CFP: Re-figuring the South African Empire: International Conference in Basel

Re-figuring the South African Empire: International Conference in Basel

9-11 September 2013

CALL FOR PAPERS

www.zasb.unibas.ch/empire
Department of History and Centre for African Studies, University of Basel (Switzerland), in collaboration with the Swiss Society for African Studies (SGAS) and the Swiss Society for History (SGG)

This conference investigates histories of imperialism, colonialism and nation-building in the Southern African region, in the context of a critical reassessment of South Africa as a state and nation. The overall aim is to understand the region's history from its margins and to shift perspectives away from the teleological narrative of the emergence and consolidation of a modern South African nation-state throughout the 20th century. The necessity and relevance of this attempt to bring into question some of the core assumptions of South African historiography is reflected in the debate about the second volume of the new Cambridge History of South Africa on the 20th century, published in 2011. This prestigious volume presents the history of South African society and its state without contextualising its regional legacies of colonialism and hegemony. It makes hardly any mention of South Africa's de facto seventy-five year-long colonial rule over Namibia. Namibia experienced colonialism for a much more extended period than many other African colonies, while South Africa acted as a colonial power much longer than, for example, Germany or Italy. Yet South Africa is rarely theorised as having been a colonial state attempting to build an empire.

The conference deepens the debate about these crucial issues and situates it in the new scholarship on empires, cultural histories of colonialism and post-colonial critique. These arguments have unsettled the simplistic notion of a centre-periphery dichotomy in relations between Europe and the wider world, and have moved the debate into transnational, entangled or shared histories of all sorts. Yet attention paid to the building of empires in the shadows of European imperialism remains scant. The Southern African example is a striking reminder of the complexities throughout the 20th century of South African regional domination amidst multiple colonialisms as well as nationalisms.

As much as our interests are directed towards a revision of some of the parameters of South African historiography, the conference will likewise explore the production of history, memory and memorialization. South African colonialism, expansion and hegemony resonate in South Africa's post-apartheid society and in the wider memory landscapes and practices of post-colonial Southern Africa. Here again the conference seeks to engage with a regional perspective, and to explore the ways in which the legacies of South Africa's imperial history continue to generate a condition of coloniality which affects the socio-political order as much as it engenders the production of knowledge in South Africa itself and throughout the entire region.

Conceptual outline

The conference does not view the South African empire as an empirical entity, let alone as a historical fact. Rather it engages with empire as a theoretical concept which unsettles some of the certainties in South African historiography and opens up productive spaces for the re-figuration of Southern African histories. We thus seek papers and presentations from and on the Southern African region and have therefore identified a number of themes, concepts and lines of inquiry with which the conference aims to engage.

Nation and Empire

New histories of empire have emerged from a critique of historiographies dominated by the category of the nation and narratives of teleological progression from empire to colony and nation-state. South African historiography has uncritically replicated the paradigm of the nation around the subjects of late 19th century British-Boer antagonism, early 20th century unification and nation-building and internal colonialism articulated through segregation and apartheid. In contrast to such self-referential historical narration, this conference seeks out papers which explore the entanglement of the emergence of a distinct idea of the South African nation with its imperialist, developmental and increasingly military outreach into its neighbouring countries such as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

On the other hand we invite reflections on various articulations of the nation and nationalism in Southern Africa, which in one way or the other speak to the recurrence of imperialism in its metropolitan as much as regional forms.

Marxist historiographies of the 1960s and 1970s articulated strong positions on South Africa's imperialism in the region, yet their concerns seem to have fallen into oblivion. While the conference panels will link up with these discussions, their arguments will need to be tuned to more recent concerns within Southern African historiography and recent discussions in methodology and theory.

