Call for Papers.
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date
June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1, 2023
Whether in popular or academic discourse, the idea of identity is central to most conversations about Africa and its people, both on the continent and in the diaspora. Defining Africanness is a complex project that considers not only the question of place but that of time, agency, power, and other internal and external influences. Contestations over what constitute African identities have paved the way for significant breakthroughs in research, popular politics, diaspora network, and community building, among other critical activities. The idea(s) of African identities thus could serve as a springboard for engaging the transformations in how people, institutions, and cultures define their place in the world order, challenge the encroachment of their cultural, artistic, and intellectual spaces, or collectively build identities across cultures, places, time, and circumstances for a multiplicity of interests.
Why is the idea of identity one of the most contested themes in academic and popular conversation about Africa and the African diaspora? The debate about what is African and what is not could be an entry point into a broader conversation about modernity, globalization, decoloniality, subjectivity, institution building, space claiming, and progress. The gendering of African identities is as important as racialization, class and ethnic formation, migration, and the circulation of human, material, and intellectual bodies across space.
Whether the conversation is about the resurgence of indigenous African religions in some communities, the “unAfricaness” of non-normative sexual identities, popular culture, smart cities, or Afrofuturism, what is African or not is contradictorily deployed to advance complex actions and debates about the realities of Africa and its global diasporas. Therefore, it is worth exploring the dialectics of authentic and unauthentic, original and foreign, traditional and modern identities because it evokes ideological, political, and epistemic powers that have not only been used to frame academic theorizations but also used as justification to violate the rights of people. In this light, the 8th LSA Conference invites critical reflections on the idea(s) of African identities across disciplinary fields.
Submission Rules
Individual Submission: Individual proposals should include a 250-word abstract, a short bio, and the email and phone contacts of presenters. Please do not submit more than one abstract. Abstracts cannot have more than two presenters. You cannot present more than one paper, either solo or joint. Submit your abstract here: https://forms.gle/6qY7f4wKPZ7PVazU7
Group Submission: Panel, roundtable, and workshop proposals should comprise a 250-word summary, and the email and phone contacts of all panelists. Please email panel proposals to LSA at lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2023. Notification of acceptance of abstracts by January 15, 2024.
Registration Fee:
Local (N10,000)
International Full-time academics ($120)
International Graduate Students ($100)
The registration fee covers nine full meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) throughout the conference. Everyone listed on abstracts must pre-register by paying the registration fee after acceptance of an abstract.
If you have any questions about the conference, contact LSA at:
Email Address: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
Website: Lagosstudies.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lagos-studies-association/?viewAsMember=true
+++++++++++++++++
Organized Panels
+++++++++++++++++
1. Liminal Beings?: Representations of Children without Childhoods
2. Performing Identities: Gender, Pop Culture, and the Contestation of ‘Africanness’ in Indigenous Films and Performances
3. Innovating Information Technologies in Africa: Debating Authenticity and Global Connections
4. Innovative Teaching in/about Africa/Nigeria, LSA 2024
5. Filmic Decoloniality? Comedy, Digital Skits, and Popular Culture in Africa
6. A Spectacle of Ignominy: African Traditional Political Institutions in Modern Democracies
7. Rupturing African Cultural Memories and Identities in New Nigerian Dramas from 2010 to date
8. New Directions in Benin Studies
9. Ololade Asake’s Music and African Popular Entertainment
10. Who Wan Blow? The Hustle for Fame & Fortune in Africa
11. Proverbs, African Identity and Cultural Institution in the 21st Century and Beyond.
12. Gendered Identities: Sexual Narratives, Body Politics, and Agency of Women in Contemporary Nollywood Films
13. Extortion at the Intersections: Insights from Africa and Beyond
14. African Print Fabrics and Expressive Identities
15. African Clothing, Dress and Fashion: Past, Present, and Future
16. Gendering Popular Culture: The Life and Times of African Women Musicians
17. The Ties that Bind: African Marriage Culture and Identities in the 21st century
18. Of Streets and Streeters: New Horizons in African Urban Space Epistemologies
19. Africanizing Animals: Agency, Modernity, and Colonial Nonhumans in History
20. More than Hustle and Hustlers: Intellectual and Creative Activities in Lagos
21. Subversive Spaces: Fluidity of African Urban Locations Across Eras
22. Reproductive Identities in Africa: Problematizing the Intersections of Gender, Class, Age, and Everything In-between
23. Gendering Memory: How do Women Remember Violence and Wars in Africa?
24. Separatist and Political Agitations since the Fourth Republic
25. Temporal Tango: Navigating Paternity Controversies Across Eras
26. "Universal Health Coverage without Equality: Role of Training & Diagnostic Technology
27. Digital Neocolonialism: Capitalism and Global Information Technology
28. Language, Urbanism, and Identity in Lagos
29. “The most vulnerable should take responsibility for their wellbeing”: Gendering sexual agency and reproductive health in Africa
30. Africa on the Move in the post-COVID-19 World
31. Coming of Age and Rage: (Re) Thinking LGBTQIA+ Narratives in African Studies
32. The Legacy of Internal Slavery in Contemporary Nigeria
33. African Dance Virality, Technology, and Popular Culture
34. Global Entanglements: African Identities in Transnational Spaces
35. On the Fringes of Power: Informal Institutions of Governance in Africa
36. Towards a Greener Faith in Africa: Religion, Environmental Consciousness and the Anthropocene in the 21st Century
37. Transactional Sex, Sites of Engagement, Sexual Economics, Identity and Euphemisation Strategies in Africa
38. Political Crisis, Electoral Fraud, and the Emergence of Illiberal Democracy in Africa
39. Migration and Mobilities in Africa and the Global African Diaspora
++++++++++
Call for Panelists
Panel Theme: Liminal Beings?: Representations of Children without Childhoods
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: November 30, 2023
Panel Organizer: Ademola Adesola (Mount Royal University, Canada)
As an unstable yet fundamental period in human developmental stages, childhood constitutes a major identity. Even more so childhoods constrained by precarious socioeconomic and political conditions and those lost due to experience of conflict and exploitative practices. In other words, the concept “children without childhoods” designates “historically specific form or image of childhood used as a scale to evaluate children’s lives that appears unconnected” (Liebel 2). It is in view of their being perceived as socially unconnected, some kind of deviations unmoored from childhood and neither progressing to adulthood in any meaningful sense, that we can speak of children without childhoods as liminal beings. Accordingly, this panel explores the cultural representations of children in a variety of precarity, atrocity, and contexts. More specifically, it invites papers that centre the representations of children without childhoods in various pop-cultural productions such as novels, poems, plays, memoirs, films, music, and documentary set in Africa and beyond. The panel is interested in the generative possibilities (as well as the forms and varieties of insights) that postcolonialism brings to a critical grasp of works dealing with representations of children without childhoods as a core identitarian formation, privileging such questions as: What/who is a child? What are the (un)stable cultural contexts of the concept of childhood? What does it mean to be a child without childhood? What kinds of society do such children exist in (Global South or Global North, or both)? Are we to understand children without childhoods mainly as innocent victims of adult machinations, or are these children social actors and perpetrators of atrocities? Are children without childhood analytically graspable? Do they crisscross, collapse, and subvert boundaries of childhood and adulthood? Do children without childhoods remain children still in dangerous situations? What forms of agency do they exercise? What are the ethics of representing children’s atrocity experiences in literary works, as well as other media? What representational strategies are used in such representations? What are the convergent and divergent areas in the representations of the children in question? Where are these works published and who are their audiences? In all, contributions to this panel are expected to privilege critical readings of selected texts with a focus on their representational elements and ideological undercurrents.
Sub-themes that interested contributors may consider include:
Childhood labours as exploitative practices
Childhood labours as sites of skill and knowledge acquisition
Childhoods and governmental policies
Childhoods in context of dysfunctional polity
Childhoods and genocide
Childhoods and video games
Childhoods and streetism
Childhoods and domestic spaces
Childhood and sex work
Childhoods and language
Childhoods and disability
Children (without childhoods) as social actors and not necessarily needy victims
BINGOS (Big International Non-Governmental Organizations) and the exploitation of children without childhoods
Militarization of childhoods in the name of protection
Gendering childhoods
Schools as graveyards of childhoods
Working children, kidnapped children, sexually trafficked children, politically exposed children
Submission Guidelines
Interested contributors are required to email abstracts to Ademola Adesola @ oladipupochildren24@gmail.com
Abstract word length must be between 250 and 300. Name, institutional affiliation, email, phone number, and a bio of about 100 words of the author must accompany the abstract.
Abstract deadline is November 30, 2023.
+++++++++
Call for Panelists
Performing Identities: Gender, Pop Culture, and the Contestation of ‘Africanness’ in Indigenous Films and Performances
The 8th Annual International Conference of Lagos Studies Association (LSA)
Conference Theme: African Identities: People, Cultures and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In-person, the University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: 25th – 29th June, 2024.
Abstract Deadline: November 30th, 2023.
Panel Organiser:
Charles Chinonso Okwuowulu and Casmir Enyeribe Onyemuchara
(Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike)
Gender narratives and pop culture within the social media space have contributed to the growing contestation in the series of discourses on ‘African film’ and performance. In recent years, African cinema and live performances have undergone a remarkable transformation, reflecting the evolving socio-cultural landscape of the continent. This transformation is exemplified by the complex and intricate ways in which gender and pop culture intersect with the negotiation of African identity in these creative mediums. This panel therefore seeks to explore the dynamic interplay of gender, pop culture, and the multifaceted contestation of Africaness in indigenous films and performances by probing these questions; Should all films produced in the continent of Africa be called African film? Or do all films produced by any African filmmaker whether within the continent or diaspora be called African film? Are films produced in Africa without social and cultural issues not African film?
The panel is also interested in presentations that delve into the above and ways in which indigenous films and performances have become critical contemplation that challenges and redefines traditional notions of Africaness and hopes to (re)examine how gender dynamics, influenced by popular culture, serve as a lens through which African identities are explored, celebrated, and questioned. Furthermore, this panel will welcome panelists that wishes to highlight the pivotal role of female voices and perspectives in this discourse. Women in African cinema and performance arts have increasingly used their platforms to challenge stereotypes, assert their agency, and contribute to the ongoing reevaluation of African identity. Their contributions are integral to the broader conversation surrounding the contestation of Africaness.
By analyzing key examples of indigenous films and performances, these presentations are to shed light on the complexities of African identity formation and its intersection with gender and popular culture and seek to deepen our understanding of how these creative expressions serve as vehicles for reshaping perceptions, dismantling stereotypes, and fostering a more inclusive and dynamic understanding of Africaness in the contemporary world.
The panel will welcome discourses on the following Sub-themes, these is not exhaustible
African Film, Performance and Identity formation
The contestation of African Film and Performance
Gender discourse in African film and performance
African Film and Pop Culture
African Film, Performance and the use of Language
African Film and Cultural Representation.
