VAD e.V.

Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland e.V.

 
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Round Table 1: Continuities and Breaks:
Historical perspectives on independent Africa

Friday 9 April, 2.30 pm – 4.15 pm │ Room: P 1

Participants:
Mamadou Diawara (Goethe University Frankfurt), Carola Lentz (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), John Lonsdale (University of Cambridge), Paul Nugent (University of Bayreuth), Achim von Oppen (University of Bayreuth)

Chair: Andreas Eckert (Humboldt-University Berlin)

Five decades of African independence evoke memories of an anti-colonial triumph, but also of “neocolonialism”, repression, violence, hunger and corruption. Many scholars rightly emphasize that the history of independent Africa is not only the history of failure, suffering and disillusionment, but also of Africans’ courage and persistence and their ability to survive under extremely difficult conditions. Thus it seems to be highly problematic to conceptualize for Africa a single “post-colonial” configuration. The participants of this roundtable offer historical perspectives on African independence, ask about general trends in the history of independent Africa and try to identify alternatives and constraints Africans faced at particular moments during the last fifty years.

 

Round Table 2: 40 Jahre VAD – ein Rückblick auf die Anfänge

Friday 9 April, 4.45 pm – 6.30 pm │ Room: P 11

Teilnehmer: Brigitta Benzing (University of Göttingen), Norbert Cyffer (University of Vienna), Gerhard Grohs (Munich), Bernd Wiese (Cologne)

Diskussionsleitung: Andreas Mehler (GIGA Hamburg)

Die VAD wurde am 16. März 1969 in Marburg gegründet, nicht zuletzt aus der Unzufriedenheit mit den bestehenden universitären und assoziativen Strukturen heraus. Mit dem damaligen Namen „Vereinigung von Afrikanisten in Deutschland“ (VAD) wurde eine möglichst offene Formulierung gesucht, die zum Ausdruck bringen sollte, dass es sich nicht um eine „Deutsche Vereinigung von Afrikanisten“ oder um eine „Vereinigung von deutschen Afrikanisten“ handeln sollte. Konstitutiv und doch von Beginn an sehr kontrovers waren die Bemühungen, eine interdisziplinäre Afrikawissenschaft zu fördern. Immer wieder meldete sich die VAD oder Funktionsträger der Vereinigung auch politisch zu Wort. Die Teilnehmer des Panels sind Mitglieder der ersten (B. Benzing, N. Cyffer, B. Wiese) oder zweiten Stunde (G. Grohs). Sie repräsentieren unterschiedliche Disziplinen, die in der VAD vertreten sind. Die Podiumsdiskussion möchte den Zeitgeist in den Afrikawissenschaften Ende der 1960er Jahre, die Kernelemente der Diskussion um Interdisziplinarität und die Hintergründe für politische Stellungnahmen beleuchten helfen.

40 Jahre Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland (VAD), 1969-2009
von Felix Brahm [ PDF, 162 KB ] 

 

Round Table 3: Can Africa still claim the 21st century?

Saturday 10 April, 11.15 am – 1 pm │ Room: P 1

Participants: Helmut Asche (University of Leipzig), Carlos Lopes (UNITAR, Geneva), Georg Schäfer (GTZ, Eschborn), John Weeks (SOAS, London) 

Chair: Robert Kappel (GIGA Hamburg)

The global crisis of 2008/2009 has put the economic resilience of African countries to a hard test. While the space which African governments have for economic decision-making has been heavily constrained by IFIs and multilateral trade agreements for about three decades, the crisis has opened new policy space in Africa. Referring to a ten years’ old study with the programmatic title “Can Africa claim…?”, the panel will look into the perspectives of economic recovery and of economic policy-making on the continent.


Carlos Lopes: African perspectives on economic recovery
Georg Schäfer: African economies in the world economic & financial crisis
John Weeks: Alternative fiscal policies in Africa – the Freetown Declaration
Helmut Asche: African growth perspectives 50 years after independence

Panel sponsored by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

 

Heinrich Böll Foundation Discussion:
Elections, referendum and tough choices in Sudan

Friday 9 April, 4.45 pm – 6.30 pm │ Room: P 13 

Participants: Magdeldin El-Gizouli (Ahfad University Khartoum, Sudan), Elke Grawert (University of Bremen), Kathrin Scherr (MPI for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg), Khalid Medani (McGill University Montreal, Canada)

Chair: Toni Weis (Heinrich Böll-Stiftung, Berlin)

As the six-year transitional period defined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) draws to a close, Sudan is facing a time of drastic changes. The country's first presidential, legislative and regional elections in 24 years, scheduled for April 2010, represent an exceptional test for Sudan's incumbent political elite. At the same time, for many observers they are merely the prelude to the even more eagerly anticipated referendum on the future status of South Sudan.

In light of these important upcoming decisions, only one thing seems certain: no matter how the course will be set, new conflicts are unavoidable. Both an electoral victory of the NCP and a strengthening of the opposition, both a vote for Southern independence and a decision for unity raise their own questions and problems. The coming months will determine the political framework within which the political future of Sudan takes shape; the challenges, in any case, remain enormous.

A new publication edited by the Heinrich Böll Foundation takes a closer look at these challenges. The round table introduces the publication and discusses its core questions: What changes can be expected from the upcoming elections and from the referendum in South Sudan? What would be the consequences, both national and regional, of Southern independence? And how can the international community support the Sudanese peace process more effectively than it has done in the past?

Download [ PDF, 158 KB ]

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