africa authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes may also be challenged by emerging uses of ICTs for political change. However, there have been little signs that long-standing leaders in countries like Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, or Uganda may be ousted from power by a popular uprising supported by and coordinated through the use of new technologies. What are the reasons for this apparent absence of impact? How much of the lack of technologically mediated mobilizations for greater rights and political freedoms depends simply on the limited diffusion of ICTs such as the Internet? How much depends instead on the particular nature of politics on the African continent (where the most significant protests to date have been channelled by partisan and divisive politics rather than being the expression of an empowered civil society)? And, in the absence of revolutionary outcomes, are ICTs affecting and possibly transforming the nature of political mobilization and participation in more subtle ways?

The workshop will address these questions by providing a platform for scholars studying the role of ICTs in political transformations to engage with the arguments put forward by researchers investigating governance processes in Africa. It will focus not only on the newest technologies, but explore the unique ways in which new and old means of communication are being and could be combined in Sub-Saharan Africa to enable citizens to express voice and affect political processes. Participants will examine, for example, whether and how the increasing availability of mobile phones is promoting innovative ways of influencing government policies and of claiming rights, but also how these innovations fit in longer term patterns of use of communication to affect governance. The overarching aim is to explore whether, as has been the case for applications such as mobile banking, the most significant uses of ICTs for participatory politics in Africa may emerge from a unique combination of global influences and local needs, rather than from the application of tools and uses that have been proved successful in external contexts. This inter-disciplinary workshop complements the Cambridge Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR)’s current research project on how innovations in ICTs can transform governance processes in Africa.

Sponsors:
Supported by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH), and the Centre of Governance and Human Rights, both University of Cambridge.

New journal issue of Journal of Southern African Studies with focus on Histories and Legacies of Punishment in Southern Africa

2011-09-30T10:52:00.000+01:00

Newly available (in both print and electronic access) and with a special focus on the history and legacies of punishment is the following journal issue:

Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3, 01 Sep 2011
This new issue contains the following articles:

"Introduction: Histories and Legacies of Punishment in Southern Africa", Jocelyn Alexander & Gary Kynoch

"Defining Crime through Punishment: Sexual Assault in the Eastern Cape, c.1835–1900", Elizabeth Thornberry

"Law, Violence and Penal Reform: State Responses to Crime and Disorder in Colonial Malawi, c.1900–1959", Stacey Hynd

"Repression and Migration: Forced Labour Exile of Mozambicans to São Tomé, 1948–1955", Zachary Kagan-Guthrie

"Of Compounds and Cellblocks: The Foundations of Violence in Johannesburg, 1890s–1950s",
Gary Kynoch

"Punishment, Race and ‘The Raw Native’: Settler Society and Kenya's Flogging Scandals, 1895–1930",
David M. Anderson

"Containing the ‘Wandering Native’: Racial Jurisdiction and the Liberal Politics of Prison Reform in 1940s South Africa", Kelly Gillespie

"The Limits of Penal Reform: Punishing Children and Young Offenders in South Africa and Nigeria (1930s to 1960)", Laurent Fourchard

"In the Shadow of Mau Mau: Detainees and Detention Camps during Nyasaland's State of Emergency", John McCracken

"Nationalism and Self-government in Rhodesian Detention: Gonakudzingwa, 1964–1974", Jocelyn Alexander

"Discipline and Punishment in ZANLA: 1964–1979", Gerald Chikozho Mazarire

"State Discourse on Internal Security and the Politics of Punishment in Post-Independence Mozambique (1975–1983)", Benedito Luís Machava

"‘Entering the Red Sands’: The Corporality of Punishment and Imprisonment in Chimoio, Mozambique", Bjørn Enge Bertelsen

"Deviance, Punishment and Logics of Subjectification during Apartheid: Insane, Political and Common-law Prisoners in a South African Gaol", Natacha Filippi

BLDS Digital Library

2011-09-30T10:32:00.002+01:00

Very pleased to be helping to promote a digital initiative form colleagues at the British Library for Development Studies (BLDS:

New BLDS Digital Library is helping research from developing countries enjoy a wider global readership

"With so many library users now expecting to access information through search engines, developing country publications tend to get overlooked in favour of the wealth of research available online from American and European academic institutions.