Imperial Economies

The main domain in which South African imperialism has been acknowledged in historical scholarship has been labour migration, which forced hundreds of thousands of men, and to a lesser extent, women from within South Africa itself, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Malawi into South Africa's urban centres, farming sectors and mining economies, most prominently on the Rand. These histories remain important and powerful in terms of their transnational perspective, yet the conference proposes to expand the discussion, not only to urban areas, mines and other centres of migration outside South Africa, but also beyond the dominant axes of urbanisation and mining and to consider further economies based on the trade of slaves, stock and goods, small industry, specialised skills and diverse commodities. Itinerant traders, commercial hunters, caterers or refined manufacturers as much as printers, publishers, and artisans surface here, disclosing transnational and trans-regional circuits of cloth, furniture, tools and technologies, high-priced merchandise or daily consumer goods. On another level, the large-scale operations of multinational (not only mining) companies, often based in South African metropoles, need to be conceptualised, together with issues of (economic) plunder and capital formation outside their respective areas of operation. The workings of the South African developmental state in the region, for example with regard to large-scale construction projects of dams and hydro-electric power stations, can be added here. The exploration of the complexity of such an imperial economy will enable a qualification of South Africa's hegemonic position as the centre of economic growth, industry and urbanisation, and yet complicate the directions and vectors of economic activity and practice. In particular, for this section, the conference seeks papers which address the multiple avenues and agencies of economic modernisation and transformation in the empire's hinterlands, in which migrant labourers and their return investments seem to have acted as crucial agents and brokers.

Empire Spaces

South Africa's spatial order has conventionally been explained in terms of segregation, legislation, a so-called "security complex", and changing attitudes towards nature. Indeed, the ways in which urban and rural spaces have been conceptualised, enforced and administered according to the requirements of the mining industries and the system of migrant labour, the demands of a commercial agricultural sector which maintained a privileged community of 'white' settlers, and the differences and divisions determined by segregation and apartheid throughout the 20th century, are remarkable and remain visible in the present. Papers assembled here will address a wide range of spaces, among them mining compounds, the architecture of apartheid cities, 'native townships', rural African reserves and military zones, borders and boundaries of many sorts. In contrast to conventional scholarship, these issues are to be addressed in a transnational perspective, exploring the proliferation of urban and rural design and planning, the demarcation of nature reserves and the declaration of military buffer zones from the perspective of the constitution of a South African imperial space in the sub-region.

Imperial Knowledge

One of the arenas in which South African nation-building articulated itself prominently was the realm of knowledge production. The South-Africanisation of science and of institutions associated with the production of scientific knowledge, such as universities, archives, libraries, scientific societies and museums, has long been acknowledged. In an almost emancipatory tone, the emergence of South African science has been narrated as a process through which the centres of knowledge production and expertise shifted from their metropolitan locations in Europe to the former South African colony and nation in the making. Less attention has been paid to the political economies and geopolitics of knowledge production within Southern Africa or to the significance of South Africa's hinterlands and peripheries, among them most importantly the Namibian colony, as resources and laboratories of imperial knowledge production. The conference hence invites contributions which investigate the ways in which the imperial space was constructed by economies of collecting, the operations of field sciences, the development of scientific taxonomies, the birth of scientific institutions, including museums and archives, and the development of professional scientific careers within the framework of a regional history.

Bio-politics of Empire

By the late 19th century, state institutions, metropolitan as much as colonial ones, showed growing interest in the documentation, identification and classification of their subjects. Therein the body of the citizen and/or subject emerged as the matrix around which forms and institutions of governance were enacted and specific kinds of knowledge modelled. Documentation, identification and classification of individuals and social groups in colonial Southern Africa throughout most of the 20th century was firmly grounded in essentialist notions of race and racial segregation, which hierarchically juxtaposed constructions of purified, superior forms of whiteness to the alleged degeneration of blackness and the iconic figure of the native. In as much as the organisation of society along racial lines was the raison d'être of segregation and apartheid in South Africa - and for that matter moved to the core of South African nation-building per se - racism and its underlying archives offered the idiom through which the South African state articulated and legitimised its imperialist project, pushing its frontier of white supremacy far beyond its national borders. The papers assembled here will explore how South Africa's imperial expansion complicated the problem of racial classification and difference, as much as the inconsistencies, contradictions and interstices within the expanding system of racial classification itself. Ultimately, the dynamics generated by imperial expansion and epistemological instability precisely offered the very few spaces for alternative, at times subaltern subjectivities.

