Southern Africa beyond the West:

Political, Economic & Cultural Relationships with the BRICS & the Global South

Journal of Southern African Studies 1st Biennial Conference:
7-10 August 2015, Livingstone, Zambia

The primary aim of the conference will be to consider Southern Africa’s place in a future world in which the influence of Western powers is in relative decline. To this end it will focus on social, political and cultural aspects of the region’s relationships with other regions, including the Lusophone world, China, India, Russia and their spheres of influence, as well as examples of South-South linkages, recognising at the outset that what are presented as new linkages have a long history.

Call for Papers

Themes we will be seeking papers on:

1.       China’s changing role in Southern Africa, inclusive of the historical period of support for liberation movements, economic development assistance and diplomacy, and of the contemporary period related to increased investment and activity, as well as forms of cultural and demographic circulation

2.       The Indian Ocean World and Southern Africa, inclusive of Swahili, Arab and Asiatic influences, and Madagascar and India, including shifts in the way India interacted with Africa: first through ancient long distance trade routes, then as a source of migrant labour under British colonialism, then as a non-aligned nation and now as a more contemporary India, which is “competing” with China economically and  in other spheres

3.       Brazil’s relationships with Southern Africa, focusing on its increasing weight in the world economy, including  its links with Portugal and the Lusophone African countries, with a Portuguese-centred reconsideration of the Southern African region’s pre/colonial history of exploration, missionary activity, trade and colonisation, and decolonisation and war; as well as current religious movements and forms of cultural, economic, political and demographic circulation across the Lusophone world;

4.       Russia, as the most debatable member of the BRICS, still represents a nation with a long history of interaction with Southern Africa, including support for liberation movements, as well as examples of technical cooperation and demographic circulation and networks still active today;

5.       South Africa and other emerging southern African economies: Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, in addition to regional organisations and corporate linkages, especially South Africa’s hegemony over construction and consumer goods in much of the region (think: the ubiquitous South African shopping mall), as well as long-standing white-settler labour issues common throughout the region and further forms of cultural, economic, political and demographic circulation and networks.

Co-sponsors: JSAS (Journal of Southern African Studies) and the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (SAIPAR, Lusaka, Zambia)

Venue: Livingstone, Zambia

Deadline for paper proposals:  1^st August 2014

Final paper deadline: 1^st May 2015

Queries to Lyn Schumaker: lynschumaker@yahoo.co.uk

A full first draft, received by the deadline, will be required from any authors who want to be considered for funding. Funding is extremely limited and only available for authors in the southern African region based at universities that do not subsidise conference travel adequately.