Call for Articles: AFRIKA FOCUS - LUSOPHONE AFRICANA

Africanists with all kinds of research interests to submit an article for a special issue dedicated to and entitled 'Lusophone Africana'.

Although no disciplines are excluded and the focus is only regionally bound, preference will be given to articles highlighting features specific to lusophone-African societies and cultures, ranging from political

processes, (diasporic) popular cultures to health systems and natural environments/ecology/indigenous knowledge systems.

Deadline of submission is mid 2012. Any submission date earlier than that is appreciated. Publication of the issue is scheduled for end 2012.  The submissions will be refereed by Afrika Focus and a jointly edited introduction coordinated by prof dr Koen Stroeken (UGent) has been planned.

The submission address is AfrikaFocus@UGent.be

For more information: http://www.gap.ugent.be/Journal_Afrika_Focus

Cardenos de Estudos Africanos

A revista Cadernos de Estudos Africanos é uma publicação do Centro de Estudos Africanos (CEA-IUL) do Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) especializada em temáticas africanas. Aberta à comunidade científica internacional que trabalha nas áreas das Ciências Sociais e Humanas sobre este continente, apostando na internacionalização, na inter e multidisciplinaridade, publica artigos originais em quatro línguas (português, inglês, espanhol e francês). Os artigos são seleccionados pela Comissão Editorial e através de um rigoroso sistema de arbitragem por pares em regime de anonimato. A revista Cadernos de Estudos Africanos tem tido desde o seu primeiro número, datado de Julho de 2001, uma publicação regular e semestral.

Disponible en: http://cea.revues.org/

Call for Proposals: Women’s Empowerment in Arab States

UN Women, through the Fund for Gender Equality, Kicks Off New Call for Proposals on Women’s Empowerment in Arab States


High impact political and economic empowerment programmes sought, grantees to be announced in December; other regions to follow 


United Nations, New York — UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality, a grantmaking fund initiated by Spain and dedicated to advancing women’s rights and gender equality, announced today its second Call for Proposals, inviting women’s organizations and government agencies to apply for grants to support women’s political and economic empowerment. In recognition of the recent developments in the Arab States region, which have created additional opportunities for supporting efforts to improve the life conditions of women and girls, the first phase of the Fund’s 2011–2012 call will immediately focus on proposals that seek to empower women and their communities in this region.

“UN Women supports the participation and rights of women in the Arab States, and the Fund for Gender Equality can bolster women’s empowerment and participation during this time of transition,” said Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. “We hope that these grants support women in their quest for democracy, equality and political participation.” UN Women administers and oversees the Fund for Gender Equality.

The Fund has set aside USD 16 million for its 2011–2012 grantmaking cycle, with USD 4 million projected for grants in the Arab States and more if contributions during this grantmaking cycle increase. Grants will start at USD 200,000 for initiatives that make tangible improvements in the lives of women and girls. The Fund will accept proposals from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Applicants may download the Call for Proposals and Grant Application athttp://www.unwomen.org/fge/application-guidelines/. The first set of grants will be announced in December 2011.

In 2012, the Fund will complete the second grant cycle by inviting grant proposals from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Fund is one of the leading grantmaking funds on gender equality in the world. Created in 2009 with an initial contribution of USD 65 million (EUR 50 million) from the Government of Spain, it now has expanded with contributions from Norway and Mexico.

To continue to significantly advance gender equality and women’s rights through grantmaking of this scale, UN Women calls on UN Member States, the private sector, and individuals to contribute to this vital source of funding for women and gender equality advocates by contacting the Fund at fund.genderequality[at]unwomen.org.

Media Contact: Oisika Chakrabarti, Media Specialist,

oisika.chakrabarti@unwomen.org, +1 646 781-4522.

For additional information, visit http://www.unwomen.org/fge/.