African Film, Performance and Diaspora Discourse
African Film, Performance and Migration
African Film, Performance and transnationalism
African Film, Performance and social Media
African Film and the nexus of Performance
African Film, Performance and the Cultural Connection
Theorizing African Film and Performance
APPLICATION
Interested participants should send a 250-word abstract and short bio indicating full name, Institutional affiliation(s), Email(s) and active phone number(s) to dr.charles.okwuowulu@gmail.com and onyesoncasmir@gmail.com
CLOSING DATE
30th November, 2023
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
+++++++++
Call for Panellists
Innovating Information Technologies in Africa: Debating Authenticity and Global Connections
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizer: Davide Casciano (KU Leuven)
An increasingly interconnected world places Africa at the crossroads of global innovation and local creativity amidst rapid technological developments. In this panel, we aim to explore what actually is “African” and how it changes through the development of Africa’s Information and Communication Technologies sector. For example, Silicon Valley-inspired areas have emerged across Africa, drawing significant investments and raising African technology’s profile on the global stage. However, some scholars argue that these technological models are often imported from elsewhere with little consideration for the unique needs and challenges of the continent. Yet, technological innovations and their negotiation are also grounded in local historical and social contexts. By bringing together scholars who study Africa’s technology landscape, this panel will explore, among others, perspectives on authenticity and contextualization. How do technologists, experts, and entrepreneurs integrate local knowledge into their innovations? In what ways do African societies adapt technology to meet their local needs? How do colonialism and its legacies continue to influence technological developments in Africa and their global opportunities? If efforts are being made to decolonize technology and promote African-led innovation, what forms do these new technologies take? In what ways do diaspora communities use technology to exchange and negotiate symbols and resources? As technological innovations constantly emerge across the continent, considerations around inclusivity, equity, data privacy, and digital divides remain essential. By challenging notions of “technological triumphalism” as well as “Afro-pessimism”, this panel seeks to stimulate critical discussions and inspire novel research about the dynamic of technology futures in global Africa.
To participate in this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Davide Casciano ( davide@casciano.info ) by December 1, 2023.
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
Email: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
+++++++++
Call for Participants
Innovative Teaching in/about Africa/Nigeria, LSA 2024
Building on the successful and exciting play test of Hands off Africa! at LSA 2023, this session will focus on innovative teaching in or about Africa with a focus on Nigeria.
Evidence based research consistently highlights the importance of teaching that uses active learning, unconventional texts, and other innovative approaches to fuel students' curiosity, motivate intrinsic learning, and produce durable learning outcomes. The sage on the stage approach can only go so far!
As it is currently constituted, this session includes panelists who will talk about their use of sequential art in the classroom as well as the development of game-based international virtual exchanges (IVE). Several more panelists are needed. Send a brief description of what you might want to contribute to ericcovey1974@gmail.com.
++++++++
Call for Panelists
Filmic Decoloniality? Comedy, Digital Skits, and Popular Culture in Africa
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizer: Folakemi Owolabi Ogungbe (Pan-Atlantic University)
This panel continues the conversation on comedy and skit-making at the session I organized at the 7th Lagos Studies Association Conference in June 2023. Today, critics argue that skit-making has revolutionized the representation of African people, institutions, and practices from the perspective of liberalization of technology and the circumvention of the conventional path of filmmaking. Skit-making is disturbing the dominant idealization of filmmaking, directing, production, and circulation. The decolonial angle to skit-making, therefore, includes representation and the breaking of shackles of domination. But decolonization is more than a representation of “authentic” African culture or removal of remnants of imperialism to include rethinking elements of coloniality in decolonization projects.
This panel welcomes contributions that go beyond a scene-by-scene analysis of skits to include theoretically sound participation that place comedy skits within the broader social, political, and economic structures of 21st-century Nigeria. A contribution stating that skit creation is a response to youth unemployment would be inadequate for this panel, which seeks to build new and deep discursive analysis around the lived experience of the filmmakers, their communities, and the historicity of the narratives and visualities they produce within the frames of decoloniality. Misrepresentation, cultural ordering, un-Africaness, cosmopolitanism, sexualization of women, and violence, among other critiques of comedy skits, should be framed to problematize preexisting ones while showing the new dimensions they have taken.
To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Folakemi Owolabi Ogungbe (folakemiogungbe@gmail.com) by December 1, 2023.
++++++++
Call for Panelists
A Spectacle of Ignominy: African Traditional Political Institutions in Modern Democracies
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: November 30, 2023
In September 2023, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo during the official commissioning of a satellite campus of the Ladoke Akintola University in Iseyin rebuked some Yoruba kings for not showing respect by standing up as he entered the event venue. He subsequently commanded them to sit and stand—in a style reminisce of military dictatorship and the unending legacies of colonial coercive power in 21st-century Nigeria. The primitive display of superior Yoruba patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity was just a fraction of what one could call, “a spectacle ignominy” that Obasanjo initiated and supervised at the event.
Obasanjo’s deliberate attack on traditional institutions has a long history. It dates to centuries of conquest of political institutions and societies by superior powers. However, during the colonial era, it began to take a firm root when white colonial officers introduced a new political system—the infamous Indirect Rule—that undermined the power of traditional institutions. From the era of decolonization, African elites who took the rein of power from the colonialists continued the violence against indigenous institutions by creating a political system that placed, even a local government chairperson, above the highest ranked traditional ruler in the ranking of authority. For them, it was a payback time for the natural rulers, whom they saw as “collaborators” in the colonial enterprise.
This panel seeks to extend the discourse of traditional political power in 21st-century Nigeria beyond a one-dimensional engagement of the violence that modern politics has unleashed on indigenous institutions. Rather, it seeks to unpack all the tension initiated by a wide range of people within indigenous political systems and evolving democracy practiced in 21st-century Nigeria. What are the changes and continuities in the adaptions of traditional political institutions to modern democracies? What kinds of patronage systems exist between and among a wide range of political actors? What is the future of traditional institutions in modern democracy? Put succinctly, are traditional political institutions anachronistic in the 21st century?
If you would like to participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract to lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com latest November 30
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
Email: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
+++++++++
Call for Panelists
Rupturing African Cultural Memories and Identities in New Nigerian Dramas from 2010 to date
The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date
June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: November 25, 2023
Panel Organizer: Olabode Wale Ojoniyi (University of Maiduguri)
Following the announcement of Lagos Studies Association 2024 Conference Theme as ‘African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion,’ this panel seeks papers that interrogate how new dramas on the Nigerian Theatre stage from 2010 to date deconstruct, in the process, rupture, and, perhaps, reconstruct and shift African cultural memories and identities. Such rupturing and shifting discourse should be located within the realities of the conflicts of globalization, neo-colonization, absurdism, feminist discourse, gendering and identity/space/power renegotiations. The focus should also be on how these new dramas challenge and shift received cultural memories in relation to the discourse around African world view as espoused by the works of the First Generation of Nigeria Playwrights like Soyinka and Clark without glamorizing any ideological commitment to Marxism of most of the Second Generations playwrights and, perhaps, the Third Generation. In essence, the panel seeks to interrogate new trends in the dramas.
The sub–themes include, but not limited to, the following areas:
Drama and African myths
Drama and African folklores
Drama and dislocated memories
Drama and African philosophy/aesthetics
Drama, migration, nostalgia and extagia
Drama and politics of identity
Drama and cultural framing
Feminist rupturing
Abstracts to be submitted to Olabode Wale Ojoniyi @ performingartsedu44@gmail.com and copied to olabode.ojoniyi@unimaid.edu.ng Deadline; November 25, 2023.
+++++++++
Call for Panelists
New Directions in Benin Studies
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Format: Hybrid-In person (University of Lagos) and Virtual
Date: June 25-29, 2024
Panel Organizer: Pat Iziengbe Ebuka-Onuoha (University of Benin)
Benin is one of the most studied African polities. Scholarship on Benin has been built on centuries of oral and textual documentation about indigenous transformation and diplomatic, political, and economic relations with the wider world. From local intelligentsias like Jacob Egharevba to professional historians like Benson Osadolor, Victor Edo, and Uyilawa Usuanlele, among others, Benin has provided the template for unmasking the veils of great African civilizations, for engaging the contradictions of colonial encounters, and for coming to terms with the unending legacies of British imperialism in Africa. If Benin is at the center of the restitution of African arts in the 21st century, it is the fulcrum on which provocative debates on global sex trade and human trafficking are built.
What should be the new frontiers in Benin studies in the third decade of the 21st century? What is the future of documentation on Benin?
What role should digital humanities play in the archiving of Benin history? How is the restitution of Benin arts unlocking new perspectives about global inequality in the creative world and the continuous threat that poverty, corruption, and political instability pose to the survival of ancient artifacts in Africa?
The aim of this panel goes beyond the need to rethread the wheel of Benin’s history and culture since the pre-colonial era. In addition, it seeks contributions that revisit past historiographies with the aim of shedding new light or using previously untapped sources to (re) read existing narratives in new ways. It welcomes participation that engages contemporary 21st-century developments as a touchstone for understanding the past, that centers marginalized communities, and that amplifies silent voices.
Interested participants should send their bios and short abstract to iziengbe.omoregie@uniben.edu by January 1, 2024.
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
Email: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
++++++++++
A Panel for Lagos Studies Association Conference, June 2024.
Ololade Asake’s Music and African Popular Entertainment
‘‘Omo Ope’’ was one of the musical titles that called attention to Ololade Asake who began to earn fame and artistic glory around 2022, one of the years of COVID 19 Pandemic. Since then, Asake has performed alongside some of the most important Nigerian Hip Hop musicians such as Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Davido, Olamide Adedeji, and others. In fact, Asake has, himself, become an indispensable musician and superstar. He has produced two albums; Mr. Money with the Vibe (2022) and Work of Art (2023). In August and September 2023, respectively, Asake’s concerts sold out the 20,000 audience capacity 02 Arena in London and 19,000 audience capacity Barclay Hall in New York. Asake has been able to establish himself as a global star whose music celebrates the African and, particularly, Yoruba identities. Kofi Agawu argues that African music has three significant components; ‘‘repetition, allusive quality, and contemplative capacity’’ (Representing African Music, 2003: 145). Asake’s music demonstrates the three virtues that Agawu theorizes. Asake’s music provides sufficient resources for scholarly engagement. It is on this note that I call for abstract submissions for a panel that engages the music of Asake. The sub–themes include, but not limited to, the following subjects;
Asake and African Identity
The Poetry of Asake’s Music
The Lyrical Powers of Asake’s Music
Asake and the Digital Space
Asake and Media Studies
Asake’s Music, Fashion, and Youth Culture
Asake, Dance and Choreography
Asake and Language Aesthetics
Women in Asake’s Music
Asake on Stage: Fandom, Audience, and Stage Craft
Asake and Inter–Genre Music: Juju and Fuji in Asake’s Hip Hop Music
Fame and Musical Glory: Asake Alive and Mohbad in Death
Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, and Olamide in Asake’s Music
Abstracts should be submitted to Pelumi Folajimi; pelumifolajimi@yahoo.com Deadline; November 27, 2023.
