CFP from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan

Just got this in the mail.

The Institute of African Studies is planning to publish two books on
Africa in 2011 as part of its efforts to expand the frontiers of knowledge
and knowledge production on the continent. The main rationale for
rethinking Africa, in this manner, is the mounting developmental crises in
the continent. Amongst many other things, the continent is the least
developed in the world and the burgeoning political, economic, health,
environmental, educational and ethical crises around it suggest that the
future of Africa is already compromised. The main issues in the
underdevelopment of the continent today include political corruption and
lack of altruism in the public sphere; other equally compelling features
are economic decline, diseases, environmental degradation, armed
conflicts, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, declining
educational standards, brain drain and poor leadership, among others. It
was once a welcome tradition to blame these African developmental crises
wholly on outsiders (most especially colonialism and international
conspiracy) but it must be noted that the African elite is equally
responsible for undermining the development of the continent. In other
words the task of reconstructing Africa must start from within and the
first step is to generate precise knowledge on what must be changed and
identify those responsible for bringing about this change.

The second stage is to dialectically audit the available resources for
bringing about the needed change. For instance, it is imperative to
interrogate how Africa could use its vast cultural, political, economic
and environmental resources for reclaiming its endangered position in the
comity of nations? What external resources are available for
reconstructing Africa and how well is the continent taking advantage of
these opportunities? How appropriate are these external resources? What
forms of collaboration are desirable between African and external actors
for developing Africa? Scholars are invited to provide assistance in
answering these and other relevant questions in the book Critical
Discourses in African Development to be co-edited by Prof. I.O. Albert,
Prof. Babatunde Agbaje Williams and Dr. Nathaniel Danjibo of the
University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The book welcomes contributions on the past
present and future of the African continent from the perspectives of
social sciences, humanities, and sciences. Submissions could be regional,
sub-regional, national or local so long as they have some lessons for
rebuilding Africa.

The twin publication titled Critical Discourses in African Studies will be
co-edited by Prof. I.O. Albert, Prof. Dele Layiwola, and Dr. Sola
Olorunyomi. The focus of the publication will be on how Africa is studied
by researchers and taught to students of African Studies worldwide. We are
also interested in the history of African Studies. “African Studies” in
this context is broadly defined to capture all academic and non-academic
programmes that concern themselves with the collection and dissemination
of information on Africa whether within or outside the African continent.
Is African Studies necessarily cultural studies? Is African studies
development-relevant? Who owns African studies? To what extent does
African Studies, as organized in Africa, accommodate Diaspora studies? Is
African Studies poised to learning from the rest of the world? What are
the themes preferred by those studying or teaching Africa and why this
emphasis? What are the critical issues in African development that
researchers are actually not studying or teaching? Why are these issues
ignored and what are the implications? How easily available are the
resources for studying Africa? What are the competing methods for
researching and teaching Africa? In other words, this second publication
will focus on epistemological, methodological, philosophical and
theoretical/praxis issues in African studies. We also welcome case
studies.

Contributors to this book project should send a 250 word abstract of their
papers latest by June 15, 2011 indicating the particular publication they
want. It is possible to contribute to the two publications. The main
papers are expected in on August 15, 2011. They should be double spaced,
not more than 20 pages and accompanied by a 100 word biodata of the
author. Electronically generated footnotes should be used throughout the
papers. The final draft should be sent to the under-listed:

Prof. I.O. Albert ioalbert2004@yahoo.com
Professor I.O. Albert, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan,
Nigeria
+2348033834639
Contact: ioalbert2004@yahoo.com