Presented by CIPS as part of uOttawa’s programming for Black History Month
February 26, 2021
There has been a resurgence of thinking, writing, and political action around decolonization in the interdisciplinary field of African Studies. While these efforts have deep roots in the field, scholars and activists have made renewed challenges, spurred on by key moments of reckoning (e.g. BLM) inside and outside academia. As part of CIPS’ programming for Black History Month, this event seeks to give some texture to debates about ‘decolonizing’ the ways we engage with and study Africa, what it means across disciplines, and how key parts of scholarship — the ethics of fieldwork, the role of scholars, research funding, teaching, and more — are impacted by this approach.
Panelists:
Dr. Yolande Bouka is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. Her research and teaching focus on gender, African politics and security, political violence, and field research ethics in conflict-affected societies. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from American University. Her current research is a multi-sited historical and political analysis of female combatants in Southern Africa. In addition to her academic work, she has extensive experience with development and security research agencies. She has worked with and offered support to USAID, the UK Department for International Development, the United Nations, the African Union, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the United States Institute of Peace.
Dr. Zoe Marks is a Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research and teaching interests focus on the intersections of conflict and political violence; race, gender and inequality; peace-building; and African politics. Her current book project examines the internal dynamics of rebellion in Sierra Leone to understand how and why rebel groups can sustain a viable threat to the state without widespread support. It draws on nearly a decade of fieldwork, several hundred interviews with former combatants and community members, and private archives from members of the Revolutionary United Front.
Dr. Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni is a Professor and Chair of Epistemologies of the Global South with Emphasis on Africa at the University of Bayreuth. He previously worked as Research Professor and Director of Scholarship in the Department of Leadership and Transformation (DLT) in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa (UNISA), South Africa. He was also the 2019 Visiting Professor at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). He is a leading decolonial theorist with over a hundred publications in the fields of African history, African politics, African development and decolonial theory.
Dr. Awino Okech is a Reader in Gender Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her teaching and research interests lie in the nexus between gender, sexuality and nation/state making projects as they occur in conflict and post-conflict societies. Awino’s recent publications include ‘African Feminist Epistemic Communities and Decoloniality’ in Critical African Studies (2020) and an edited book Gender, Protests and Political Change in Africa (2020).
Moderator:
Dr. Philippe Frowd is an Assistant Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. His current research is on the transnational governance of security in West Africa’s Sahel region, with a particular focus on irregular migration and border control. Dr. Frowd’s most recent fieldwork has been on the local effects of international efforts to curb migrant smuggling in Niger.