Advice: Abstracts should have the following features;
About 250 Words,
The Name of the Author,
The Institutional Affiliation of the Author,
The Email Address of the Author,
The Phone Number of the Author (optional); and
Short Auto–Bio of the Author.
++++++++++
Call for Panelists
Who Wan Blow? The Hustle for Fame & Fortune in Africa
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizer: Rosemary Popoola (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
One of the many identities in modern Africa is the venerated figure of a celebrity and the many pleasures, polemics, and possibilities that the image of being famous offers. Over the years, competitions aimed at helping people attain celebrity status through diverse avenues—from beauty pageants and sports tournaments, to dance competitions and reality TV shows have emerged. Examples of these fame-seeking competitions are the MTN Project Fame; Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Big Brother Africa, and Maltina Dance All, among others. Even the new digital culture platforms of blogging, podcasts, and other forms of content creation aimed to turn “ordinary” people into famous personalities.
This panel is interested in the hustle for celebrity status and fame in Africa. Hustle here transcends the “muscle,” “labor,” “grit,” and physical “strength” of fame, to include references, among others, to entrepreneurship, self-fashioning, theatrics, and the mathematique of fame. Jesse Shipley captures the ambivalence of hustle, noting that its “popular usage has a dual morality, defining both life possibilities and its constraints, legal aspiration and illicit value accumulation” (p.221). Simply put, hustle is the social production of becoming a celebrity.
Questions that animate this panel are among others: what are the moralities of becoming famous? What avenues and processes do fame seekers deploy? What are the motivations for becoming famous? We hope to move beyond socio-economic factors as the primary driving motivations or a reductionist explanation of the desire for wealth, to reflect on complex, nuanced, and thorough analysis of the past, present, and future of hustle for fame. How do famous people sustain their fame? How do the social (re)production, patronage, sponsorship, and various communication technologies from old to contemporary new media impact the rise to fame? What tension and complexities shape becoming famous? We welcome analytically rigorous, locally rooted, state-of-the-art theorizing, and empirically rich submissions that engage a multidisciplinary approach to hustle for fame from both national and regional contexts.
If you are interested in the panel, submit your abstract to Rosemary Popoola, latest December 1. Email address: rpopoola@wisc.edu
Reference
Shipley, J. W. (2013). Living the Hiplife: celebrity and entrepreneurship in Ghanaian popular music. Duke University Press.
+++++++++
Proverbs, African Identity and Cultural Institution in the 21st Century and Beyond.
The 8th Annual International Conference of Lagos Studies Association (LSA)
Conference Theme: African Identities: People, Cultures and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: 25th – 29th June, 2024.
Abstract Deadline: November 30th, 2023.
Panel Organiser: Ruth Epochi-Olise (Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike) & Joy Odewumi (Lagos State University of Education, Ijanikin).
African culture, broadly defined, is a vast and complex entity spanning multiple countries, languages, societies, and ethnic groups, each with a unique history, traditions and customs that contribute to a collective identity. One of the salient ways this identity is communicated and preserved is proverbs. Proverbs are used extensively throughout Africa for a variety of purposes, ranging from daily conversation, teaching, and dispute resolution, to fostering communal relationships (Mbiti, 1990). African proverbs are important and vital in the linguistic and cultural experience of the people; guaranteeing lessons in the areas of wisdom, morals, and warnings distilled from generations of oral and communal history.
Proverbs in traditional African societies serve as metaphors for encapsulating African philosophy, worldview, and complex ideas. They elucidate experiences, values, and beliefs, fostering societal cohesion and communication. Proverbs provide a robust intellectual window into African societies, shaping their social, cultural, and moral fabric. Therefore, exploring African proverbs in shaping and reflecting cultural identity and how these traditions may evolve or adapt over time to the changing social dynamics, globalization, and modernization may enable us appreciate and comprehend the uniqueness of the African identity and its cultural institution.
This panel aims to enhance scholarship on African identity and cultural institutions; so, it calls for papers that seek to examine how proverbs are perceived, their hermeneutics, and their role as identity shapers. It will welcome contributions on how people reconceptualise the notions of proverbs and their components in innovative and interdisciplinary discourses in contemporary times.
Sub-themes include, but not limited to the following areas
· African Proverbs and the Shaping of Identity
· The Use of Proverbs in Traditional African Family Structures
· Impact of Nigerian Proverbs on Modern African Society
· Changing Perception of African Proverbs in a Globalized World
· African Proverbs: Language as a Vehicle of Culture and Identity
· Representation of Social Values and Norms in African Proverbs.
· Hermeneutics Approach to Interpreting African Proverbs
· African Cultural Institutions as Reflected in Proverbs
· Influence of Proverbs on African Cultural Practices
· Understanding African Society through the Lens of Proverbs
· Proverbs as tools of communication in the African cultural setting
· Proverbs and the Transmission of African Traditional Values and Beliefs
· The Connection between Proverbs and African Folklore in Cultural Institutions.
To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Ruth Epochi-Olise:
epochi-olise.ruth@funai.edu.ng or Joy Odewumi: odewunmijo@lasued.edu.ng
by 30th November, 2023.
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
++++++++
Call for Panelists.
Gendered Identities: Sexual Narratives, Body Politics, and Agency of Women in Contemporary Nollywood Films
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizer: Olusegun Soetan (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Identity has always been a recurring theme in African cinema. From Ousmane Semebene to Tunde Kelani, African cineastes have always engaged different identities in their works to express dissatisfaction with colonialism, challenge neocolonialism, and refute other demeaning representations that putatively described Africans as derivatives of other modernity and as subjects of imperial centers. Notably, a few filmmakers on the continent, especially women, have made movies about gendered identities to counter stereotypical claims about women and contend with narratives that impose phallocentric ideologies on them. In this case, gendered identities explore the nuances of multiple-subject positioning in contemporary Nollywood films. Therefore, this panel's goal is to focus on how Nollywood filmmakers depict the diversity of identities that form, explain, project, and defend various iterations of African womanhood. Beyond the cliched and simplistic representations of women as strong, resourceful, energetic, and custodians of cultural institutions of their societies or as the helpless, domesticated victims of hegemonic powers, this panel invites scholars whose works examine, explain, theorize, and complicate the overlapping performances of gender, nationality, class, ethnicity, sexuality, agency, traditional rites, cultural expectations, and modernity that contribute to the subjugation of women and suppression of their multiple identities. Thus, the panel tasks scholars to explore how Nollywood films negotiate space for women, commit to recovering suppressed agencies, celebrate women's empowerment, or how the movies reify gendered stereotypes and/or circulate ideologies that attack national and transnational identities that so many African women wear/rely on for survival. Specifically, the panel encourages prospective panelists to focus their contributions on the movies of Tunde Kelani, Kemi Adetiba, Kunle Afolayan, Biodun Stephen, Niyi Akinmolayan, Genevieve Nnaji, Ishaya Bako, and Mildred Okwo. That being said, panelists should feel free to choose any movie made between 2010 and 2023 for their analysis.
To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Olusegun Soetan (soetan@wisc.edu) by December 1, 2023.
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
++++++++
Call for Panelists
Extortion at the Intersections: Insights from Africa and Beyond
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizers: Davide Casciano (KU Leuven) and Lucia Michelutti (University College London).
As global interdependence deepens, extortion has flourished at a transnational level. This comparative panel aims to examine critically the multifaceted aspects of extortion practices within globalization processes, in Africa and beyond. While often perceived as a brutal means of profit, extortion can also be understood as an ambiguous form of care, protection, and patronage in different – often diasporic - contexts. We invite panellists who discuss extortion tactics, coercion networks, and intimidation within, between, and beyond African contexts. When extortion discourses and practices intersect with underground flows of goods, money, people, and information in and out of Africa, how do they affect different social relations, legal conceptions, identity formation, and people's lived experiences? Researchers from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to participate, exploring the intersection of extortion practices within power and gender dynamics, and their far-reaching effects on vulnerable populations, including refugees, migrants and urban marginal. This panel aims to advance interdisciplinary and comparative knowledge about how extortion practices also run along national and international legal and policy gaps, often challenging state sovereignty in Africa and beyond, redefining not just the economy but governance from a grassroots level. By examining extortion at the intersection of the illicit, licit, and consuetudinary, the contributions will help to gain insight into the often violent struggles for agency, survival, voice, and power within and beyond the African context.
To participate in this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Davide Casciano ( davide@casciano.info ) and Lucia Michelutti ( l.michelutti@ucl.ac.uk ) by December 1, 2023.
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: https://www.lagosstudies.org
Email: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
+++++++++++++
Call for Panelists
African Print Fabrics and Expressive Identities
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1
Panel Organizer: Angela Ifeoma Osuporu (University of Lagos)
Print fabric production in Africa started as a handicraft carried out on small scales by cottage industries and skilled artisans that uses available indigenous materials, and some of these prints include the adire-eleko of the Southwest, Adinkra stamped cloth, and Kente prints of Ghana, Kanga of Zanzibar and Swahili-speaking area, Bogolanfini mud cloth of the Bambara of Mali, Korhogo cloth from the Senufo of the Ivory Coast and the Dogon cloth of Burkina Faso. However, today, some of these indigenous print fabrics can also be produced using machines as a result of the people’s technological advancement or European imitation of the indigenous prints which started in the 18thCentury. Europeans introduced a mechanical device for print fabric mass production but could not consume it because of the imperfections of the prints which made them see the fabric as inferior.
For this reason, they introduced the machine print fabric into Africa by the mid-19th century and brand named it “African Print” However, Africans saw perfection in the European's imperfection and embraced the print fabric. Today, when it comes to Expression of identity, African print fabrics are typical examples of fabrics that speak volumes amongst West Africans generally and Nigeria in particular. Furthermore, Print Fabric as a cloth is not only identified for its protection and warmth. It has been used to express individual status and /or the values of a group they identified. The print fabric has also been identified in Africa as a means to communicate information in terms of color, design, and pattern which speaks to our culture, heritage, history and identity hence, proclaiming fabric for individual, gender, status, age, religion, ethnic groups, collective, sustainability and establishment of identity and many more in various ways.
This panel will be focusing on how print fabric has been used differently in various ways to bring about a sense of identity in every way of life. This could be in apparel, body adornment, artists /creativity in art pieces, interior and environmental displays. Consequently, the panel task scholars to explore how print fabrics generally have been used to create identity in various ways; personal identity, artistic identity, cultural identity, collective identity /shared identity, diasporic identity, ethnic identity, national identity, feminine identity, unique identity, environmental identity and a whole lots of identities.