The British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) has the largest collection of economic and social development materials in Europe and over half of it originates from developing countries. But until now, much of the BLDS physical collection has only been available to visitors to the library or users of its Document Delivery service. BLDS is hoping that its newly-launched Digital Library will help redress the situation by making developing country research more accessible and visible online

The new service, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, has been created to help decades of research from developing country institutions enjoy a wider global readership. BLDS is working with partner research institutes in Africa and Asia, to digitise their printed publications and host them online so they can be easily found through search engines. Nearly 600 papers have been digitised so far from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and India, with more to be added in coming months as BLDS continues building partnerships with research institutes. The publications in the BLDS Digital Library are being made available through a Creative Commons licence which enables future sharing and dissemination of this content by others.

For more information on the BLDS Digital Library, contact Henry Rowsell

or visit the BLDS Global Projects webpage at http://blds.ids.ac.uk/global-projects

(Selected) New books - July 2011, Part 2

2011-09-29T12:12:00.001+01:00

Beaty, Bart et al (eds). How Canadians communicate. III, Contexts of Canadian popular culture. Edmonton : AU Press, c2010.

Grob-Fitzgibbon, Benjamin John. Imperial endgame : Britain's dirty wars and the end of empire. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Ker-Lindsay , James, Hubert Faustmann and Fiona Mullen (eds). An island in Europe : the EU and the transformation of Cyprus. London : I. B. Tauris, 2011.

Lea, David and Timothy Curtin. Land law and economic development in Papua New Guinea. Newcastle : Cambridge Scholars, 2011.

Gould, Jeremy. Left behind : rural Zambia in the third republic. Lusaka : Lembani Trust, 2011.

Isitt, Benjamin. Militant minority : British Columbia workers and the rise of a New Left, 1948-1972. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, c2011.

Kilby, Patrick. NGOs in India : the challenges of women's empowerment and accountability. London ; New York : Routledge, 2011.

Campbell, John. Nigeria : dancing on the brink. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2011.

Aaron, Kiikpoye K. and Dawari George (eds). Placebo as medicine : the poverty of development intervention and conflict resolution strategies in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Port Harcourt, Nigeria : Kemuela Publications, 2010.

Biney, Ama. The political and social thought of Kwame Nkrumah. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, c2011.

Oriji, John Nwachimereze. Political organization in Nigeria since the late Stone Age : a history of the Igbo people. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Landau, Paul Stuart. Popular politics in the history of South Africa, 1400-1948. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Chand, Vikram K. (ed). Public service delivery in India : understanding the reform process. New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Jaffrelot, Christophe. Religion, caste and politics in India. London : Hurst, 2011.

Straus , Scott and Lars Waldorf (eds). Remaking Rwanda : state building and human rights after mass violence. Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, c2011.

Basu Das, Sanchita. Road to recovery : Singapore's journey through the global crisis. Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2010.

Nkwi, Walter Gam. Sons and daughters of the soil : land and boundary conflicts in North West Cameroon, 1955-2005. Bamenda [Cameroon] : Langaa RPCIG, 2011.

Roberts, Benjamin , Mbithi wa Kivilu and Yul Derek Davids (eds). South African social attitudes, 2nd report : reflections on the age of hope. Cape Town : HSRC Press, 2010.

Chan, Stephen. Southern Africa : old treacheries and new deceits. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2011.

Behiels, Michael D. and Reginald C. Stuart. Transnationalism : Canada-United States history into the twenty-first century. Montreal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2010.

Regan, Paulette. Unsettling the settler within : Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada. Vancouver : UBC Press, c2010.

Vergau, Hans-Joachim. Negotiating the freedom of Namibia : the diplomatic achievement of the Western Contact Group. Basel : Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2010.

Peters, Krijn. War and the crisis of youth in Sierra Leone. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press ; London : International African Institute, 2011.

Glassman, Jonathon. War of words, war of stones : racial thought and violence in colonial Zanzibar. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, c2011.

(Selected) New books July 2011 - Part 1

2011-09-28T12:12:00.000+01:00

With apologies for delay, due to annual leave and moves, below is the first part of our new books list for July, with remainder and August and September to follow soon:

Abegunrin, Olayiwola. Africa in global politics in the twenty-first century : a pan-African perspective. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, c2009.

Evans , Malcolm D. and Rachel Murray (eds). The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights : the system in practice, 1986-2006. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Morse, Valerie. Against freedom : the war on terrorism in everyday New Zealand life. Wellington, N.Z. : Rebel Press, 2007.

