Thursday & Friday, October 21 & 22, 2021   |   Virtual International Symposium The Howard University Department of African Studies will host an international virtual symposium on Digital Learning in Global Africa During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic, on October 21 and 22, 2021. The Department plans the symposium in collaboration with the Title VI Center for African Studies at Howard University; the Howard University Department of World Languages and Cultures; the Howard University Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication; the Howard University Center for Women and Gender Studies; the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public & International Affairs (TM-School) South Africa; the Bowie State University Department of History & Government; Distance Education for Africa (DeAfrica); and the State of the African Diaspora. The purpose of the Symposium is to enable scholars, researchers, and Higher Education Executives from the African continent and the Global African Diaspora (GAD) to critically reflect on the challenges and opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has created for higher learning and research on the continent of Africa, in the Caribbean, and in the African American community. It is also to enable the participants to explore concrete and innovative ways in which institutions in these Global African regions can utilize digital technology to meet the challenges and seek ways to improve teaching, learning, and research. Paper Proposal Submission Deadline: July 15, 2021 Submit your paper via the Paper Submission Form and register via the Conference Registration Form below. Read more

PhD opportunity (France-Sudan): “A History of Women's Urban Popular Labour in Colonial Sudan (1900-1956)” by Elena Vezzadini Call for a PhD candidate on the theme   “A History of Women's Urban Popular Labour in Colonial Sudan (1900-1956)”   Presentation   A three-year PhD scholarship is offered to a candidate willing to develop the following theme: the social history of female popular professions in urban contexts during the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium in Sudan through the lenses of vernacular, oral and photographic sources.   In the historiography of contemporary northern Sudan, women’s history is conspicuous for its scarcity, and all the more the history of “ordinary women”, including one fundamental aspect of women’s lives, that is labour. The absence of women in the historiography of northern Sudan (the actual Republic of Sudan), and especially during the colonial period, is often seen as the result of two intertwined factors: the absence of sources and the absence of women in the public space as a result of female seclusion. This goes hand in hand with another common assumption: that during colonization, most women who worked for a remuneration were either slaves and former slaves or came from regions that had been slave reservoirs during the 19th Century. Because of their status, they could engage in behaviours that were frowned upon by free women, such as publicly mixing with men in the workplace. British official documents, located in the national archives in Khartoum and London, are indeed poor in information about Sudanese women, regardless of their status or social group. However, this is not the case for all archives and all types of sources. Indeed, a type of source that is rich in information about “ordinary women” are the photographs kept at the Sudan Archive in Durham University (UK), which hosts the largest collection of documents left by former colonial officers. The archive includes over 57,000 photographs, among which there are hundreds and probably thousands of images depicting women, most of them dating from the period between 1920 and 1950, and located in urban areas. Already at a first glance, this archive is fascinating and surprising, and seems to contradict the historiographic doxa. First, women occupied public –yet gendered– spaces: they had their own areas at the market and roamed the streets for attending their jobs. Second, the photographs demonstrate the existence and even the large diffusion of remunerated female labour. However, photographs represent only a starting point for locating a web of other sources. First, oral sources: in some pictures of the collection, reference is made to the name of the women represented and the place in which they were located. In some cases, and probably for some professions more than others, it may be possible to trace the descendants or younger colleagues of the women photographed. Thus, the second crucial source for this project will be represented by oral accounts by female urban professionals and their families. Finally, oral sources and photographs will be cross-referenced with another type of largely underexploited source, i.e. the women's vernacular press in Arabic, which developed from the 1940s onwards. The intersection of these three types of materials will allow rich and complex perspectives on the history of women's work, even if probably fragmentary. Finally, far from elminating the issue of slavery and marginalisation, this project will seek to investigate the boundaries between free and slave status, question these categories, and better understand the connection between female labour and social hierarchies in colonial Sudan.       