Call for papers

18-19 (Tuesday-Wednesday) January 2011 at the University of Yaoundé II, Cameroon.

The failure of the armed forces of states to provide sufficient security for its citizens and the existence of a wide variety of non-state forces which provide and/or undermine security in many parts of Africa today are issues which require urgent attention. Academics, policy-makers, NGO employees, security specialists, UN officials and any others who are willing to share their perspectives about this serious problem and suggest ways to improve security for threatened populations are invited to present their views at this conference.
The study of armed forces in African societies raises both basic theoretical as well as practical questions. How and why do states gain or lose a monopoly on the ‘legitimate’ use of force? What elements of continuity and change has there been in the nature of armed forces in Africa from the early nineteenth century (or even much earlier) until the present, and why? What are the basic motivations of various types of armed forces (grievance vs. greed, etc.)? What positive or negative roles do private security firms play in Africa today? How does the security dilemma in many parts of Africa today compare with the situation in other parts of the world (in either the past or present)? What positive or negative roles have various ‘peacekeeping’ forces played? How and when should ‘outside’ forces intervene in security crises? What are/have been/should be the role of multinational corporations in these crises? What are the best means (by outside or local armed forces) to restore security to many areas afflicted by chronic violence? The conference organizers welcome the proposal of panels which focus on world-historical, politico-economic, sociological, and ethnological perspectives, but also invite participants with various interdisciplinary perspectives. Papers selected by the conference organizers or other collaborating editors will, if possible, be published online or as book chapters.
A wide variety of armed forces with numerous labels are active in Africa today. The armed forces of states, peacekeeping forces, private security forces, civil militias, ethnic vanguards, rebels, counterinsurgents, presidential bodyguards, predatory bands, highway robbers, conscripted or volunteer child soldiers, drug-trafficking gangs, street gangs, organized crime henchmen, anti-gangs, vigilante groups, terrorists, pirates, bootleggers, protection racketeers, troops of non-African states stationed in Africa, members of military training missions, local and state police forces, prison gangs, and mercenaries, are some examples.

300 word abstracts should be submitted by Thursday 30 September 2010. Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by 30 October 2010 and will need to submit their full papers to the organizers by 28 December 2010.

The 300-word abstracts should be submitted by email to the conference secretariat, with the following information:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of paper, e) body of abstract. Emails should include the name of the author and title in the subject line.

All paper proposals submitted will be acknowledged. If you do not receive a reply from us after a week following your submission, you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! In such cases, we suggest that you resend the abstract by an alternative electronic route. Unfortunately, no funding for travel to or lodging at the conference can be offered.

Conference Secretariat:

Ibrahim Ndzesop
Doctoral Candidate
University of Paris 1 and Centre d'Études des mondes africains, France
Military Labor and state formation,
E-mail Ibrahim.Ndzesop@malix.univ-paris1.fr or ibndzesop@gmail.com

Organizing Chairs

Sakah Saidu MAHMUD
Associate Professor and Head of Department of Political Science
Kwara State University, Malete, P. M. B. 1530, Ilorin Post Office, Ilorin-Nigeria
E-mail: sakah.mahmud@kwasu.edu.ng

Nadine MACHIKOU
Enseignante de science politique
Université de Yaoundé II et l'Institut des Relations International du Cameroun
E-mail: nadngameni@yahoo.fr

Lori HARTMANN-MAHMUD
Hower Associate Professor of Government and International Studies
Centre College, 600 West Walnut St., Danville, KY 40422
E-mail: lori.hartmann-mahmud@centre.edu

Richard BRADSHAW Professor of History and International Relations
Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, USA
E-mail: rick.bradshaw@centre.edu