Imperial Materialities, Imaginaries and Aesthetics of Empire

New histories of empire have shifted attention away from politics and economics towards 'softer' factors that made up the world of experience, the everyday, and the senses. Empires materialised, and the study of specific artefacts and objects provides a more textured sense of people's worlds and livelihoods. The conference aims at addressing experience, the everyday and the sensual through the lens of materiality and asks whether, and to what extent, specific objects and designs conveyed a sense of a social and cultural space of empire.

Papers concerned with the circulation of 'small objects', such as consumer goods, official documents, street signs, uniforms or mass produced print matters, and 'large objects', such as cars, buildings and monuments, infrastructure and public transport are invited to investigate the composition of an imperial lexicon that linked people in a shared, cultural and symbolic South African imperial space. Also important in this respect was the enactment and staging of 'the empire' through public rituals, celebrations and festivals, as such bridging the realms of the political and popular. The papers assembled here will explore these imperial imaginaries through e.g. various forms of visuality, such as photography, cartography, landscape painting, calendars, or cartoons, and they will likewise investigate diverse forms of popular culture, music, literature and art in order to elaborate on the question of the aesthetics of empire.

Abstract submission

The thematic foci presented above lay the ground for the organisation of the conference. Panels and papers will be organised accordingly. We invite participants to submit abstracts (max 1 page) and short information on authors by 4 February 2013 to afrika-tagung@unibas.ch  Acceptance of abstract submissions will be notified by email by the end of March 2013. Papers need to be submitted to the conference organisers by the end of August 2013. - For all information concerning the conference see our website: www.zasb.unibas.ch/empire

Funding and Formalities:

Participants can apply for a limited amount of funding covering travel and accommodation costs. The application needs to be submitted together with the abstract submission. We privilege applicants from African countries and colleagues without permanent positions. To qualify for funding a paper has to be submitted by the given date. - Switzerland is part of the EU Schengen Visa agreement. It is the responsibility of the participants to clarify visa arrangements. Kindly approach the conference organisers for the necessary documentation required.

Publication

The organisers plan to publish the conference proceedings, and different options are being considered. A selection of the papers will be included in a special issue on the South African empire of the Journal of Southern African Studies in 2015.

Contact

For further information please contact the organisers: Lorena Rizzo: lorena.rizzo@unibas.ch  Giorgio Miescher: Giorgio.miescher@unibas.ch; Dag Henrichsen: dh@baslerafrika.ch

This conference is organised on behalf of the South African Empire Research Group. Members of the group are Martha Akawa (University of Namibia), Dag Henrichsen (Basler Afrika Bibliographien & University of Basel), Luregn Lenggenhager (University of Zürich), Giorgio Miescher (University of Basel & University of the Western Cape), Ciraj Rassool (University of the Western Cape), Lorena Rizzo (University of Basel & University of the Western Cape), Jeremy Silvester (Museums Association of Namibia), Anna Vögeli (Basler Afrika Bibliographien & University of Basel), Marion Wallace (British Library).

The Research Group was supported by the Swiss South African Joint Research Project (SSJRP, University of Basel).

Lecture: Archives of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association

Senate House Library Friends: Archives of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association

06 February 2013, 18:00 - 20:00

Venue: Dr Seng T Lee Centre for Manuscript and Book Studies
Senate House Library
4th Floor, Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1

David Clover (Institute of Commonwealth Studies Librarian and Head of Research Librarians - Senate House Library): 'Preserving and Protecting Press Freedom – Insights from the archive of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association'

The 1980s and early 1990s were a time of civil and political upheaval in the post-colonial developing world. The recently catalogued archives of the Commonwealth Journalists' Association provide insights into some of the challenges of reporting within those countries, as well as progress made in supporting and encouraging the expression of an independent and free press. This talk will discuss the collection within the context of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies collections and highlight how institutional records of a pan-Commonwealth non-governmental organisation can add to our understanding of this period of a movement towards increased democracy in the post-independence period.

If you would like to attend, please contact Senate House Library office: shl.officeadmin@london.ac.uk

tel. 020 7862 8411.

