CFP: ECAS 2017 - Liberation diplomacy and the African city - July 2017

CFP : Panel B16 at ECAS 2017 (Basel, 29 June – 1 July 2017): Liberation diplomacy and the African city

Emphasising the impact of location on diplomatic cultures and practices, this panel investigates the relationship between African cities and liberation movements, from the struggle against European rule to contemporary fights for political, economic and social rights, in Africa and beyond. Historians have stressed the impact of Accra on Panafricanism, Cairo and Tunis on Algeria's war of independence, Algiers' Panafrican Festival on the Black Panther movement and Lusaka on Zimbabwe's independence negotiations. Development studies have also stressed the impact of large-scale international conferences on the African cities that hosted them and on the means to promote rights in the city - as urban space and as polis. Focusing on specific conferences, cities or issues, from streets and neighbourhoods to the global scene, this panel therefore invites papers on the following topics:

• The relevance of the African city, both as a space for diplomatic action and as an analytical category for academics
• The impact of liberation diplomacy on definitions and practices of African cities
• Comparisons between urban/rural sites of negotiations
• The impact of the diplomats' urban/rural roots on negotiations
• The influence of diplomatic conferences on how diplomats and NGOs include town and country in their agendas
• Africa and city diplomacy
• The use of public space and redefinition of cultural venues, as cause/outcome of international conferences
• Liberation diplomacy and the democratisation of African urban/rural space

Papers reflecting on global cities, migration, regionalism and transnationalism are also welcome.

Paper proposals must be submitted, no later than 18 January 2017, via the link on the panel page, here: http://www.nomadit.co.uk/ecas/ecas2017/panels.php5?PanelID=4905. Decisions on the paper proposals will be made by 28 January. More information on how to submit papers is also available here: https://www.ecas2017.ch/cfp.

PhD students submitting a paper to ECAS are also invited to apply to the 3rd Basel Summer School in African Studies (21-28 June 2017, see https://zasb.unibas.ch/fileadmin/zasb/redaktion/Dokumente/Lehre/summer_school2017/Basel_Summer_School_2017_CALL.pdf)

Panel convenors are notified of proposals submitted to the system, but do get in touch if you would like confirmation or for further details (melanie.torrent@univ-paris-diderot.fr).