Practical conditions, qualifications and application process   The programme: CNRS “international PhD scholarship”, IMAF Paris and CEDEJ Khartoum   This PhD scholarship is part of a special scheme called “international PhD scholarships” granted by the French National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), and it rests on special conditions: the scholarship lasts for three years, during which the PhD applicant is required to spend six months in Paris and six months in Khartoum each year. In Paris, he/she will be based at the Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF), site Condorcet, Aubervilliers (Paris), which is the largest centre for African Studies in France (www.imaf.cnrs.fr). In Khartoum, the candidate will be based at the CEDEJ Khartoum (Centre for social, legal and economic studies and documentation in Sudan), a research centre affiliated with the CNRS (https://cedejsudan.hypotheses.org/). Finally, the candidate will be registered at the Doctoral school of the Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and his/her diploma will be issued from this school.   Financial conditions: The PhD candidate will have a three-year contract with the CNRS, a monthly brute pay of about € 2135 (roughly around € 1700, depending on taxation rate), and 45 days of annual leave. A small travel budget may be sought for in order to apply for archival research in Europe and the UK; however, this depends on the limited financial possibility of IMAF and may vary from one year to the next; the candidate is encouraged to apply for fieldwork financial support from other institutions as well.   Qualifications and required training: MA in History, preferably on a theme connected to social and gender history. Applicants with a double background in African History and in Middle Eastern Studies are welcome to apply. As the PhD thesis should be written ideally in English or otherwise in French, the candidate must have excellent writing skills in one of the two languages. For non-French candidates, a working knowledge of French and the ability to communicate in this language will be a great asset. Finally, ideally, the candidate will have at least a basic knowledge of Arabic.   A final note: At IMAF, we make all efforts to promote diversity, equality and inclusion amongst our staff and students. As such, we welcome applications from all backgrounds. Applicants from African institutions are welcome to apply; they should only be aware that the procedure to apply for a work and study visa in France is cumbersome and fails in many cases. Thus, we will have to prioritize applicants who may have facilities in obtaining a work permit in France and a travel visa to Sudan.   Application process: In order to apply, please send no later than July 21st 2021:   your CV in English or French. your Master thesis (if written in French, Spanish, Italian, English, Arabic, or any Nordic language); or otherwise, if written in another language, a 10-page summary in English. your master diploma and any diploma who may support your application (language training etc.). a 1 or 2-page cover letter in which you explain your motivation to research the proposed theme, in English or in French. A reference letter   These documents must be sent to the following address: elena.vezzadini@cnrs.fr   The successful candidate will be notified no later than August 15th. Read more

by Linnéa Rowlatt Volume 3, Issue 2 (Nov 2022) Call for Papers Deadline for Abstract Submission: 1 October 2021   Theme: Warfare and Peacemaking Among Matricultural Societies The view that ‘War is a game for men’ has been declaimed with loud voices – yet the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) people, who have been described as the most fierce warriors of eastern North America, have a strong matriculture where the Clan Mothers nominate, install, and remove male Chiefs. Up to six thousand Fon women, known as Mino or ‘our mothers', fought in the army of Dahomey until the early twentieth century. The matriarchal Minangkabau of Indonesia militarily resisted Dutch colonization for almost fifteen years and, over a century later, launched a guerilla-based civil war against the Sukarno government. Scythian warriors of the Ancient period were women as well as men, since horse-riding largely negates the advantages of upper body strength. Clearly, these matricultural societies have not been strangers to war and violence, whether defensive or offensive, and many more examples could be provided. At the same time, many scholars claim that matricultural societies are, by definition, cultures of peace. What are the strategies, means, and types of warfare, in its broadest sense, in which a matricultural society might engage? What does the idea of peace mean and how is it achieved and/or strengthened? What are the means whereby matricultural societies resolve conflict (domestic or foreign) before it comes to violence, and what role do women and men play in those processes? Among matricultural societies, who makes the political decisions to engage in warfare, whether defensive or offensive? What have been the consequences of war for matricultures, including the enhancement or diminishment of status for women? We look for submissions which address these questions and others related to the topic. Taking matriculture as a cultural system in the classical Geertzian sense of the term, this issue of Matrix will explore the institutions and customs around warfare and peacemaking among matricultural societies, including cultures where women go to war themselves (whether as warriors, soldiers, spies, or in another way), where women are central to peace-building traditions, where women exercise military authority over men (formally or informally), or exercise the political authority to declare war (and end it). We take it as a given that some cultures have a weakly defined matricultural system, while others, who have strong matricultural systems, express this strength in several ways – one of which is through designating women as authorities over or active participants in violent conflict or as builders of peace. We invite articles