2015
African Studies in the 21st Century, Ibadan, October 13-17, 2015: Call for Panels and Paper Proposals
The First ASAA (African Studies Association of Africa) International Conference will take place at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan from 13 to 17 October 2015 on the theme: African Studies in the Twenty-First Century: Past, Present, and Future’ Paper and panel proposals are invited before March 30, 2015.
2015
2015
Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism in Africa: Prospects and Limitations
The third conference on Law and Religion in Africa will be held in Windhoek, Namibia at the University of Namibia from Monday, May 18 to Tuesday, May 19, 2015. This conference focuses on the theme “Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism in Africa: Prospects and Limitations.” We invite all scholars interested in the study of Law and Religion to submit proposals of no more than 250 words by 20 February 2015. These can be submitted electronically to lawreligioninafrica@gmail.com. Travel support may be available for those whose papers are selected.
2014
Islamism and Post-Islamism: Religious and Political Transformations in Muslim Societies; Call for Papers
Islamism and Post-Islamism: Religious and Political Transformations in Muslim Societies; Call for Papers, Interdisciplinary International Conference, 13-14 March 2015, Queens University, School of Religion, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Paper proposals should be e-mailed to Professor Mehmet Karabela (mehmet.karabela@queensu.ca) no later than January 25, 2015.
2014
CfP or the panel Refugees’ and Asylum Seekers’ Experience: Terror of Witchcraft, Cultural Memories, and Bureaucratic Violence, at the 6th European Conference on African Studies (ECAS) to be held in Paris, 8-10 July 2015
The panel aims to explore the place of witchcraft anxieties in the trajectories and narratives of refugees and asylum seekers. More particularly: how does the fear of witchcraft mark their everyday lives and gives voice to the conflicts and suspicions within families and communities? How can asylum seekers make their anxieties “credible” to Territorial Commissions and provide proof of the “mystical weapons” that threaten them? Often, these issues are reported as the experience of being haunted by neighbors or relatives, or as dreams in which they are “eaten” and possessed by invisible animals living in their bodies. For the asylum seekers, translating the idea of being persecuted by witches into humanitarian language is an “impossible task”, just a further complication in the effort to meet the eligibility criteria for International Protection. The concepts of “plausibility” and “coherence”, two of the main pillars for considering their narratives as credible, disregard the cultural forms of traumatic experience and personhood. They assume a “rational man,” with no room for other imaginaries and moralities. Focusing on various fieldworks (African and European), the panel would like to investigate the destiny of these experiences and discourses, as well as the role of neoliberal policies in forging new political subjectivities. In the background of the discussion of these issues is a more general question: how do refugees remember?
If you are interested in our panel, please submit an abstract of maximum 1500 characters (in English or in French) via the link
http://www.ecas2015.fr/refugees-and-asylum-seekers-experience-terror-of-witchcraft-cultural-memories-and-bureaucratic-violence/
Andrea Ceriana Mayneri (IMAF, Institut des mondes africains)
Roberto Beneduce (University of Turin)
