THE GENDER AND AFRICAN STUDIES GROUP
BABCOCK UNIVERSITY (BUGAS)
Presents its 2018 Biennial Conference on the theme
Women and Leadership in Africa: Power, Performance, Portrayals
Conference Date: 02 & 03 October 2018
Pre-Conference Workshop on Grant-writing: 01 October 2018
NEW SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31 AUGUST 2018
Venue: Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria
CALL FOR PAPERS
Some are born leaders. Some leaders are born women (adapted)
What happens when the previously marginalized, the downtrodden, the diminished, the diminutive and the downplayed become the powerful, the players, the poets, and the engine for progress and prosperity in any society? How does this transformation take place, and what are its conditions? What factors engender the empowerment and disempowerment of women in African society? Are there specificities of certain contexts that produce more female leaders than others, and how can this positive effect be reproduced? To what extent do women leaders bring accountability, innovation, and vision to their assignments, and what are the hindrances? How do we assess the performance of female leaders in Africa as well as the performances that sustain them? What are the matrices for evaluation? Who are the main beneficiaries of female leadership in Africa, and how can the gains be sustained? How do women and men's performance of their socially constructed gendered roles alter these possible outcomes for attaining and performing women in leadership? How are these dynamics portrayed in music, literature, film and the arts as laudatory, adulatory and hortatory? The second international conference of the Gender and African Studies Group at Babcock University aims to interrogate these questions and more from multiple theoretical, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives.
It is an indisputable fact that almost everywhere in the world today, the label "woman" stands for the less privileged, less powerful, and less respected gender in society, even in some of the most "advanced" societies. African peoples and societies in particular have been persistently essentialised as retrogressively and oppressively patriarchal, an ahistorical and partial account of the multiple and variegated ways in which power was held, distributed and shared in different African societies in ways that enabled progress, peace and prosperity. From the highlands of Ethiopia in the East to the plains of Zaria in the West, and the banks of the Nile in Egypt, women held powerful positions of leadership in governance and in the economy. Their productive and reproductive labour were valued and rewarded and their positions and prestige protected by norms, values and practices that collectively enhanced a community's humanity. Thus, for many African states, European colonialism created the rupture and disruptions that radically altered and diminished women's positions in society.
Today, more than ever before however, African women have become more visible in positions of leadership in politics, education, business, activism, technology, the media, and the arts. Africa has produced female heads of states in Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, but the path to being elected head of government or head of state is often fraught with challenges that differ from that of men. While Rwanda has the highest number of female parliamentarians in the world (61.3%), Namibia and South Africa make it into the top ten of the list, beating countries such as Finland, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States, the latter also unable to elect a female head of state in its over 200 years of existence. For most African states, however, the gender gap in politics and governance persists, reflective of the glass ceiling in business, education, technology, the media and other arenas of engagement. There is a distinct feminization of poverty across the African continent, compounded by difficulties of access to education, healthcare services, and economic incentives. Obviously, there are intricate linkages between the (non-)emergence of women in leadership in politics, in the economy and other spheres of society. While on one hand African women's leadership is not a fool proof guarantee of good governance, empirical evidence demonstrates that inclusive politics and policies that empower women in various spheres are a pre-condition for economic development, entrenchment of democracy, and the realization of peace and social progress.
This conference invites papers that will problematize these issues singly and in relation to one another, analyse the multifarious dynamics broached above, and proffer alternative theoretical explanations and policy models to inform scholarly debate on women's power and performance in the African context. Paper proposals, panel presentations, roundtables and submissions which include but are not limited to the following sub-themes and topics, are invited:
Theoretical Issues in Gender and African Studies
Epistemological and Methodological Issues
Women, Gender and Power in Africa
African Women's Leadership Roles Historically
Gender, Politics and Development in Contemporary African Society
Women's Struggle for Political Participation
Women Political Leaders in Africa
Impacts of Women's Political Leadership in Africa
African Women in Business
Women Tech Leaders in Africa
Girls, Education and Leadership in Africa
Economic Empowerment and Women's Leadership
Female Artistes and African Society
Nollywood and African Women in Leadership
Women's Movements and Women's Issues
Portrayals of Women Leaders in African Literature
Women's Texts and the Question of Women's Leadership in Africa
Poetics of Women's roles in society
The Law and Women in Leadership in Africa
ICTs and Women's Advancement in Africa
Evaluating the performance of African Women Leaders
Gender, Security and Development Issues
Gender, Culture and Development
Gender and Leadership in the African Diaspora
Gender, Leadership and Language in Africa
Gender, Leadership and Pedagogy in Africa
Gender, Political Participation and Development
Gender, Development and Women's Health
Women in Peace-making and Peacebuilding
Gender, Leadership and Conflict
Gender, Universities and Development in Africa
Spirituality, Religion and Gender in Africa and the African Diaspora
African Women and the Sustainable Development Goals
Other related themes
Deadlines
Abstract Submission: now 31 August 2018 to bugas12016@gmail.com
Acceptance of abstracts: Latest by 31 August 2018
Full Papers for accepted abstracts: 24 September 2018
Registration
Conference participation fees:
BUGAS Members – N20,000
Non-Members – N25,000
Membership fee – N2,500
Late registration – N2,500
Students (with ID card) – N10,000
All international participants - $100, inclusive of BUGAS membership fee, payable onsite only.
Registration deadline: 31 August 2018 (late registration fee applies after this date).
Account details: Wema Bank Account no 0232774694; Account Name: Gender and African Studies Group, Babcock University.
Participation fees cover access to panels and presentations, conference materials, tea/coffee breaks and lunch on both conference days. Participants will be responsible for their own transport and accommodation, but we will provide information concerning hotel options closer to the conference date.
Pre-Conference Workshop on Grant-writing
This workshop is designed to impart practical and useful skills in grant writing to members of BUGAS as a contribution to their professional and academic development. However, in order to maximize the hands-on experience and the impact of the workshop, admission will be open only to:
· 30 persons maximum
· on a first-come-first-served basis
· paid-up members of BUGAS
· those who have registered for the 2018 conference
Interested persons may apply for this opportunity by submitting a draft research proposal on any topic of their choice, not exceeding five double-spaced pages by email to bugas12016@gmail.com latest by 15 August 2018. They should also include a brief biographical note of not more than 150 words. The research proposal will be utilised in the training for participants who are eventually selected. Successful applicants will be notified by 31 August 2018.
Post-Conference Publication
Following the successful publication of the best papers from the 2016 conference, papers presented at the 2018 conference will also be peer-reviewed and selected quality papers published as a book within one year of the conference.
Contact Us:
Direct all queries to:
Professor Mobolanle E. Sotunsa (bolasotunsa@yahoo.com; 07060947611)
Dr Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso (jumoyin@gmail.com; 08023065842)
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