Africa Review of Books

Africa Review of Books


The Africa Review of Books (ISSN 0851-7592) is published by CODESRIA twice yearly in English and in French. The editorial production of the Africa Review of Books is led by the Forum for Social Studies (FSS), based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the active support of the Centre national de recherche en anthropologie sociale et culturelle (CRASC), based in Oran, Algeria.
The initiative for the publication of the Africa Review of Books (ISSN 0851–7592) dates back to about a decade and it "emerged out of a shared concern in the African social research community that considered it expedient to create a forum for a critical presentation of books produced on Africa within and outside the continent."


The CODESRIA website provides links to past issues of the Review, and is a very useful source for in depth reviews and analysis of recent titles published about and across Africa.

CFP: Public Service Broadcasting in Africa: Continuity and Change in the 21st Century

CALL FOR PAPERS: Public Service Broadcasting in Africa: Continuity and Change in the 21st Century

Conference organised by Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster, with support from UNESCO and BBC Media Action

 

Saturday 2nd March 2013

 

University of Westminster,
Regent Campus
309 Regent Street,
London, W1B 2UW

 

 

The Future of Public Service Broadcasting in Africa

 

Public service broadcasting is still important for Africa and other developing regions. There are, however, questions about the next generation of public service broadcasting and issues about the continued relevance of the public service broadcasting model. Are we witnessing the disappearance of BBC-type of public service broadcasting in Africa? There is increasing evidence that this may be so.

The growing dominance of community, private and commercial broadcasting in countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana is calling for a rethink of a license-fee funded broadcasting model and a switch of ads to these broadcasters, damaging the financial base for public service broadcasters, and more and more closures.

 

As for TV, the younger generation is switching to viewing on platforms other than the TV set. As license fees are mostly based on the TV set within a household, this reduces willingness to pay the license fee. Additionally, as more and more channels appear, the audiences for PSBs are eroding in many African countries.

 

Public Service radio is still strong in countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Nigeria and Kenya but in others it has evolved into commercial models, with little informational content.

 

In many parts of Africa, state broadcasters still have public service broadcasting aspirations, but the reality is all too often government control.

 

Nonetheless, the need for trusted information about national and local developments is as crucial as ever, as is the need for programming to celebrate national cultures, explain social change projects, and to offer relevant, quality entertainment for all ages and ethnic groups.

 

For all these reasons, new thinking on public service broadcasting in Africa is urgently needed. This is why the University of Westminster is inviting students, researchers, academics, practitioners, policymakers and thinkers to look ahead and identify how public service broadcasting can be helped to survive and develop in the years ahead.

 

The themes explored in the one-day workshop are likely to include:

1. The concept of public service broadcasting in a changing Africa
2. New funding models for public service broadcasting in Africa
3. Public service broadcasting and censorship in Africa
4. Public service broadcasting funding models in Africa and sustainability
5. Audiences for public service broadcasting in Africa
6. Political pressures on public service broadcasting news in Africa
7. Regulation of public service broadcasting in Africa
8. New formats for Public service broadcasting in Africa
9. Young African audiences, new ICTs and public service broadcasting
10. Politics of managing public service broadcasting stations in Africa
11. Alternative models to public service broadcasting in Africa
12. Political, social and cultural roles of public broadcasting in Africa

Abstract Submission

 

Please send a 300-word abstract by 24 January, 2013. Successful applicants will be notified by 31 January, 2013. They must include the presenter's name, affiliation, email and postal address, together with the paper’s title. Please send abstracts to Helen Cohen at journalism@westminster.ac.uk

 

Programme and Registration

 

The fee for registration (which applies to all participants, including presenters) will be £99, with a concessionary rate of £49 for students, to cover all conference documentation, refreshments, lunch and administration costs. Registration will open at the end of January 2013.

 

 

Related Event

 

Please note that the above event is preceded by a related one-day workshop on “New Thinking on Public Service Broadcasting for the Next Generation” that is also organised by Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), University of Westminster, with support from UNESCO and BBC Media Action. It will be held at the University of Westminster, Regent Campus, 309 Regent Street, London, W1B 2UW, UK, on Friday 1 March 2013, 9am-6.30pm.

