Postcolonial Security Regimes in Africa: Mandates, Approaches, Challenges, and Prospects.

Call for Panelists

Postcolonial Security Regimes in Africa: Mandates, Approaches, Challenges, and Prospects.

The 7th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference

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

Format: Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Virtual)

Date: June 20-24, 2023

Abstract Deadline: January 1, 2023

Across the world, state and non-state security providers have dominated security discourses in recent times. Emerging issues have centered on the activities of these actors and how they improve or undermine human and territorial safety. Remarkably, the fluid nature of security provision in many developing countries explains the complexities and hybrid arrangements which consist of multiple actors that are involved (Gupte, 2017; Perouse de Montclos, 2016, Okolie-Osemene, 2018). With the emergence of warrior-diplomats and the problem of ungoverned spaces that revealed the extent of military resilience (Albert, 2017), various African states had no option other than to embrace external support from their former colonial administrators and foreign countries that are willing to support them with advanced weapons. The prevalence of security threats and associated state fragility contributed to the existence of security regimes across Africa with different mandates on the actualization of human/national security. Because of the security situation in the Sahel, Horn of Africa, and Great Lakes among others, existing security regimes depend on developed countries to survive.

Consequently, the colonial mentality of state actors makes special operations forces operate in suspicion and this undermines the cooperative security agenda of the security regimes. Scholars are invited to interrogate the following questions: How and why should African states capitalize on the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) initiative to remodel security regimes? What are the prospects of Pan-African security in a world dominated by the influence of Western powers? What approaches and how should Africa evolve self-reliant security architecture in furtherance of the mantra “African Solutions to African Problems” (ASAP)? What are the limitations of fostering postcolonial security regimes on the continent? How prepared are the African States to develop the type of technology that would equip their military forces to sustain security regimes without security dilemmas? What is the role of traditional security regimes in postcolonial Africa? Insights on the theoretical aspects of the postcolonial security complex are also welcome.

To participate in this panel, send a 250-word abstract and short bio to James OKOLIE-OSEMENE and Olatunde I. OLANIYI at okolieosemenej@gmail.com AND latundeolaniyi@gmail.com by January 1, 2023