CALL FOR ACTION! MADAGASCAR 2001!!
Third International Conference on Women in Africa & the African Diaspora (WAAD III)
Theme: Facing the New Millennium: Gender in Africa and the African Diaspora—Retrospection and Prospects
Antananarivo, Madagascar
(October 8-17, 2001)Contact: Obioma Nnaemeka, Convenor, Third WAAD Conference, Women’s Studies Program, Cavanaugh Hall Room 001C, Indiana University, 425 University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Phone: (317) 278-2038, (317) 274-7611 or (317) 274-0062 (messages), fax: (317) 274-2347, e-mail: nnaemeka@iupui.edu (FOR FASTER SERVICE USE E-MAIL),
website: http://www.iupui.edu/~aaws/ (click on "Action Alert" or "WAAD Conference").
PREAMBLE
Onye amaro ebe nmili si bido mabaya ama ama onye nyelu ya akwa oji welu ficha aru (Igbo proverb)/If you do not remember where the rain started to beat you, you will not remember who gave you the towel with which to dry your body.
The relationship between history/memory and progress evident in the above Igbo proverb reflects the Janus-faced enterprise that is evoked by the third international conference on Women in Africa and African Diaspora (WAAD III), to be held in magnificent Madagascar at the dawn of a new millennium (October 2001). In the tradition of WAAD conferences, WAAD III focuses on issues relating to women of African descent but more than before, the meeting in Madagascar will draw attention to the urgency and pertinence of a sense of history as participants engage simultaneously in stocktaking and mapping forward-looking strategies for future engagements.
WAAD has its own history. The first conference (WAAD I), which was held in 1992 in the rural Igbo town of Nsukka (Nigeria), brought together over 700 men and women from all continents.. The sub-theme of WAAD I, "Bridges across Activism and the Academy," underscores the conference’s primary goal of providing an arena for the equal participation of researchers and grassroots women, men, and organizations. The second conference held in the American city of Indianapolis in October 1998 gathered hundreds of participants from 35 countries and 48 national and international organizations to examine issues related to the health and human rights of women of African descent. In her keynote address delivered at the Indianapolis conference, Dr. Nawal El Saadawi focused on women’s struggles, strategies, and persistence. She endorsed her speech with the message that women must talk more amongst themselves, differences notwithstanding, in the quest for self-discovery and in fashioning new strategies for empowerment and development. This third conference to be held in the historic and beautiful island of Madagascar will examine, in cross-disciplinary terms, women in relation to history and development.
As we draw close to the end of a variegated millennium characterized by catalogues of global cataclysms, monumental disintegration and destabilization in some parts and unparalleled harmonization of disparate units in others enhanced by technological milestones, certain crucial issues come to mind. Some people are concerned that the attention given to women and gender might erode the Africanness of women and men of Africa and the African Diaspora, disfigure the culture and disregard the history of Africa. They are also apprehensive of global feminist movements, middle-class and Euro-American concerns that might undermine the struggle of women of African descent. Some would like to de-emphasize sex-segregation and its concomitant battles and aim at a synthesis that cuts across gender, color, class and creed. Others argue that the grisly reality of African problems makes urgent a full accounting of the ramifications of gender, as a category, in harnessing the full potential of all (men and women) needed to roll the wheel of progress. What is/should be our stand on these issues?
As we enter a new age, what should be the African response to non-African structures as they relate to women and gender, gender synthesis, etc.? What constitutes the Africanness of the woman? What is "woman" in Africa and the Diaspora? An examination of any of these issues and questions necessarily directs an inward look into the African structure and history in order to engage development. What kind of development? Whose development? Discussing the issue of development, K. Y. Amoako, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa asserts that "Africa is experiencing a renaissance." What is the gender implication of this renaissance? Can African women traverse the millennial highway with their male counterparts? What techniques, tools or skills are needed for this enterprise? Constructive analysis of governance, economic and legal reforms, cultural norms as well as oral and written literatures, the media and information technology aimed at gender-friendly reconstruction is the starting point of engagement for the WAAD III gathering of individuals and organizations.
PARTICIPANTS: WAAD does not discriminate on the basis of gender, class, race, religious affiliation, ethnicity, national origin, etc. Researchers, students, activists and policy makers, members of the media, writers and artists as well as all those who are interested in issues relating to women in Africa and the African Diaspora are invited to participate in this conference.
FORMAT: There will be keynote/plenary speeches, panel presentations, workshops, forums, town-meetings, art exhibitions, photo/slide presentations, and film screening. Because the conference is designed to encourage maximum participation from students and grassroots men, women, and organizations, we will create an environment conducive to a free flow of information and exchanges.
LANGUAGE: English and French are the official languages of WAAD. Proposals and papers in both languages will be accepted.
