Afro Asian
Dialogue Conference
State and Nation Making in Contemporary Africa and Asia
17-19 February 2003, Johannesburg,
South Africa
The initiative undertaken by the
Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)
based in Senegal and the International Centre for Ethnic Studies
(ICES) based in Sri Lanka to open a scholarly ‘Afro-Asian
Dialogue’ is about to culminate in a major conference on STATE AND
NATION MAKING IN AFRICA and ASIA was
held from 17-19 February 2003, Johannesburg, South Africa
The objectives of
the conference were to:
-
Provide a
platform/space for African and Asian scholars to produce and
sustain comparative knowledge in the social sciences.
-
Consolidate the
creation of a new networked community of scholars located
primarily in Africa and Asia and who are working towards
creatively transforming the framework for understanding the
experiences of their countries and continents.
Theoretical and empirical research on
state and nation making in Africa and Asia in the period after
colonialism is now facing new challenges. These challenges are
being debated within the context of the post cold war
conjuncture, ongoing processes of globalisation and continuing
domestic struggles for social justice in both continents. With
specific regard to the domestic struggles taking place, questions
of equality, freedom, citizenship, democracy, identity, violence
and entitlements are being articulated and contested. In the light
of these, the following sub themes will be considered by the
conference:
-
Citizenship and political community
-
Socio economic inequality, group
worth and entitlements
-
Globalisation, boundaries and
livelihoods
-
The perpetration and survival of
violence
-
Ethno religious differences and the
politics of tolerance
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