 

Confirmed Speakers Include:

Akinori Hashimoto,Head of News Production Division, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

Deane James,Director of Policy and Learning, BBC Media Action

Elizabeth Smith,former Secretary General, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association

Greg Dyke,former BBC Director General (keynote speaker)

Ingrid Deltenre,Director General, European Broadcasting Union

Kip Meek,Special Adviser, Everything, Everywhere and ex Ofcom

Sally-Ann Wilson,Secretary General, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA)

 

For more information contact Helen Cohen, Events Administrator H.cohen02@westminster.ac.uk Registration will open at the end of January 2013.

 

 

CFP: 14th Annual Researching Africa Day Workshop

Call For Papers: 14th Annual Researching Africa Day Workshop

Saturday, 23rd February 2013
St Antony’s College, Oxford

Researching Africa Day provides graduate students with the opportunity to network with fellow researchers, exchange information, discuss research strategies and develop ideas in a constructive, stimulating and engaging environment. The workshop is open to all graduates working on Africa within the disciplines of history, politics, economics, development studies, literature, anthropology, social policy, geography, public health and the natural sciences.

The title of this year’s workshop is:

Researching Africa: The Flow of Research?

This year's workshop interrogates the process of researching Africa. We hope to explore how research progresses, as well as examine the issues and obstacles that confront researchers at various stages. We aim to question the idea that research always follows a sequence that begins in the library and ends on the word processor. We have divided the workshop into four panels that follow the accepted chronology of research, and we invite papers that either investigate these stages (from the acquisition of material to its presentation), or challenge their relationship to one another, in order to understand the 'flow' of research as it actually is.

The four panels are outlined as follows:

1) Accessing

How do we access material? From gaining ethical clearance, to finding our ‘field sites’ and negotiating ‘gatekeepers’, what issues and difficulties do we experience as researchers in Africa?

2) Acquiring

How do we acquire material? From archives and life histories, to images and data-sets, what choices does the researcher make in the process of collection?

3) Interrogating

How do we interrogate our material? From grounding personal experience to the application of theory, how do we make sense of what we have gathered during fieldwork?

4) Presenting

How do we present our material? From the format to the content, what dilemmas are faced and what impact do we make as researchers?

We invite papers on the panels outlined above. Presentations should be between 12 and 15 minutes, followed by a discussion between the panelists and the audience. Please send a title and abstract of your paper of 200 words by 25th January 2013.

We welcome participation from students beyond Oxford. While the cost of travel is not normally reimbursed, appeals for assistance with travel expenses will be considered in exceptional circumstances. We have limited funding and encourage speakers to pursue funding opportunities at their home institutions first. Accommodation for those who wish to stay the night may be available at certain colleges at your own expense.

Contact: edward.teversham@stx.ox.ac.uk

CFP: CSAE 2013 Conference on Economic Development in Africa

CSAE 2013 Conference on Economic Development in Africa


St Catherine’s College, Oxford, 17-19 March 2013


Keynote speaker: Edward Miguel, Director of the Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley

Dinner speaker: Marcelo Giugale, Director of Economic Policy and Poverty Reduction Programmes for Africa, World Bank

Call for papers

Papers addressing economic analysis of the broad issues relevant for economic development in Africa are invited for the CSAE 2013 conference. Papers on countries other than those in Africa are welcome, providing they deal with issues central to African development.

All abstracts for consideration must be submitted via the online submission site at

https://editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conference/conference.cgi?action=login&db_name=CSAE2013

Further details on student submissions and funding possibilities at http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/

Deadline for submissions Friday 30 November 2012


Enquiries should include the reference ‘CSAE conference 2013’ and be addressed to:

e-mail: csae.conference@economics.ox.ac.uk

postal address: CSAE, Dept of Economics, Oxford University, Manor Road Building, Manor Rd, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UK

Dictionary of African Biography

The new Oxford University Press Dictionary of African Biography has been added to the Senate House Library collection - this 6 volume work edited by Emmanuel K. Akueampong and Henry Lousi Gates, Jr is housed on the 4th floor in the reference collection in the Periodicals Reading Room.

