African Studies
The Concordia African Studies Working Group (CASWG) brings together faculty and graduate students in the Departments of Anthropology, History, and Political Science. The working group addresses the intertwining of social, economic, and political processes in the ongoing transformation of the African continent. Specific topics are diverse, including state interventions in the name of development; the historical mobilization of transnational networks of liberation movements; cultural shifts associated with urbanization, migration, economic, and technological changes; the dynamics of electoral and party politics; and the politics of international criminal courts, among others. The group takes a broad understanding of politics and examines it at varied scales, ranging from small-scale social groups to transnational networks and regional institutions.
Organizers:
Jesse Arseneault, Department of English
Julie Archambault, Department of Anthropology
Nicole De Silva, Department of Political Science
Andrew Ivaska, Department of History
Amy Poteete, Department of Political Science
Leander Schneider, Department of Political Science
Antwi Boasiako, Department of Political Science
Hone Mandefro Belaye, Ph.D. Student, Department of Sociology and Anthropology (Student Coordinator)
Key Questions
1. How can interdisciplinary approaches contribute to understanding social, economic, and political changes in Africa?
2. How can we best operationalize and combine different research methods to study questions relating Africa?
3. How are local, national, international, transnational, and global dynamics interacting to shape African societies?
4. How are local, national, international, transnational, and global dynamics interacting to shape African societies?
5. How are Africans generating, accommodating, and resisting sources of social, economic, and political change?
6. What, if anything, is distinctive about Africa?
7. What might African societies look like in the future?
Group Members
Jesse Arseneault, Department of English, South African literature and cultural studies, queer theory, animal studies, posthumanism, and postcolonial theory
Julie Archambault, Department of Anthropology, technology and culture, youth culture, Mozambique
Nicole De Silva, Department of Political Science, global and regional human rights institutions, with a focus on Africa
Andrew Ivaska, Department of History, urban cultural history, leftwing political movements, Africa in a 'global 1960s', Tanzania
Oceane Jasor, Department of Anthropology, women’s studies, African diasporas, South Africa
Amy Poteete, Department of Political Science, politics of natural resources, politics of resource-based economic growth, electoral and party politics, Botswana, Senegal
Leander Schneider, Department of Political Science, development projects and developmentalism, Chinese migrant communities, Tanzania
Activities
The working group meets regularly to workshop proposals, papers, and chapters written by Concordia graduate students and faculty. Graduate training and faculty collaboration and exchange across the disciplines are top on our agenda. At our meetings, the group will serve as a sounding board for participating students as they develop their proposals, prepare for field research, and write up their theses through cross-disciplinary conversations among students and faculty. We also organize public events, including public lectures, roundtables, workshops, and conferences.
Those interested in attending any of the below events can be in touch with hone.belaye@mail.concordia.ca
Fall Events
Michael Degani, Johns Hopkins University
The Flickering Torch: Blackouts and Phatic Communication in Tanzania
Friday, September 20, 2019
3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Room H-1120
Henri F. Hall Building
1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Rethinking Africa’s Urban Future(s) Conference
Keynote speaker:
Anne-Maria Makhulu
Duke University
South Africa After the Rainbow: Aspiration, Ambition, And Social Mobility
November 14, 2019
5 – 7 p.m. H-1220
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W
*Open to the Public*
Download the poster