Chhotray, Vasudha. The anti-politics machine in India : state, decentralization, and participatory watershed development. London ; New York : Anthem Press, 2011.

Connor, John. Anzac and empire : George Foster Pearce and the foundations of Australian defence. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Horner, D. M. Australia and the 'new world order' : from peacekeeping to peace enforcement: 1988-1991. Port Melbourne, Vic. : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Khan, Naveeda (ed). Beyond crisis : re-evaluating Pakistan. London : Routledge, 2010.

Flanagan, Thomas et al. Beyond the Indian Act : restoring Aboriginal property rights. Montréal : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2010.

Rush, Anne Spry. Bonds of empire : West Indians and Britishness from Victoria to decolonization. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2011.

Singh, Kelvin. British-controlled Trinidad and Venezuela : a history of economic interests and subversion, 1830-1962. Kingston, Jamaica : University of the West Indies Press, c2010.

Das, S. K. Building a world-class civil service for twenty-first century India. New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Lackenbauer, P. Whitney and Peter Kikkert (comp). The Canadian Forces and Arctic sovereignty : debating roles, interests, and requirements, 1968-1974. Waterloo, Ont. : Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, c2010.

Gimblett , Richard H. and Michael L. Hadley. Citizen sailors : chronicles of Canada's naval reserve. Toronto : Dundurn Press, c2010.

Howe, Paul. Citizens adrift : the democratic disengagement of young Canadians. Vancouver : UBC Press, c2010.

Watt , Carey A. and Michael Mann (eds). Civilizing missions in colonial and postcolonial South Asia : from improvement to development. London ; New York : Anthem Press, 2011.

Midgley , James and David Piachaud. Colonialism and welfare, social policy and the British imperial legacy. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar, 2011.

Higman, B. W. A concise history of the Caribbean. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Oji, Mazi Kanu and Valerie U. Oji. Corruption in Nigeria : the fight and movement to cure the malady. Lanham, Md. : University Press of America, 2010.

Lollini, Andrea. Constitutionalism and transitional justice in South Africa. New York : Berghahn Books, 2011.

Ivaska, Andrew M. Cultured states : youth, gender, and modern style in 1960s Dar es Salaam. Durham [N.C.] : Duke University Press, 2011.

Des Forges, Alison Liebhafsky. Defeat is the only bad news : Rwanda under Musinga, 1896 -1931. Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, c2011.

Freund, Bill and Harald Witt (eds). Development dilemmas in post-apartheid South Africa. Scottsville, South Africa : University of Kwazulu-Natal Press, 2010.

Saunders, Peter. Down and out : poverty and exclusion in Australia. Bristol : Policy Press, 2011.

LeDuc, Lawrence et al. Dynasties and interludes : past and present in Canadian electoral politics. Toronto ; Tonawanda, N.Y. : Dundurn Press, c2010.

Crossley, Michael et al. Education in small states : policies and priorities. London : Commonwealth Secretariat, 2010.

Ferree, Karen E. Framing the race in South Africa : the political origins of racial-census elections. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Clark, Philip. The Gacaca courts, post-genocide justice and reconciliation in Rwanda : justice without lawyers. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Bose, Sugata. His majesty's opponent : Subhas Chandra Bose and India's struggle against empire. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011.

Armstrong, Eric. A history of money and banking in Barbados, 1627-1973. Kingston, Jamaica : University of West Indies Press, 2010.

Wallace, Marion. A history of Namibia : from the beginning to 1990. London : Hurst, 2011.

Exhibition: Independence and After: Dr Eric Williams and the Making of Trinidad & Tobago

2011-09-27T08:00:00.001+01:00

A small exhibition to co-incide with the Institute for the Study of the America's conference, "Independence and After: Dr Eric Williams and the Making of Trinidad & Tobago" taking place today, is situated on the 1st floor, Senate House, University of London.

The exhibition shows material from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies book and archive collections, including material from the Political Pamphlets Collection (from the People's National Movement, Democratic Labour Party, and Indian Association of Trinidad and Tobago) and the West India Committee and CLR James collections.

The exhibition will remain up for the rest of this week. It is intended that a digital version of the exhibition will be mounted on the Senate House Library website at a later date.

Association of Caribbean Historians 44th Annual Conference: Curaçao, 2012

2011-09-26T15:07:00.000+01:00

ACH 44th Annual Conference: Curaçao, 2012

The 44th Annual Conference of the Association of Caribbean Historians will be held in Willemstad, Curaçao from Sunday, May 13 to Friday, May 18, 2012. Registration will open on Sunday afternoon and sessions begin Monday morning.

