Paper ref 04/01M
The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies
Minutes of African Network Meeting
convened by The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies
03 October 2004
Present:
David Richards (Chair), Abdelkader Sabil, Abdellatif Khayati, Adnane
Nenamani, Badr Jennan, Boualem El Kechebour, Brian Edwards,
Cheryl Stobie, David Slocum, Driss Mansouri, Duncan Brown, Duro
Oni, Elmokhtar Elaballaoui, Eric Ross, Farah AbouBakre, Fatima
Bouzenirh, Ghallab Mohammed, Hasna Lebbady, Ikram Zernine,
Jamal Eddine Benhayoun, Karine Dupre, Khalid Bekkaoui, Khalid
Elaref, Melissa Hammouti, Mohamed Dahane, Mohamed Daoudi,
Mohamed Dellal, Mohamed Elkouche, Mohammed Ezroura, Nadia
Kiwan, Rasolofondraosolo Zafimahaleo, Said Graiouid, Sémou Pathé
Gueyé, Suman Gupta, Taieb Belghazi, Taoufik Agoumy, Taoufiq
Sakhkhane, Tope Omoniyi, Ulrike Meinhof
At the start of the meeeting, David Richards expressed his thanks to the organisers of
the Urban Generations conference and congratulated them on the success of this
event. He also thanked those attending the African Network meeting for their interest
in bringing the African Network forward.
David Richards pointed out that the purpose of the meeting was twofold:
1. To discuss the progress of the network since it was set up at Roehampton in July
2004.
2. To elaborate on the means of bringing the network forward.
Concerning the first point, David Richards said that the African Network first came
into existence during the Economic Migration conference held at Roehampton that
was attended by a number of colleagues taking part in the Rabat conference. The idea
of the Network, he pointed out, was to foster collaborative international relationships
between colleagues in the South as well as between the latter and scholars in the
North whose area of interest is Africa. These relations could take a variety of forms
including student exhanges, joint publications, sharing data, etc. and would help
promote dialogue between the nodes of the networks (individuals and research
centres).
In order to initiate conversation, David Richards took up the subject of " 'Indigeneity'
and Change in Contemporary African Cultural Production". The reason for the choice
of the subject is that it is loose enough to enable participation of colleagues from a
variety of disciplines in a fruitful conversation on various aspects of African life,
culture and institutions and focused enough to allow the materialisation of a specific
programme: the African Network. David Richards teased out the dimensions of
'indigeneity' and problematised it. He drew attention to the essentialism that attaches
to the term and the need to move beyond the perspectives on Africa that are prey to
the nativism of the 'indigenising' mode of thinking. He also discussed the new forms
of cultural production that enable movement away from the essentialising modes of
thinking about Africa. For David Richards, the Network has to work on specifics,
hence his suggestion of a platform of discussion. But he also insisted that as a dialogic
frame of discussion, the African network has to work on the basis that no platform is
"set in stone".
David Richards moved to a discussion of the organisational structure of the Network.
For him, it is interesting to give a structure to the collaborative work within the
Network. This structure could take the form of geographical zones in Africa, that
collaborate between themselves as well as with centres located in Europe and Asia.
This structure will constitute a complex model of interaction centred on Africa. But,
for David Richards, it is important to think of ways of putting it into action. He
suggested four methods of action for the network :
1. The use of international global communication methods (website for the network,
electronic bulletin, etc).
2. The establishment of a mailing list to facilitate communication between the
members of the network.
3. The setting up of a tradition of face to face meetings between the members of the
network at conference’s held on a regular basis initiated by various elements of the
nodes that constitute the network. David Richards said that two possible host venues
for the next meetinsgs of the network are the universities of KwaZulu-Natal in South
Africa and the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal.
4. The ultimate research outcome of the network is, on the one hand, publication of
material bearing on Africa pertaining to a multiplicity of disciplines: anthropology,
cultural studies, geography, history, socology, philosophy, socio-linguistics, feminist
studies, development studies, etc.) in refereed journals and, on the other hand, the
constitution of an accessible in-house material available to all members of the
network.
After David Richards' introductory remarks, the floor was open to colleagues
attending the meeting. Duncan Brown extended the invitation of the Centre of African
Literary Studies to the Network members to hold the next meeting at KwaZulu Natal
University. He also told them that the centre now has acquired the unique collection
of 13,000 books and journals, videos and tapes, collected by the American professor
Bernth Lindfors, over a period of 40 years. Lindfors’ collection constitutes an
impressive wealth of resources available to colleagues for consultation.
David Richards highlighted the importance of the archive for researchers and the
importance of the African Studies Centre as a node within the African network.
Duro Oni, of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation, Nigeria, drew
attention to the importance of development as an important dimension in the study of
Africa and suggested Nigeria as a venue for the Network's meeting.
Fatema Bouzenirh, of the Faculté of Letters in Rabat, spoke of the Institute of African
Studies in Rabat and its recent conference on " the challenges for an African
Dialogue." She said the Institute contained a "Research group on the literatures and
the languages of Africa", a forum most relevant to the African Network scheme.
David Richards said that the African Network is a structure that is open to all centres
and individuals concerned with the study of Africa. He emphasised the need to use the
communication facilities made available by the Ferguson Centre to promote exchange
between colleagues.
Sémou Pathé Gueye, of the Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal, took up
the issue of "indigénéité" and its derogatory connotations in French . He spoke of the
annual conferences he organises in Senegal on " Globalisation and the Search for
Meaning" and the relevance it has for debates within the African Network. He said
that it is important to address the following issues: the vision of African Future; the
transformation of the public sphere; and the effects of globalisation on Africa. He also
spoke of the role played by CODESRIA in the promotion of research on Africa. He,
then spoke of Dakar as a venue for the meeting of the African Nework.
Taieb Belghazi took up the issue of the significance of the African Network and
suggested reflection on “The Idea of Africa” in light of recent changes in the
disciplines as well as political transformations.
Suman Gupta took up the issue of slippages that attach to the notion of zones when
speaking of Africa and suggested further reflection on the subject.
Ulrike Meinhof, of Southampton University, insisted on the need for the
dissemination of information relevant to the research interests of colleagues in the
network as well as on the important of being specific about the research profile and
the objectives of the network.
Karine Dupre, of Tampere University of Technology in Finland, insisted also on the
need to propagate information between the members of the network.
David Richards drew attention to the fact that the Ferguson Centre will encourage the
dissemination of information but it does not in any way consider itself to be the centre
of the network. It may at times occupy centre stage, but other centres could also play a
central role in the implementation of the network's programmes. The network, on this
conception, operates on a variety of levels . He also drew attention to the importance
of disseminating information with respect to funding opportunities.
Omoniyi Tope, of the University of Surrey, Roehampton, emphasised the importance
of the network and the need to disseminate information concerning funding
possibilities.
Mohamed Dahan, of the Faculty of Letters in Rabat, said that it was crucial to clarify
concepts. He expressed disagreement with the notion of "postcolonial" used in the call
for papers to the Urban Generations Conference and insisted Africa needed
clarification.
Toufiq Agoumy, of the Faculty of Letters justified the deployment of the term
postcolonial in connection with African cities.
David Richards agreed on the need to elucidate notions and to address the issue of
language.
Sémou-Pathé Gueye pointed out that one way this elucidation of concepts could go is
through an engagement by the network of the orientation of African Studies in Africa.
Abdelkader Sabil, of the Faculty of Letters of El Jadida, reaffirmed the need to be
practical and to set up a workable agenda.
Said Graouid, of the Faculty of Letters of Rabat, said Africa was an under funded and
an under studied category that always constitutes an annexed area in academe. He
wondered how the network could benefit students and how the funds that could be
found for supervisors and trainers could trickle down to students. He emphasised the
importance of devising ways of making resources available to underprivileged. He
also suggested the setting up of an online journal.
David Richards said these tasks are actively pursued by the Ferguson Centre.
At this point in the discussion Duro Oni asked the key question : Where do we go
from here?
This quesion was addressed by a number of colleagues:
Duncan Brown insisted on the need to engage with critical language.
Ulrike Meinhoff said it was important for participants in the network to submit brief
bios.
Brian Edwards, of Northwestern University, USA, said it was important to prepare a
common text for the next meeting and to make use of the enormous possibilities
enabled by electronic technologies.
David Richards said that action can go in two simultaneous directions:
1. Elaboration on “the idea of Africa”.
2. Pragmatics concerning the promotion of the African network.
David Richards, then, summed up the arguments aired in the meeting and suggested
the following:
1. The drafting of a platform on the issues relevant to the setting up of the
African Network to be submitted by Taieb Belghazi.
2. The establishment of a virtual converstation between the individual members
of the network as well as the institutional nodes.
3. The concretisation of support for the promotion of research on Africa by
Institutions represented at the meeting in Rabat.
Ezroura Mohamed, the vice dean of the Faculty of Letters in Rabat, noted that the
proceedings of the Urban Generations conference will be published by the Faculté
of Letters and the Ferguson Centre and that all contributions must be sent to either
Heather Scott, of the Ferguson Centre or to Taoufik Agoumy of the Faculty of
Letters.
With thanks to Taieb Belghazi for taking the minutes.
List of attendees:
Name
Mohamed Elkouche
Mohamed Dellal
Fatima Bouzenirh
Hasna Lebbady
Cheryl Stobie
Ikram Zernine
Farah AbouBakre
Elmokhtar Elaballaoui
Khalid Elaref
Eric Ross
Adnane Nenamani
Ghallab Mohammed
Badr Jennan
Mohammed Ezroura
Duro Oni
Karine Dupre
Taieb Belghazi
Duncan Brown
El Kechebour, Boualem
Jamal Eddine Benhayoun
Research Interest
Colonial and Post-colonial
lists
Colonial and Post-colonial
discourse
Colonial and Post-colonial
lists, comparative African
literature
Orality
South African
literature/gender, sexuality
Colonial and Post-colonial
discourses
Cultural studies and media
Media studies about
communication in Africa
Quality in the Moroccoan
cultural scene
Urban studies, Sufism,
Trans-Sharan networks
Post-colonial studies
Post-colonial studies
Cultural studies, postcolonial studies, identity
and globalization
Third world comparative
history, cultural theory,
Culture of shrines, colonial
(post) studies
Cultural
development/theatre
ArchitectureHistory/Caribbean
Cultural studies
South African literary
studies/culture
Town planning
Cultural studies/discourses
of violence
Rasolofondraosolo
Zafimahaleo
Ulrike Meinhof
Nadia Kiwan
Driss Mansouri
Dahane, Mohamed
Tope Omoniyi
Brian Edwards
Abdellatif Khayat
Mohamed Daoudi
Taoufiq Sakhkhane
Said Graiouid
David Slocum
Abdelkader Sabil
Khalid Bekkaoui
Melissa Hammouti
Sémou Pathé Gueyé
Taoufik Agoumy
Suman Gupta
Music and cultural studies
Discourse analysis studies
Francophone studies and
sociology
Nation and nationalisms
Applied
linguistics/discourse
Cultural studies,
globalization
Global studies
North Moroccan Berber
culture and history
Cultural studies/ postcolonial translation
Communication and
cultural studies
Cultural media studies
Cultural
studies/globalization,
ethnography
Cultural studies/media
Sociology of
representations in
Morocco
Cities, migration,
sustainable development