The Africa Talks restart this Autumn with a series of lectures on 'Class in Africa'. The idea is to revisit old debates and connect them to new research on questions of class: in what ways, if any, is the concept of class relevant to African societies?
Does class matter to the ways in which (some) African individuals understand their lives and relate to others? Is proletarianisation happening - when, where, how, why? Who are the African middle classes? What happens at the intersection of class, race, and gender? What role (if any) did anti-colonial and liberation struggles, or more recent forms of peaceful or violent political mobilisation, play in shaping class in African societies?
This Autumn’s series of invited lectures will bring to DASA and UoB researchers whose current work focuses on class and class-related phenomena in a variety of African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Kenya, and Uganda. The Cadbury Workshop in May will also focus on class, and hopefully we can build on this thematic concentration to gain deeper insights in class relations in different regional and historical contexts. Two special events this term focus on separate issues, namely, war in Uganda and new strategies of international interventionism in Africa. As usual, everyone interested is welcome to attend.