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Call for Papers Theme: Centralizing African Philosophy for African Development Type: African Philosophy Conference Institution: Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan Pan African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG) Location: Ibadan (Nigeria) Date: 8.–11.7.2020 Deadline: 30.4.2020 __________________________________________________ Background Once upon a time, African Philosophy struggled under the yoke of ontological, epistemological, axiological and logical denial. Eurocentrism and racism combined to consign the ancestral homeland of human intellectual, scientific, religious, axiological heritage to the oblivion of primitivity and barbarity; this consignment was a product of rank greed, ignorance and perversion which affected both the humanity of Africans as well as of Europeans – after all, a sa koko, ati koko e, awon mejeeji jo maa gbe ni. Since we passed the stage of philosophical exclusion, numerous strides have been made, and tomes have been published celebrating the fecundity and depth of African Philosophy globally. And numerous symposia, conferences and colloquia have convoked in various parts of Africa. These have been good developments. However, the challenge has been unmasking and transcending the paradigms and topographies ordained by EuroAmerican restrictive and often puerile trajectories of engaging reality seen from Nordic perspectives. This particular challenge has manifested in what Claude Ake ably described in 'Social Science as Imperialism'; Olufemi Taiwo in 'How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa'; Franz Fanon in 'Black Skin, White Mask'; Orlando Patterson in 'Slavery and Social Death'; John Bewaji in 'Narratives of Struggle'; it is the facticity which has made Africa and its Diaspora mendicants, dependent on crumbs from the largesse taken from Africa through brain, brown and resource extraction over 700 years of interface with Asia Minor and Europe (USA/ China). African Philosophy, like all aspects of African Academy, requires creative engagement in all its dimensions. Following the West in its doomed blustering with reality, encapsulated in Trumpism, Brexit and Macronism will only exacerbate the decadence and depreciation of Global African humanity. Investigating, researching, documenting, teaching and propagating African Philosophy require totally both traditional and new, orthodox/unorthodox and creative methodologies. Narratives which emanate from the core of African experiences must guide this process. The received knowledge which has made our leadership no more than messengers to global denudation of African matrimony and patrimony require challenge by our seasoned and upcoming researchers. Tropes of globalization, information communications technologies, educational and religious paradigms which continue to enslave our imaginative spirits and impoverish our spaces and places in the comity of humanity require urgent and immediate attention. Business as usual will not cut it. Africa does not have the luxury of waiting, nor can Africa continue to totter on the precipice of another colonization, thereby making her people fools who are thirsty in the abundance of waters (Bob Marley). This unique Conference on African Philosophy being hosted by the Department of Philosophy, in collaboration with PANAFSTRAG, is the first of many initiatives aimed at giving a foundational bases for the principles and practices by which our existence are guided, determined and managed. To this end, we invite students, scholars, researchers and policy makers from all the disciplines and walks of African life – Humanities, Social Sciences, Technologies, Medicines, Agricultures, Business, Finance, Governance, Voluntary NGOs, etc. – to examine the African intellectual foundations of their methodologies, theories, pedagogies and practices and bring forward reflective papers, panels and roundtables as contributions to this effort. We wish to note that the University of Ibadan is in the process of institutionalizing in a novel, unprecedented, deliberate and future oriented way the necessary structures to continue investigating and disseminating the issues which are core to this Conference. As an ongoing effort, our partners, collaborators, researchers and scholars will continue to be engaged within the continent and without. The Main Theme for this Conference is: Centralizing African Philosophy for African Development The Decade of the Peoples of African Descent (2014-2024) ends in four short years, with very little to show for it. But the challenges of global Africa has only escalated with the introversion and nationalistic tendencies of erstwhile hegemons. Critical to the survival of Africa (continentally and globally) is Philosophy. Religion, Business, Social Existence, Culture, Technology, Politics, International Relations and everything, conceivable and otherwise, derive their foundations from Philosophy writ large. African Philosophy has shown its resilience against the buffeting that came from the West, North and East; however, there is need to consolidate this, teach it to posterity, and ensure that Africans live based on values that are inherently endogenous and authentically human and humane. Objectives - Bringing together for the first time African philosophers dedicated to research and teaching of African Philosophy to address historical and contemporary challenges related to African philosophy; - Bringing together philosophers throughout the world dedicated to teaching and research of African Philosophy to address historical and contemporary challenges related to African philosophy; - Establishing a solid and sustained global network of researchers, students and scholars in African philosophy to enhance academic cooperation and capacity-building; - Creating a dual Library on African philosophy with a database of works, lectures, interviews and research of leading African philosophers for documentation, propagation and consolidation of African philosophy, and - Bringing together in annual seminars, workshops, institutes, lectures and conferences the teaching and propagation of African Philosophy, as an instrument of understanding reality, the experiences of Africans and humanity globally, informing policy making, governance and all aspects of Africana interface with the world and beyond. Themes The overriding guiding philosophy driving this Conference and the visions we have for the future of using African derived values, ideas and traditions to guide African development is inclusivity. While we suggest that our presenters and participants frame their presentations along the following themes, contributions from other perspectives will be most welcome: - African philosophy of being, ontology, metaphysics and existence - African epistemologies - African axiologies - African philosophy of sciences - African philosophy of technologies - African political philosophies - African philosophies of economics - African philosophies of religions - African philosophies of otherness, difference and identities - African filial philosophies and orientations - Logic, Language and Communication in African Philosophy - African philosophies of law - African philosophies of justice - African philosophies of medicines, wellness and fitness - Nature, animals and resources in African philosophy - Entertainment, recreation and pleasure in African philosophy - Fiction, fantasy and phantasmagoria in African philosophy - Creation, apocalypse and other worlds in African philosophy - World making in African philosophy - Coming into being and exiting in African philosophy - Superstition, myth and mythologies in African philosophy - Fact, fiction and forecast in African philosophy African philosophers of various persuasions, humanities scholars and scientists across the disciplines are welcome to send abstracts to share experiences, insights, reflections, philosophical perspectives and trajectories of their research on Africa and global issues. We welcome papers that reflect upon the foundations, historical narratives and future of knowledge practice, ethics, education, social, economic, political internal and international issues of justice, ecosophy, sports, race and racism, migrations and emigrations, medicine, bioethics, commercial philosophies from African philosophical perspectives. Submissions Abstracts and Panel/Round Table Proposals of not more than 250 Words, indicating Author(s), Panel/Round Table proponent, are to be submitted to the following members of the Organizing Committee: Professor John Ayotunde (Tunde) Isola Bewaji tunde.bew...@gmail.com Professor Francis Offor offo...@yahoo.com General Ishola Williams (Rtd) isholawilli...@gmail.com Logistical Details The Deadline for Submission of Abstract and Panel/Round Table Proposals is April 30, 2020. Notification of Acceptance will be communicated to participants shortly after. Additional information about travel and accommodation logistics will follow shortly. Esteemed Guest: Aare Afe Babalola Keynote Speaker: Professor Lewis R. Gordon Conference Fees Covers Conference Materials and Catering Participants from Nigeria: N15,000.00 Graduate Students and Retirees: N5,000.00 Participants from African Countries: US$50.00 Participants from Non-African Countries: US$100.00 Undergraduates: Free (Conditions apply). Publication Peer reviewed articles will be published in reputable international journals and in monographs by renown Publishing Houses. __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: https://interphil.polylog.org InterPhil List Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/interphil@list.polylog.org/ __________________________________________________