which present, analyze, or contextualize historical or present-day warfare by or upon matricultures and any social institutions which are involved, as well as articles which deconstruct the meaning of war and peace among matricultural societies. We are interested in questions such as: What is the role for women in warfare when the the society/ies in conflict have a flourishing matricultural system? Do cultures with flourishing matricultures have unique means of achieving peace, or strengthening it? How do women contribute to the processes of warfare among matricultural societies? In what matricultures do women have the authority to declare war, to conduct warfare, or the freedom to become warriors if they so chose? Possible presentations may include but are not limited to: styles of warfare as conducted by matricultural societies means of preventing conflict used by matricultural societies meaning of peace to matricultural societies and methods of achieving and/or strengthening it the meaning of warfare in matricultural societies women warriors or soldiers, and/or women’s warrior societies, historical or contemporary political authority as exercised by women in matricultures social institutions of matricultures where women exercise military power the role of women in strategies of engaging and/or disengaging with external conflicts the role of women in strategies of conflict resolution the status of men and their relationships to women in martial matricultures Issue Editor: Linnéa Rowlatt (Network on Culture) Please submit a 300-word abstract (max) to the Issue Editor or to the Editorial Collective of Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies Submission via email to: lrowlatt@networkonculture.ca or info@networkonculture.cawith the Subject line ‘Matrix Vol. 3 (2) Abstract Submission’. Deadline for Abstract Submission: 1 October 2021   About Matrix Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies is an open access, peer-reviewed and refereed journal published by the International Network for Training, Education, and Research on Culture (Network on Culture), Canada. Matrix is published online on a biannual basis. For many years, scholarship has explored the expression and role of women in culture from various perspectives such as kinship, economics, ritual, etc, but so far, the idea of approaching culture as a whole, taking the female world as primary, as a cultural system in Geertz’ classical sense of the term – a matriculture – has gone unnoticed. Some cultures have a weakly defined matricultural system; others have strong matricultural systems with various ramifications that may include, but are not limited to, matrilineal kinship, matrilocality, matriarchal governance features – all of which have serious consequences relative to the socio-cultural status of women, men, children, and the entire community of humans, animals, and the environment. The main objective of Matrix is to provide a forum for those who are working from this theoretical stance. We encourage submissions from scholars, community members, and other knowledge keepers from around the world who are ready to take a new look at the ways in which people - women and men, historically and currently - have organized themselves into meaningful relationships; the myths, customs, and laws which support these relationships; and the ways in which researchers have documented and perhaps mis-labeled the matricultures they encounter. For more information, visit our website:https://www.networkonculture.ca/activities/matrix. Read more

by Brian Schiff   International Conference – Call for Papers   The Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory (University of Belgrade), The Center for Advanced Studies Southeast Europe (University of Rijeka-Cres), The George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention, The American University of Paris (Paris), The Centre de relations internationales (SciencesPo-CERI) and The Faculty of Media and Communications (Belgrade) Re-inventing/reconstructing cosmopolitanism in contested spaces and post-conflict zones 25–27 May 2022   “The life of the other, the life that is not our own, is also our life, since whatever sense ‘our’ life has is derived precisely from this sociality, this being already, and from the start, dependent on a world of others, constituted in and by a social world”. The other of Judith Butler is the universe of others to whom we are inescapably intertwined, irrespective of the arbitrariness of birth, borders and the cultural particularisms that segment social space, and to whom we are joined in “unchosen cohabitation” through the proximities wrought by the historical encounters, frictions, and collisions of people(s). The purpose of this international conference is to encourage a multi- and transdisciplinary discussion of one of the core analytical and normative problems of our troubled present: the challenge of cultivating inclusive civic and social spaces at a moment when difference is ubiquitously threatened by exclusionary ethno-nationalisms, the construction of material and symbolic walls of separation, spaces of conflict, and violence-laden representations of the essential alienness of cultural, political, and religious others. We welcome critical examinations of this problem in various socio-spatial and temporal contexts – refugee flows and transnational migrations generated by poverty and war, civil conflicts and interactions in the world’s border areas and megacities where “North and South” and “East and West” uneasily meet, post-conflict zones at the edges of and in the interstices of states and empire(s)…We aim to broaden the scope to reflections on the necessary rethinking/reinvention/reconstitution of cosmopolitan space(s) challenged by social conflicts, war and/or mass violence. A summer school will be held in conjunction with the conference. More information on the program, calendar and registration will be provided in the Fall.   