CONFERENCE VENUE AND ACCOMMODATIONS:

All conference sessions will be held at the Renaissance Curaçao Resort and Casino, a Mariott Hotel, where a special rate is being negotiated for ACH attendees. Newly built, this hotel features modern, colorfully designed rooms, spacious balconies in all ocean- and island-side hotel rooms, high speed Internet access in all guest rooms, and wireless internet in public areas. Built within and around the fascinating Rif Fort—a nineteenth-century landmark designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site—Renaissance Curaçao is within easy walking distance of a variety of boutiques, cafés, bars and restaurants.

Hotel amenities include an on-site pool as well as access to the Infinity Beach Club. Updates about reservations and rates will be posted on the ACH website as soon as they become available. In the meantime, please visit the hotel website for information about services and amenities:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/curbr-renaissance-curacao-resort-and-casino

The Executive Committee is pleased to receive paper and panel applications for next year’s conference. Members suggested a number of themes at this year’s Annual General Meeting in Puerto Rico. While papers on these ideas are encouraged, please note that applicants are welcome to submit proposals about other subjects or ideas. Instructions for submitting paper and panel proposals appear on the following page. Suggested themes included:

•“The Indigenous Caribbean”
•“Caribbean Universities”
•“Medical Biographies”
•“The Guyanas from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century”
•“The Press in the Caribbean”
•“The Ocean from the Seventeenth through the Twentieth Century”
•“Archives and Digitization”
•“Circulation of the Press and Books in the Caribbean”
•“Afro-Caribbean Entrepreneurs”
•“Pan-Africanism”
•“Jews in the Caribbean, Seventeenth to Nineteenth Century”
•“Caribbean Independence Movements”
•“Slavery in the Dutch Antilles”
•“Vernacular Sports”
•Role of history in education
•Emancipation as an ongoing process
•Comparative studies in the Dutch Caribbean

Michelle Craig McDonald, Secretary-Treasurer, Association of Caribbean Historians: achsecretary@gmail.com

Nigerian census portal

2011-09-24T15:22:00.001+01:00

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies has good collections of print census documents from across the Commonwealth. Increasingly governments are publishing the material only, either in PDF format, or sometimes as datasets.

We're pleased to highlight the Nigerian census portal, based on the UN DevInfo software platform.

Produced by the National Population Commission, under the authority of the Federal Government of Nigeria, this resouces presents 2006 census data at three different geographic area levels: national, state and local government area, as well as UN data from 2008 on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Visiting Professor in Australian Studies, University of Tokyo, 2012–2013

2011-09-23T14:34:00.001+01:00

Applications are now open for the Visiting Professor in Australian Studies, University of Tokyo, 2012 – 2013

The Visiting Professorship in Australian Studies was created in 1999 by the Centre for Pacific and American Studies, The University of Tokyo, to promote a deeper understanding of Australia and its regional engagement.
The position is supported by the Australia–Japan Foundation.

Applications are invited from highly qualified Australians with a significant academic or public achievement in the fields of Australian studies, history, cultural studies, politics, literary studies, and other relevant areas across the humanities and social sciences. The Visiting Professor in Australian Studies is required to teach at undergraduate and postgraduate levels; to present conference papers; to conduct research; and to participate in promoting Australian Studies within Japan.

The appointment is for a period of 10 months and will commence no later than 1 October 2012. The Visiting Professor is expected to spend most of the period in Tokyo engaged in research and, during semester, in teaching.

All teaching is conducted in English. An attractive salary package is available.

Applications close at 5pm on Friday 14 October 2011

The selection process will be managed by the International Australian Studies Association (InASA). A full position description and application procedures are available at:
http://www.inasa.org/

For any further information contact:
Professor Kate Darian-Smith
phone: + 61 3 8344 7232
email: k.darian-smith@unimelb.edu.au

George Price

2011-09-23T10:02:00.000+01:00

George Cadle Price, leader of Belizean independence and the country's firtst premier died earlier this month (19th September 2011).