To participate in this panel send your abstract to Angela Ifeoma Osuporu latest January 1. olis_gela@yahoo.com
++++++
Call for Panelists
Panel Theme: African Clothing, Dress and Fashion: Past, Present, and Future
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25 – 29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: Friday, December 8th, 2023
Panel Organizer: Morolake Dairo (Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University) and Mutiat Oladejo (Department of History, University of Ibadan)
In the past few decades, the African fashion industry has significantly gained attention amongst both local and global consumers. The estimation of the social and economic opportunities linked to the growth of the African fashion sector can positively change the future of the continent and attract various opportunities including tourism and international dominance. While, the continent may be taking giant leaps in this area, it is important to acknowledge the history of African clothing, dress and fashion while questioning the present situations to adequately reposition this sector for the future.
This panel seeks to explore the interconnected links between the past and the future of the African fashion landscape, by asking important questions such as – What defines African fashion? Is it the fabric or the “African-inspired” motifs? Can Louis Vuitton bags be described as African products since some of their leather can be traced to Kano tanneries? What defines cultural appropriation in the case that the popular African Ankara fabric is of Dutch origin but African-inspired? And many more.
Till date, communities such as the Bonwire community in Ghana are markers of verbal and economic histories. What does the future hold for such communities considering technological developments? Why has the African Oja (Yoruba) or baby wrap not advanced in design to become a global phenomenon, but international baby wraps and carriers continue to trend locally? This panel welcomes the interrogation of some of these questions and seeks to encourage critical discussions as well as stimulate ground-breaking research within this area.
To participate in this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Morolake Dairo (morolakedairo@gmail.com) and cc Mutiat Oladejo (oladejomutiat@yahoo.com)
The panel welcomes discourses on the following sub-themes but not limited to;
- Defining African Fashion: The African Identity
- African Creative Industries: Fashion, Film and Music
- African Fashion Cities and the African Fashion Economy
- African Fashion/Dress Theories
- African Dress: Historical Antecedents
- Sustainable African Fashion Histories
- Gender and African Fashion
- The African Second-Hand Fashion Market: Sustainability and Waste Colonialism
- Prospects of African Fashion/ Dress/ Clothing: AI, Metaverse, Virtual influencers
- Intersection of westernisation and local practices in the African fashion industry
+++++++
Call for Panelists
Gendering Popular Culture: The Life and Times of African Women Musicians
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1
---
In March 1978, Adunni Decency (Sherifatu Oladunni Oduguwa), a female guitarist and leader of an all-male juju music band, died. Born in 1949 in Odo Noforija (Epe area of modern Lagos State), Adunni Decency is important in African popular culture, not only because she was a contemporary of some of the biggest names across musical genres of the 1970s, but because she played her music to the highest level of perfection. Academics know little to nothing about Adunni Decency, like many other female artists like Salawa Abeni, Christy Uduak Essien-Igbokwe, and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, because research on popular culture has continued to favor men—not because women’s art is/was not sophisticated.
This panel seeks to complement the scholarship on African women, gender, and feminism. In shedding a bright light on the careers of African women musicians, we ask for contributions that go beyond emphasizing how they navigated a male-dominated world, to treating the women as ingenious artists, thoughtful composers, critical commenters on socio-political issues, and above all humans with their own emotions, feelings, and flaws. We welcome discourses that build from, not into, the lives and times of these women to make sophisticated conceptual and theoretical frames. We are particularly interested in discourses that connect the politics of gender and sexuality of women artists with the contemporary discourse of self-realization and collective action against injustices, unfairness, and misrepresentations.
If you would like to participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract to lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com latest January 1.
Learn more about LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
+++++++
Call for Panelists
The Ties that Bind: African Marriage Culture and Identities in the 21st century
The 8thAnnual International Conference of Lagos Studies Association (LSA)
Conference Theme: African Identities: People, Cultures and Institutions in Motion.
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: 25th-29thJune, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 30, 2023.
Panel Organizers: Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani (University of Nigeria) & Nmesoma Joy Ugwu (University of Nigeria)
---
Africa is a continent of incredible diversity, boasting a tapestry of cultures, languages, and traditions. The concept of marriage is a universal phenomenon which cuts across races of all ages and cultures in spite of the diversity of customs, forms, and functions. It is regarded as a complex of social, political, religious, and economic systems which covers diverse aspects of the society as family and community relationships, sex and sexuality, inheritance, and even political power (as rulership particularly in the past resided in specific and designated families both the secular and the religious). Central to the notion of identity in Africa is the rich and intricate tapestry of marriage culture that has been woven into the fabric of the continent for centuries.
Marriage culture in Africa stands as a profound expression of African heritage, reflecting the values, norms and aspirations of its people. African traditions have not only survived the test of time but continue to play a vital role in shaping African identities. By examining the historical dimension of marriage culture, scholars can uncover the origins, transformations, and adaptations of these traditions, shedding light on how they have contributed to the richness of African identity. This topic intends to capture the essence of African marriage culture as an integral component of African identity, emphasizing the intricate and enduring nature of these traditions that have been woven into the fabric of Africa for centuries.
This panel invites scholars to delve deep into the multifaceted themes of how marriage culture contributes to African identity formation in the 21st century.
Subthemes for this panel includes but not limited to the following:
· Gender dynamics and power in Post-colonial African marriage
· Marriage as an economic and social institution and its impact on African societies.
· Marriage and African identity in the diaspora
· Polygamy in African marriage culture: realities and contemporary debates.
· Influence of religion/ethnicity in African marriage culture.
· Narratives and representations of African marriages in media and literature.
· Same-sex marriage in Africa
· Marriage and identity politics in contemporary Africa.
· Marriage as a cultural showcase
· LGBTQ+ perspectives and emerging trends in African unions.
· Challenges and opportunities for preserving and revitalizing traditional marriage culture.
· The extravagance and opulence of African marriage culture as an African identity.
To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Dr. Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani : ngozika.obi-ani@unn.edu.ng or Nmesoma Joy Ugwu: ugwunmesomajoy20@gmail.com by December 30, 2023.
++++++++
Call for Panelists.
Of Streets and Streeters: New Horizons in African Urban Space Epistemologies
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizer: Bánkólé Wright
This panel invites submissions that are seeking new ways of (re)imagining African streets beyond their conventional framings as significant political and economic power. Epistemologies of the street as a physical space and a locus of architecture, planning and activities have been the characteristic focus of the street within urban imagination.
However, this panel seeks to reimagine and reconceptualize the street as a phenomenon of existence: of identity, culture, and belonging. It moves beyond the discourses that examine the street as a microcosm of the broader state power that rewards, punishes, and distributes resources based on primordial sentiments. This panel is interested in engaging with the African street from its practical, physical, metaphoric, and embodied dimensions, in spatiotemporal and transient perspectives, and within overlapping variables of class, race, gender, and ethnicity, space claiming, among other dynamics. In intellectualizing the African street, the panel asks for innovative epistemological framings that center previously unknown actors and ideas or rethink existing ones towards innovative ways of foregrounding the street as an important phenomenon in urban imagination.
To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Bánkólé Wright (bbank015@fiu.edu) by December 1, 2023.
----------
Call for Panellists
Africanizing Animals: Agency, Modernity, and Colonial Nonhumans in History
The 8th International Conference of the Lagos Studies Association (LSA)
Conference Theme: African Identities: People, Cultures and Institutions in Motion.
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: 25th-29thJune, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 30, 2023.
Panel Organizer: Ṣeun Sedẹ Williams (The Geneva Graduate Institute)
-------
Ours is a multispecies world through and through, and so is world-making. It goes without saying that it takes much more than humans to make social reality. Like humans, animals have always played critical roles in shaping history and the world. Our humanity, indeed, in many ways ties up intricately with the nonhuman. This fact plays out in virtually every aspect of social phenomena, everywhere on the continent and beyond. Whether it is in our exploitation of the materiality of animals for food, clothing, security, companionship, transportation, as capital, for spiritual propitiation and as totems, etc., or in our metaphorical conflation of their unique attributes for projecting or extending our human persona or national character. What is more, our framing of the African diaspora must be of necessity expanded to include nonhuman beings, just as numerous animals qualify for inclusion in the class of colonial agents in Africa. Indeed, the African nonhuman is and has always been a veritable historical actor, subject and object. This panel invites presentations from scholars and researchers interrogating the role of the nonhuman in African history. Works that go beyond the conceit of human triumphalism and/or adopt the multispecies lens for centering the strong nexus that exists between humans and nonhumans for shaping social reality are especially sought.
To participate in this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and short bio to Ṣeun Williams (oluwaseun.williams@graduateinstitute.ch) on or before December 30, 2023.
------
Call for Panelists
More than Hustle and Hustlers: Intellectual and Creative Activities in Lagos
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: December 1
Panel Organizer: Aduke Gomez (Independent Scholar)
LSA 2022 featured a roundtable of artists, public intellectuals, and culture advocates committed to the vital, but under-valued and under-appreciated, intellectual and creative activities in Lagos, and organized by LSA 2022 Distinguished Personality Award winner Aduke Gomez. We are calling for participants for this crucial roundtable again, at LSA 2024.
Lagos is more than a city of hustle and hustlers. Book clubs, literary festivals, photo and art exhibitions, creative performances by theater groups, and documentary film screenings are among the intellectually and artistically sophisticated projects that attract a lot of people. This roundtable aims to reflect on the role that literary and cultural activities play in the intellectual lives of Lagos and Lagosians. What are the missions of these events? What does it mean to inject literary and artistic activities into city life? What is the political economy of art in a city that is more concerned about 21st-century modernity notions of development than the intellectual life of the residents? What are the challenges confronting Lagos literary and intellectual community?
If you would like to participate in this roundtable, send a short description of your presentation to
lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com latest January 1, 2024
-------
Call for Panelists
Subversive Spaces: Fluidity of African Urban Locations Across Eras
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1
Across Africa, urban spaces—private or public, secular or holy, government or civil, etc.—have undergone significant transformation due to shifts in the philosophy of space management, violence and wars, economic exigencies, conflicting urban planning ideologies, gentrification, social activism, population explosion and contraction, and environmental degradation to mention but a few. In thinking about the social life of urban spaces, scholars are traditionally drawn to humans’ creative deployment of talents, survival instincts, and economic resources to imagine the future and uncommon possibilities for communities beyond what the present holds. From a colonial prison to a site of creative impulses, as we see in the case of Freedom Park in Lagos, African urban spaces' evolution and transformation cannot be understood in isolation of broader urban governance and tension over rights and privileges.
This panel seeks contributions about the numerous iterations that specific urban spaces, which include buildings, structures, and institutions, have undergone. It conceptualizes subversive spaces as unending multiple iterations that manifest, practically and fictionally, in different shades. Memory is only a fraction of how subversive spaces are configured or are mentally constituted. Tension over ownership and legacies of subversive spaces is always an unending process, not only because each era brings different concerns without eliminating the old, but also because spaces as sites of constellation hold significant sway in public consciousness or imagination of exclusion and belonging.
If you would like to participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract to lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com latest January 1.
