The Sixth European Conference on African Studies (ECAS-6) will take place in Paris 8-10 July 2015 at the Sorbonne.

The principal theme of ECAS 6 is Collective Mobilisations in Africa: Contestation, Resistance, Revolt. This theme, however, is not exclusive. The scientific committee will also consider panel proposals on other themes, associated with emergent and more classical fields of study alike.

The historic turn embodied by the Arab “revolutions”, whose repercussions are felt throughout the Sahel; anger, expressed in a range of ways, at the rising cost of living; mobilisations around issues of citizenship; manifold forms of religious revival: all seem to attest to a profound political reconfiguration underway across Africa.

These and associated forms of contestation have pushed new actors to the front of the stage, at the crossroads of local and global dynamics. To fully appreciate the complexity of these developments, we must consider longer-term histories of uprising, stand-taking and engagement on the continent, casting a renewed gaze on jihads, slave uprisings, mass conversions and dynastic conflicts. Too, we must reflect in novel ways on the social trajectories of actors involved in present-day contestations and on the responses that the latter elicit from those in power. This in turn should bring us to pay close attention to repertories of collective action, to modes of transgression and subversion, to takes on activism, and to ways in which all of these intersect with social, generational and gender statuses.

How to propose a panel:

Panel proposals will be accepted, via the site, from 23 June to 23 July 2014.

– All panel proposals must be made via the online form (find it at the bottom of this website: www.ecas2015.fr).

– On the form, you will be asked to provide your first and last names and institutional affiliation, the title of your panel and an abstract of no more than 1500 characters (spaces included).

– As AEGIS is a tri-lingual organisation, the organising committee would be grateful if panel titles and abstracts could be submitted in two languages – English and one of AEGIS’ other two working languages: French or Portuguese.

– To facilitate the work of the scientific committee, when submitting a panel proposal, conveners are asked to identify the disciplinary field(s) that best describe(s) the panel’s subject matter.

– All panels will last an hour and a half and will include a maximum of 4-5 participants, including the panel convener or discussant.

– On submission of the proposal, the proposing convenor will receive an automated email confirming receipt.

more information here

The list of accepted panels will be posted to the website in mid-September 2014.

Alongside the conference, delegates will be invited to take part in a week of Paris-wide cultural events focusing on the work of musicians, writers, visual and new media artists, performers and poets hailing from Africa and the diaspora.

The co-organisers are IMAF (Institut des mondes africains) and LAM (Les Afriques dans le monde).

www.ecas2015.fr