Call for Papers for the 1st Post-Graduate Students’ Conference

Makerere University/Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) 1^st Post-Graduate Students’ Conference, 17-18 July 2015, Kampala, Uganda

The Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) invites abstracts for papers to be presented at our 1^st Post-Graduate Students’ Conference organised under the theme; “Locating African perspectives/alternatives in the current global conjectures”. This is part of MISR’s efforts and devotion to develop an alternative view of viewing Africa from the African experience’s terms and seeing the world from Africa. In doing this, MISR emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to research, one which borrows on different fields of life and which cuts across the disciplinary formations and conventions of the “modern world” as we know them today. In addition to that we call on papers that historicize the question(s) and put them into their different cultural contexts in Africa. The topics which we seek to address are contemporary and could even be temporal in nature, however, historicizing and contextualizing them calls on us not to take them for granted. 

Broadly, the scholastic project of the post-colonial/post-independence Africa has been focused on the formation of an alternative view of Africa, which must be groomed from within the continent. Both empirical and theoretical perspectives, it is argued, must be grounded on the differentiated—concrete realities of the African socio-historical formations. Scholastic endeavors on these dynamic realities have never been exhaustive. The most foundational categories in the post-colonial African state, such as the “nation-state” and “liberal democracy”, have been taken for granted. That has even resulted to a less vigorous interrogation of the legacy of colonialism itself. There is no doubt that researchers continuously grapple with the changes of the Africans realities; however, the constraints caused by frameworks and existing customs of disciplinary methods hinder their efforts. The mismatch between the dynamic realities on the one hand and sluggish research process on the other hand, leaves a demand for further scholastic efforts to define these realities through refined methodologies and knowledge production procedures.

We are particularly interested in papers that will highlight:

• The Nation-state and Democracy in Africa: What constitutes the nation? What are its publics? What are its foundational categories? What are the forms of citizenship? How has the nation dealt with the fact of migrations?
• Agrarian Question, Peasants and Land Grabs in Africa: What are the major challenges of the peasant in the current political economy? What is the nature of agrarian transformation and the forces behind it?
• Ethnic War, Justice and Conflict Resolution: Does Africa have its own “indigenous” ways of conflict resolution? What futures can these propose for our justice systems?
• African Cultural Productions and Consumptions: What is the shape of the cultural industry in Africa? What are its futures in the current global trends?

Submission Guidelines

Abstracts should be sent before 31March 2015 via email to the MISR Committee @ misr.conferences@gmail.com

Abstracts should include:

• Title of paper
• Abstract (300 words)
• The speaker’s name, address, telephone numbers, university affiliation, email address and short biographical note (40 words)

The abstracts will be reviewed by the MISR Review Committee. Successful abstracts will be notified by 15 April 2015.

Full text papers should be submitted in a Word/pdf format by 30 June 2015. Papers should be 15-20 pages long and written in English.

Please note:

Financial support will be provided by MISR, including meals, accommodation and transport. However, presenters will pay for their visa costs. Invitation letters can also be issued to presenters for visa purposes.