Learn more about the LSA Conference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: lagosstudies.org
-------------------------
Call for Panelists
Contesting One Nigeria:
Separatist and Political Agitations since the Fourth Republic
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
Panel Organizer: Omonye Angel Omoigberale (Babcock University)
Since Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999, new ferments of separatist agitations have emerged to expand the parameters of the old. They took a completely new turn in the recently concluded presidential elections of 2023, not only because of the call for fair political inclusion but also because of the feelings of political exclusions rooted in the ills of the past.
From debate over state police and federalism to the Niger Delta agitation over control of crude oil, to the unresolved agonies of the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), separatist agitations since 1999 have taken a new turn because of the advent of digital media, which liberalized political expressions, the rise of a new generation of young digital activists whose understanding of the consequences of past injustice do not always align with those preceding it, and unprecedented poverty that intensifies economic and political exclusions, to mention but a few.
This panel is therefore interested in all the divergent forms of separatist agitations and calls for political inclusion in Nigeria since 1999. How do politically neglected ethnicities and communities advocate for inclusion? What are the old and new avenues for the expression of political dissent? Why do different generations of Nigerians express political disagreement in different ways? How do secession projects become politicized? Or what does it mean to politicize a separatist project?
To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract to (omoigberaleo@babcock.edu.ng) by January 1, 2024.
__________
Call for Panelists
Temporal Tango: Navigating Paternity Controversies Across Eras
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
Panel Organizer: Olusegun Olatunji (Mississippi State University) ooo72@msstate.edu
Recently, social media and the Nigerian polity were awash with allegations of misattributed paternity stemming from infidelity within families. These instances of infidelity have resulted in either divorce, depression, or the sudden death of the putative father. For example, Moyo Thomas, a former First City Monument Bank (FCMB) employee, and Adam Nuhu, the Managing Director, were alleged to be involved in an extramarital affair. The claim suggested that Nuhu was the biological father of the two children in Moyo’s marriage. This revelation allegedly led to trauma, stroke, and the sudden death of Tunde Thomas, the legal husband to Moyo and the purported father of the two children. What was initially a private family matter became public, and social media warriors, driven by emotions, were determined to crucify Nuhu based on digital gossip. Their arguments were grounded in ethics and the alleged intimidation of the poor by the rich. Subsequently, an online petition, spearheaded by a group called "Justice for Tunde Thomas" and signed by about three thousand people, was directed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and FCMB, urging them to sack and prosecute Nuhu. Individuals with FCMB accounts also threatened to close their accounts. On X NG (formerly Twitter NG), DNA trended for days, awakening men to the potential horror of unknowingly raising another man's child(ren) in their homes and throwing numerous households into tumult.
Meanwhile, in the precolonial societies of Nigeria, marriage was not considered complete and could not be consummated without the payment of the bride price. Among other reasons, the payment of the bride’s price served to protect the wife from abuse, stabilize the union, connect the two families, and legitimize the paternity of any children resulting from the marriage. These customs favored bride price payment as the sole instrument validating and authenticating a child's paternity. Due to these laws and customs, biological fathers who did not pay the bride price often did not contest the paternity of children when doubts arose in the marriage. However, the arrival of British authority in 1861 and the subsequent introduction of English law, particularly the 1884 Marriage Act, provided a means to contest customary laws through English law. Consequently, cases involving the determination of child paternity were brought to the “native courts,” where judgments often favored nonbiological fathers based on “native law and custom.” On appeal, High Courts frequently overturned and dismissed such cases, arguing that the people’s customary laws were repugnant to natural justice, equity, and good conscience.
This panel is interested in understanding the trajectories of misattributed paternity across spaces and eras. The questions that guided this panel include but are not limited to: How does historical sensibility help us understand the cleavages of misattributed paternity across spaces and eras? Are we all not byproducts of misattributed paternity? What are the traditional methods used in authenticating a child’s paternity, and how potent are these methods? Is infidelity the sole cause of misattributed paternity? At what point should DNA testing be mandatory in marriages? Are men not culpable in cases of misattributed paternity? What does it matter if a child is raised by a putative and not a biological father? What roles do religions play? What are the post-trauma effects of misattributed paternity? How were cases involving a child's paternity resolved prior to 2003? What are the impacts of the 2003 Child Rights Act on paternity determination? How does social media (Track Nine Diplomacy) influence policy on misattributed paternity?
Interested participants should send their abstract to ooo72@msstate.edu.
"Universal Health Coverage without Equality: Role of Training & Diagnostic Technology
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Format: Hybrid (In-person, University of Lagos and Virtual) June 25-29
Deadline: January 20, 2024
Panel Organizer: Akindele Opeyemi
Given the growing concerns over low diagnostic accuracy with associated poor health outcomes in Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) took the initiative to develop an Essential Diagnostics List (EDL).
Just like the Essential Medicines List first launched in 1978, the WHO EDL was published as a guide for countries across the world, especially developing countries where over 80% of the population lack access to basic medical tests, to implement out-of-lab testing in community-based health facilities closest to the people.
Nigeria became the first country to develop a national EDL, when it launched the Nigerian Essential Diagnostic List in 2022 based on the WHO EDL. A close look at the Task Shifting Task Sharing Policy of the Federal Ministry of Health also reveals that healthcare professionals from diverse backgrounds (e.g. nurses, medical officers, community pharmacists, community health practitioners) are expected to be able to run tests on blood and urine samples as an integral part of essential healthcare delivery in community-based settings.
While interventions (such as HIV testing and management, COVID-19 vaccination in pharmacy, etc.) have been built on these policies, this panel seeks to understand the impact of these policies from the perspective of healthcare providers.
We seek contributions that explore questions on so many fronts.
How do they accelerate progress toward Universal Health Coverage? How is implementation affected by access to technology? What are the skills gaps and how are they being met across cadres among healthcare professionals? What are new constraints posed in terms of effective communication between providers of the service models, and how are they being tackled? How are essential diagnostic services accepted among consumers of healthcare? How do existing health technology serve or aid the objectives and operationalisation of the policy? How do healthcare providers leverage the policies to improve their revenue? Is brain drain being discouraged or encouraged by the policies?
We also welcome contributions that explore these issues using social science theories such as the theory of change, economic theory of incentive, etc.
We call for contributions from healthcare professionals, policy makers and implementation experts, sociologists, social scientists, public health experts, technology providers and developers etc.
Interested contributors should send an abstract of no more than 250 words to Akindele Opeyemi via opeyemiezekielakindele@gmail.com by January 20, 2024."
Call for Panelists!
Digital Neocolonialism: Capitalism and Global Information Technology
Conference: The 8thAnnual International Conference of Lagos Studies Association (LSA)
Conference Theme: African Identities: People, Cultures and Institutions in Motion.
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: 25th-29th June 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 20, 2024.
Panel Organizers: John Oluwaseye Adebayo (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA) & Opeyemi Rachael Oboh (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA).
-----------------
In the age of global advances in Information and Communication Technology, consumer behaviors and overdependence on digital platforms engagements continue to attract interferences by advanced society using different parameters. As a multidimensional and evolving scholarly landscape involving the intersection of humanities, technology, culture, economics, powers, ethics, and social influences, digital neocolonialism employs techno-determinism as a new dynamic through the point of convergence between digital capitalism and data colonialism. Although digital liberalization is recognized for heralding acceptable utility, its continuous advancement of the digital divide and digital capitalism through African data imperialism has yet to receive enough scholarly attention. Nevertheless, despite accepting the narratives of digital platforms as a beneficial democratizing global space, inherent therein are techno-digital compromises of digital neocolonialism.
Therefore, embedded in the euphoria of digital spaces is the need to explore the nexus between digital neocolonialism and underdevelopment that threatens African identities. As an initiative to Africanize digital technology, this panel seeks to unravel how global digital platforms use technology to advance neocolonialism through data gathering from people’s online behaviors. This exploration is imperative because the extensive conversation of the perceived benefits of digital platforms is overriding the big questions and dimensions of neocolonialism. Notably, inherent in the celebrated games of digital liberalization is the problem of capitalism tied to the use of global Information and Communication Technologies and digital spaces.
Presenters may consider (but may go outside these scopes) the following categories of themes, topics, and research questions:
Data extractions and exploitations on digital platforms
Privacy literacy, data extraction and ownership: Mechanisms for data extraction from the African continent
Cultural imperialism in the digital age
Algorithm biases in the design of Artificial Intelligence
Digital preservation of indigenous knowledge management as a means for sustainable African identities.
Effects of digital capitalism on African identities
7. Influence of data imperialism and colonialism on African identities: How does digital capitalism influence the flow of wealth and resources between Africa and technologically advanced regions?
8. Cultural Preservation and Erosion: How do digital technologies contribute to the preservation or erosion of African cultural identities, languages, and heritage?
How does the commodification of data contribute to the potential loss of culturally significant practices in African communities?
Digital Inclusion and Exclusion: How does the digital divide manifest in African societies, and what factors contribute to digital inclusion or exclusion?
To join in this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and short bio to John Adebayo (jadebayo@uwm.edu) and Opeyemi Oboh (oroboh@uwm.edu) by January 20, 2024.
Call for Panelists
Language, Urbanism, and Identity in Lagos
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
Panel Organizers: Taibat Lawanson and Abisoye Eleshin (University of Lagos, Nigeria)
The Lagos urban space consists of a pot-pouri of diverse cultures and linguistic dynamics and this situation has contributed to the identity concern in Lagos. It is important to note that the formation of the Lagos urban structure, including different enclaves has continued to generate interesting discourse, to the extent that the situation has led to distinct and diversified language situation in the identified enclaves. Suffice to state that, as an urbanised space, the language situation of Lagos has witnessed shift and contradictions to the existing linguistic dynamics in the literature. It is on this premise that this panel invite submissions seeking to investigate how the Lagos urbanization structure has affected the language situation of the city, and on the other hand, how the language-usage and expression have contributed to the form of urbanism in existence in Lagos. Some of the questions that will be raised in the panel include, how does language help urban development in Lagos? What is the distinct language situation of different enclaves in Lagos? How has the type of urbanization in Lagos contributed to the general linguistic concept in the city? How has the Lagos urban space contributed to the preservation of the people’s linguistic realities? The general panel idea focuses on how language and urbanization have been juxtaposed create the present Lagos.
Subthemes of the Panel include, but not limited to the following:
· Language and urbanism in Lagos
· Language and urban management in Lagos
· Urbanisation of Lagos
· Enclaves and languages in Lagos
· New language, new people in Lagos
· Lagos urbanism and identity
· Language and identity in Lagos
· Identity creation in Lagos
· Language management and organisation in urban Lagos
· Language, urbanism and policy making
Panelists should send a 250-word abstract and short bio indicating full name, Institutional affiliation(s), Email(s) and active phone number(s) to tlawanson@Unilag.edu.ng and aeleshin@unilag.edu.ng
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
--------
Call for Panelists
“The most vulnerable should take responsibility for their wellbeing”: Gendering sexual agency and reproductive health in Africa
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities, Peoples, Cultures and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: June 25th – 29th 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 8th 2024
Panel Organisers: Helen Ufuoma Ugah (Elizade University) and Laurenne Kemi Ajayi (University of Sussex)
What is the state of sexual agency among African women of reproductive age? How has this influenced access to reproductive health? What role do men play in women’s exercise of sexual agency? How have laws, policies, and religious and sociocultural values impacted claims for reproductive health? What power do emerging discourses on sexual agency hold in the African context?
