CALL FOR PANELS

The fourth ECAS will be hosted by the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden on 15-18 June 2011. The overall theme of ECAS 4 is “African Engagements: On whose terms?”. The ECAS 4 Organising Committee warmly invites scholars and students in the field of African Studies to Uppsala to make ECAS 4 a significant and memorable event.

The conference is open to all disciplines and methodological approaches in the Social Sciences and Humanities. The Organising Committee strongly encourages panel proposals that look into how the world can study and engage a resurgent Africa on the basis of mutual respect. Critical questions relate to how Africans can define their own priorities and partnerships, and with which voice(s)? Who are, and can be Africa’s real partners in the quest for mutually beneficial (re)engagements and on whose terms? This perspective highlights topics such as the cultural representation and misrepresentation of Africa; media, information and communication in Africa in the age of globalization; visual arts: re-creating Africa in the image(s) of the times; Africa in global sports; trade and regional integration; the changing nature of Africa’s international relations; Euro-African relations; Africa and the emerging powers; Africa in the global financial crisis; the agrarian question; social policy and development in Africa; globalization and manufacturing; managing fast growing African cities; human rights and human security; democracy, peace and conflict resolution; economic growth and poverty reduction; gender relations in Africa; migration, diaspora and development, to name a few. Presentations should explore the means of expanding opportunities and spaces which can allow for multi-disciplinary knowledge production. ECAS 4 thus seeks to promote a dynamic and more diverse and understanding of contemporary Africa which does not necessarily entail talking with one voice.

The ECAS 4 Organising Committee invites interested panel organizers to submit proposals for inclusion in the conference programme. Panels may comprise of one (or more) sessions. Each session should consist of four papers, with a chair and a discussant.
Submissions should include

• Panel title
• Name(s) and affiliation(s) of panel proposer(s)
• Names and affiliations of possible panel participants 
• A 250 word (maximum) outline describing the panel topic
  

Submissions should be made in pdf-format to ECAS4@nai.uu.se.
The official conference language is English.
The deadline for panel proposals is 15 August 2010.