THE VENUE The Cres antenna of the Center for Advanced Studies Southeast Europe of the University of Rijeka is an emblematic venue for these themes: the Adriatic has always been a crossroads of transnational circulations (people, ideas, and goods), with multiple overlapping and intersecting cultural belongings and political identities. As Anita Sujoldžić has pointed out, until the early twentieth century, there were “firmly connected social spaces”’ in the Habsburg Empire “that cut across anachronistically drawn linguistic and ethno-national lines”, and “in which multiple allegiances (imperial, national, provincial or local) with both cosmopolitan and culturally contingent loyalties could be found.” The region has also, of course, been a locus of sharp ethno-nationalist divisions and armed conflicts, which have submerged the cosmopolitan lifeworlds that today should be purposely reconstituted. SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR PAPERS: Theoretical and philosophical foundations of cosmopolitanism. Social science inquiry into the dynamics and precursors of social violence leading to disassembling of cosmopolitan space(s) Historical examination of inclusive societies; their establishment and disassembling Innovative interventions and other forms of social activism designed to reconcile conflict and promote co-existence Memory controversies and efforts to address conflicting readings of the cosmopolitan past Cosmopolitan critiques of globalisation and problems of global justice The crisis of hospitality and the sociohistory of the labels of “othering” (refugees,   immigrants, expatriot, asylees, displaced persons, IDPs (internally displaced persons), PRSs, stateless persons etc) Rethinking cosmopolitanism in Jewish history Peace theory and cosmopolitanism ELIGIBILITY  Applicants should be researchers, post-graduate students, and post-docs interested in or working on the above topics. We also welcome applications from civil society activists bringing particular insights to the conference’s content. Applicants from all countries are eligible to apply.   APPLICATION All applicants should send a short bio and abstract to cosmocres2022@gmail.com no later than September 15th 2021. We will get back to you by November 15th 2021. Abstracts should be 500 words max. for a presentation not exceeding 20 mins. Participation fee: 180€ for faculty members; 100€ for students (limited financial aid can be made available to select participants in need, upon examination of their requests). INFORMATION Organizers will facilitate arranging accommodation in Cres city and its surroundings on the island of Cres but we kindly ask participants to emphasize if they opt for this option in their application. If any further details are needed, please contact us at cosmocres2022@gmail.com A venue and forum for various scientific and research activities, the University of Rijeka’s Center for Advanced Studies Southeast Europe welcomes visiting students and artists wishing to withdraw for a moment to a serene and inspiring collaboration setting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsnR8WDupm8&ab_channel=CenterforAdvancedStudiesUniversityofRijeka http://cas.uniri.hr/tag/moise-palace/ We very much hope this event can happen in person. As the epidemiological situation shifts, we will need to decide what is feasible by the end of 2021. If need be we are technically equipped and prepared to transition our event to an online hybrid format.   SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE: Sanja Bojanic Brian Schiff Gazela Pudar Drasko Constance Pâris de Bollardière Petar Bojanic Nadege Ragaru Philip Spero Golub Eileen Lallier Zona Zaric Vera Mevorah Dragana Stojanovic   ORGANIZATION BOARD: Sanja Bojanic Petar Bojanic Brian Schiff Nadege Ragaru Zona Zaric Vera Mevorah Dragana Stojanovic Read more

OTH is looking for essays, reflections, articles from librarians, faculty, and publishers in the humanities (1,000 - 1,500 words). We look for pieces that speak to intersectionality in the humanities, promote specific programs or new ideas in the humanities, discuss new methods of scholarly communication, and are relevant to topics of the day.   We are looking for submissions for the issues listed below. If you have a submission that does not fit under these topics, send it anyway! We also are always looking for new programs or events to promote as well.     May and June Issues There is still space in the next two issues of OTH for a couple of features, industry news, and events!     Summer Arts Issue OTH will be publishing an Arts issue in late Summer 2021. We are looking for pieces speaking specifically to the intersectionality of arts and subject areas you are an expert in, new public arts programs which incorporate humanistic values, and how the arts inform public discourse and consciousness. Space is running out, so get your submissions in! To Submit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScp7WS43TS9QSzN3EjNfV6-Q7hHKlfCXwsktE7_J8L6P7fA4A/viewform Or email your submission to oth@thirdchapter.org. https://oth.thirdchapter.org  Read more

