Call for Papers: Law, Colonialism, and Domestic Violence in Africa and in Comparative, 03/07

Call for Papers:

Symposium on Law, Colonialism, and Domestic Violence in Africa and in Comparative Perspective
13-14 April 2007, Stanford University.

European colonialism in Africa involved efforts to remake African societies in accordance with prevailing European cultural paradigms and to have Africans fulfill metropolitan needs. Colonialism was also about Africans' responses to European efforts to tinker with their societies, their economies, and their polities. Some Africans embraced the opportunities provided by colonialism; some resisted them; and most probably ignored them as long as they could until they were drawn inexorably into economies and communities shaped by wider colonial and international economies.

Sooner or later, colonialism intruded into the social organization of households and families. Occasionally, it empowered women to claim more legal rights. Usually, colonialism enhanced men's power and authority over their wives and children. Not surprisingly,
asymetries of power and unequal access to resources within households led to incidents of domestic violence and cases involving domestic violence found their way into colonial courts.

This symposium seeks to use evidence of domestic violence to examine the social and legal histories of the "family" during the colonial era. We are interested in examining domestic violence over time and in interrogating these trends for what they may reveal about changing dynamics within households. Theories of domestic violence suggest that household members live in complex webs of relationships that change over time and in relationship to wider changes in the economy, society, in the intensification of colonialism, and in cultural and religious ideas and practices.

We understand domestic violence to involve not only violence within marriage against women, but also violence against children, elders, siblings, and dependents. We are especially interested in papers that examine historical instances of domestic violence and interpret them broadly within historical contexts. We expect that papers will examine domestic violence within broader histories of households and families and in relationship to rights within households and within colonial societies.

The organizers of this symposium are particularly interested in papers dealing with court cases surrounding domestic violence, although papers on colonial policies regarding domestic violence that provide insights into the legal and social history of the family in colonial Africa are welcome. We also welcome papers that examine current debates about domestic violence and the family in relationship to colonial inheritances. And, finally, we are
interested in papers that provide comparative perspectives to the issues of domestic violence in colonial Africa that may involve studies of other colonial contexts.

By linking law, colonialism, and domestic violence, the organizers of this symposium are interested in exploring the range of ways the study of law in colonial Africa can provide new insights into the social history of change in colonial Africa and the meanings of those changes.

Those wishing to attend should send an abstract of their papers to Richard Roberts (<mailto:rroberts@stanford.edu>rroberts@stanford.edu) by 1 December 2006. If accepted, full papers must be sent to the organizer by 20 March to be circulated prior to the symposium. All local expenses will be covered and some subsidies for travel are available. In your abstract, please indicate if you will require a travel subsidy.

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