USA Africa Dialogue Series - cfp: Competition and Cooperation in African Religions

Call for Papers:
Workshop in Bamako (Mali) on
"Competition and Cooperation in African Religions – Concepts and Methods
for the Critical Study of Religious Pluralism in Africa"

Venue: Centre Point Sud, Bamako, Republic of Mali
Date of the workshop: February 27 – March 5 2012
Deadline for application: November 1st, 2011

Convenors:
Magnus Echtler, Bayreuth University, Germany (Study of Religion)
Franz Kogelmann, Bayreuth University, Germany (Islamic Studies)
Eva Spies, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany (Anthropology and
African Studies)
Asonzeh Ukah, Bayreuth University, Germany (Study of Religion)

In cooperation with:
Point Sud, Centre for Research on Local Knowledge, Bamako (Mali)
http://www.pointsud.org

In a bilingual workshop of eight days we invite fourteen PhD candidates
from the social sciences and humanities to investigate the role of
competition, conflict and cooperation in the contact of religious actors,
the drawing of boundaries around and between religious groups, and the
role these strategies play for the positioning of different traditions in
the religious fields in varying African contexts. The workshop addresses
research on contemporary encounters of religious traditions in Africa:
This includes encounters between different religions like Christianity,
Islam and African Traditional Religions (ATRs) and between different
groups of the same religious tradition. Recent scholarship on religion in
Africa has tended to be focused on one religious tradition. In the case of
Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa research has been dominated by the
question of compatibility of a "global" Christian religion with "local"
contexts, respectively by the more general question concerning the
relation between local religions and a global (Christian) "modernity". In
the case of Islam, the influence of local Islamic traditions and religious
practices on the development of indigenous models of reference is
underestimated and the analytical frame for understanding Muslim societies
in Sub-Saharan countries is mostly focused on external influences.
Moreover intense inter- and intra-religious debates on the future
influence of religion on society and politics in Sub-Saharan Africa have
also far reaching consequences for adherents of ATRs which are not yet
discussed in academia. Thus, research should no longer focus solely on the
modernity and compatibility question but rather on the interrelations of
actors in the religious field, their ideas, intentions, practices and ways
of positioning one religious tradition against or next to another.
The workshop combines a discussion of critical theories of religion with
methodological considerations. The workshop will therefore involve the
discussion of relevant texts on theory and method for the study of
religious life and practice in Africa as well as practical exercises in
the principal empirical methods.
The workshop conveners will provide a reader for the participants. During
working group sessions the PhD candidates will have the opportunity to
present their own research projects, to discuss them with regard to the
theoretical and methodological texts read and to test research methods on
the ground. Six invited post-doc participants will give keynote speeches
on theory and methods for the research of religious pluralism in Africa,
and take leading roles in the group sessions. The post doc participants
will act as mentors for the PhD candidates.

The selection process of the PhD candidates is competitive. The candidates
will be chosen according to the quality of their submitted proposals.
For application the following documents are necessary:

1. CV
2. A letter explaining the motivation for applying (1 page)
3. A project proposal related to the topic of the workshops (max. 5 pages)
4. Two letters of reference by academics
5. Copy of university certificate(s)
6. Copy of passport (page with picture and personal data)

Deadline: Applications must be submitted by 1st November 2011 to the four
organizers of the workshop.
• Dr Magnus Echtler, Bayreuth University magnus.echtler@uni-bayreuth.de
• Dr Franz Kogelmann, Bayreuth University franz.kogelmann@uni-bayreuth.de
• Dr Eva Spies, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz espies@uni-mainz.de
• Dr Asonzeh Ukah, Bayreuth University asonzeh.ukah@uni-bayreuth.de

Successful applicants will be requested to send in draft versions of their
paper four weeks prior to the workshop, to ensure a thorough preparation
of the workshop discussions. Papers for the oral presentation (20-25 min)
may be written in English or French.
Costs of transport and accommodation for the selected participants will be
covered during the duration of the workshop.
Date of notification for accepted proposals: 1st December 2011. The texts
to be prepared for the workshop will be sent to the participants as pdf
files by mid December.

Republic of Mali
Date of the workshop: February 27 – March 5 2012
Deadline for application: November 1st, 2011

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