Call for papers for: English Teaching: Practice & Critique   Submission deadline: 15th August 2021 Guest Editors (listed alphabetically by last name):  Denise Dávila Mary M. Juzwik (lead editor) Robert Jean LeBlanc Eric Rackley Loukia K. Sarroub    Overview of special issue  Religion continues to be an important part of global life in the 21st century, as it has been in centuries past. While the Eurocentric “secularization thesis” of the mid 20th century predicted its decline in sociocultural life as nation-states and their economies developed, religion and spirituality have not faded from the global scene. Indeed, they continue to significantly shape (and be shaped by) culture and politics as well as on our focal interests in this special issue -- language, literacy, and schooling. In educational settings around the globe, students today grapple with tensions arising as they navigate academic, social, and spiritual life worlds. Literacy educators also face numerous challenges in understanding and enacting their roles and responsibilities in relation to often-contested terrain surrounding religion, spirituality, and literacies and language/ing in schools. From a scholarly standpoint, understanding and unpacking tensions, underlying assumptions, and influences of the religious in the lives of young people and teachers across diverse educational spaces is becoming increasingly important in today’s interconnected and rapidly changing world. As scholars have begun to turn attention to issues of religion and spirituality, much of the extant work has focused on clearly defined fields of study, on bounded religious communities, and on case studies of individual students. Some of these boundaries are beginning to blur as language and literacy scholars theorize new relationships, examine emergent religious phenomena in relation to literacy, and begin to take more seriously the role of the religious across students’ and teachers’ lives, experiences, communities, geographical locations, etc.  Global in scope, this special issue invites diverse perspectives on religion, literacy, and English education and seeks to invite them into dialogue with each other. While conversations around various intersections of religion, literacy, and English education have provided generative insights for English education and literacy scholarship, this special issue aims to stimulate a broader global dialogue across faiths, disciplines, and communities. We invite papers developing theory, reporting empirical work, narrating pedagogies, and expanding educators’ repertoires of instructional practice. We invite epistemological, ontological, and theological consideration of the religious in relation to language/ing, literacies, and English education. By cultivating a global dialogue about religion, literacy, and English education, this special issue is uniquely situated to generate new understandings across religious and educational traditions from around the world. This special issue aims to create a forum in which stakeholders will wrestle with boundary-crossings among areas of study that hold the promise of reimagined global possibilities in education.  In keeping with our theme, we are particularly interested in contributions from scholars studying religion/literacy/English education in connection with and across locales beyond the United States, including those foregrounding transnational perspectives. Because such work is relatively rare among US-based language and literacy researchers, we also invite papers from scholars working in related fields (e.g., anthropology, linguistics, religious studies, etc.) who take an interest in the intersections of language, literacy, learning, and the religious. We invite manuscripts that address urgent questions and topics related to the new frontiers in religious practice, English, and literacy, including: Religion, spirituality, and English teacher education Digital faith and religious literacy practices Motivations, practices, and ideologies shaping the reading of religious texts English education in schools Preparation of literacy educators with global religious knowledge and understanding Gender, sexuality, and religious literacies Insider/outsider perspectives on conducting research in religious communities Transnationalism and ethno-religious global movements Rising global ethno-nationalism and religious movements and their impact on literacy teaching and learning Historical legacies of Christianity, White Supremacy, and anti-Black racism in relation to literacy education in US contexts Relations among imagined religious communities, literacies, and schooling Conceptions of the ‘good’ in religious literate traditions Tensions in conducting literacy research in and across religious communities Communities troubling or disrupting existing research conceptions of religion and/in literacies Challenges to existing theories of religion and/in literacies Religion and spirituality in relation to  equity issues confronting language, literacy, and English education Emergent religious phenomena in relation to literacy studies Other relevant topics We will consider submission of research papers, practitioner narratives, conceptual/theoretical essays, and creative work pertinent to the theme. Submission Details   Please see the ETPC “Author Guidelines” for guidelines on both kinds of submissions, including word limits: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/etpc#author-guidelines Submissions for this Special Issue must be made through the ScholarOne online submission and peer review system. When submitting your manuscript please ensure the correct special issue title is selected from the drop down menu on page 4 of the submission process: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/etpc    For questions, contact Dr. Denise Dávila (ddavila@utexas.edu), Dr. Mary Juzwik (mmjuzwik@msu.edu), Dr. Robert LeBlanc (robert.leblanc@uleth.ca), Dr. Eric Rackley (eric.rackley@byuh.edu), or Dr. Loukia Sarroub (lsarroub@unl.edu). Submission deadline: August 15, 2021   Publication date: Approximately June 2022 Read more