Africa, regionally, has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the world, with unsafe abortion and abortion-related complications a significant contributor to these deaths (WHO, 2020). Nigeria is no exception; a recent study estimates there are 45.8 abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age, of which nearly two-thirds were unsafe (Bell et al, 2020). This has devastating consequences, yet illustrates an evident truth: women will continue to exercise bodily autonomy, even in the face of great risk.
Efforts to combat these figures are proliferating across the continent. Feminist networks are challenging the status quo, drawing on their uniquely African experience to provide healthcare, advice and education, and drive movements demanding reproductive justice. These forms of resistance face significant socio-cultural and religious challenges. However, gender norms remain prevalent, and discourses weaponising tradition against progress seek to both stigmatise and limit the agency of women and sexual minorities.
In the context of these tumultuous landscapes, this panel seeks scholarly contributions that address, explore and challenge these themes, considering historical, current, and emerging forms of sexual agency in Africa; how they intersect with sexual and reproductive health and rights; and how this might shape where we go from here.
If you are willing to join this panel, send your abstract to Helen Ugah by January 8, 2024. ugah.helen@gmail.com
Call for Panelists
Africa on the Move in the post-COVID-19 World
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
Organizer: Ìrìnkèrindò: A Journal of African Migration
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic had far-reaching effects on all aspects of human life, not least mobility and migration. Disruptions on internal and international mobility and restrictions on movement caused significant shifts in migration flows across Africa and between Africa and the world. Among other shifts, recent knowledge/evidence indicates that contrary to prevailing narratives of dominant African migration from the continent to Europe, North America and other parts of the ‘global north’, intra-African migration is on the rise. This panel by Ìrìnkèrindò: A Journal of African Migration seeks to explore, document and stimulate critical debate on (the) dynamics/trends and patterns in the migration and immigration of Africans around the continent, and from the continent to other parts of the world. We are interested in research that unpacks the past, present and future of migration in Africa and positions the continent as a point of origin, transit and destination.
Suggested themes:
We welcome paper submissions focused on Africa from multidisciplinary perspectives that respond but are not limited to the following themes:
Divergent effects of immigration law and policy restrictions on different migrant profiles (non-skilled, male vs. skilled women) and the various reasons they migrate; the importance of gender and migration and disaggregation of migration data by gender).
How can improving intra-African mobility affect migration outcomes?
(In)humane treatment of migrants in various countries/regions
The confluence of migrants from African countries and other irregular immigrants from other parts of the world entering the United States from its southern border from Mexico en route from several Latin American and Caribbean countries (the loss of African narratives in this trend, racist and inhuman treatment from traffickers, security agents of transit countries and particularly United States border security agents, etc.).
The mixed realities and lost narratives of African migrants’ experiences in Latin America.
Abysmal immigration laws and their implementation in the U.S., and the controversies surrounding the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. How does this affect Africans?
The frictions caused by US migration policy between Republican “red states” and Democratic “blue states” and the challenges of sanctuary cities.
Migration crises and the plight of African migrants in the Maghreb/North Africa:
Tunisia’s hardline stance against African migrants from sub-Saharan Africa
Natural disasters like the earthquake in Morocco and flooding in Libya and their effects on African migrants
The status of these states and regions as major transit routes for African and other migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
The hardline stance and policies of rightwing and conservative governments in Europe that want to outsource migration control to countries outside the EU and Europe (British government’s deal with Rwanda, the EU’s deals with North African countries, etc.).
The effects of post COVID-19 on resourcing migration (funding and humanpower in migration governance, management and prevention.
Gender dynamics of all the foregoing.
How to submit:
Please send all paper proposals and enquiries by email to info@africamigration.com by 1 January 2024 (23:59pm GMT)
Call for Panelists
Coming of Age and Rage: (Re) Thinking LGBTQIA+ Narratives in African Studies
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 15, 2024
Panel Organizer: Ikechukwu Asika (Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University)
Conversations around homosexuality, queerness, gender (non)binaries, and sexual otherness are often vexed and contentious in Africa; many African communities are oversensitive to discourses around them. Homosexuality is an area of experience that has not been granted a history by African writers but has, rather been greeted with ‘a sustained outburst of silence.’ This makes same-sex practices difficult to research in Africa because it is often considered a taboo and ‘unAfrican’. This is not unconnected to the hegemonic heterosexual orientation of African societies. Consequently, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic nuanced hostilities towards gender-diverse and non-heterosexual people are still prevalent and remain controversial subjects in Africa. Through precolonial norms on sex, colonial laws on sexuality, Christianity and Islam, heterosexual hegemony acquired dominance in Africa.
In African literature, films, and popular culture, homosexuality has been received and represented with troubling divergences. In fact, the first-generation of African writers, consciously omitted homosexuality from the content of African literature. Wazha Lopang notes that these writers who commented freely on colonialism, African identity and projected a strong, masculine image of a married male did not see any need of depicting an alternative sexuality. However, 21st-century Nigerian writing appear to be departing from this norm, prompting Raymond Williams to call it ‘emergent’ because it resists the dominant discourses in ways not previously done before and tells diverse stories about same-sex desire that are neither monothematic nor moralistic. African scholars and writers have weighed in on the theme of sexuality in Africa: Ifi Amadume and Nwando Achebe unearthed a range of issues and set the tone for the conversation on sexuality in Africa. Similarly, Neville Hoad’s African Intimacies, Zethu Matebeni, Surya Monro and Vasu Reddy’s Queer in Africa, and Mark Gevisser’s The Pink Line have insightfully engaged with public debates and questions of African homosexuality and homophobia within the global discourses of queer liberation and human rights. To be sure, queer narratives have come of age, and African scholars, in the past two decades, are boldly engaging and remediating the subject. However, despite these scholarly interventions, a lot of questions are yet to receive deserving scholarly attention:
What sexual norms existed in pre-colonial Africa and how have they transited in postcolonial times? What nuances of homophobia are prevalent and what are the emerging responses to questions of African homosexuality and homophobia in the context of the global discourse of queer liberation and human rights? How has postcolonial African literature/ scholarship questioned and blurred the contours of sexual identities towards a reordered sexual orientation for Africa? What new realities account for this resistance and how have new globalized queer identities aided by the communication revolution engineered fresh culture conflicts across postcolonial Africa? How does the intersection of literature and history shed light on the African brand of queerness and what intercultural outlooks can be inferred against those elsewhere? How can historical and literary intermediaries influence the search for an African theoretical model and praxis on queerness?
The panel aims to broaden the perspectives on the interstices of hegemonic heterosexual orientation, homosexual culture, and the politics of sexual representation in postcolonial Africa. It seeks to engage various scholarly mediums that serve as interventionist outlets for sustaining the socio-cultural awareness around homosexuality; stimulate discourses that previously had been neglected; raise conversations and enhance scholarship on queerness and LGBTQIA+ discourses in postcolonial Africa. The panel calls for papers that engage how non-heterosexuality is perceived in pre and postcolonial Africa, the nuanced cultural variations, and the rising sociocultural concern about queer identity across the globe especially its contestation, ‘coming out’ and ‘writing back’ amidst stigmatization in postcolonial Africa. The panel will welcome contributions on how scholars attempt to (re)write the narrative on same-sex relationships and contribute to the growing insights into the under-researched area of African sexuality, homophobic resistance, and remediation in postcolonial Africa. Importantly, how globalization, acculturation, and diasporic experiences are (re) shaping, (re)negotiating and reconceptualising sexuality in African humanities in contemporary times. Sub-themes include, but are not limited to the following areas:
Oral Tradition, culture, sexuality, and queerness in pre-colonial and postcolonial Africa.
Myths, propaganda, and the role of African humanities in deflating and supplying heuristic tools for reimagining queerness in postcolonial Africa.
Gender fluidity and deconstruction of the binary oppositions between male and female, men and women, straight and gay.
The intersection of literature and history in rewriting the discourse of African sexuality.
Variants of homophobia and sociocultural nuances in diverse postcolonial African societies and how memory, and cultural homogeneity influence scholarly/ literary productions that are hermeneutic tools to rethink culture and interrogate history.
Queer liberation, human rights, laws, socio-cultural dynamics and politics of sexuality in postcolonial Africa.
Emerging perspectives and responses to questions of African homosexuality and homophobia in the context of the global discourse of queer liberation and human rights.
Sexuality, trauma, resistance, and remediation of homophobia through a combined interrogation of history and literature.
Sexuality as a critical component in the (de)construction of class, race, ethnicity, masculinity, femininity, and subalternity.
Homophobic resistance and contestations and the interpretative accounts of violence, memory, negotiation, and coming-out in postcolonial Africa.
Films, theatre, literature, popular culture, Nollywood (homo)sexual stereotyping and coming of (r)age narratives.
The communication revolution, new globalized queer identities, and fresh culture conflicts across postcolonial Africa.
The role of the internet, anti-gay laws, and criminalization of same-sex relationships in popularizing and promoting homosexual activities and activism.
African brand of queerness and intercultural outlooks against nuanced practices elsewhere.
Queer theory, criticism, new epistemologies, methodologies, concepts, and the search for an African theoretical model and praxis on queerness.
Past, present and imagined future of LGBTQIA+ orientation in Africa.
Abstract: The Legacy of Internal Slavery in Contemporary Nigeria
Mary Afolabi and Boluwatife Akinro
(Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies)
Slavery in West Africa has long been a subject of academic discussion both within and outside the region. In contrast to claims that West Africans do not discuss the internal slave trade, scholars have documented examples of communal discourse around slavery in Sierra Leone (Shaw 2002), Cameroon (Argenti and Röschenthaler 2006), Ghana (Holsey 2008), Republic of Benin (Hahonou 2015), Niger (Rossi 2015) among others. These works highlight how slavery can play an important role in social identities and relationships, manifesting in spoken and unspoken norms. Contrary to these examples, there are few comprehensive studies on the contemporary legacy of domestic slavery in Nigerian scholarship. When slavery appears in public discourse, it is as a distant event, and its consequences in the present are rarely explored. In a 2019 speech remembering 400 years of trans-Atlantic slavery, former President Buhari made no mention of domestic slavery or its legacies in Nigeria. In 2022, Prof. Banji Akintoye, leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM), tendered an apology to victims of the slave trade that exclusively addressed slave descendants in the Americas. The same externalist focus is present in major slave museums and in the 1993 push for slavery reparations led by the late politician Moshood Abiola (Ajayi and Vogt 1993). But if, as Shaw posits, “there are other ways of remembering the past than by speaking of it” (2002, 2), this lack of public discourse does not indicate the irrelevance of domestic slavery to Nigerian society. In this vein, our panel discussion would challenge contributors to discuss the forms that slavery discourse takes in contemporary Nigeria and the extent to which it conditions relations in the “primordial” and “civic” publics (Ekeh 1975).
