Africa: CODESRIA Interventions Series

CODESRIA Programme Announcement

CODESRIA Interventions Series Invitation to the Third Round of Essay Competitions
Theme: The Social Sciences and the New Hegemonism in Global Affairs

Contemporary social science research in Africa is inextricably linked to the continent’s historical past both in terms of its origins and in the way in which it is practiced. Shaped by Africa’s colonial experience, social science research in Africa still bears the methodological and epistemological hallmarks of the hegemonic dynamics of that historical period; these dynamics continue to be reproduced in discourses about Africa within and outside the continent. However, in spite of the undeniable impact which it had on the African world, including its knowledge system, the colonial project did meet with considerable resistance which, in the social sciences, translated into efforts both at re-asserting the indigenous and developing a vision that fed into a widely-shared quest to valorise Africa’s own social science research methods and theories in the knowledge production process. Much investment has been made by African social researchers into the systematic unpacking of the foundations of the colonial knowledge production system but the reproduction of the rules and assumptions that underpinned that system within the asymmetric relations of power in global knowledge production means that the individual and collective struggle for indigenous, alternative methodological and epistemological constructs remains an-on going one, renewed and carried over from generation to generation as shifting contexts and conditions demand. It is this fact that also explains the need for the third and fourth generations of African social researchers to understand and critique inherited social science research legacies deriving from the colonial experience and, in so doing, carry forward the task of dismantling those legacies towards the objective of a decolonised and liberating social science project.

As a long-term project, the process of the decolonisation of African social science research necessarily began with an effort aimed at overcoming the blinkered colonialist reading of the African world which rested on a narrow, unilinear cause-effect explanation of social phenomena on the continent. That exercise in refutation and retrieval was followed with a close interrogation of the methodological and epistemological premises of the colonial - and residual colonialist - historiography on Africa with a view to developing broader orientations. Simultaneously, it was understood that innovation and flexibility would have to be the practical hallmarks of any endeavour aimed at creating an alternative and well-grounded understanding of the causal dynamics underlying social processes in Africa. In the end, therefore, the mission of decolonisation of knowledge production has entailed nothing less than a wholesale readjustment of social science research in Africa so that the methodologies of research and the breadth of epistemological debates can become central to paradigm shifts and affirmations. The challenge of this decolonising mission may have begun with the first generation of African social researchers; its completion rests on the shoulders of young African scholars who constitute the future of the body of disciplines that make up the social sciences.

As part of its Interventions series, CODESRIA invites younger researchers enrolled in post-graduate programmes in African universities or who have completed their doctoral research not more than five years ago to submit essays of between 10,000 and 12,000 words on the theme ofThe Social Sciences and the New Hegemonism in Global Affairs. The essays could address any issue of concern with regard to the political, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the new global hegemonism and the challenges which they pose for the social sciences. These challenges could be assessed in terms of the research questions that arise for which new directions in theory and concept-building are required. They could also be tackled in terms of the ways in which the new hegenomism is refracted into the social sciences. Furthermore, attention could be drawn to the ways in which the social sciences may be consciously or unconsciously contributing to the reproduction of the new global hegemonism. The challenges posed for the social sciences by the new hegemonism could also be tackled in terms of the exploration of new sources of research information and the overall handling of sources of data. Additionally, the challenges arising could be discussed in terms of a re-interpretation of existing data in the light of new configurations of power in the international system. The challenges could be also addressed with regard to the responsibilities that are placed on social scientists, particularly with regard to the democratisation of the global order. Five winning prizes of USD1000 each will be offered to the authors of the best essays along with a one-year subscription to the CODESRIA flagship journal, Africa Development. As many authors of other essays as are adjudged to be worthy of publication will each be rewarded with a one-year CODESRIA journal subscription prize.

All essays received will be reviewed by an independent selection committee which will be composed of outstanding young researchers and established social science researchers. The deadline for the submission of essays is 15 August, 2008. The results of the competition will be announced by 03 October, 2008. All essays should be submitted to:

CODESRIA Interventions Series,
CODESRIA, P.O. Box 3304,
CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal.
Tel.: +221- 33 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221- 33 824 12 89
E-mail to: [email][email protected]
http://www.codesria.org