Call for Papers
The Organisation for Social Science
Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) will hold its Seventh Congress
in Khartoum, Sudan, in December 2002. The Congress will consist of three major
activities: business meeting, the special panel, and the scientific conference.
The theme of the conference is “The quest for social peace in Africa:
Transformations, democracy and public policy”. The main objective of the
conference is to provide African scholars and intellectuals with the opportunity
to discuss ongoing transformations and social processes as they impinge on the
current quest for peace-building and peace-keeping; to review and determine how
scientific knowledge and research can assist in the understanding and
resolution of crises and conflicts; and to influence in a positive direction
these transformations in Africa.
In
this regard, the conference papers should reflect the spirit of concern with
the future of both the social science enterprise and the African condition
itself. What role can social science play in the generation of knowledge on the
problems of security and the consolidation of social peace? Which theories,
concepts, and methodological approaches can best serve the purposes of
appraising and understanding the processes fuelling social conflict as well as
those sustaining social peace in Africa? These and many other related issues
need to be addressed at Africa-wide, sub-regional and country-specific levels
of scientific investigation under the following sub-themes of the conference.
Sub-Theme 1: Transformations
· Economic transformations and
crises
· Ideological transformations
· Demographic transformations.
Sub-theme 2: Sources
of Conflicts
· Problems of State and
nationhood
· External dimensions of
conflict
· Public responses to
conflict.
Sub-theme 3: Conflict
prevention, management and resolution
· Early warning and preventive
diplomacy
· Peace-making and
peace-keeping
· Post-conflict resolution
· Post-conflict reconstruction
· The role of the
international community, the OAU, and other African organisations
· The issue of ownership.
Sub-Theme 4: Democratisation
· Internal context: the crisis
of governance, the rise of social movements, ideological and cultural changes
· External context: the impact
of the end of the Cold War, political conditionality, etc.
· Problems and prospects of
democratisation.
Sub-Theme 5:
Public Policy
· Public policy-making in
Africa: History, pattern, administration and management
· External influence: economic
restructuring and adjustment, and impact at family, household, community,
workplace and state levels; needs and delivery; urbanisation and poverty;
poverty and rural development
· Public policy, state and
society: public policy formulation and delivery; citizenship, rights,
political and social movements; emergence of civil society and other interest
groups.
Abstracts: Titles
and abstracts of proposed papers can either be submitted to the Liaison
Officers of OSSREA or sent directly to the OSSREA Secretariat; abstracts should
not be more than one page long, should clearly state the nature of the problem,
the methodology, and the findings/conclusions.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2002; authors
whose abstracts are selected will be informed of decision in June 2002.
Paper: Papers
of approved abstracts should be: computer typeset using MS Word 2000, strictly
conform with the OSSREA Style Guide (available in the Jan. 2002 issue of the
EASSRR); printed on A4 paper with 1.5” line-spacing and 1” of space left on
both margins; not more than 20 pages in length; and submitted both in hard copy
and on diskette.
Deadline for
papers: Papers should reach the OSSREA Secretariat before 30
September 2002. Send you hard copy and diskette to:
OSSREA
P.O.
Box 31971
Addis
Ababa
Ethiopia
E-mail:
ossrea@telecom.net.et or