CFP for our new section ! Covid-19 seen from Africa: post-coronial thoughts

Description of the section

The Covid-19 pandemic is overwhelming our ability to think critically. We all struggle to gather our thoughts, feelings and analyzes. Whatever magnitude the epidemic will turn out to have on the African continent, its repercussions will go far beyond the current health crisis. We propose to explore multiple aspects of post-Covid Africa, not primarily in the sense of hypothetical prognoses on the public-health or political consequences of this unprecedented crisis, but rather in the sense of informed social imagination beyond the current moment of incredulity. We welcome critical and constructive explorations based on what we can observe in Africa, a vast continent that constitutes both a geographical and a theoretical “elsewhere”, from where – we expect – will emerge original ideas and practices that are relevant beyond its borders. In certain aspects (medical screening, saturation of hospitals, rationing of tests, masks and therapies, anxiety for oneself and one’s close ones, dismantling of public health services, etc.) the catastrophe currently experienced all over the world has been shared for a long time already by part of humanity, particularly in Africa – turning the continent into a mirror to think of our different possible post-Covid futures.

Contribute to the section  

The Post-coronial Thoughts section is a “joint venture” of Politique Africaine and of the Association for the anthropology of social change and development (APAD). It was initiated by Fanny Chabrol (Ceped, IRD), Pierre-Marie David (University of Montreal), Moritz Hunsmann (Iris, CNRS) and Oumy Thiongane (Dalhousie University and APAD). This section welcomes contributions in various formats. We invite analytical notes of around 1000-2000 words (citing online sources and references where relevant), as well as more specific reflections, prompted for example by the confrontation with images or videos (of current events or, on the contrary, past ones), by possible scenarios, by objects and scenes from everyday life on the continent, or by new (or old) vocabulary of pandemic times and its (im)possible translation. The goal is to create an evolving space for discussion, made up of formal and informal echoes from the social sciences. Without seeking exhaustiveness, and far from any explanatory arrogance, we hope that the various contributions will make it possible to describe, discuss and possibly help build different “meanings” at the heart of the epidemic and beyond.

Lastly, in France, the Covid-19 epidemic is all the more ambiguous as it puts on hold a massive social movement challenging neoliberal policies that dismantle hospitals and scientific research, while at the same time exposing the crucial importance of public services such as these. The social struggles in the inevitable post-Covid aftermath will in all likelihood be considerable. The journals Politique africaine and Anthropologie & développement joined the pre-pandemic social movement in France. We thus encourage contributions that grapple with the broader political dimensions of the current crisis and challenge scientific and political communities.

Suggested formats for contributions:

• Analytical note
• Comment of an image/photo
• Video or audio comment
• Ethnographic description
• Interviews-conversations

Thank you for sending your contributions to:

            Fanny Chabrol: fanny.chabrol@ird.fr

            Pierre-Marie David: pierre-marie.david@umontreal.ca

            Moritz Hunsmann: moritz.hunsmann@cnrs.fr

            Oumy Thiongane: o.moirouxthiongane@gmail.com

We will get back to you within 5 days. The contributions accepted for publication will be edited and posted online by the editorial team of this blog.