Call for Papers:
Globalization, Development and African Governance
September 15, 2004
AFRICAN
ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
15th BIENNIAL
CONGRESS
JUNE 27-29, 2005
CAIRO, EGYPT
Theme: Globalization,
Sustainable Development and Governance in Africa
Scholars of globalization
appear to agree on the general manifestation of
the phenomenon: the spatial reorganizations of
production, interpenetration of industries
across borders, spread of financial markets,
diffusion of identical consumer goods to distant
countries and the emergence of general principles
of global governance which have a democratic
impulse. Nonetheless, the impact of globalization
has tended to vary widely between and among
regions of the world, concomitantly, regional
response to globalization have also varied. Old
centers of global capitalist production – North
America, Western Europe and Japan – seem to be
coping well and adjusting to the new
manifestations of globalization, albeit with their
own internal contradictions. Emerging markets in
Latin America and South East Asia have both
benefited and suffered through the crisis of
capitalist production in the last decade and seem
to have weathered the storm. Africa, however,
continues to be a big question mark in terms of
both its response to globalization, and the way in
which other regimes, particularly the old centers
of capitalism – the G-8 – view Africa’s
participation in the emerging system of global
production.
The
biggest question for Africa is whether the
development effort currently under way on the
continent is sustainable.
Sustainability broadly defined relates to
the continent’s capacity to absorb global
changes in their various manifestations, while
instituting development programs that are
determined by local needs and which respond to
critical questions of long-term development
strategy, which is people-centered as opposed to
simply catering to interests of global capital.
Further is the question of preserving Africa’s
natural resources and putting them in the service
of African development. This question is critical
because of the systematic exploitation of
Africa’s resources by outsiders –
particularly, minerals and forest products and
contributing to many of the continent’s civil
conflicts of the last two decades. While the
intensity of contact between Africa and the
outside world can readily be seen in the
latter’s hunger and quest for Africa’s
resources, benefits to Africa from this contact
remain suspect.
Governance
under a globalizing system requires a redefinition
and reexamination of both phenomena, especially
how the two interact to produce a global system of
governance both at the political and economic
levels. It is clear that traditional notions of
state sovereignty no longer suffice, although even
under traditional norms of state sovereignty a
state could be called to account for its behavior
towards its own citizens. New rules and norms of
behavior and collective responsibility through
international institutions are taking shape as the
global population movement is gathering speed, and
states are less able to control their citizens.
Multilateralism
has been hailed as one possible response to global
governance. This signals the growing importance of
transnational actors in addressing questions of
economy and governance. Yet, the state is still a
central player in the global system in terms of
its governing responsibility to its own citizens,
and the implementation of global rules that govern
local economic production. In other words, how do
we reconcile the state’s welfare role and
adherence to WTO rules? How can the state’s
systematic loss of its capacity to manage the
economy be reconciled with demands for a more
democratic polity? Is there a disjuncture between
political and economic management? What role can
local, continental and global civil society play
in response to state’s behavior vis-ŕ-vis
globalism? How should different segments of
society respond to the challenges of governance in
an era of gloablism?
The
three themes for this conference are related in a
fundamental way: globalization with all of its
internal and external contradictions has been
accepted as the basis for economic development in
Africa. Africa’s latest collective response to
globalization is the New Economic Policy for
Development (NEPAD). While NEPAD is an official
collective response, there are those who view
NEPAD as fundamentally flawed, primarily because
of its unsustainability. Can Africa’s natural
resources and environment endure the onslaught of
globalization and the internal demands of
production? Further Africa’s governance
structures are viewed as incapable of managing
both the political and economic aspects of
globalization. Yet the big question remains, which
way Africa? What institutional transformations
will be necessary for the state in Africa to
regain its relevance, if not centrality in the
management Africa’s political economy? Indeed
the ultimate question might be, would a
transformed state in Africa even be relevant as an
agent for economic management in a globalized
political economy? Sub-themes for the Congress to
reflect the general theme will include: Nepad and
globalization, governance and globalization,
gender responses to globalization, globalization
and sustainability: the environmental challenge,
the politics of natural resources, revisiting NIEO:
lessons from past experiences, WTO: policies and
programs, and revisiting the state of Africa.
The
Cairo AAPS biennial conference will serve as a
forum to critically interrogate these issues.
Individual papers and panel proposals dealing with
these three broad themes are invited for
consideration for the congress. Paper proposals
sent via electronic mail should include: title,
name presenter (s), institutional affiliation, one
paragraph abstract, and complete contact
information (mailing address, telephone and fax
numbers). Panel proposals should include all the
above information for each participant, plus an
abstract of the panel as a whole.
The
deadline for paper/proposal submission is December
30, 2004. These should be submitted electronically
to the Program Chair: Julius E Nyango’oro
Email
address: jen321@email.unc.edu
You
will be notified of the status of your proposal by
February 15, 2005
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