The Dictionary of African Biography is a major biographical dictionary covering the lives and legacies of notable African men and women from all eras and walks of life, teling the story of the African continent through the lives of its people. The dictionary is based on new historical research and perspectives and aims to correct the uneven coverage of previous attempts to collate African biographies - focusing unevenly on the colonial period, European adventurers, and Egyptian dynasties. As the most wide-reaching reference project on Africa to date, the Dictionary of African Biography intends to codify the explosion of new research, with entries written by contributing scholars from African studies departments the world over. The Dictionary contains nearly 2,200 entries, each with bibliography, ranging from 750 to 2,000 words, within six volumes.

SCOLMA Seminar: The Ringtone and the Drum: West Africa in Transition

SCOLMA UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa

SCOLMA Seminar: The Ringtone and the Drum: West Africa in Transition
Mark Weston: Writer, researcher and policy advisor

1.00pm Wednesday 7th November 2012
Room B111
Brunei Gallery
SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG

For further information please contact Daniel Gilfoyle daviel.gilfoyle@nationalarchives.gov.uk

For infomration on SCOLMA Lunchtime Seminars and other events see the SCOLMA website http://scolma.org

How the other half lives: Ministry of Information wartime propaganda

Recently catalogued and added to the collection are a series of leaflets published by the Ministry of Information during the Second World War. These include the “How the other half lives” series, published in London, of which we hold the following titles:


The day's work of a District Officer in Nigeria.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; series C, 1

A day in the life of a Nigerian Emir.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 3.

The life of a West African cocoa farmer / by a son of one of them.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 3.

A day in the life of a native treasury scribe. (in Nigeria)
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 4

The daily life of a district commissioner's clerk. (in the Gold Coast, now Ghana)
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 5.

A letter to Susan : being an account of the day-to-day life of farmer's wife in Kenya in war time.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 6

A day in the life of a Tanganyika Chief.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 7

The daily life of an African peasant farmer in Kenya.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 8

Life in Nigeria.
Commonwealth leaflets. How the other half lives ; ser. C, 8

We currently know little about the circumstances behind the publication of these titles and the propaganda purposes and audiences for which they were intended. Any information would be gratefully received. (Or an interesting project for a MA student perhaps?)

Fifth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS 5)

ECAS 2013 - Fifth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS 5)

African Dynamics in a Multipolar World

June 26 to 28, 2013

The fifth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS 5) will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 26 to 28, 2013. It will be organized by the Centro de Estudos Africanos - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (African Studies Centre of the Lisbon University Institute) on behalf of AEGIS, the Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies. Its general theme will be ‘African Dynamics in a Multipolar World’.

Call for panels

The Call for panels closes 19th October 2012

All proposals must be made via the online form. Proposals should consist of a panel title, a (very) short abstract of <300 250="250" abstract="abstract" an="an" and="and" characters="characters" of="of" words.="words.">
ECAS requires all accepted panels to be open to paper proposals through the website: panels should not be organised as 'closed' sessions. 
Delegates may only make one presentation, although they may also convene one plenary session, panel, or roundtable; or be discussant in one plenary session, panel, or roundtable.

http://cea.iscte.pt/ecas2013/

Centro de Estudos Africanos - ISCTE/IUL
Av. das Forças Armadas
Edifício ISCTE, Sala 2N17
1649-026 Lisboa – Portugal
Tel: +351 217 903 067
Fax: +351 217 955 361
http://cea.iscte.pt

facebook.com/CentroEstudosAfricanos
Para deixar de receber informações no seu e-mail: divulgacao.cea@iscte.pt

Colonialism and the African diaspora on postcards

Recently pointed out to us is a newish German picture database called "Colonialism and the African diaspora on postcards" (Kolonialismus und afrikanische Diaspora auf Bildpostkarten).

The database was created between 2009 and 2010, at the University of Colonge by PD Dr. J.  Jaeger, Prof. N. Finzsch and Prof. M. Szöllösi-Janze in collaboration with Cologne University Library.

It currently has 3027 digital objects, including many individual and group portraits. Some pictures reflect cultural ideas of the time, that may be seen more critically today, including pictures of minstrels and of erotic poses.
http://www.ub.uni-koeln.de/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=%2Fkolonial

Africa Writes

Africa Writes: The Royal African Society’s inaugural Literature and Book festival

Saturday 30 June & Sunday 1 July 2012, 12-8PM

Brunei Gallery Building (SOAS) & Torrington Square

The RAS is pleased to present Africa Writes - a festival celebrating contemporary African literature and writers, scheduled to take place on Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July 2012.

