Possibilites, Challenges, Trajectories
Workshop of the Regional Working Group Africa
of the German Association for Social and Cultural Anthropology (DGSKA)
Workshop of the Regional Working Group AfricaPossibilites, Challenges, Trajectories
of the German Association for Social and Cultural Anthropology (DGSKA)
Organizers:
Michael Bollig, Michaela Pelican, Karim Zafer
Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Cologne
Co-Organization:
Regional Working Group Africa, DGSKA
Global South Studies Center (GSSC)
When?
10-11 January 2019, University of Cologne
Where?
Neuer Senatssaal, Main Building, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, Cologne
Contact
Karim Zafer kzafer@uni-koeln.de
Anthropology in Africa has been facing many different challenges: Anthropology in Africa has to fight accusations of being colonialism’s handmaiden; it has to emplace its academic status amidst social sciences at African universities. Further challenges include the search for research funding as well as for employment for young scholars.
To a certain extent, African anthropologists have been able to overcome some of those challenges such as the problematic reputation anthropology has had amongst social philosophers, political scientists and African nationalists. This has offered new opportunities for African anthropologists in the field of consultancy for governments and development agencies. As Mwenda Ntarangwi et al. (2006) argue, consultancies bear the risk of confining intellectual production to routine reports, hence sacrificing scholarly creativity to survival necessities.
Another challenge echoes calls for decolonization of school curricula: African anthropologists in recent years have been able to develop intellectual agendas, working practices and international collaborations (Ntarangwi et al. 2006). Forging an own identity of anthropology in Africa remains complex since many of its proponents have been trained in traditions of scholarship at institutions in the Global North. Additionally, African anthropologists seek to escape the academic treadmill engaging with theoretical debates mainly taking place in Europe and North America. The goal here is to develop precise and committed analyses addressing realities in their countries.
However, development imperatives and funding opportunities are scarce and inhibit African anthropologists from affording pure research. Some scholars argue that applied anthropology is an inevitable option for African anthropologists working in Africa (Nkwi 2015). Others see pure and applied anthropology as complementing one another, and that data from applied anthropology can be used in theory-building. A last group thinks that the pure/applied dichotomy is not suitable for the African context, where the epistemological demands of donors largely influence the nature of anthropological research (Ntarangwi et al. 2006).
Recently, debates on teaching and practice of anthropology have focused on professionalism (Nkwi 2015). This means that anthropologists should assert their professional identity to minimize the trappings of dependency and to develop methodological and other skills to create jobs for themselves. It becomes obvious that one of the most important solutions to raise the status of anthropology in Africa is to consider teaching and learning (Jegede 2015). Nevertheless, the question remains: What do we teach/learn?
Panel 1: Historical development, institutional context and curricular development of anthropology
Panel 2: Teaching and research collaborations within and beyond Africa (Part I & II)
Panel 3: Striking a balance between ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ anthropology and job opportunities
09:00 – 09:15 Welcoming and Opening Speech by Michael Bollig and Michaela Pelican
09:15 – 09:35 Isaac Nyamongo (The Co-operative University of Kenya, Kenya)
09:35 – 09:55 Gebre Yntiso Deko (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)
09:55 – 10:15 Munzoul Asaal (University of Khartum, Sudan)
10:15 – 10:45 Coffee break
10:45 – 11:05 Heike Becker (University of the Western Cape, South Africa)
11:05 – 11:25 Patience Mutopo (Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe)
11:30 – 12:30 Plenary discussion
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:20 Michaela Pelican (University of Cologne, Germany)
14:20 – 14:40 Antoine Socpa (University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon)
14:40 – 15:00 Ayodele Jegede (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
15:00 – 15.30 Coffee Break
15:30 – 15:50 David Bogopa (Nelson Mandela University, South Africa)
15:50 – 16: 20 Cordula Weißköppel (University of Bremen, Germany)
16:20 – 17:30 Plenary discussion
19:00 – 21:00 Dinner
09:00 – 09:20 Thomas Kirsch (University of Konstanz, Germany)
09:20 – 09:40 Nikolaus Schareika (Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany)
09:40 – 10:00 Romie Nghitevelekwa (University of Namibia, Namibia)
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 – 10:50 Song-Joon Park (Halle University, Germany)
10:50 - 11.10 Divine Fuh (CODESRIA, Cameroon)
11:10 – 12:30 Plenary discussion
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 13:50 Ulrike Wesch and Kira Schmidt (University of Cologne, Germany)
13:50 – 14:10 Eric Kioko (Kenyatta University, Kenya)
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee farewell
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