Price's political career started with winning a seat in the Belize City Council in 1947, as part of a growing nationalist movement. Price was a founder member of the People's United Party (PUP), and vice-president of its key ally, the General Workers Union. He served as the Mayor of Belize City from 1958 to 1962 and was the leader of the People’s United Party from 1956 to 1996. He became First Minister on April 7th, 1961 and Premier on January 1st, 1964, under the system of internal self-rule. George Price headed the team that negotiated full independenceand on Belize attaining independence on September 21st, 1981 become Belize’s First Prime Minister (and Foreign Minister).

The People's United Party lost the 1984 election, to the United Democratic Party, but returned to power under Price in 1989 for another four years.

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies holds a number of pamphlets from the People's United Party in its political pamphlets collection and also holds in its colections copies of a number of published speeches made by Price.

Collections of speeched by Price held include:

Price, George, The premier speaks. [Belize City, Belize] : Government Information Service, [1963]
F1443 BRI REFERENCE ONLY

Price, George Belizeans unite to build our nation : [a collection of important speeches by Premier George Price]. Belize City, British Honduras : Government Printer, [1965]
F1443 PRI REFERENCE ONLY

CFP: Dis/connects: African Studies in the Digital Age

2011-09-22T15:58:00.000+01:00

SCOLMA: The UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa

50th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

Dis/connects: African Studies in the Digital Age
Oxford, 25–26 June 2012

CALL FOR PAPERS

The digital revolution is profoundly affecting African studies. New digital resources are making available large areas of content, as well as greatly improving access to bibliographies. In Africa, governments and NGOs are publishing online, some publishers are moving to print on demand and e-books, and international academic journals are increasingly becoming available in university and national libraries.

Yet the story, as is well-known, is far from straightforward or unproblematic. This conference will mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of SCOLMA by taking a critical look at the field of African studies and how it is changing. In particular, although there has been much discussion of new digital resources and what their creators plan to do, we have a limited understanding of their impact on their users and on knowledge production in general. For example, what are the implications for historical research of the availability of digitised sources, and of the choices made in their selection? How do social science researchers work in a field in which much, but not everything, is now available online? Are e-journals – or indeed mobile phones – beginning to change the research process in Africa? And, more generally, how have broader historical and political developments changed African studies and librarianship over the last half-century?

We welcome papers on these themes across the humanities, arts, social sciences and sciences. Papers may deal with digital content, whether digitised or born-digital, of any kind, e.g. archives and manuscripts; audio-visual material; maps; newspapers; books, journals and theses; photographs, prints, drawings and paintings; ephemera; statistical databases; and social media.

The conference will bring together academics and other researchers with librarians and archivists. We aim thus to have a productive exchange of expertise, experience and analysis on the question of knowledge production in African studies.

Themes may include, but are not limited to:

• How scholars, researchers, librarians and archivists use digitised resources.

• How African studies is changing, and the place of the digital revolution in these changes.

• Access to, selection of, and training in the use of digital resources in the library context. Are resources under-used?

• To pay or not to pay? How easy is it for researchers to find subscription e-resources? And for libraries to fund them? What is the balance of free and charged resources in the research process? How well do the models for making e-resources available in Africa work?

• How well does user consultation work?

• Access to the technology that underpins e-resources.

• Digital scholarship: are scholars in African studies using digital collections to generate new intellectual products?

• The impact of mobile phone technology on African studies.

• How patchy is the creation of digital resources, and what – and who – is being left behind?

• Language in Africa and new technology.

One-page abstracts of papers on these themes are warmly welcomed. If you would like to give a paper, please send your abstract to

Lucy McCann
SCOLMA Secretary
Email: lucy.mccann@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Tel.: 01865 270908

THE DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS IS 31 OCTOBER 2011.

Papers in French are welcome if a summary is provided in English.

CFP: 20th European Seminar for Graduate Students in Canadian Studies

2011-09-21T11:40:00.000+01:00

20th European Seminar for Graduate Students in Canadian Studies

10-13 November 2011

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Association for Canada Studies in the Netherlands (ACSN), in collaboration with the Canadian Studies Centre at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, organises the 20th European Seminar for Graduate Students in Canadian Studies

10-13 November 2011, Groningen, Netherlands

European students working on a master's thesis or a doctoral dissertation in Canadian Studies are invited to present their current research findings and to exchange ideas with Canadianists from other countries.

Presentations can be given in English or in French. They should not exceed 20 minutes and will be followed by a discussion (10 minutes each). A selection of the best papers will be published after the seminar. The seminar sessions will be chaired by established European or Canadian scholars in the field of Canadian studies.

