Call for Papers

The 7th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference

 

Theme

Rethinking Decoloniality: African Decolonization and Epistemologies in the 21^st Century

 

Format

Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)

Date

June 20-24, 2023

 

Decolonization discourses have taken new turns since the second decade of the 21st century. Unfortunately, instead of accounting for decades of activism and scholarship on the decolonization of African knowledge systems, ideologies, and practices since the 1950s, the new decolonization agitation largely disregards previous incarnations. Decolonization has become a catch-all word for every legacy of colonialism that must be dismantled as new ones emerge. As it is, what needs to be decolonized has increased as new bodies of knowledge and the real consequences of imperial domination in the everyday life of Africans emerge and are transformed from their familiar state.

Moving beyond the simplistic definitions of decolonization, we ask for critical reflections on the historicity of actions, politics, and practices that have shaped how scholars, artists, and public commentators have been reflecting on the legacies of colonial domination. We ask for continuity and change in the history of decolonization. We seek contributions that engage with decolonization paradigms beyond the dichotomy of contemporary or postcolonial Africa and the colonial past to interrogate the new challenges of decolonization emanating from the struggle to decolonize within African institutions of power, including but not limited to universities. Should the decolonizer be decolonized? How is coloniality emerging within decolonization movements? What are the limits of decolonization, and who should set these parameters? How are movements and ideologies of decolonization introducing new paradigms that need to be decolonized?

This short conceptual note does not claim to fully espouse the contradictions in decolonization discourses and praxis of the 21st century. Nevertheless, we anticipate unpretentious and bold contributions that engage with decolonization both as a living reality of the past and the present and as a way of knowing. We ask for empirically grounded contributions that take conceptual and theoretical issues seriously. We anticipate contributions that are not afraid to problematize decolonization in any framework. We seek new ways of thinking about the decolonization of knowledges, ideologies, and practices in 21st-century Africa.

 

 

Submission Rules

Individual Submission: Individual proposals should include a 250-word abstract, a short bio, and the email and phone contacts of presenters. Please do not submit more than one abstract. Abstracts cannot have more than two presenters. You cannot present more than one paper, either solo or joint. Submit your abstract here: https://forms.gle/qziEGvJMV3eybGRCA

 

Group Submission: Panel, roundtable, and workshop proposals should comprise a 250-word summary, and the email and phone contacts of all panelists. Please email panel proposals to LSA at lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com

Submission Deadline: December 1, 2022. Notification of acceptance of abstracts by January 15, 2023.

Registration Fee: Local (N10,000); International ($100). Registration fee covers nine full meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) throughout the conference. Everyone listed on abstracts must pre-register by paying the registration fee after acceptance of abstract.

 

If you have any questions about the conference, contact LSA at:

 

Email Address: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com

Website: Lagosstudies.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies