HomeAfrican colonialism : Origins, development and modern challenges

African colonialism : Origins, development and modern challenges

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Published on Monday, June 10, 2024

Abstract

This call for paper explores the multifaceted nature of African nationalism, which encompasses historical, political, social, economic, cultural, and linguistic dimensions. It argues that scholarly research on this topic should adopt an interdisciplinary approach to fully grasp its complexity. African nationalism, rooted in colonialism, evolved as a response to internal and external factors, aiming for political independence and broader African unity. However, post-independence challenges in governance, economic development, cultural identity, and education persist. The call emphasizes the need for further interdisciplinary research to delve into the past, present, and future of African nationalism.

Announcement

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Guest Editors

  • Moustafa MESSEDED, MCA, Département d’anglais
  • Fatma Zahali, MCA, Département d’anglais

Argument

African nationalism has attracted researchers from different walks of disciplines as it reflects a variety of historical, political, social, economic, cultural, and linguistic aspects that form those African ideologies and movements standing behind African independence. Indeed, scholarly investigations and analysis should be interdisciplinary in order to discern these multiple and complex components.

To begin with, African nationalism correlates with colonialism itself since the latter had stimulated those seeds of nationalism dating back to the pre-colonial period. African nationalism was a dynamic move provoked by a number of internal changes resulting from colonial domination, in addition to external factors on the world stage that interacted with local realities. Thus, African leaders’ scope was not confined to their immediate territories, but rather more than often endorsed a wider vision of African and even black unity.  African nationalism is more than a political movement that emerged as a form of anti-colonialism seeking to recapture political power from the coloniser. In addition to the political front, nationalist movements in the continent were faced with socio-ethnic, economic and cultural challenges emerging from the colonial situation. These concerns often stood as real obstacles testing the strength and efficiency of nationalist movements.

The journey of African nationalism could not stop at the achievement of political freedom. Other big challenges emerged in the post-independence times when African nationalists moved to national reconstruction. Swinging between moments of success and instances of failure, a variety of inevitable landmines in the political, economic, social and cultural fields had to be cleared along the decades that followed the recapture of political sovereignty.

The ideal of good -governance has always preoccupied several African political as well as intellectual visionaries in terms of how to achieve it and how to make use of it in order to reach the goal of social and economic development of the continent. National plans of economic development repeatedly encountered internal and external complications that hindered effective exploitation of available riches. Africans’ quest for identity continued to harass cultural nationalists, intellectuals and literary figures. Post-colonial literature stands as a visible example that reflects the cultural and identity issues that Africans sought to fix, targeting to enhance socio-economic development. The language question and the problematic educational systems inherited from colonial times presented another manifestation of the cultural and identity unease that characterised African societies.  To crown it all, the new developments of the current time such as the advent of information and communication technologies, the Covid-19 Pandemic, the international conflicts such as that of Ukraine would only add more complexities to future plans of African nations.

These historical, political, socio-economic, and cultural complexities related to the past, present and future of African nationalism would certainly justify further research and debate based on an interdisciplinary perspective. This would add further understandings to our current state of knowledge on the Continent and its needs.  Therefore, the proposed call for papers aims to bring scholars and researchers interested in African studies from Algeria and from other universities in other countries to debate issues relevant to the past, present and perspectives of African nationalism.

Axes of reflection :

Authors are invited to submit articles related to, but not limited to, the following themes:

  • African nationalism from a historical perspective
  • Progress of African nationalism and world interactions
  • African nationalism and international relations
  • Neocolonialism versus African nationalism
  • African nationalism in a wider scope (Panafricanism, African unity, etc)
  • Challenges to African nationalism after independence
  • National identities between ethnicity and national belonging
  • Problem of national education in Africa
  • Colonial languages and language policy/planning in Africa
  • Nationalism in African arts, media and literature
  • African nationalism during the Cold War era
  • Africa in the age of Globalisation
  • African nationalism in social media discourse

Subjects


Date(s)

  • Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Contact(s)

  • Chanez HAMDAD
    courriel : chanez_hamdad [at] hotmail [dot] com

Reference Urls

Information source

  • Youcef BACHA
    courriel : bachayoucef2016 [at] gmail [dot] com

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« African colonialism : Origins, development and modern challenges », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, June 10, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/11sh1

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