Cfp: "Re-Thinking the Idea of Africa in the 20th Century," University of Cheikh Anta Diop-Dakar, April 1-3, 2009.

15th Annual Conference of the International Society of African Philosophy and Studies. Over the past two centuries, Western educated Africans have attempted to explain African societies, to define African societal and political organizations, and to imagine “Africanness” from an African perspective. Yet, rather than producing an Afri-centrist representation of things African, African thinkers frequently react to Western definitions of the African subject, which have, since the 16th century, equated African-ness with inferiority. This reactionary tendency has led African thinkers and artists to acknowledge that one of the major challenges of African thought is to go beyond the reaction to Western definitions of the old continent in order to imagine Africa from an Afri-centrist perspective. As early as the 19th century, Edward Wilmot Blyden, for example, championed the possibility of going beyond the paradigm set by Western imperialist philosophers; more recently, thinkers such as Kwazi Wiredu pondered about how not to compare Africa with Europe, while Vincent Mudimbe and numerous postcolonial African thinkers call for the conception of an Africa that is neither an invention nor an idea. ISAPS’ 15th annual conference, organized in collaboration with Cheikh Anta Diop University, welcomes papers that examine the extent to which discourses on Africa have evolved from the 19th to the 21st century. We invite participants to submit proposals that revisit the implications and possibilities of Afri-centrist conceptions of Africa. Papers that explore questions of identity, history, language, the arts, democracy, economic development, and otherness are particularly welcomed. Sub-Themes: The Idea of Africa Re-engagement/Collaboration between Academics and Traditionalists Indigenous languages as Expressions of Authenticity Africa and the Diaspora Africa, Globalization, Poetics, and Aesthetics Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Post-colonial Laws Class, Caste, and Gender Territories, Borders, and Creativity Nomadism, Transnationalism, and Cosmopolitism Language, Culture, and Globalization Cultural Hybridity and New Ethnicities Nation and Nationalism Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and African-ness The Future of African Thought Senghor and Cheikh Anta Diop Bridging the “gap” between Anglophone Africa, Francophone Africa, and Lusophone Africa As always, the conference will also welcome panels on other unexplored or inadequately explored aspects of African and African Diaspora literature, philosophy, art, history, sociology, law, economics, etc. Please send a short abstract in English or in French to: Cheikh Thiam, Linfield College, Oregon, USA mailto:chairloc@isapsonline.com Aminata Diaw Cissé, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal https://exchange.linfield.edu/exchange/cthiam/Inbox/hotel.EML?Cmd=open Lionel Mandy, California State University, Long Branch, USA secretary@isapsonline.com The submission deadline is December 15th, 2008.