AfricaInEs participa del CEFAS Seminar programme on Gender Transformations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa” en el Cairo

CEFAS Seminar programme on Gender Transformations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa”. The seminar will be held in Cairo, November 16th and 17th 2011. 
Conference location: 1, Madrasset El Huquq El Frinsiya Street, El Mounira, Cairo, Egypt

Wednesday November 16th
9:30-11:00: Opening session

9:30-10:00: Blandine Destremau et Stéphanie Latte-Abdallah Michel Tuchscherer
Welcome address, the project, the organisation of the conference

10:00 – 11:00: Stéphanie Latte-Abdallah (CNRS, IREMAM)
Stakes and challenges in gender studies in the Arab world, followed by a debate with the floor

11:00-11:30: coffee break

11:30 – 13:00: Session 1 Public Policies and Gender Development (Development)

Discussant : Blandine Destremau (CNRS, LISE)

AL-SAGGAF Ali Ahmed, Department of Statistics& Informative, Faculty of Administrative Sciences, University of Aden
“Gender and Development. A Case Study of Arabian Peninsula Countries”

HASSAN Houssein Souraya, CRUD - University of Djibouti
    “Women, public policies and Development in Djibouti”

PEUTZ Nathalie, Arab Crossroads Studies at New York University in Abu Dhabi
“Targeted Women and A Barred Development in Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago”

TRENTO Giovanna, Center for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, French Center for Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
“The “Construction” of Ethiopian-Italians: Gender Relations in the Horn of Africa During and After Italian Colonialism”

Discussion
13:00 – 14:30: lunch

14:30 – 16:00: session 2: Public Policies and Gender Development (Rights and emancipation) –

Discussant: Martina Rieker, Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies (AUC)

DAHLGREN Susanne, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
“Revisiting the Southern women's rights issue in Yemen : the law, the shari'a and the custom”

KAROLAK Magdalena, New York Institute of Technology, College of Arts and Science, Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain,
“Female emancipation in Bahrain : a tool for social reform”

*Strzelecka Ewa, University of Granada (Spain)
Gender, Culture and Development: Islam and Women’s Human Rights in Yemen

SAFAR Jihan, Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris
The birth spacing policy in the sultanate of Oman : a ‘modern’ project for the couple and the family

Discussion
16:00 – 16:30: tea break

16:30 – 18:00: session 3: Employment, Professions and Labor (employment markets and mobility)

Discussant : Marina De Regt, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

LE RENARD Amélie, CNRS-CMH-PRO
Replacing Foreign Workers by Saudi Women: Policy and Practices

MAHDAVI Pardis, Pomona College, Claremont California
“Trafficked Women” and “Migrant Men”: Questioning Discursive Constructions of Gendered Migration in the United Arab Emirates

CAMELIN Sylvaine, Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre-la Défense
“Educated migrant women in the Gulf”

CHRISTIANSEN Connie Carøe, Institute for Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University, Denmark
“Gender and social remittances; return migrants to Yemen from the Horn of Africa”

Discussion

Thursday November 17th
9:30 – 11:00: session 4: Employment, Professions and Labor (service and care)

Discussant : Amélie le Renard, CNRS-CMH-PRO, Paris

ARAB Chadia, CNRS - UMR ESO-Angers (6590), Espaces et Sociétés, Angers
“Moroccan female migration in the United Arab Emirates From spatial and social liberation to production of social breakdown and marginalization”

DE REGT Marina, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam
“Gender and Ethnicity in Paid Domestic Labour: Past and Present Experiences of Ethiopian and Eritrean Women in Yemen”

NAGY Sharon, DePaul University, Chicago
“Stigmatizing Service—Work, Gender and Morality in Bahrain / Bahraini and non-Bahraini Women in the Workforce 1971-2011:  changing attitudes toward work, gender and nationality”

MOULIN Anne-Marie, SPHERE/Paris 7 University,
“Gender and Care. The controversial status and recent evolution of female health
professionals in the Arabic Peninsula”

Discussion
11:00 – 11:30: coffee break

11:30 – 13:00: session 5: Intimacy and Moral debates (representations, violence and gender identity construction)

Discussant: Najat Sayem, University of Sana’a

AHMAD ABDUL IZZI Arwa, Dept. of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Sana’a University
Experiences of individuals on the gender based violence in Yemeni society

QANBAR Nada, Faculty of Arts- Taiz University
    The Image of Women in the Yemeni Proverbs

ISMA'IL Rokhsana ; SHAMSHER ALI Radia, University of Aden ; Science & Technology Center- Aden University
Masculinity and it’s Impact on Violence Against Women in Yemen ( Aden )

RYAN Stephanie Cate, Political Science/Sociology University of Innsbruck Austria, PROFANTER Annemarie, Faculty of Education at the Free University of Bolzano
    Religious and Spiritual Tools for Male Societal Integration in Saudi Arabia

PLANEL Vincent, MMSH- IDEMEC, Aix-en-Provence
The three brothers of al-Hawdh and Mansour the French
The fall of urban charismatic figures in the Yemen of the 2000s