Africa Writes aims to enhance coverage and discussion about African literature and writers in London - and the UK, by extension. Every year Africa Writes will showcase established and emerging literary talent from Africa and the Diaspora during a weekend-long series of events, including: a major lecture with a high profile African literary figure; book launches, readings, workshops, panel discussions, talks and other activities; a 2-day international book fair showcasing publishers of African literature; and a 2-day pan-African food market featuring dishes from around the continent.

SATURDAY, 30th June 2012

Welcome and Introduction by Richard Dowden (Director, RAS)
12:00-12:15 / Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre (BGLT)

Opening session: New writing for a ‘new Africa’?
12:15-13:00 / BGLT
Deputy Editor of Granta, Ellah Allfrey, leads Ghanaian author Kojo Laing in conversation, discussing new writing in Africa and setting the scene for the festival.

Book launch: How Shall We Kill the Bishop? by Lily Mabura
13:00-13:30 / Brunei Suite (BS)
Book launch with author Lily Mabura. Chair: Fiammetta Rocco (Literary Editor, The Economist).

Book launch: Sterile Sky by E. E. Sule
14:00-14:30 / BS
Book launch with author EE Sule. Chair: Dr Mpalive Msiska (Reader in English & Humanities, Birkbeck College).

Event: The 2012 Caine Prize authors meet their readers
15:00-16:30 / BGLT
Meet the 2012 Caine Prize Shortlisted writers - Rotimi Babatunde, Billy Kahora, Stanley Kenani, Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, and Constance Myburgh. Event in collaboration with the Black Reading Group and the London Afro-Caribbean Book Club. *Attendance by RSVP only: tricia@paulwombell.demon.co.uk

Book launch: Crossbones by Nuruddin Farah
17:00-17:45 / BS
Book launch with author Nuruddin Farah. Chair: Richard Dowden (Director, RAS)

Africa Writes 2012 Lecture by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
18:00-19:30 / BGLT
Marking the 50th anniversary of the African Writers Series, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will reflect on 50 years of African literature since the series was first established in 1962. Followed by a reception.
*Attendance by RSVP only: http://africawrites2012.eventbrite.co.uk/

SUNDAY, 1st July 2012

Workshop: Story Time
12:00-13:00 / BS
Interactive story-telling for children.

Book launch: Labyrinths by Christopher Okigbo
12:00-12:30 / BGLT
Book launch led by Christopher Okigbo’s daughter, Obiageli Okigbo (Founder, the Christopher Okigbo Foundation).

Panel discussion: Publishing contemporary African Literature - challenges & opportunities
13:00-14:00 / BGLT
With Margaret Busby (writer, editor, critic, consultant and broadcaster), Becky Nana Ayebia Clarke MBE (Founder, Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd), and James Currey (Founder, James Currey - an imprint of Boydell & Brewer). Chair: Wangui Wa Goro (translator, editor and writer).

Panel discussion: Writing Away from Home
14:30-15:30 / BGLT
Authors Ellen Banda-Aaku, Noo Saro-Wiwa, Goretti Kyomuhendo and Aminatta Forna (TBC) discuss the implications, challenges, and opportunities of living in the Diaspora and writing about ‘Home’. Chair: Hannah Pool.

Book launch: And Crocodiles Are Hungry At Night by Jack Mapanje
16:00-16:30 / BGLT
Book launch with author Jack Mapanje. Chair: Becky Nana Ayebia Clarke MBE (Founder, Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd).

