Critical African Studies Call for Papers by Ricardo December 05, 2017 0 Opportunities

Deadline

january 1st, 2018

For more informations:

Special Issue: “Decolonizing the Academy”

This special issue of Critical African Studies seeks to consolidate, amplify, interrogate, and forward intellectual discourse related to decolonizing African Studies from an intersectional perspective. Recent years have seen a flourishing of student protests and epistemic debates around representation, inclusion, and equality in university institutions, teaching, and research.

More than mere hashtags (#Whyismycurriculumwhite, #Feesmustfall, #Cadaanstudies, etc.), these movements and political moments reflect longstanding contestations over how knowledge and power are defined, distributed, and denied through ‘academe’, particularly in relation to Africa. They raise questions of access and opportunity routinely elided from – but integral to – formal academic discourse. Decolonizing discussions demand that scholars confront legacies of exclusion and oppression to strengthen the rigor and accountability of our teaching, research, and institutional spaces. These questions are not new. Rather, they remain at the forefront of our academic and professional enterprise, and underpin the legitimacy of our diverse endeavors.

We aim to curate an interdisciplinary collection of essays focused on issues related to decolonizing the academy. Papers should be grounded in original empirical or theoretical research, and can explore any topic related to decolonizing African studies, including:

  • Emancipatory teaching and research praxis;
  • Research methods, ethics, epistemologies, and knowledge hierarchies;
  • Political economy of knowledge and expertise in/about Africa;
  • Institutional processes, structures, and academic ecosystems of power;
  • Practical solutions, initiatives, and movements for change, liberation, equality, or redress.

About Critical African Studies:
Critical African Studies seeks to return Africanist scholarship to the heart of theoretical innovation within each of its constituent disciplines. We invite directional papers that provoke critical debate, and take a fresh approach to key and emergent social, political and economic issues affecting Africa. In particular, we encourage pieces of critical inquiry that question or subvert long-held or widely assumed truths, especially concerning disciplinary boundaries.

How to Submit

Submission guidelines

Please submit the following to critical.african.studies@ed.ac.uk by 1 January 2018:

In addition to traditional academic papers, we will also consider submissions of other forms of academic speech/representation/analysis, including but not limited to: poetry; music; theatre and performance art; photography and visual art. These proposals should speak directly to the special issue theme and may be published online only, depending on the format.

By bringing alternative academic expression into dialogue with conventional discursive forms, we hope to newly examine and inform our quest for and production of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences. Further enquiries about non-conventional submissions can be directed to Zoe Marks at zoe.marks@ed.ac.uk.

Editorial information

  • Editor: Shose Kessi, UCT
  • Editor: Zoe Marks, Edinburgh
  • Editor: Elelwani Ramugondo, UCT