Discussion
13:00 – 14:30: lunch

14:30 – 16:00: session 6: Intimacy and Moral debates (women’s subjectivities in and outside the family)

Discussant: Rokhsana Isma’il, University of Aden

VAN OORSHOT Irene, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam
“Emerging Cosmopolitanisms: Constructing New Subjectivities in the Female Qāt Chew”

VENTURA Mustienes Gemma, Garcia-Ventura Agnès, Universitat de Barcelona
    “Building new spaces: gender and linguistic interactions in Al-Sanea's Banat Al-Riyadh”

RYAN Stephanie Cate, Political Science/Sociology University of Innsbruck Austria, PROFANTER Annemarie, Faculty of Education at the Free University of Bolzano
“Indigenous Polygyny. Desert Designs and Daring Delineations: Individual Options and Tribal (Dhofar, Oman)”

BASALEEM Huda, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Aden University
“Women’s Reproductive Health Seeking Behaviour in Four Districts in Sana’a: Qualitative Analysis”

Discussion
16:00 – 17:30: Blandine Destremau: wrap-up, discussion, follow-up


*Ewa es miembro de AfricaInEs


Organized by CEFAS (The French Centre in Sana’a for Archaeology and Social Sciences,http://www.cefas.com.ye) 

Call for Proposal: Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) (2011/2012)

The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) announces a call for the second round of research proposals from research institutions for its Strengthening Gender Research to Improve Girls’ and) Women’s Education in Africa Initiative.The initiative, which is supported by the Norwegian Development Corporation (NORAD), promotes girls and women’s education through the integration of gender into education policy and practice in sub-Saharan Africa. Grants are awarded to provide support to institutions and research centres working in the areas of gender, education, or policy advocacy.


FAWE believesit is imperative to invest in research in Africa as way producing relevant, up
to date information to buttress advocacy in education policy. Thus, this  three year research
initiative aims to work collaboratively with established research institutions to produce
pertinent and robust research that can be used to constructively engage government, policy
makers and other regional bodies on strategies to advance girls’ education in Africa. Findings from the research will be used to inform FAWE’s advocacy work and help redress gender inequities that hamper girls’ and women’s fulfilment of their right to education and
meaningful participation in Africa’s social and economic advancement. 


For more information: http://www.codesria.org/IMG/pdf/Call_for_proposal_FAWE_Research_initiative_2011-2012.pdf

Call for Papers: International Conference São Tomé and Príncipe from an interdisciplinary, diachronic and synchronic perspective

 Call for Papers
International Conference São Tomé and Príncipe from an interdisciplinary, diachronic and synchronic perspective


Lisbon, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, 27 - 28 March 2012

The International Conference São Tomé and Príncipe from an interdisciplinary, diachronic and synchronic perspective is the result of a partnership between researchers at the Centre of African Studies (CEA) at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) and the Global Development Programme at the Tropical Research Institute (IICT) in Lisbon.  As part of on-going research projects, the conference aims to present and share studies and project results from research conducted on São Tomé and Príncipe in various areas of scientific knowledge.

Reflecting its small physical dimensions, the volume of scientific scholarship focused on São Tomé and Príncipe is relatively meagre compared to that related to larger Portuguese-speaking African countries such as Angola or Mozambique. In recent years, however, the number of research studies undertaken in relation to the small archipelago in the Gulf of Guinea has increased considerably, in both the social and natural sciences. Consequently, this conference intends to give major visibility to research that has been done, create opportunities for researchers of different scientific areas to present their work, and thus to promote interest in São Tomé and Príncipe and of the role played by scientific research.

Emphasis is given to comparative and interdisciplinary research, including historical, anthropological, sociological, cultural, economic, political, biological and environmental perspectives.  This will allow for an historical approach not only in global terms or on the level of the archipelago’s relationship with the African continent and the world, but also with regard to the importance of knowledge in this society’s current context.  A deeper historical understanding of the realities of this archipelago is expected to enable a better comprehension of the current situation of this country, as well as to help to identify current problems and collaborate in their solution.


