[ASU] Call for Submissions: "Neo-Imperialism" in Post-Independence Africa at Yale

[Zelalem Haile]

Fellow Africanists,

Please be so kind as to pass this announcement along to graduate students,
faculty, mailing groups and any others with relevant interest. 

Z.


First Call for Submissions

 

"Neo-Imperialism" in Post-Independence Africa:

Definitions, Case Studies and Human Impacts

 

 

Yale University, March 27 - 28, 2009

 

Keynote Speakers:

Immanuel Wallerstein – Yale University

Eunice Njeri Sahle – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

The Yale Council on African Studies and the MacMillan Center for International
and Area Studies invite submissions of papers by graduate students, advanced
scholars and policy practitioners on the topic of "neo-imperialism" and its
human impacts in post-independence Africa. Interested participants should send a
one-page résumé and an abstract of approximately 300 words to Jason Warner at
jason.warner at yale.edu by January 31, 2009.

This symposium seeks to investigate the nature of Africa's international
relations in the post-independence era in an attempt to understand if, and in
what forms, contemporary versions of "neo-imperialism" exist on the African
continent, and consequently, how they impact Africa's populations.  In
particular, it seeks to gain greater insight into the ways in which academics
and practitioners understand and employ the term "neo-imperial" in relation to
Africa. In this discourse, fundamental questions as to the nature of
post-independence African international relations are raised, including: Have
African nations truly gained the economic and political sovereignty that was
implied by their accession to independence, or are they beholden to the whims
outside poles of power? To what extent do larger geo-political struggles of
power between nations continue to be played out as proxy wars on African soil
and what are the implications for economic, political and human developments on
the continent? Where can the distinction between "neo-imperialism" and
"globalization" actually be drawn?

 

Topics of Interest Include:

 

1.     Definitions and discourse on understanding "neo-imperialism" in the
African context:  

a.     Historical, comparative and theoretical perspectives

2.     Case studies discussing questions of "neo-imperialism" of African
relations with:

a.     Former colonial / Cold War powers

b.     Emerging powers, specifically from the Global South

c.     Multinational corporations

d.     International Financial Institutions

3.     African responses to "neo-imperialism:"

a.     African agency in engaging and/or rejecting "neo-imperialism"

b.     Responses from national, regional, pan-African, and Diasporic organisms

4.     Human impacts of "neo-imperialism," specifically in regards to:

a.     Economic development

b.     Political development

c.     Human rights

 

Generous funding provided by:

Yale Council on African Studies, Gaddis Smith Lecture Series, and the Dean's
Graduate Fund