Programme Highlights | Reinventing Pan-Africanism in the Age of Xenophobia | 3-4June

International Symposium
Reinventing Pan-Africanism in the Age of Xenophobia

3rd June 2015

Two of the best scholars of black thought Xolela Mangcu and Achille Mbembe will take us through the histories of the idea of Africa and its futures in a shrinking world characterized by the return of virulent forms of tribalism and racism (9.15 to 11.00).

Analyst  Nomboniso Gasa, artist and scholar Raimi Gbadamosi and writer Mandla Langa will re-examine the reasons why South Africa long held such a special place in the Pan-African narrative and what successive waves of Afrophobia might do to deep-seated traditions of diasporic and continental solidarity (11.00-1.00).

Researcher Ingrid Palmary, journalist Khadija Patel and Soweto-based writer Niq Mhlongo will unveil the anatomies and topographies of xenophobia through an examination of bureaucratic practices, police 'stop-and-search' activities, the economy of documents and instances of deportation. Scholar Shose Kessi and media scholar Tawana Kupe will reflect on the making of the category of 'the foreign national' and the amount of self-hate involved in the work of stigmatizing this figure (2.00 to 5.30).

Writer and commentator Eusebius McKaiser, public intellectual and Vice Chancellor and Principal Adam Habib and renowned international theorist Gilbert Khadiagala will tackle the controversial questions of nationalism, cosmopolitanism,  African colonial boundaries and the terms of their redrawing (6.00pm-8.00pm, with cocktail).

4th June 2015

Analysts and scholars Andre Zaaiman, Adekeye Adebajo, Gilbert Khadiagala and Anthony Bizos will redraw the continental geopolitical map and in particular South Africa's vulnerable position in it, in light of Nigeria's and other powers (China included) new assertiveness (9.00 to 11.00).

Lucy Corkin, an expert on investment in Africa based at Rand Merchant Bank, will talk about South Africa’s economic footprint on the continent. (11.00-12.00)

Academics Michael Neocosmos and Suren Pillay will critically reflect on the politics of ignorance and the place of Africa in the South African curriculum. (2.30 to 4.00).

Deputy Chair of the South African Institute of International Affairs Moeletsi Mbeki will deliver his remarks on June 4 (12
.00-1.30), and Gauteng Premier, Honourable David Makhura will speak on 'The Africa We Want' (4.00-5.00).

Some sessions will be live tweeted from @WitsWiSER. Follow the hashtag #newafricanism.

The following panels will be live streamed (http://streaming.wits.ac.za):

Wednesday, June 3

9:15-11:00 Panel One: Africa in Diasporic and Continental Imagination. Speakers: Xolela Mangcu and Achille Mbembe. Keith Breckenridge chairs.

6:00-7:30 Round Table: Redrawing Colonial Boundaries: Pan-Africanism, Nationalism, and Cosmopolitanism. Speakers: Adam Habib and Gilbert Khadiagala. Eusebius McKaiser moderates, Sarah Nuttall chairs. 

Thursday, June 4

12:00-1:30pm Remarks by Moeletsi Mbeki. Achille Mbembe chairs. 

4:00-5:00pm Concluding Session: The Africa We Want - Address by David Makhura, Premier of Gauteng.

 

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