Source: Universitetet i Oslo
It gives me great pleasure to announce the visit of Prof. Mahmood Mamdani to the University of Oslo. Prof. Mamdani has been one of the most important voices on African history and politics in the past four decades.
Through his prolific writing, Prof. Mamdani has often challenged conventional wisdom on the causes of deprivation and conflict in Africa. In seminal works – including Politics and Class Formation in Uganda (1976); When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and Genocide in Rwanda (2001); Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (1996); Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror (2009) – Prof. Mamdani has explored the intersection between politics and culture, comparative studies of colonialism, the history of civil war and genocide in Africa, the Cold War and the War on Terror, and the history and theory of human rights. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being listed as one of the world’s ‘Top 20 Public Intellectuals’.
I find it particularly pleasing to note the huge amount of respect that Prof. Mamdani enjoys not just among political scientists, but also in a wide range of disciplines including history, sociology and development studies.
Prof. Mamdani’s work has influenced many other disciplines but has also exerted considerable impact on research and policy related to global governance. Thus I am happy that Prof. Mamdani will be giving a public lecture in Gamle festsal on Tuesday 07 June (5-7 pm) as part of the lectures series organized by our Oslo Academy of Global Governance, based at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM).
The lecture is entitled ‘South Sudan: The Road to Civil War’and is open to all.
Additional information about the public lecture on Tuesday 07 June can be found here.
A few words about the Oslo Academy of Global Governance – the organizer of this event.
The establishment in 2015 of the Oslo Academy of Global Governance was inspired by the work of the Lancet-University of Oslo Commission on The Political Origins of Health Inequity. The Academy seeks to spearhead interdisciplinary research on how our governance systems cope with current challenges in such diverse arenas as health, the environment, human rights, poverty, climate and security. The Oslo Academy of Global Governance is based at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM) and aims to be recognized as a leading forum for knowledge development and dissemination concerning global governance for sustainable development in all its dimensions.
It is my conviction that there is an urgent need for research in this field. Thus, deficiencies and challenges in the way the world is governed are evident to us every day, be it in the lack of cooperation to reduce climate emissions; the failure to eradicate poverty and hunger; and in the proliferation of new and old threats to human lives, health and security.
The Oslo Academy of Global Governance organizes master courses and PhD courses, and every semester a series of public lectures with invited high-profile academics and professionals in the field of global governance. The upcoming lecture by Prof. Mamdani is part of this series.