Empire | Rethinking Francophone Africa

The study of the ends of empires and decolonisation has generally focused on the passage from empire to nation-states. Whether this process was violent or relatively peaceful, it has generally been presented as historically inevitable. This is particularly the case with France’s African empire which is often studied in terms of its attempt and failure to hold on at all costs before ultimately giving up (Algeria) or its ‘successful’ negotiation of a smooth transfer of power to a Westernised African elite (West Africa). This study day aims to expand on these new approaches to studying the ends of empire.

With the generous support of The Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF), The Society for French Studies (SFS), The Society for the Study of French History (SSFH), the Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR) and the School of Languages and Area Studies, University of Portsmouth.

Wednesday March 2, 2016, University of Portsmouth, Park building room 3.23

12:20 – 12:30 Welcome and Introduction by Natalya Vince

12:30 – 1:30 Panel 1: The SSFH panel: Beyond the Franco-African Perspective (Chaired by Natalya Vince) followed by a Q&A

Mark Thurner (University of London): “Decolonizing Decolonisation: On the Indo-Hispanic Origins of the Postcolonial Historical Imagination”

Benoît Trépied (IRIS, CNRS): “Colonies After Empire? Nationalising France’s Overseas Territories in the Pacific (1960s-1970s)”

1:30-1:45 Short Break

1:45-3:30 Panel 2: The ASMCF Panel: African Perspectives on Ending Empires

Ismay Milford (European University Institute, Florence): “‘The unity of Africa means the unity of ourselves’: The Committee of African Organisations and the pursuit of an imagined unity”

Megan Brown (The Graduate Center, City University of New York): “Letters to Brussels: Independent Algeria’s Eurafrican Moment?”

Meike de Goede (Leiden University): Matsouanist Resistance in late Colonial Congo-Brazzaville

With discussion from Andrew W M Smith (UCL), who will also draw comparisons with his research on the ‘messy ends’ of French empire and the role of contingency and improvisation.

3:30-4:00 Tea/Coffee Break

4:00-5:15 Panel 3: The SFS Panel: Alternative European Narratives of Decolonisation

Charlotte Riley (University of Southampton): “‘This is work for the future of mankind’: Development aid and the ‘end’ of the British Empire in Africa.”

Paula Pfoser (Vienna): “Viewing Decolonization from the perspective of a (Post) Colonialism without Colonies”

With discussion from Thomas Jackson (University of Sheffield), who will also draw comparisons with his research on the French ‘end of empire’ and its legal frameworks and debates surrounding these.

5: 15 – 5:30 Conclusion

All welcome
For more information, please contact Kelsey Suggitt (kelsey.suggitt@port.ac.uk)

Deadline for paper submissions: Friday 11th December 2015

The study of the ends of empires and decolonisation has generally focused on the passage from empire to nation-states. Whether this process was violent or relatively peaceful, it has generally been presented as historically inevitable. This is particularly the case with France’s African empire which is often studied in terms of its attempt and failure to hold on at all costs before ultimately giving up (Algeria) or its ‘successful’ negotiation of a smooth transfer of power to a Westernised African elite (West Africa). As Todd Shepard underlined in 2006 in The Invention of Decolonisation, by 1959-60, decolonisation in France was presented as part of the “tide of history” with little explanation or discussion of what this actually meant. He underlines that this historical determinism has largely been reproduced in academic literature. At the same time, an emerging trend has been to re-examine established accounts of the passage of empires to nation-states (Cooper, 2014; Hansen and Jonsson, 2014; Deighton, 2006). With an increase in studies of global and transnational history, scholars are increasingly questioning the inevitability of how (post) empire was reimagined by the late colonial state.

This study day at the University of Portsmouth on March 2^nd 2016 aims to expand on these new approaches to studying the ends of empire. It seeks to bring together scholars who are currently working on or are interested in re-examining the avenues that colonial powers (such as Britain, France, Portugal and Belgium) considered in Africa and Asia at the end of the colonial period, including those paths not taken. Researchers, particularly postgraduate and post-doctoral, from different disciplines are invited to submit proposals, in English, dealing with the different ways in which ends of empire were imagined. Papers with a comparative and/or connected dimension are particularly welcome and may be based on (but are not restricted to) the following topics:

Differing understandings of meanings of decolonisation
Late colonial projects and state building
Alternatives to the nation-state model in a post-colonial context
Reassessments of concepts and practices of ‘neo-colonialism’ (for example ‘Françafrique’, ‘Eurafrique’ etc.)
The role of colonial and ‘on the ground’ actors and the international context

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to:

Kelsey Suggitt – Kelsey.suggitt@port.ac.uk

Final deadline for abstract submissions – Friday 11^th December 2015

Rethinking Francophone Africa

Critical perspectives

Tag Archives: Empire

STUDY HALF DAY. Re-imagining Ends of Empire, University of Portsmouth

REMINDER: CFP Deadline for Re-imagining Ends of Empires Study Half Day