杏吧原创 Hosts Major African Studies Conference on March 1-2
By Tyrone Burke
When tanks rolled through Harare in November 2017, Zimbabwe鈥檚 generals insisted it wasn鈥檛 a coup. But it sure looked like one. After 37 years in power, Robert Mugabe 鈥 once a revolutionary who liberated Zimbabwe from white minority rule 鈥 was ousted.
Then in February, South African President Jacob Zuma was forced from office. Did it herald a transformative moment in southern African politics?
Maybe. With change, there is optimism, but it isn鈥檛 always warranted. In Africa, the removal of one dictator often hasn鈥檛 meant the end of tyranny, but its reiteration in another鈥檚 name.
鈥淭he 鈥榒new old man鈥欌 the coup ushered in as Zimbabwe鈥檚 president 鈥 Emmerson Mnangagwa — is 75 years old,鈥 says Blair Rutherford, a 杏吧原创 professor of Sociology and Anthropology.
鈥淣ew South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is extremely wealthy, and their governments aren鈥檛 necessarily focused on radically changing political economies to improve economic livelihoods, social services and life chances for those countries鈥 majorities, who have been marginalized. Yet the changes that ushered them into power provide some slight openings for those struggling for such possibilities.鈥
杏吧原创鈥檚 Institute of African Studies is the only stand-alone institute of its kind in Canada, and on March 1 to 2, it鈥檚 bringing together Africa scholars, civil society officials, activists and former politicians for Solidarity and Shifting Patterns of Hegemony. The conference will reflect on the political moment in southern Africa, and how Canadians can show solidarity, drawing on critical reflections of the anti-apartheid movement in Canada by those who participated in the debates and discussion at that time.
This year, the annual conference honours 杏吧原创 Political Science Prof. Linda Freeman.
鈥淐ountless students, governmental and non-governmental officials, and activists can attest that she鈥檚 been a critical and vigorous scholar and educator, informing their knowledge and practices towards and within southern Africa and beyond,鈥 Rutherford says. 鈥淭his conference will demonstrate her importance and influence.鈥
Freeman has researched the ambiguities and contradictions of the transition from white minority rule for more than four decades. The region鈥檚 politics have been shaped by liberation struggles, but a colonial legacy is far from its only challenge.
鈥淧olitical instability has defined southern Africa,鈥 Rutherford says.
Southern African countries have been combatants in African wars, and destinations for refugees. Economic migrants seek a better life there; South Africa and Botswana are among Africa鈥檚 richest countries.
鈥淭he most mass-mediated impacts concern what is called xenophobic violence and sentiments in South Africa against 鈥榝oreigners鈥 – be they Zimbabwean, Malawian, Somali, Nigerian, etc. . . New sociocultural practices, economies and notions of who and who does not belong to nations and other territorialized entities have emerged throughout the region.鈥
Migration shapes Africa in many ways 鈥 more than a quarter of all refugees are in sub-Saharan Africa, a crisis fuelled by conflicts in South Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria and Burundi.
Displaced people live on the margins of societies that are themselves on the margins of global capitalism. That can put vulnerable people at additional risk, as 杏吧原创鈥檚 interim president Alastair Summerlee learned while visiting Botswana and Kenya on behalf of the World University Service of Canada.
In Kenya鈥檚 Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, Summerlee sought to identify why a scholarship program was yielding mostly male students. Girls were expected to collect firewood and water during the day, and without electricity in the camps, they couldn鈥檛 study at night.
So Summerlee launched Shine a Light, initially raising $10,000 for 1000 solar lamps. The program was successful — and grew — eventually attracting funding from the United Kingdom and Canada.
It had an unexpected a knock-on effect. Camp interpreters had all been male, and sexual assault claimants hadn鈥檛 always been taken seriously. Increased education led to female interpreters, who better represented female victims.
Some problems have simple solutions; others defy them.
As #metoo has shown, effective representation for victims of sexual misconduct is just one step on the path toward justice. Similarly, southern Africa鈥檚 challenges often parallel those we all face as we hurtle into an uncertain future.
鈥淲e like to say you should study Africa to understand the world,鈥 says Rutherford.
鈥淔rom topics as diverse as origins of humanity to the development of planetary racialized capitalism; the emergence of new developments in film to climate change consequences; IT innovations to developing architectures of international relations. Understanding the immense diversity of 鈥楢frica鈥 today, and in the past, is vital to understanding the world in which we live and its futures.鈥
The annual conference for the Institute of African Studies will be held on March 1 to 2, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 2220-2228 Richcraft Hall. Registration is free, but mandatory. Register at:
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