Lectures
The MIASA Public Lecture Series features MIASA fellows in residence. It is primarily directed to researchers and students but is also open to the wider public.
The Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture is organized annually by MIASA at the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Institute of African Studies and the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Ghana. It is named after the 18th century philosopher from present-day Ghana who taught at the universities of Halle and Jena. The lecture series promotes MIASA’s overarching commitment of making African thinking increasingly relevant in global academia, and it addresses questions of how the humanities and social sciences can contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge production and epistemic justice.
Events
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Presentation and Public Roundtable: From the Maghreb to the Sahel: transnational terrorism – new trends and dynamics; Presenter: Aly Tounkara
via Zoom MIASA Public Lecture Series in collaboration with the Department of Political Science in Celebration of the Day of Scientific Renaissance of Africa Abstract: The Maghreb and Sahel regions have been plagued for more than a decade by endemic crises of a hybrid nature. The war in Libya, which began in 2011, followed by ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Land Governance in West Africa – Preliminary Empirical Insights; Speakers: Fellows of the Interdisciplinary Fellow Group 6
via Zoom Abstract: Drawing from interdisciplinary research on land governance in West Africa, with field sites in rural and urban areas of Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, and Senegal, members of the Sixth Cohort of the MIASA Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG6) of MIASA share some preliminary insights from their works in this Public Lecture. With fellowship support ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Black African Neo/Pentecostal Political Subjectivity and/as Black Consciousness; Speaker: Siphiwe I. Dube
via Zoom Abstract: In this presentation, I explore the political implications of African forms of Pentecostalism for critical race discourse. In particular, and drawing on a critical engagement with the work of Nimi Wariboko, I argue that what African Neo/Pentecostal Theology highlights is that moral and political subjectivity in the context a necropolitical postcolonial Africa, ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Bangui’s Everyday Statehood: Citizens and Public Authority in a Context of Chronic Political Crisis; Speaker: Lotje de Vries
MIASA Seminar room & via Zoom Abstract: While the state in the Central African Republic is characterized by what can be called chronic political instability, everyday life and administration in the capital Bangui seems quite steady. In this lecture, I analyze the various relations between citizens and public authorities in mundane interactions to investigate what ... Read more
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Public Lecture: A Case of Convergence? Party manifestors and left/right ideology in Nigeria’s four Republics; Speaker: Sa’eed Husaini
Abstract: Perspectives in comparative politics see party competition in Africa’s ‘third wave’ democracies as devoid of disagreement on class or economic grounds – and thus as ‘absent’ of left/right ideology. This ‘absence’ thesis finds echo in Nigeria-specific political science literature, as well as in popular perspectives on contemporary politics in Nigeria. Yet, a dearth of ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Between (and beyond) Aisha Huang and Stonebwoy: Towards Understanding Non-State Actors and Chinese Environmental Footprints in Ghana; Speaker: Abdul-Gafar Oshodi
MIASA Seminar Room & via Zoom Abstract: There has been renewed interest in Africa-China relations in the last twenty years – and among the areas that have attracted some attention in academic literature and popular media is Chinese environmental footprint in Africa. Although existing literature on this subset of Africa-China relations appears to predominantly overlook ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Sino-African Urbanism: Chinese Architecture of Capital and the Mercantilist Spirit in the City of Douala; Speaker: Basile Ndjio
MIASA Seminar room Abstract In more general, this paper which is based on field investigation conducted in the city of Douala in Cameroon between 2014 and 2021, aims to extend scholarly discussions on transnational urbanism and architectural innovations. It does so through a detailed empirical examination of newly emerged Chinese architectural imaginations, styles and practices ... Read more
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Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture 2022: Decolonizing Knowledge Production in Africa; Invited Speaker: Sylvia Tamale (Makerere University)
Great Hall, University of Ghana The world lives with the falsehood that on planet earth, there is one universal correct way of being human, i.e., the Western way of thinking, of being and of doing, which is constructed as a one-size-fits-all model, the “default drive” for the entire world. The lecture focuses on some of ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Maintaining order in everyday life: Sociology of identity control at roadblocks in Chad; Speaker: Kelma Manatouma
MIASA Conference Room, 15th November 2022 Abstract "Present your identity document !", "Wen identité hanak", "pièce identité" These expressions, in Chadian Arabic or French, are familiar to anyone who is used to taking public transport, coaches from travel companies that have been growing rapidly over the last ten years, to travel to the South or ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Creative Cities in African Contexts: Approaches and Perceptions; Speaker: Dr. Jenny Mbaye
Abstract: This lecture explores the relationship between arts, culture and creativity and urban policy and governance. Focusing on African contexts, it discusses processes of the cultural polis (Mbaye & Dinardi, 2019) with an attention to alternative institution-building (Kouoh, 2012) and people as infrastructure (Simone, 2004) situated at the intersection of creative ecosystems and production, citizens’ ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Restitution and Museums: Some Emerging Issues; Speakers: Kodzo Gavua & Hans Peter Hahn
Abstract The urgency, the ethical necessity and the political procedures of restitution are now widely known and recognised. In many African countries, initial experiences have already been made and some more far-reaching aspects are currently being intensively discussed. As we will show in this lecture, it is crucial not to limit the perspective on restitution ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Women as public transport providers; Speaker: Prof. Eyo Mensah
Abstract The public transport sector in Nigeria has often been stereotyped as a male-dominated industry. Over the years, the upsurge in unemployment rate and the necessity of economic empowerment have pushed women to adopt commercial tricycle riding as a means of livelihood. In this public lecture, I interrogate the perception of women as tricycle riders ... Read more