How to Apply

Students interested in participating should submit an abstract (1-2 pages), indicating their topic of research and the nature of their findings, plus a short CV. Applications may be submitted by e-mail. Papers will be selected by the scientific committee on the basis of the abstract. Invitations to participate will be sent out as soon as possible after the selection has been completed.

Deadline for Abstracts: Extended to 1 October 2011 - to be sent to the address below.

Official Languages: English and French

Maximum number of Students Admitted: 25

Registration Fee: € 50,--

Travel Expenses: Students' responsibility. Please apply for financial assistance to your university or to your national/regional Association for Canadian Studies (UK students please copy your application to the BACS office when submitting).

Boarding: Accommodation (3 nights from Thursday 10th November to Sunday 13th November, 2011) and meals will be covered by a grant from the Government of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to the European Network for Canadian Studies, by the Canadian Studies Centre at the University of Groningen and by the Association for Canada Studies in the Netherlands. The students will be lodged in the guesthouse of the University of Groningen in the centre of town very close to the venue where the sessions will take place. Some students may be asked to share rooms.

Organizing Committee: Cornelius Remie, Conny Steenman Marcusse, Irene Salverda (ACSN) and Jeanette den Toonder (Canadian Studies Centre, Groningen)

Contact address: Bosweg 12, 6523 NM Nijmegen, Netherlands / Pays-Bas T. (int.+)31-24-323-4525 E. acsn@upcmail.nl

Electronic version of Richard Ligon's "A True and Exact History of Barbados" (1657)

2011-09-20T10:42:00.000+01:00

Thanks to David Chan Smith, Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Wilfrid Laurier University an electronic teaching edition of Richard Ligon's "A True and Exact History of Barbados" (1657) is now available at:

The edition includes a basic introduction and footnotes for this important early modern Caribbean text. The text is also set in modern typescript. It is freely available for public distribution and undergraduate teaching thanks to the generosity of the Text Creation Partnership and Harvard University Libraries.

It is hoped that the text will evolve as a collaborative editing project whereby readers can contribute additional footnotes or information that will then be recompiled into a new edition.

http://www.wlu.ca/docsnpubs.php?grp_id=12753

The Endangered Archives Programme - new round of grants open and an example of recent project

2011-09-19T16:02:00.000+01:00

The Endangered Archives Programme is funded by Arcadia and managed by the British Library, and offers a number of grants every year to individual researchers world-wide to locate vulnerable archival collections, to arrange their transfer wherever possible to a suitable local archival home, and to deliver copies into the international research domain via the British Library.

NB The specific focus of this Programme is upon archives relating to the pre-industrial stages of a society's development, whether in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, or even Europe.

These grants will be the primary means by which Arcadia will contribute to the urgent task of identifying, preserving and making accessible such archival collections before they are lost to international scholarship forever.

How to Apply

Applications are now invited for the Pilot Project Grant and Major Research Project Grant schemes. All applicants must initially submit a preliminary application.

The deadline for submission of preliminary applications is 4 November 2011.

After assessment of the preliminary applications has taken place, only those subsequently invited to do so may submit a detailed application.

The deadline for submission of detailed applications is 24 February 2012.

Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their applications by the end of May 2012.

All the application documentation can be found here.
Applicants must read carefully the Guidelines for Applicants (PDF format 52KB) and Terms and Conditions of Award (PDF format 49KB) and refer to these documents for details on how to submit an application.

An August Accession

During August material was received from a number of projects including:

EAP279: A rescue programme for the Matsieng Royal Archives, Lesotho

Mrs Celina Qobo, National University of Lesotho

2009 award - Major project

£13,956 for 12 months

The Royal Family of Lesotho has been based in Matsieng since just after the 1858 war, when Matsieng was established by the second Lesotho king, Mohato (Letsie 1). Matsieng is near Morija, the original missionary settlement in Lesotho dating from 1843, where King Letsie 111 was born. The royal family has been based at Matsieng continuously since the founding of Matsieng, which has been a 'royal hub' of the Basotho kingship and chieftainship. The documents that have accumulated at Matsieng cover material dating from the early 19th century. The collection includes records of historical, political, legal and economic significance:
     •records on chieftainship and succession to high office
     •court proceedings and judgements
     •boundary disputes and resolutions
     •traditional marriage systems and records
     •inheritance documentation and disputes
     •official speeches
     •correspondence (of national and international significance, as it includes official communications between Lesotho and the UK, and diplomatic contacts with many other countries)
     •books and serials
     •official administrative records covering the colonial period
     •records of public works
     •financial records of governmental divisions

Most of this material is unique. Repatriation of the Royal Archives material will allow a much more comprehensive, complete and coherent record to be established, documenting the national history of Lesotho from the early 19th century.