PAPERS: We expect papers which deal with the sources, nature, strengths and weaknesses of gender as well as the forces and structures that impact gender, those that have continued to shape gender, and those that are expected to influence it in the new millennium. Aspects of this broad field should be tackled as they relate to various fields and concerns such as arts, culture, economy, education, politics, science, ethnicity and diversity, war and peace, postcolonialism, globalization etc. For example, the entry of women into the political arena (or any other arena) could be debated in terms of its historical antecedents and the postcolonial setting of socio-economic imperatives and contemporary global geopolitics. Although we expect cross-disciplinary approaches, the papers would be grouped under the following headings (NOTE: The sections are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, issues in the areas are expected to intersect across disciplines. Other topic suggestions are welcome provided they relate to the theme of the conference):
Theory: Papers should address concepts, theoretical questions, and issues such as womanism, feminism, gender, biologism, sex and sexualities, masculinities, female underdevelopment, patriarchy, gender education, structural inequality, motherhood, empowerment, power systems, polygamy, matriarchy, gender attitude etc. Is gender significant in the social, political and economic agenda of African states? What is the panacea for change—gender rhetoric, symbolic action, tokens, policies, what? In the light of the multiple relegation of women due to race, gender, class and caste, should we declare that any pro-poor and anti-poverty program would benefit women provided they are pro-gender as well? What should be the policy of governments towards programs? Should they be targeted to women exclusively or to the broad-based population?
Conflicts/Peace, Human Rights And The Law: How do issues such as women's rights, human rights, and legislation relate to rape, femicide, and other forms of violence against women as well as to African traditional institutions and practices such as circumcision, marriage, family, widowhood rites and ceremonies? What is the status of women in traditional, statutory, religious (Islamic, Christian etc.) and international laws? What are the consequences of wars/social conflicts on women—not only as victims of wars but also as makers of peace?
Health and Services: We expect papers to address issues in traditional and modern health delivery, evaluate policies, health care and sanitation services, cultural practices related to women's health, child and maternal care, rethink issues in children's socialization, aging, emotional and mental health, and propose strategies for tackling endemic diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. For example, are there African, grassroots, cultural alternatives to the prevailing safe-sex prescription for controlling incurable sexual diseases? How effective/relevant are they in the new global village?
Arts and Humanities: Construction, deconstruction and reconstruction of images and myths (of women and gender) which inhibit progress are major issues in the discipline. Papers should address African/African Diaspora gender construction, reconstruction, influences and projection in the work of story-tellers, writers, poets, artists, dramatists, performers, musicians, film-makers, information technicians, and media experts. What is and should be the place of women in professions in the arts (film, theater, plastic and fine arts etc.) publishing, information technology, and communication—as makers, receivers, postcolonial/postmodern subjects in the new millennium?
Education: The nature and value of existing education/educational systems will be investigated. Is the colonial/western-oriented education adequate in preparing Africans to question gender realities and women's education, tackle the massive globalization and aggressive world capital, and transform rather than conform to such realities? What are the prospects of non-institutionalized education—radio, video, the television and tele-centers? Is there a place or need for feminist/womanist/gender conscientization in the educational set-up?
Political Economy: Insidious gap between Africa and African Diaspora as well as widening gulf between African and Caucasian worlds are of serious concern—women and governance, democratization, militarization, activism, constitutional changes, war, peace and security, African women and global economy, prospects of small holdings and free market in the reign of capitalism, pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial experience and complexes, indigenisation, privatization, non governmental organizations (NGOs), political and economic emancipation, urban/rural, African/Diaspora, north/south, role/work are possible areas of investigation.
Religion: What is the status of women in the old and new religions, sects and cults? What is its impact on the new world order, diversity and feminist/womanist ideology/theology? What is the role/use of religion in women's lives/predicament and what are its prospects for women's development and empowerment?
Science and Technology: Traditional and modern science, the role of women in science and the use of science for women and gender categorizations are important areas of concern. For example, the implications of male-centered and women-hostile equipment are topical issues.
Culture: Papers should use the broad perspective of culture to engage any aspect of the above categories in their inter-connectedness. For example, traditional role-sharing can intersect with marital stress which is a health issue and poverty which is an economic issue.
NETWORKING: The regionalization of WAAD operations will allow the different regions (through the country representatives and regional co-ordinators) to bring to the the table agendas which reflect regional realities and specificity. The conference will provide a fertile ground for networking as participants search for solutions to these issues in their uniqueness, complexity, and similarities.
WAAD 2001 CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
Please indicate your interest in the following categories:
___ Attend the conference. ___*Present a paper. ___*Organize a panel, workshop, or exhibition
Title ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
___Chair a session, serve as discussant, resource person, or other (specify) Area of interest:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Name (include title):_____________________________________________________________
Institutional Affiliation:___________________________________________________________
Address:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Phone:____________________________(work)_________________________________(home)
Fax:_________________E-mail:______________________Website:______________________
*Deadline for submission of a one-page abstract: MARCH 15, 2001
REGISTRATION FEE
By Dec. 31, ‘00 Jan.-Sept., 2001 On Site AAWS Members $80.00 $95.00 $125.00 Students(ID required) $50.00 $80.00 $95.00 Others $95.00 $125.00 $175.00 Make checks (to be drawn on US banks) payable to
ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN WOMEN SCHOLARS
Mail to: Obioma Nnaemeka, Convenor, WAAD III Conference, Women’s Studies Program, CA 001C, Indiana University, 425 University Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
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