We invite students, scholars and community members to submit abstracts for individual paper presentations dealing broadly with the legacy of slavery in contemporary Nigeria. Potential research questions include, but are not limited to:
● Does Nigeria have a culture of censorship around slavery discourse?
● Are there cultural or material legacies of slavery in the present?
● How have community identities been formed or changed by internal slavery?
● How does slavery discourse vary in different places and among different actors (e.g. traditional elites, descendants of enslaved people, civil society groups, etc.)?
● How do Nigerian educational institutions engage the topic of internal slavery?
● How has the historiography of slavery influenced, or been influenced by, societal relations in the civic or primordial publics?
● How have Nigerian museums memorialized slavery?
Interested contributors should submit a proposed title, a 250-word abstract, a brief author biography, and contact details including email address, institutional affiliation and position. Please submit this information as a single-spaced Word document in Times New Roman 12-pt font to mafolabi@uni-bonn.de and bakinro@uni-bonn.de by 15 January, 2024. Please note that PDF submissions will not be accepted.
Works Cited
Ajayi, Ade J. F and Margaret Vogt. 1993. “Proceedings of the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations. April 27-29, 1993, Abuja”. Research and Documentation Committee of the OAU Group of Eminent Persons for Reparations (RADOC).
Argenti Nicolas and Röschenthaler Ute. 2006 “Introduction: Between Cameroon and Cuba: Youth, Slave Trades and Translocal Memoryscapes”, Social Anthropology, 14, no. 1: 33-47.
Ekeh, Peter P. 1975. “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 17, no. 1: 91–112.
Hahonou, Éric Komlavi. 2015. “The Quest for Honor and Citizenship in Post-Slavery Borgu (Benin).” The International Journal of African Historical Studies 48, no. 2: 325–44.
Holsey, Bayo. 2008. Routes of Remembrance: Refashioning the Slave Trade in Ghana. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rossi, Benedetta. 2015. “African Post-Slavery: A History of the Future.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies 48, no. 2: 303–24.
Shaw, Rosalind. 2002. Memories of the Slave Trade: Ritual and the Historical Imagination in Sierra Leone. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Call for Panelists
African Dance Virality, Technology, and Popular Culture
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 15, 2024
Panel Organizer: Oluwatoyin Olokodana-James Ph.D (University of Lagos)
How does a dance go viral? How does a dance originating from one African country travel across national boundaries to become “African.” Dance as an element of culture occupies an alpha space; it has, in recent times, become a rallying point for emergent cultures and identities all around the world. The obliteration of time and space and the erasure of the ephemerality or transitoriness of form are some of the many advantages of dance in today's world. From the traditional and social genres of dance created via embodying ritual propitiation and occupational enterprise to biological compositions and social events/ celebrations, dance generally has, from time immemorial, been regarded as a universal language and continues to play that role in maximum capacity. Little wonder then that the dance world has become a glocal concept engaged in by all and sundry toward different ends. The advancement of technology and the explosion of popular culture in Africa through different mass media mechanisms are the vehicles by which the African dance of the contemporary world has reached different parts of the globe and made immeasurable impacts, noted mainly for aesthetic, performative, economic, and socio-cultural functionality. Therefore, the virality of African dance has been occasioned by the intersection of these concepts towards popularising the genre, bringing collaboration between virtual artists and audiences.
This panel invites papers that address the connections and the gaps between African Dance, Technology, and Popular Culture, and the theme revolving around but not limited to the following.
African Dance and Technology in Glocal Age
African Dance Virality, Extent, Boundaries, and Limitations
African Dance, Diaspora Experience, and Popular Culture
African Dance Virality: Theories and Theorising Concepts
African Dance Identities and Emergent Forms within Popular Culture Space
African Dance and Global Trends
African Dance Virality and Technological Limitations
African Dance, Gender and the Performative in the Technological Age
African Dance, The Virtual Artistes, and Virtual Audiences
African Dance and Global Music World Culture
To participate in this panel and present a paper, an abstract of not more than 300 words and a short bio of about 100 words should be submitted to olokodanajames@gmail.com, not later than January 15, 2024.
Call for Panelists
Global Entanglements: African Identities in Transnational Spaces
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: February 16, 2024
Panel Organizer: Samson Akanni (Bowling Green State University), Ololade Faniyi (Emory University), and Tobi Idowu (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
As Africans traverse global landscapes, questions emerge regarding the authenticity, power dynamics, and agency involved in cultural productions within the frameworks of global capital. Africans find themselves oscillating between visibility and invisibility within the paradigms of global North racialization and global South subalternity, shaping the tapestry of globalized African experiences through dislocation, identity negotiation, and auditions of belonging, in an ongoing effort to be legible to the global. Research has delved into the implications of the illusory strategic essentialism of Africans and the disorienting encounters of African bodies with global exceptionalisms and confinements (Adjepong 2019, Olaniyan 2021). This panel discussion, therefore, aims to examine how transnational Africans, in their interactions with imagined or concrete diasporas, navigate confinement, creativity, and the articulation of blackness and Africanness/Nigerianness within the interconnected spaces of the internet, popular culture, and geographies of surveillance.
Panelists will draw from the global expansion of African popular culture, the experiences of non-resident aliens in global North institutions, and the blurred boundaries between diaspora and transnationalism in anti-policing struggles with local and global tentacles. The panel will address the following questions:
1. How does the encounter between African popular culture and global media conglomerates impact the negotiation of identity, authenticity, and artistic agency for African creatives?
2. In what ways does the “japa” mentality of non-resident alien identities intersect with notions of freedom, confinement, and belonging in spaces like Europe and the U.S.?
3. How do we address the instability of African identities contingent on time and space, and how do transnational actors understand blackness, Africanness, and police brutality/abolition in both homeland and diasporan contexts?
Send your abstract to Samson Akanni akannis@bgsu.edu, Ololade Faniyi
ololadefaniyi@emory.edu, and Tobi Idowu ojidowu@wisc.edu by January 16, 2024
References:
Adjepong, A. (2019). Invading ethnography: A queer of color reflexive practice. Ethnography, 20(1), 27-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138117741502
O. M. Olaniyan (2021) Know your history: Toward an eternally displaceable strategic essentialism, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 14:4, 305-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2021.1957139
Call for Panelists
On the Fringes of Power: Informal Institutions of Governance in Africa
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
Panel Organizer: David Olusanjo (Florida International University); Abiodun Folorunsho (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale); and Seun Ajoseh (University of Florida).
How do informal institutions shape democracy in Africa? What are the factors that have contributed and influenced the rise of informal institutions and its attendant impacts on democracy in Africa? Informal rules coexist with formal democratic institutions throughout Africa. The sweeping regime changes and the third wave of democratization in Africa in the 1990s brought democratic institutions to virtually every country in Africa, but the quality and performance of those institutions has disappointed both scholars and policy makers alike.
Military coups, both failed and attempted, have largely resurfaced in Western and Central Africa. Presidents continue to be forced from office before the end of their mandate; civil liberties and political right continue to take a nose-dive and security forces continue to kill citizens with impunity. Legislators seem more interested in making money than in making policy; corruption, patronage, godfatherism and clientelism remain widespread, and in many rural (and some urban) the rule of law effectively does not exist.
Analyst, policymakers, and researchers have suggested that to understand how- and how well-democratic institutions work in Africa, scholars must go beyond the study of formal institutions and take seriously informal “rules of the game”. In this light, this panel aims to present a conceptual and theoretical framework for analyzing how formal and informal institutions interact with democracy in Africa.
The panel will welcome discourses on the following Sub-themes, these is not exhaustible.
· Informal Institutions and Democracy
· The Informal Politics of Executive-Legislative Relations
· Informal Institutions and Electoral Politics
· Informal Institutions and Party Politics
· Informal Institutions and Judicial Politics
· Informal Institutions and Economic Reforms
· Informal Institutions and Political Competition
· Informal Institutions and Constitutions
· Informal Institutions and Rule of Law
· Informal Institutions and Traditional Institutions
· Institutions and Democracy
· Godfatherism in Africa
· Patronage and Clientelism Politics in Africa
· Political Corruption
Interested participants should send a 250-word abstract and short bio indicating full name, Institutional affiliation(s), Email(s) and active phone number(s) to dolus001@fiu.edu; Abiodun.folorunsho@siu.edu; seunajoseh@ufl.edu
Call for Panelists
Transactional Sex, Sites of Engagement, Sexual Economics, Identity and Euphemisation Strategies in Africa
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association Format: Hybrid (In Person, University of Lagos, and Virtual).
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024 Abstract Deadline: February 29, 2024
Panel Organizers:
Justus Chidi Ugwu, PhD
Dele Maxwel Ugwuanyi, PhD
(Enugu State University of Science and Technology)
Transactional Sex (TS) refers to sexual relationships where the giving and/or receiving of gifts, money or other services are the motivating factors. The participants do not necessarily frame themselves in terms of prostitutes/clients, but often as girlfriends/boyfriends, or sugar babies/daddies. Those offering sex may or may not feel affection for their partners. In most African countries, TS has been on rapid increase irrespective of notable cultural suppression of female sexuality. This increase seems to have been stimulated by its numerous sites of engagement which include virtual sites, such as, but not limited to, X (formerly Twitter), WhatsApp, Instagram, Tiktok, Badoo, Bigo Live, Bumble, Tango and many others. The above sites of TS provide the sexual participants the opportunity for hybrid sexual encounters and the platform to euphemise, liberalise and legitimise the act by adopting mild nomenclatures such as ‘Hook-up’ or ‘Runs girl’ and not embracing such derogatory identities as ‘prostitutes’ or ‘sex workers’. An economic perspective of TS shows that the law of ‘majority carry the votes’ which is obtained in political democracy may not apply. To elucidate the above claim, the law of demand and supply holds that when supply outnumbers demand, the suppliers who are by implication, the majority, find themselves in a weak position where they will reduce their price but if demand is higher than supply, the suppliers will be at an advantageous position to raise their price. In TS, women could be seen as the suppliers while men constitute the demand category, and African sexual economics seems to indicate that men are in the minority which makes the sexual market yield to their preferences leading to plenitude of sex without commitment, unwanted pregnancies, delayed marriages and the likes. However, a critical inspection of the opposite side of the African sexual economics coin suggests that, though it is fashionable to see all gender relations as reflecting the oppression and suppression of women, men’s arguable greater desire for sex, orchestrated by the chemistry of their masculinity, could put them at a disadvantageous position. Simply put, when two parties are negotiating a possible deal, the one who is more eager to make the deal happen is in a weaker position than the one who could easily walk away without the deal. The growing impetus of the African sex industry irrespective of religious and cultural inhibitions, and the risk of unwanted pregnancies or contracting STDs, provokes thoughts on what constitute the motivation for TS. Is TS oriented towards survival on the side of women, or are they simply free and active agentic entrepreneurs using their erotic capitals for material and monetary gains? This panel solicits articles that appreciate the intersections of culture, religion, identity and TS in Africa.