The material was in poor storage at the Royal residence in Matsieng, Lesotho. The ceiling then collapsed leaving the materials exposed to rain. The University Archives arranged 'emergency repatriation' in December 2007 and January 2008. The material is all paper, though in a range of physical formats: papers in folders, paper assembled with treasury tags, ledgers and other bound record books, and many stacks of individual papers.

The University has fumigated the material and re-boxed it, with box-level content listing. About 20% of the material may be too damaged to scan; about 40% is damaged but copying should be possible. This project will scan all the documents from Matsieng that can be scanned. The files will be organised by a database, with detailed cataloguing in the archive's existing system. Additionally, each document will exist as a PDF of one or more scans, accessible from a digital library using the Greenstone (open source) software. The University will host one copy of the digital library, the Internet Archive will also host the collection, and the full data will be available to the British Library.

Aboriginal Rights in the Arctic

2011-09-19T11:43:00.000+01:00

Aboriginal Rights in the Arctic

Tony Penikett
(Former Premier, Yukon Territory)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 12.30-1.45 p.m.

Room G34, Ground Floor, Senate House [South Block]

RSVP: Olga.Jimenez@sas.ac.uk
0207 862 8871
University of London
Malet Street, London WC1

Tony Penikett's 25 years in politics included two years in Ottawa as Chief of Staff to federal New Democratic Party Leader Ed Broadbent, MP; five terms in the Yukon Legislative Assembly, and two terms as Premier of Canada's Yukon Territory. His government negotiated final agreement for First Nation Land claims in the territory and passed pioneering education, health, language legislation, as well as leading a much-admired bottom-up economic planning process. Penikett entered politics after the miners at the northern Yukon Arctic asbestos mine, where he was shop steward, nominated him for the Territorial Legislature.

Penikett has also served as Deputy Minister of Negotiations and later, Labour for the Government of British Columbia. In 2006, Douglas and McIntyre published his book, Reconciliation: First Nations Treaty Making. He is also the author of two films: The Mad Trapper for BBC TV/ Time Life Films and La Patrouille Perdue for French television as well as several plays.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies special collections and archives

2011-09-19T10:50:00.000+01:00

With the completion of moves within Senate House Library the Institute of Commonwealth Studies special collections and archives will now be available to consult in the Sterling Library Reading Room, 4th floor, south, of the Senate House Library.

Users are reminded that material needs to be booked in advance by email to: shl.specialcollections@london.ac.uk
or by phone
020 7862 8470

One full working day's notice is required. The cut-off point for making archive appointments is 1600. Any messages after this time will be dealt with the following working day (and archives therefore produced for the day after that). Items for Saturdays or evenings must be ordered by 1600 on the preceding day.

Opening hours are listed at:
http://www.shl.lon.ac.uk/specialcollections/historicaccess.shtml

The Australian Women's Register

2011-09-18T15:53:00.001+01:00

The searchable-on-line Australian Women's Register is a valuable and growing source of biographical data about Australian women and their organisations, with hyper-links to the archival repositories and libraries where their records are held and to other sources of information. Women and women's organisations are listed alphabetically. You' can also search by functional classification, for example, 'P' covers physicists, politicians, pharmacists, pacifists and many more.

The Register is an initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne, funded by the Australian Research Council.The Australian Women's Archive Project promotes the keeping and care of personal records and encourages individuals and organisations to deposit records appropriately in available archives and libraries. National institutions preserve the papers of well known women and significant organisations. The AWAP register will tell you that the National Library of Australia holds the archives of Judith Wright (1915-2000) poet and conservationist, the John Oxley Library in the State Library of Queensland holds the records of the Queensland Country Women's Association from 1922 onwards and the Mortlock Library at the State Library of South Australia holds the papers of Dame Roma Mitchell (1913-2000) the first woman governor of an Australian state.

