Lectures

Abstract: This presentation examines the constitution of African (and Asian) Studies in the 1950s and 1960s as part of an international attitude of political solidarity and critical awareness, within socio-political intellectual anti-colonial movements activelychallenging neocolonialism, forms of oppression and dependency, posing threats to the stability of Third World democraciesduring the Cold War. The focus is on the contributions of scholars and other social actors in Ghana – such as Norbert Elias, Raymundo de Souza Dantas, Conor Cruise O’Brien, Fernando Moraes Farias, Vivaldo Costa Lima, W.B. Du Bois, and EfuaSutherland – helps understanding the formation of a political-intellectual epistemic community, which influenced therelationship between international cooperation, knowledge production, and initiatives for autonomous, African-centered socio-economic development. The research project also delves into theoretical and methodological approaches, exploring how tointegrate research on individual paths with the broader network of related, often less visible, individuals and institutions thatwere vital in shaping collective or larger political objectives. Claudio Pinheiro is professor of Asian and African Studies at Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Brazil, where he also serves as ... Read more

Abstract: This lecture explores the roles played by community radio stations in times of security crisis, using the concepts of fragility, resilience and reciprocity. Through a qualitative approach, we examine how the crisis fragilizes community radio stations in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso and their relationships with the “communities”. As an inherently reciprocal medium, community radios and their “communities” ... Read more

Abstract: Our era is defined by a deep sense of urgency, and a collective sense of despair, even hopelessness, among many young people. Africans and people of African descent have highly developed skills to cope with turbulence, pain and trauma—slavery, colonialism, the effects of our neo-liberal and capitalist world. Yet we have not had to ... Read more

Abstract: The recent changes of government in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, brought about by military coups, have been accompanied by a significant geopolitical shift in the central Sahel region. The three states have withdrawn from ECOWAS and set up a new alliance, the Confederation of Sahel States. Whereas the dominant framing of Western mainstream media is a geopolitical one, classifying African politics into the current remake of the East-West conflict, in Africa, the diaspora, and among the internationalist left it is argued about whether the recent developments in the Sahel represent a new Pan-Africanism. The current president ofBurkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, plays a key role in this regard. He is frequently compared to one of his predecessors, Thomas Sankara, an icon of Pan-Africanism. This lecture reflects on the extent to which this comparison makes sense. Are we witnessing are revival of Sankara’s legacy? And do the recent geopolitics in theregion represent a new form of Pan-Africanism? Bettina Engels is Guest Professor for Peace and Conflict Studies at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin. Her research and teaching focuses on agrarian change, class and labor, social movements and popular struggles, recent conflicts in the Sahel, and conflicts over land and mining. She is editor of the Handbook of Critical Agrarian Studies and the Review of African Political Economy. This lecture is open to the public. For virtual participation via Zoom, please use the following ... Read more

Abstract: With global warming on the rise, the use of air conditioners is steadily increasing in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. Only, these cooling devices have to be maintained and repaired by youngs local technician-contractors who face various obstacles in accomplishing their work. Drawing on the biographical accounts of these emerging actors in a precarious ... Read more