In recent years, accredited representatives and international organisations officials found themselves in the middle of intense diplomatic clashes in African contexts. The recent shift in geopolitical alliances in the Sahel area, for instance, has displayed dramatic cases, with top diplomats (foreign ambassadors, UN heads of mission, and even African Union top leaders) being denied visits, or declared persona non grata, or even expelled, sometimes manu militari. Similar cases occurred in 2021 in the midst of the war in Tigray, Ethiopia. In other instances, national authorities erect administrative impediments aimed at hindering foreign diplomats’ day-to-day activity. These few examples of diplomatic clashes were politically justified by competent authorities in the name of sovereignty in contexts of rapidly changing international partnerships. The purpose of our panel is to identify and examine the diplomatic practices by which official representatives of African states contest the international order and seek to enact sovereignty towards their external environment.

The European Conference on African Studies (ECAS) 2025 consists of 253 panels representing all disciplines and methodological approaches of the social sciences and humanities.

Argument

The purpose of our panel is to identify and examine the diplomatic practices by which official representatives of African states contest the international order and seek to enact sovereignty towards their external environment.

In recent years, accredited representatives and international organisations officials found themselves in the middle of intense diplomatic clashes in African contexts. The recent shift in geopolitical alliances in the Sahel area, for instance, has displayed dramatic cases, with top diplomats (foreign ambassadors, UN heads of mission, and even African Union top leaders) being denied visits, or declared persona non grata, or even expelled, sometimes manu militari. Similar cases occurred in 2021 in the midst of the war in Tigray, Ethiopia. In other instances, national authorities erect administrative impediments aimed at hindering foreign diplomats’ day-to-day activity. These few examples of diplomatic clashes were politically justified by competent authorities in the name of sovereignty in contexts of rapidly changing international partnerships. The purpose of our panel is to identify and examine the diplomatic practices by which official representatives of African states contest the international order and seek to enact sovereignty towards their external environment. Foreign diplomats find themselves on the front line, caught in this tug-of-war in their everyday interactions with the local governments. These interactions need to be better documented, as repertoires of action used to denounce, resist, or redefine international hierarchies (discursive practices, informal encounters, legal action, etc.). The panel welcomes and values papers with strong, original empirical material unraveling such diplomatic tensions, as well as analytical insights on their political and social contexts. At the theoretical level, the panel seeks to add to the “‘practice turn” in International Relations building on overlooked African case studies.

Submission guidelines

The Call for Papers will end

on 15 December 2024.

Submission must be done online : https://guarant.eu/ecasconference2025/call-for-papers/

Guidelines instructions are here.

Acceptance/Rejection letters to paper authors will be send on 28 January 2025.

The Conference will be held in Prague from 25th to 28th June 2025.

Scientific coordination

• Léonard Colomba-Petteng, Assistant Professor at Sciences Po Strasbourg
• David Ambrosetti, research fellow at CNRS, « Les Afriques dans le monde »laboratory, Sciences Po Bordeaux