Please circulate widely!

Dear all

I am convening a section on "Political Decisionism and Statecraft in
Africa" for the 11th Conference of Africanists, to be held at the
Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, 22-24 May 2008. Paper proposals
are now invited.

The conference (on "Africa's Development: Possibilities and
Constraints") is organised jointly by the Academy's Academic Council
on Problems of Africa and its Institute for African Studies.
Conference working languages are Russian and English.

Maybe more so than in any other continent it is possible to still
study what Carl Schmitt termed "political decisionism" in Africa.
Attempts at democratization regularly fail because decisionist
politicians, warlords, and traditional leaders (chiefs of ethnic
groups, clans, etc.) will oppose (or slowly erode) fragile
institutions of democracy. While political decisionism in Africa (and
elsewhere) may often have led to violent conflict, the concept is not
inherently evil and has much exploratory and explanatory potential. By
definition, political decisionism stands in opposition to
parliamentary procedures. If applied to Africa, it may help to
understand the failure of parliamentary institutions in that
continent. The very idea of parliamentarism (at least in its
"universalist" interpretation) may be unsuited to Africa where
interest groups most often are not divided according to party lines,
but rather following ethnic and religious affiliations. Stemming from
its association with the counterrevolution in Europe, political
decisionism has a strong religious component and, again, this seems to
fit a continent in which religion still plays a major role.
Anti-religious, liberal-democratic, parliamentary Europe could be seen
as the very opposite of mostly anti-liberal, pro-religious, and
"decisionist" Africa. This section wishes to inquire into the nature
and current and historical meanings and role of political decisionism
in Africa and how political decisionism relates to concepts and
practice of "statecraft" and "development". The term statecraft is not
one commonly used in the discussion on Africa's development. It may
however describe African politics better than terms like "(good)
governance" and "political development" with their assumption of
"good" government being by definition democratic and their subtext of
parliamentarism and universal (western) values. Questions to be raised
in this section will include whether political decisionism in Africa
impinges on social and economic development? Can a model of
"development" be found that takes political decisionism (and African
public support for it) seriously? What is the role of countries with
an arguably more decisionist approach to politics (such as Russia and
China) in Africa's development? etc. There will also be space for
papers on "political decisionism" and "statecraft" more generally, if
they can be put in relation to Africa.


Please send me an e-mail NOW if you consider to submit a paper
proposal for this section. You can still change your mind. Paper
proposals (a 300 word abstract) are due only on 1 November, but I need
to have an indicative list of possible participants as soon as
possible. Thanks.

Full papers (up to 5000 words) need to be submitted by 15 March 2008.

The conference registration fee is 150 Russian roubles (75 Russian
roubles for students) to be paid in cash at the conference. Assistance
with visa applications (official invitation) and hotel bookings will
be provided by the conference organisers. The fee for accompanying
persons is 50 Russian roubles (that also includes an official
invitation for visa purposes).

Please circulate this CFP widely!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Erich Kofmel
Managing Director
Sussex Centre for the Individual and Society (SCIS)
www.scis-calibrate.org