Sixth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS-6)

Following on Lisbon in 2013, the Sixth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS-6) will take place in Paris 8-10 July 2015 at the Sorbonne and at the École pratique des hautes études (EPHE). The principal theme of ECAS 6 is Collective Mobilisations in Africa: Contestation, Resistance, Revolt. This theme, however, is not exclusive. The scientific committee will also consider panel proposals on other themes, associated with emergent and more classical fields of study alike. The historic turn embodied by the Arab “revolutions”, whose repercussions are felt throughout the Sahel; anger, expressed in a range of ways, at the rising cost of living; mobilisations around issues of citizenship; manifold forms of religious revival: all seem to attest to a profound political reconfiguration underway across Africa. These and associated forms of contestation have pushed new actors to the front of the stage, at the crossroads of local and global dynamics. To fully appreciate the complexity of these developments, we must consider longer-term histories of uprising, stand-taking and engagement on the continent, casting a renewed gaze on jihads, slave uprisings, mass conversions and dynastic conflicts. Too, we must reflect in novel ways on the social trajectories of actors involved in present-day contestations and on the responses that the latter elicit from those in power. This in turn should bring us to pay close attention to repertories of collective action, to modes of transgression and subversion, to takes on activism, and to ways in which all of these intersect with social, generational and gender statuses. Panels Schedule: www.ecas2015.fr The co-organisers are IMAF (Institut des mondes africains) and LAM (Les Afriques dans le monde). Centre Sorbonne : 17, Rue de la Sorbonne, 75005 Paris. Centre Panthéon : 12, place du Panthéon, 75231 Paris cedex 05. www.ecas2015.fr