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Call for Papers Theme: Decolonisation after Democracy Subtitle: Rethinking Politics into the 21 Century Type: 13th National Conference Institution: South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS) Location: Cape Town (South Africa) Date: 31.8.–2.9.2016 Deadline: 1.2.2016 __________________________________________________ Transformation and decolonization are recurring motifs in the discourse about the South African university, but also the South African state more widely, not least as significant economic transformation has yet to follow the advent of democracy in 1994. Further, as demonstrated in the #feesmustfall movement, this discourse is championed by forms of citizen politics that escape the bounds of party representation and formal institutionalization. This politics speaks not only to the need for the inclusion, in more equitable terms, of marginalized social groups, but also the precariousness of economic citizenship for large numbers of people in South Africa, and across the global south. Indeed, the world is changing just as quickly as South Africa. The growing role of India and China in Africa, the importance of Russia and China in world politics, and the rise of the BRICS economically reflect the rising influence of the east on the continent and in global affairs. The implications of the emergence of new global actors has sparked much debate about the future of liberal democracy, democratic citizenship, gender relations, global peace, economic prosperity, alternatives to neo-liberal capitalism, and environmental sustainability. For example, while some have labelled this rise of China in Africa as a form of ‘new colonialism’, others see the political rise of the BRICS as the developing nations claiming their rightful place in the world against the economic neo-colonialism of the west. All of this poses significant food for thinking about the future of politics and democracy in South Africa, Africa and globally at a time when Universities in South Africa are under unprecedented financial pressure to both massify and to generate more, better-quality research. How do we teach and research the discipline of Political Science best in this context? What kind of staff do we need, for what kinds of students, and what kind so academic citizenship does this require? How should we relate this to the world of professional political research? How best should we take the engagement with these challenges forward as an important component in the community of teachers and researchers of politics? The idea of decolonisation after democracy thus invokes more than the rethinking of politics into the 21st century; it also invokes the need to rethink the teaching and research of political science, and its relationship to the world of professional research in South Africa. First date for panels (early bird rate): 1 February 2016 First date for abstracts (early bird rate): 1 February 2016 Email submissions to: saaps2...@gmail.com Venue: City Bowl, Cape Town Conference website: http://saaps.org.za/conference/2016-annual-conference __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