The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) has several opportunities available in conjunction with its Fourteenth Annual ASMEA Conference being held in Washington, D.C. November 13 – 15, 2021. To stimulate new and diverse lines of discourse about the Middle East and Africa, ASMEA will once again offer its Research Grant Program. This program seeks to support research on topics that deserve greater attention. An applicant may submit a proposal that constitutes new and original research within these five areas: minorities and women, military history, governance and economy, faith, and Iran. Grants of up to $2500 will be awarded. Learn more and apply HERE. The ASMEA Travel Grant Program provides funds primarily to Ph.D. students, post-Docs, and junior faculty studying the Middle East or Africa interested in presenting their research at the Annual ASMEA Conference. Grants of up to $750 will be awarded and may be used to cover expenses associated with attending the Annual Conference. Learn more HERE. New this year, ASMEA has announced the Bernard Lewis Prize for scholars or practitioners working on issues of antisemitism. The $2500 prize will be awarded at the Fourteenth Annual Conference. Learn more HERE. The deadline to submit a Research or Travel Grant application is April 30, 2021. The deadline to submit an application for the Bernard Lewis Prize is June 30, 2021. Questions can be directed to info@asmeascholars.org.   by Emily Lucas Read more

by Richard Raber   Nokoko, the journal of Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies, is preparing a special issue on the theme “Shifting Geopolitics and Militarization in Africa.” We invite abstracts for research articles addressing the issues presented below. We also welcome book reviews, and briefings from scholars, public intellectuals, and activists.    Widespread assessments within International Relations suggest a transformation is underway from the post-Cold War order characterized by American supremacy, towards a new multi-polar world. In Africa, this follows thirty years in which the Washington Consensus entrenched a liberal international order across the continent. In that time, governments rewrote constitutions to protect private property and foreign investment, diverted state expenditure from social goods, while facilitating widespread (and ongoing) privatization. Over the same period, US Africa Command (US-AFRICOM) sought hosts for US troops. The result has been a surge in US military presence across the continent, with American troops working alongside as well as training and equipping African forces. In turn, the United States gained interoperability agreements and a network of “lily pad” bases throughout Africa. This expansion occurred with little public scrutiny, and relied on regimes of legal immunity that may exceed those of colonial regimes.   There are reasons to focus beyond the US, even as the US exceeds other states in the scale and extent of its presence. Since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a marked geopolitical recalibration in Africa. China, Russia, middle-powers, and former colonial countries have established military relations in ways reminiscent of colonial era canton systems in China and India. While unclear if troop placements reflect trade and commercial interests, China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, France,Canada, Italy, Japan and Turkey are present.    Meanwhile, smaller powers such as India and Saudi Arabia have emerged as major sources of arms across Africa as both Egypt and South Africa ramp up arms production with the hopes of expanding exports on the continent.  China’s formal military presence on the continent commenced with ground troops in 2011 with the aim of withdrawing its citizens during the war in Libya. Chinese arms sales to Cameroon, Congo DRC, Ghana, Sudan, Tanzania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe increased 55% between 2013 and 2017. Algeria is the third-largest buyer of Chinese weapons after Pakistan and Bangladesh. China’s 8,000-member standby force with the UN is ready to take part inpeacekeeping, training, and operations.   Russia’s role is a fraction of China’s, yet the country signed nuclear energy deals and support agreements with the Central African and Mozambican militaries. Likewise, Russian natural gas and arms interests have built ties across the continent. In addition, Russia vies for a base in Sudan and in October 2019 held the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia as part of renewed efforts to bolster its influence in the continent (Mwangi and Fabiano, 2020).   For its part, Djibouti has come to host a wide range of foreign bases. Italy, France, Japan, and China, all have bases a mere 10km from the US base. Together, these bases host another seven allied forces, which begs the question of whether its strategic importance offers added stability and strength or volatility and weakness in international relations, especially given the current drift toward war in neighbouring portions of Ethiopia.   The UK, France, and Canada increased their presence under the pretext of counterterrorism. In Kenya, the UK’s (and the US) training of government troops has coincided with a massive rise in extrajudicial killings. Under UN authority, and led by French troops, forces from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger formed the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Their objective? Prevent “terrorism” in the Sahel. In September 2019, West African governments pledged to commit a billion dollars to the effort. All this, despite the fact that known “terrorist” groups are in fact “embedded in local dynamics, and have some degree of political authority and legitimacy as they find support in criticisms of and protests over bad governance and lack of justice.” (Bruno Charbboneau, 2018)   European Union countries have ended humanitarian rescue patrols of the Mediteranean coasts and instead work to harden borders and fund the detaining of migrants in camps in North Africa. Europe’s interventions constitute a militarized response toward people who are already victims of war, thus further traumatizing them. And yet in many instances it is a militarized response to nonmilitary problems caused by failed economic policies, poor governance, ecological stresses, and persistent or growing poverty.    