Thematic areas:
Occupation and colonial history; history of slavery and the plantation economy
Genesis of the society, insularity, Creole societies
Modern colonialism, the realm of the plantations, decolonisation
Post-colonial period, political transitions, economic policies, diasporas
Languages, literature and culture
Biodiversity, Ethnobotany, traditional medicine and circulation of knowledge
Development and cooperation (presentation of projects)

Organising  Committee:
Ana Cristina Roque (IICT)
Gerhard Seibert (CEA)
Vítor Rosado Marques (IICT)
João Dias (CEA/ISCTE-IUL)

Secretariat
Teresa Vilela (IICT)
Fernanda Alvim (CEA/ISCTE-IUL)

Contacts:
coloquio.stp@gmail.com
Ana Cristina Roque, tel. +351 213600580/1/2
Gerhard Seibert, tel. +351 21 790 39 03

The conference is open to all interested parties, researchers and the general public. Paper proposals must be submitted in the form of an abstract, in Portuguese or English, to the e-mail address:coloquio.stp@gmail.com. The deadline is 15 December 2011. The results of the evaluation of the abstracts will be reported before the end of January 2012. Papers can be presented in Portuguese or English; however, simultaneous interpretation will not be available. Each presentation lasts 20 minutes.

Registration is mandatory and free, but the organisation will not pay any travel expenses or accommodation.

Rules of the submission of paper proposals:
Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words, text font Calibri, font size 11, with body text 1.5-spaced and double-spaced between text sections; key words: minimum 2, maximum 5.
Please include name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation and the author’s e-mail address.


For more information: http://cea.iscte.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=438&Itemid=55

2nd Kwame Nkrumah International Conference

Africa's Many Divides and Africa's Future

JOINTLY ORGANIZED BY KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY (OF CANADA)

VENUE: THE KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI, GHANA

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Vancouver, Canada, invite you to participate in the 2nd Biennial Kwame Nkrumah International Conference at the beautiful campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

DATE: September 21-24, 2012.

THEME: Africa's Many Divides and Africa's Future

"If in the past the Sahara divided us, now it unites us." Dr. Kwame Nkrumah declared some fifty years ago. Keenly aware of Africa's many artificial divides, Nkrumah was determined to lead a revolution that would bridge those divides. One way to achieve this goal, Nkrumah proposed, was a continental pan-African government, which would provide the African people the opportunity to pool and marshal their enormous real and potential economic, human and natural resources for the optimal development of their continent. A continental union government, Nkrumah was convinced, would ensure that Africa ended the divisions created by the trilogy of enslavement, colonization and neo-colonization of Africans. Nkrumah was concerned by other divisions as well; those created by time/history, nature and above all those created by Africans themselves, such as ethnic/ racial, and religious discrimination, classism, sexism, ageism, as well as atavistic and backward traditional practices, including ‘tribalism' and  patriarchy. 

Nkrumah had long predicted that unless Africans formed a political and economic union to address the continent's acute problems, the raging ‘revolutions' in the north of the continent, religious, and ethnic strife and civil wars  in other parts of Africa were inevitable. He warned that unless urgent steps were taken to bridge Africa's divides, Africans would be warring among themselves as their detractors and neo-colonialists hide behind the scene pulling "vicious wires" to cut "each other's throats." For him, these upheavals are all masked economic "wars." For him, these upheavals are all masked economic "wars."  In other words, these wars and unrests are struggles over scarce economic resources and scrambles to control political power.  Religion and "tribalism" are mere fronts for deep-seated grievances over economic deprivation. 

Ethnic divisions are not racial. There were probably over a thousand languages in Africa, and hence a thousand histories, traditions, religions, legal systems, etc. etc.  After all, it is a huge continent – and all that unites people IS the experience of colonialism and neo-colonialism One could argue that the slave trade also united, but then the trade to the North and East was very different from that across the Atlantic.

Topics to be discussed include, (but not limited to) the following:

• The Northern Africa-Southern Africa Divide
• The Linguistic Divide
• The Class Divide 
• The Ethnic Divide
• The Ideological-Political Divide
• The Gender and Sexuality Divides
• The Generational Divide
• The Religious Divides
• The Rural-Urban Divide
• The Afro-Pessimism-Afro-Optimism Divide
• The Continental Africa-Diaspora Africa Divide
• The Intellectual-Non-intellectual Divide
• The Elitism-Non-Elitism Divide
• The Global South-Global North Divide
• The Cold War Ideological Divide (the Soviet-East-American-West) Divide
• The Post-Cold War Divide(s)
• The slaver-raiders/sellers and the enslaved Divide
• The rhetoric (theory)/action (practice) Divide

Paper Abstract Submission

Abstracts of approximately 250 words for papers of 20 minutes duration, and suggestions of panels consisting of 3 panelists each are welcome and should be e-mailed, with a short bio-note (50 words) contact address, and one to three keywords related to the area of research to Dr. Charles Quist-Adade, knic@kwantlen.ca no later than December 15, 2011, final notification of selection to be communicated by February 15, 2012.

