Call for Papers: "A United States of Africa?", 06/00

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER

40th anniversary conference "A United States of Africa?" 30 May - 2 June 2000, Pretoria, South Africa http://www.ai.org.za/html/news.html

Background

The Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) is turning 40 on 7 April 2000. The Institute was established in 1960 as an independent, non-profit researc= h organisation. Since the democratic changes began with the elections of 1994 and especially following a review undertaken by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST), the Africa Institute has been restructured and transformed to reflect the new challenges of providing quality information on the continent. Our vision is to become an independent, authoritative centre of excellence for the production of knowledge on Africa and to promote awareness as well as the importance of unity, peace, prosperity and democracy on the African continent.

Motivation

On our 40th anniversary we are organising a three-day conference around the theme "A United States of Africa?'. We have taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the 40th birthday of the Institute to bring together political practitioners, non-governmental organisation, scholars amd researchers based on the continent and outside, to reflect on the socio-political, economic, cultural, youth, environmental, health and gender challenges relating to the political unity of the continent. This is motivated by two related resolutions of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) the 1991 Abuja Treaty calling for the setting up of an African Economic Community by the year 2025 and the 1999 Sirte Declaration calling for the establishment of an African Union.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this conference are as follows:

To contribute towards the evolution of an African political path into the new millennium To interrogate the viability and practicality of African economic and political unity To promote the importance of peace, prosperity and democracy on the African continent

AISA will publish the conference papers in an accessible format for research institutions, governments, non-governmental organisations and the broader public in South Africa, Africa and internationally.

The conference will also provide a forum for networking and marketing for the continental political practitioners, NGOs, scholars, researchers and regional bodies.

Conference Format (provisional)

Opening evening The conference will kick off with an opening evening of speeches and a cocktail party.

The keynote speaker will be South African President Thabo Mbeki and the guest speakers the OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim and a senior member of the SADC Executive Secretariat. There will also be entertainment in the form of a musical performance.

Seminar the conference will take the form of plenary sessions and concurrent discussions. The provisional programme will be announced soon.'

Pan-African market The pan-African market will involve displays and exhibitions by African NGOs, embassies, publishers, media institutions, regional and continental organisations and a mini African video festival.

Sub-themes

The conference programme will revolve around the following sub-themes:

Africa in the New Millennium: challenges and opportunities
African parliament
Peace, security and African political unity
South Africa in Africa
Globalisation and the African renaissance
African foreign policies
Democratisation and African political unity
Civil society and African political unity
Globalisation and regional integration
The future of SADC and the OAU

Call for papers

The deadline for submission of papers is 19 April 2000. Papers should not exceed 25 pages and should be submitted in both hard copy and an electronic version (either a disk or by email). It would be appreciated if speakers could first submit an astract for approval (preliminary deadline: end of January).

Language

The main language of the conference will be English, but interpretation facilities will be provided for French (and Portuguese, subject to demand). Please advise us well in advance if you will be presenting a paper in any language other than English.

Costs

The organisers will cover costs for a limited number of presenters from the continent and other regions of the South. We encourage participants from outside the continent, especially the North, to cover their own costs The average cost of meals and accommodation is as follows:

Lunch US$ 30

Hotel Accommodation US$ 70-90 (bed & breakfast) Dinner: US$ 25

Registration form

Registration forms should be completed and submitted by email or fax before 31 March to:

Shepi Mati / Thuli Nhlapo
Africa Institute of South Africa
PO Box 630
Pretoria 0001
South Africa

Tel: +27 12 328 6970
Fax: +27 12 323 8153
Email: shepi@ai.org.za or thuli@ai.org.za=20

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