Presenters may consider, but are not limited to, the following topics and issues:
The perceptions of transactional sex in Africa’s socio-psychological spaces
The place of transactional sex in African culture and identity
Transactional sex, agency and identity deconstruction
Transactional sex, sites of engagement and legitimisation processes
Transactional sex, cultural inhibitions and the language of euphemisation
Transactional sex and sexual economics
Transactional sex, agency and motivating factors
Transactional sex, alcoholism, unwanted pregnancies and HIV/AIDS
Transactions sex and hybrid sexual encounters
Prostitution, transactional sex, sexual language and the politics of differentiation
If you wish to participate in this panel, kindly send a 250-word abstract and a short bio reflecting full name, institutional affiliation, active email and phone number to justicechidi27@gmail.com, delemaxwell4u@yahoo.co.uk and lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com on or before February 29, 2024
Learn more about LSA Conference on: Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/25111409881162/
X: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website; lagosstudies.org
Email: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
Call for Panelists
Towards a Greener Faith in Africa: Religion, Environmental Consciousness and the Anthropocene in the 21st Century
Conference: The 8thAnnual International Conference of Lagos Studies Association (LSA)
Conference Theme: African Identities: People, Cultures and Institutions in Motion.
Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Date: 25th-29th June 2024
Abstract Deadline: 29 February 2024
Panel Organizers: Dele Maxwell Ugwanyi, PhD and Richard Ifeanyichukwu Nnamani (Enugu State University of Science and Technology)
Amidst the rising challenges posed by climate change in Africa, religion holds immense potential for shaping environmental consciousness and promoting sustainable practices. While major faiths in Africa offer valuable moral frameworks such as emphasis on respect for creation, certain practices inadvertently harm the environment. Some religious practices from these major religions especially Christianity and Traditional Religion do not provide for a sustainable environment. One of the most pressing concerns is the impact of these religious practices on our forests and water bodies. For instance, some Christian adherents, in a bid to convert and evangelize, engage in indiscriminate deforestation; they are driven by the misconception that these trees/forest harbor some ancestral "evil" spirits associated with African Traditional Religion. The effect of this practice is far-reaching as it disrupts the delicate ecological balance, leading to habitat loss, soil erosion, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters. Similarly, certain rituals in African Traditional Religions often involve throwing some items including non-biodegradable offerings into the water which significantly contributes to water pollution that poses potential health risks to aquatic creatures, and people relying on those water sources for survival. The impact of these human practices is increasingly affecting our environment. Consequently, it is necessary to explore ways in which religion can contribute in sustaining the African environment; by questioning how major faiths in Africa contribute to or hinder environmental sustainability. This panel therefore seeks to interrogate and provoke critical debates on the complex relationship between religion and environmental sustainability.
Presenters may consider but not limited to the following subthemes/research questions:
1. Religion, Superstition and Epistemic Right
2. Scripture, Literature and the Environment
Identity, Religious Tolerance and the Concept of Difference
4. The Indoctrination of Environmental Stewardship
5. The Semiotics of Water and Tress in African Traditional Religion
6. The Impact of Non-Biodegradable Offerings in Water Bodies
African Traditional Religion, Christianity and the Anthropocene
Eco-religion in the 21st Century
Religious Fanaticism and Colonial Legacy
Non-Eco-friendly Religious Practices and Greener Alternatives
To join in this panel, please send a 250-word abstract and short bio to richard.nnamani@esut.edu.ng, delemaxwell4u@yahoo.co.uk and lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com on or before 29 February 2024.
Learn more about LSA Conference on:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/25111409881162/
https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
Call for Panelists
Political Crisis, Electoral Fraud, and the Emergence of Illiberal Democracy in Africa
Conference: The 8th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association
Format: Hybrid (In Person, University of Lagos, and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: February 29, 2024
Panel Organizers: Nnaemeka Ezema, PhD (Federal Polytechnic, Uwana) and Anayo Ossai, PhD (Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka)
After more than two decades of uninterrupted democracy in most countries in Africa, there seems to be a budding skepticism about the promises of democratic rule in the continent. The political crises, electoral violence and the resurgence of military coup witnessed in various parts of Africa within this era are some of the symptomatic instances of the growing discontent about democracy in postcolonial Africa. Pre-electoral and post-electoral violence, vote-buying, unreliable electoral system and the perceived involvement of the judiciary in politics are some of the factors that have placed the democratic process in Africa up for close scrutiny.
While the process through which leaders emerge appear unsatisfactory to many, the gross appropriation of public wealth among public servants raise serious doubt about the success of modern democracy in Africa. Democracy in most parts of Africa seems to be transforming into a modern oligarchy, brazenly displacing the majority will of the people. This does not only replace the concern for the wellbeing of the majority with the luxury of the few but also assume an autocratic essence that contradicts the basic tenets of democracy.
FareedZakaria’s deep historical analysis on the interrelationship between liberty and liberal democracy foregrounds this autocratic tendencies of democracy and its overarching influences on various aspects of public life. While Zakaria focuses largely on America, Asia and Europe, this panel is more interested with the democratic experiments in Africa. Yet, whereas contemplations on how the perceived weaknesses of democratic principles work against the minority dominates Zakaria’s conceptual perspective, this panels calls for papers that examine how the minority ruling elite in Africa exploits the weaknesses of democratic rule to the detriment of the majority. These challenges, having persisted across various leaders in many countries in Africa, do not only present democratic rule as one of the failing vestiges of colonial enterprise but also calls for the experimentation of indigenous political alternatives in the continent. Researchers are therefore called to go beyond mere references to political crises and the involvement of different political parties in Africa to examine the institutional and structural factors that prompt political upheavals. Papers for this panel are expected to examine how fraudulent political elite emerge and dominate the political space in most parts of Africa, the weak institutional frameworks that are exploited for this purpose. This panel seeks a multi-disciplinary approach to examine democratic practice in Africa, exploring its weaknesses and engaging possible indigenous alternatives that can effectively replace Western democratic models in the continent. Does Africa need a unique democratic system that will reflect its peculiar realities and worldviews? Or is it that democracy in Africa is still teething? This panel calls on researchers in various fields to bring their methodological perspectives in exploring this phenomenon in Africa.
Presenters may consider, but not limited to, the following topics:
(Re)assessment of democratic governance in Africa in the 21st century
Historical analysis of political violence since the return of democracy in Africa
Electoral Fraud in Literary Expressions in Africa
Money Politics and the Overturn of Democratic Principles in Africa
Peculiarities of African Democratic Experiment
Electoral Violence in Films and Skits in Africa
Consensual Democracy and its Implications in Africa
Indigenous Political Alternatives to Democracy in Africa
Identity Construction and Political Choices in Africa
Comparative analysis of Democratic Rules in Africa
God-fatherism and Democratic Experiments in Africa
Democracy and State capture in Africa
If you intend to participate in this panel, kindly send a 250-word abstract and a short bio with full name, institutional affiliation and contacts (email and phone number) to emekacezema@gmail.com, anayossai@gmail.com on or before 29th of February, 2024.
Learn more about LSA Conference on:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/25111409881162/
https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
Call for Panelists
Migration and Mobilities in Africa and the Global African Diaspora
The 8th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference
Conference Theme
African Identities: Peoples, Cultures, and Institutions in Motion
Format
Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual) Date June 25-29, 2024
Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2024
Panel Organizer: Jamiu Kolawole Audu (Tai Solarin University of Education)
The movement of people within and across different African communities has had a significant impact on the identities of those who have migrated or settled in new places. Migration and diaspora have affected the ways in which people connect with their home communities, as well as the ways in which they engage with and represent their cultures. This panel will explore the various ways in which migration and diaspora have shaped African identities, with particular attention to language, religion, and heritage. It will also consider the challenges and opportunities associated with migration and diaspora, with a focus on the preservation and transmission.
Language: Migration and diaspora have led to changes in the ways in which African languages are spoken and written, as well as changes in the number of people who speak a particular language. Language has also been affected by the interaction of African languages with other languages, both in Africa and in new host countries. The panel will explore these changes in more detail, and will consider their impact on African identities.
Religion: Migration and diaspora have led to changes in the religious affiliations of Africans, and have also led to the emergence of new religious practices and traditions. For example, some African migrants have adopted the religious traditions of their host countries, while others have brought their own religious practices with them and spread them to new communities. The panel will explore these changes and their impact on African identities, particularly with regard to the ways in which religion influences cultural expression.
Heritage: Migration and diaspora have led to changes in the ways in which African heritage is preserved and represented. For example, there has been a renewed interest in traditional African art forms, such as music, dance, and storytelling, among African migrants and their descendants. There has also been a renewed interest in traditional forms of dress, jewelry, and cuisine. The panel will explore these changes in more detail, and will consider their impact on African identities.
The challenges and opportunities associated with migration and diaspora: Migration and diaspora can be challenging, as they can lead to feelings of isolation, homesickness, and disconnection from family and friends. However, they can also present opportunities for cultural exchange, economic advancement, and the creation of new communities. It will explore both the challenges and opportunities of migration and diaspora, with a focus on their impact on African identities.
Cultural preservation and transmission: Migration and diaspora have led to a number of strategies for the preservation and transmission of African cultures. These strategies include language instruction, the creation of cultural centers, and the organization of festivals and events that celebrate African culture. It will explore these strategies and their effectiveness in preserving and transmitting African cultures, as well as their impact on African identities.
The transnationalism: Migration and diaspora have led to the emergence of transnational identities, which are identities that span more than one country or culture. These identities are often characterized by a sense of belonging to more than one place and a commitment to maintaining ties with multiple communities. It will explore the concept of transnational identities and their impact on African identities.
Conclusion: Migration and diaspora have had a profound impact on African identities, leading to both challenges and opportunities. These identities are complex and multifaceted, and are shaped by a range of factors, including language, religion, heritage, and transnationalism. Overall, migration and diaspora have led to a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of African identities.
Hence, this panel is set to address several questions but not limited to such as:
- What are the various factors that drive migration and diaspora within and outside of Africa?
- How do people maintain a sense of belonging when they leave their home communities?
- How does migration and diaspora impact the way people construct their identities?
- How do African communities interact and engage with each other, and how does this shape their sense of identity?
- What are the challenges and opportunities associated with migration and diaspora?
- How have migration and diaspora shaped the identities of African people?
- How have these movements affected the ways in which people connect with their home communities?
- What challenges and opportunities have arisen from these movements?
- How have these movements changed the ways in which African cultures are perceived and represented?
Interested participants should send their ABSTRACT in not more than 250 words to Jamiu K. Audu via Email: audujk2015@gmail.com