But there are many smaller institutions with fascinating archival collections. The Warringah Library's local studies collection at Dee Why NSW holds the records of surfboard rider and swimming instructor Isabel Letham (1899-1995). The Geelong City Council's Heritage Centre (Vic) holds the records of local Girl Guides groups from the 1930s - 1960s. The Charles Sturt University Regional Archives in Wagga, NSW holds the records of the Coolamon Mothers' Union (1947-85) and the Italian Historical Society (Vic) holds the records of Lena Santospirito (1895-1993) a community worker and migrant community advocate.

This resource is a good supplement to the free online version of the Australian
Dictionary of Biography

African Arguments

2011-09-17T15:59:00.003+01:00

African Arguments is hosted by the Royal African Society and the Social Science Research Council. This online discussion forum was launched in 2009 as a multiblogging site to supplement the African Arguments book series, edited jointly by Alex de Waal and Richard Dowden. Published by Zed Books in the U.K. and Palgrave Macmillan in the U.S.A. it aims to offer online discussion of controversies facing Africa. These include politics, globalisation, terrorism and international security. The site covers both contemporary African events as they unfold, and develops debates on themes centrally important to an ever changing continent.

Each debate will consist of many individual ‘arguments’ – the first contribution being commissioned from an expert on the theme. Responses are then invited, and will be moderated by the editor.

The site currently has country-specific debates on Sudan and Zimbabwe, thematic discussions on development policy and Asian involvement in the continent, as well as a rolling news-based commentary on contemporary political affairs.

Oral History Interviews: Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge

2011-09-16T10:12:00.000+01:00

The Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge is near completion of a project to digitise their collection of Oral history interviews
The site provides free online access to a unique sound archive containing several hundred oral history interviews and recordings relating to the political, economic and social history of India during the 20th century. They include materials relating to the British Empire, colonial rule in India, their struggle for Independence and the work of political movements such as the Indian National Congress and supporters of Gandhi. Contributors include Indian politicians, social reformers, eye witnesses of key events and members of the British establishment. Each entry has associated bibliographic information, technical and copyright data. Many have transcripts.

Two conferences on natural history

2011-09-15T10:15:00.000+01:00

Botanic gardens, science, explortation and empire... This history of plant collectors and their relationships with Empire is a fascinating one. Two conferences coming up explore this theme:

“Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker- Botanist-Explorer-Champion of Darwin- A centenary celebration”

Conference at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 9 December 2011

In an age of great naturalists, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was perhaps the greatest Victorian botanist. His reputation is based on his early travels in the South Pacific Ocean and India, his lifetime’s work on the world’s flora and biogeography, and twenty commanding years as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Sir Joseph’s fame has continued to grow through his friendship with and staunch support for Charles Darwin.

A day of talks by leading experts, behind-the-scenes tours, and a reception with private view of the centenary exhibition on Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker’s life and work (1817-1911). The conference fee is £35 (£15 for students) and includes attendance at the meeting, refreshments, lunch, and evening reception. Places are limited and filling up quickly!

Further details and booking information can be found at: http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/whats-on/scientific-events

Wallich and Indian natural history: Collection dispersal and the cultivation of knowledge

A two-day interdisciplinary conference to celebrate the collections of the Danish botanist Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854) and Indian natural history.

6 - 7th December 2011, at the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens, London.

The Natural History Museum project is working to reunite historically and scientifically significant plant specimens at the Museum with the correspondence and illustrations of Nathaniel Wallich, the superintendent of the Calcutta Botanical Gardens for the East India Company from 1817 to 1846.

The project includes: a website; collaboration with the Calcutta Botanic Gardens and the National Archives of India; a survey of collateral natural history drawing collections; hosting of humanities researchers from India; and a two-day interdisciplinary conference

More information available at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/departments/cahr/recent-projects-and-partnerships/wallich-indian-natural-history/index.html

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British Cabinet Papers 1915-1980

2011-09-14T16:08:00.000+01:00

The National Archives Cabinet Papers website provides free access to a major digital archive of British
government documents. Over half a million pages of papers, memos, minutes and reports covering all major British government cabinet, ministerial and prime minisers decisions from 1915-1980 can be read online at the National Archives website as part of a project funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) digitisation programme. All areas of British domestic and foreign policy can be traced and insight offered into government decision making processes. The site can be searched by keyword or browsed by theme.

Key topics include: the British Empire, decolonisation and the development of the Commonwealth; diplomacy, foreign policy and British involvement in the First and Second World wars.

The site also includes 'A' level teaching guides with suggested classroom activities; interactive maps of key political and social events and a who's who of prime ministers and key politicians.