Topic
The state is a central concept for the study of power, domination, and socio-political change across the social sciences. Its usefulness is however contested, especially in African contexts where the Eurocentric ideal-type of the state stands in marked contrast to political realities on the ground. This raises a number of crucial questions: Through what concepts can one grasp the prominent role of trans- and international connections, networks, and NGOs that influence what statehood stands for?
What is the territoriality of the state in view of the importance of transnational social spaces? How are the physical and/or discursive boundaries of states contested, changed, and re-enforced in the context of migration? How can general concepts like boundaries and networks advance an understanding of politics that goes beyond both Eurocentric universalism and Africanist exceptionalism? And what are the implications of such theoretical considerations for development and peacebuilding practitioners working in Africa?
Workshops (online)
To address these timely questions among young researchers working on Africa, an international consortium of research institutes in Basel, Freiburg im Breisgau, and Strasbourg is organising three consecutive half-day online workshops dealing with particular topics in this debate. The workshops will provide doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers, as well as advanced MA students, with an opportunity for a thematically focused exchange across the fields of political science, sociology, history, African studies, anthropology, international relations, and peace and conflict studies. The goal is to advance fresh analytical perspectives and methodological reflection, making links to concrete cases, and to provide one another with constructive feedback on ongoing research projects.
Please register to participate in the workshops (at the end of this page). You will then receive the links to Zoom via email before the start.
Program overview
Part 1: Consolidated or Undermined Statehood? The Transnationalisation of State Legitimacy
25th Oktober 2021, 09.15am – 12.45pm
Host: Virginie Roiron (Sciences Po Strasbourg)
Keynote: Amber Murrey (University of Oxford): Resistance and Repression in Cameroon
Research presentations:
- John Githigaro: An Assessment of Claim making on Kenya-Somalia Maritime Dispute
- Barbara Müller: NGOs, political parties and the student movement in Zimbabwe
- Federico Carducci: Religious networks and political legitimation in post-war Angola
- Paula Sophia Branco de Lima: What is national in transnational feminist activism? Perceptions on the World March of Women's action in Brazil and Mozambique
Part 2: Contested Migration Governance and Borders
2th November 2021, 09.15am – 12.45pm
Hosts: Andreas Mehler and Franzisca Zanker (Arnold Bergstraesser Institute)
Keynote: Thomas Faist (Universität Bielefeld): Exit: The Transnationalized Social Question
Research presentations:
- Leonie Jegen: “Migratising mobility”: Externalization and the Making of the Migrant Category
- Patrick Dieudonné Belinga Ondoua: Du régime de suspicion instillé sur les déplacés de guerre au Cameroun. Le cas des régions du Nord-ouest et du Sud-ouest
- Grace Atuhaire: State Securitization of Border Communities in Africa
Part 3: The Trouble with the Nation-State. Knowledge Production and Policy Implications in a Transnational World
9th November 2021, 09.15am – 12.45pm
Hosts: Claudia Baez-Camargo (Basel Institute on Governance), Joschka Philipps (University of Bayreuth) and Pascal Schmid (Centre for African Studies Basel)
Keynote: Vincent Foucher (Sciences Po Bordeaux)
Research presentations:
- Toon Dirkx: The Remnants of Rebellion: The Legacy of the EPLF’s Wartime Governance in Post-Independent Eritrea
- Saïkou Sagnane: L’état transnational dans la lutte contre Ebola & Covid-19 en Guinée
- Franziska Ehlert: Exploring Contestation of Security Sector Reform Processes: The Case of Côte d'Ivoire
- Emmaculate Asige Liaga: Post-conflict [intervention] Statehood of South Sudan to Basel day
By participating in the zoom meeting, you agree to the data protection notice (more).