Several important questions stem from the presence of foreign militaries in Africa. How much does militarization relate to the economic and strategic interests of the intervening countries, of what Padraig Carmody termed “The New Scramble for Africa” (2016)? Might Africa again be a site of proxy wars—a conclusion suggested by the wars in the Sudans? What are the implications for governance and security forces within Africa? How do foreign troops support or constrain civil society and counter-hegemonic forces in Africa? How does their presence impact military and police cultures within host states?   For example, in Kenya and beyond, extrajudicial killings rose and a culture of impunity emerged among national forces, leaving local police to often appear as occupying forces themselves. This is certainly consistent with the recent, heroic, and historically unparallelled opposition to SARS forces in Nigeria. In Ghana, the enormous levels of military aid from the US, UK and EU donors has made the army a privileged institution. The military has wide business interests —including a bank and arms industry— and allows senior officers and “VIPs” of their choosing to use sirens and escorts to push luxury SUVs through local traffic, adding one more burden on regular citizens suffering inadequate infrastructure.    Of course, the expansion of foreign military involvement in Africa does not result in unidirectional dynamics, raising the question as to how African leaders respond and fashion state policies? What are the benefits to playing different countries off one another in collaborative arrangements, aid agreements and procurement contracts? Similarly, in light of shifting geopolitical dynamics, how have local coalitions responded? What kinds of local opposition and protest movements emerge, and what are their successes or failures? Similarly, what political changes are occurring within the African Union?    How do outside interventions exacerbate existing tensions within and between countries? In which ways do such interventions give life to new forms of class structure, class alliances and class struggle? What is the relationship between class structure and alliances to the distribution of natural resource wealth? What are their interactions with shifts elsewhere (e.g., the Caribbean and Latin America)? How does this transformation refract larger historical shifts? How do sites of intervention illuminate a new order and the re-calibration of power in Africa (and beyond)? What are the impacts of rhetorical efforts to build new alliances of African countries with BRICS and other rising powers?   We welcome research articles on the above topic any of the following sub-themes: Militarization and natural resources Militarization and strategic positioning, e.g. Indian Ocean, Somalia, Egypt, Algeria, and Sudan Militaries, popular struggles, and training of police and military for civil unrest Occupation forces such as in Western Sahara, Diego Garcia, and foreign military bases Migration and militarization Borders, borderlands, and changing notions of space and place Militaries and humanitarianism Militaries and gender violence Militaries and popular culture Surveillance and constitutional rights Contemporary military infrastructures Weaponization of the media Militias, mercenaries, paramilitaries, and the privatization of violence Militaries and indirect rule Militaries and ethnicity The business of war Flows of military aid Africa’s position in the arms industry Race, Gender, Imperial Knowledge and the afterlives of Empire in International Relations theory Shifting relations of power between and within African states Scholars whose abstracts are approved by the editors will be required to submit papers that critically engage with any number of these issues. Submissions should be no longer than 9,000 words. We also welcome shorter contributions as well as photo essays. Articles should follow Nokoko’s submission guidelines. We encourage potential authors to discuss articles in progress if they seek advice on preparing a successful submission. Please contact us if you wish to propose a particular book for review(s) and we will assist in finding a review copy. Book reviews have a 1000 word limit, although extended book reviews of two or more books may be longer (see, for example, the extended review by Heffernan in Issue 7). Policy briefings and agitations for new research agendas are welcome in the range of 4000 words. We also continue to accept articles outside this theme-specific area.   To submit use this link:  https://carleton.ca/africanstudies/research/nokoko/call-for-papers-nokoko/ Read more

PAS Bamako invites proposals for projects that strengthen ties between the United States and Mali by highlighting shared values and promoting bilateral cooperation. All programs must advance one of the key priorities listed below, promote an element of American culture, or have a connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in a specific field that will promote increased ties between the United States and Mali and foster understanding of U.S. policies and perspectives.   More information about the funding opportunity can be found here. Read more