For More Information, contact

Charles Quist-Adade, PhD 
Department of Sociology
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
12666 72nd Avenue
Surrey, British Columbia
V3W 2M8, Canada

E-mail: charles.quist-adade@kwantlen.ca
Telephone: 604.599.3075

Publicado por: http://www.kwantlen.ca/knic.html

El Nobel de la Paz premia el papel de la mujer en el cambio político y social

El Comité Nobel de la Paz, reunido en Oslo(Noruega), ha decidido dividir el premio en tres partes este año. Tres nombres, tres mujeres, pero un mismo elogio: impulsar el papel de la mujer en el cambio político y social. Las galardonadas son la presidenta de Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, la también liberiana Leymah Gbowee, responsable de la organización Red de mujeres para la paz y seguridad en África, y la activista yemeníTawakul Kerman.

Es la primera vez que el premio va a parar a una árabe. Tampoco, hasta ahora, el galardón que se falla en Oslo había elegido a tres mujeres -solo el 5% de los galardonados con el nobel en sus diferentes disciplinas. El presidente del comité, Thorbjoern Jagland, ha manifestado que las tres laureadas son recompensadas por “la lucha no violenta en favor de la seguridad de las mujeres y de sus derechos a participar en los procesos de paz”.

Publicado por: Alfondo: investigación y divulgación periodística

XXIII Simposio Electrónico Internacional (SEI) “Medio Oriente y Norte de África. Estados alterados y la geopolítica de la transformación”.

           

El Centro de Estudios Internacionales para el Desarrollo, CEID, y Estudios Africanos del Centro de Investigaciones y Proyectos Especiales, CIPE, de la Facultad de Finanzas, Gobierno y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad Externado de Colombia tienen el agrado invitarlo a participar en el  XXIII Simposio Electrónico Internacional (SEI) “Medio Oriente y Norte de África. Estados alterados y la geopolítica de la transformación”.

El SEI se llevará a cabo durante el mes de noviembre y el programa será el siguiente:

7 al 11 de noviembre

Sociedad, economía y democracia

14 al 18 de noviembre

Conflicto y seguridad regional

21 al 25 de noviembre

Relaciones Internacionales de Medio Oriente y el Norte de África

28 de noviembre al 2 de diciembre

Conclusiones

Será coordinado por Jerónimo Delgado Caicedo (Universidad Externado, Colombia) y por Marcelo Javier de los Reyes (CEID).

El XXIII cuenta con los auspicios del Centro de Pensamiento Estratégico y de la Academia Diplomática de San Carlos, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Colombia y Alta Política.

Las ponencias deberán ser presentadas en un documento de Word, tener un máximo de 10.000 palabras, en fuente Arial 12 y citas a pie de página y deberán ser enviadas al CEID a más tardar el 30 de octubre.

Los interesados pueden dirigirse a: admin@ceid.edu.ar
Más informaciones: http://www.uexternado.edu.co/africa

El GEA La Corrala publica excelente artículo sobre "La aplicabilidad de las ciencias sociales y de la metodología científica".

De investigador a sujeto político: cuestionamientos sobre parámetros científico-metodológicos en la búsqueda y aplicabilidad del conocimiento

*RODRÍGUEZ MEDELA, Juan; SALGUERO MONTAÑO, Óscar


Abstract:

La aplicabilidad de las ciencias sociales, así como de la metodología científica en general, conlleva una serie de implicaciones que, aunque conocidas, no siempre son del todo tenidas en cuenta. A través de una experiencia que se podría denominar como “investigación autónoma”, se reflexiona sobre cómo el proceso de adquisición y aplicabilidad de la investigación y el conocimiento a unas realidades determinadas se convierte en el inicio de un proceso de cuestionamiento sobre técnicas y prácticas, disciplinas y campos de actuación, metodologías y parámetros científicos.

*Juan es Doctor fundador del grupo de estudios antropológicos La Corrala y miembro de AfricaInEs .

Para acceder al artículo completo:  http://gealacorrala.blogspot.com/2011/10/de-investigador-sujeto-politico.html