Closing event: Word from Africa – part of Poetry Parnassus
18:00-22:00 / Clore Ballroom, Southbank Centre
Word from Africa 2012 celebrates the exciting culmination of the Poetry Parnassus and Africa Writes festivals. It's a rich jollof of poetry, storytelling and song, sauteed with performance and music! Headlined by the Official poet at London Olympics 2012 and Associate Artist at the Southbank Centre, Lemn Sissay, the event will feature a selection of The Poetry Parnussus African poets, rappers and wordsmiths, including: Modeste Hugues (Madagascar), Oxmo Puccion (Mali), Ketty Nivyabandi Bikura (Birundi) Shailja Patel (Kenya), T.J. Dema (Botswana), Paul Dakeyo (Cameroon), Bewketu Seyoum (Ethiopia), Abdulahi Botaan Hassan 'Kurweyne' (Somalia), Mariama Khan (Gambia) and Togara Muzanenhamo (Zimbabwe).

For more information please visit the Royal African Society website

Black ephemera: depictions of people of African descent

University of Reading, Centre for Ephemera Studies:
Black ephemera: depictions of people of African descent

 

Wednesday 4 July 2012

 

Nike Theatre, Agriculture Building, University of Reading

10.30 Registration and welcome

Session one - Michael Twyman convenor

 

Introduction to the day, Michael Twyman, Director, Centre for Ephemera Studies

• Patrick Vernon Black Ephemera: consuming stereotypes and identities
• Temi Odumosu The St Giles's "Backbirds": some popular African presences from Georgian and Regency print culture
• Tom Wareham Using and abusing ­ Considering the use of Ephemera in the London, Sugar & Slavery Gallery at the Museum of London Docklands
• Jonathan King Anthropology and ephemera: representing Africa and the Caribbean at the British Museum

Session two - Alison Donnell convenor

• Amoret Tanner Mary Seacole ­ the story behind the iconic carte-de-visite
• Leon Robinson Black Victorian entertainers
• Jeffrey Green Edwardian postcards
• Mary Guyatt Representations of black people in children¹s ephemera 1870-1950

Session three - Patrick Vernon convenor 

• Sandra Shakespeare Caribbean through a lens: Depictions of black people using Photography
• Deborah Sutherland We shall not be silenced: Ephemera as a record of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa
• Stefan Dickers Fighting for Justice: Campaign ephemera in the Bernie Grant Archive
• Zoe Whitley Conspicuous absences: branding and un-branding the black body in Magazine 

Final questions/discussion/thanks and farewell Drinks in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication and the opportunity to see the display of printed ephemera

 

For more information and to register please contact: Diane Bilbey d.j.bilbey@reading.ac.uk

 

Researching and Writing about Africa: A One Day Postgraduate Workshop

Researching and Writing about Africa: A One Day Postgraduate Workshop Friday 11 May 2012
Gordon Manley Building, Training Rooms 1 and 2
Lancaster University

Organised by Lancaster University African Studies Group

The African Studies Group at Lancaster University is organising a workshop for postgraduate students undertaking fieldwork in or research relating to Africa. The aim of this workshop is to stimulate discussion and debate between interested postgraduate students from different disciplines and institutions.

Two main strands will form the focus of the workshop:

Undertaking fieldwork in Africa

What are the challenges of undertaking fieldwork in Africa? How do expectations match the realities on the ground? How can time spent conducting fieldwork be most productive? What methods can be used and what is their cross-cultural appropriateness? How do we take account of our position as researchers based outside the continent?

Writing about Africa

What are the challenges of writing about Africa? How can we engage effectively with writing from the continent? How can research on Africa be most effectively presented? What outlets for publication are appropriate? What are the challenges of presenting research on Africa to non-specialist audiences?

The organisers invite abstracts for 20 minute papers or presentations which engage with these and other questions relating to researching and writing about Africa. Please submit your proposal including a title, a 200 word abstract and a 100 word bio to c.baker@lancaster.ac.uk and s.vermeylen@lancaster.ac.uk by 30 March 2012.

There is a small charge of £10 for participation in the workshop, to include lunch and light refreshments. We welcome postgraduate students who wish to participate in the workshop, but prefer not to present.

Please contact the organisers for a registration form.

Dr Charlotte Baker and Dr Saskia Vermeylen,  Lancaster University
Email: c.baker@lancaster.ac.uk

Call for Papers on Citizenship in Africa: ASAUK Conference 2012

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?

African Literary Awards Database

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.

SCOLMA 50th anniversary conference, June 25–26 2012

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/

Six-Country Africa Public Library Perception Study

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.

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

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

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.