Rethinking Francophone Africa | Critical perspectives

Call for panel contributions : The social production of war veterans in Africa, 20th-21st centuries. Identity processes and political re-mobilization

Call for panel contributions, Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland (VAD), Africa Challenges, Frankfurt, 22-25 september 2020

Panel 28 : The social production of war veterans in Africa, 20th-21st centuries. Identity processes and political re-mobilization

Convenors : Camille Evrard, Martin Mourre, Romain Tiquet

Abstract

This panel would like to draw attention to the emergence of veterans’ groups in Africa. From a historical point of view, several studies have recently focused on the participation of African soldiers from the British and French empires in world wars and wars of decolonization. The notion emerging out of Political Science of post-conflict has led to a reconsideration of local arenas for the production of public policies. However, little attention has been devoted exclusively to veterans in Africa from both a historical medium-term conjuncture and a resolutely comparative perspective. Concentrating on identity formation defined through the shared experience of military violence allows us to ask a series of questions about the dynamics of contemporary Africa.

Possible contributions could focus on biographical trajectories, whether related to war trauma, career paths in policing professions or as a spokesperson for certain causes. The hope is that papers will also seek to understand the normative aspect of the war experience. For example, the study of associations set up in post-conflict situations provides an interesting framework for understanding the processes of politicization, or even clientelization. Finally, the various papers will deal with the mobilization, or the forgetting, of colonial history, or the struggles for national liberation during the 1970s and 1980s in broader collective histories, through commemorations or links between different generations of soldiers.

Please, submit your proposal until mars 15th through this link:

http://vad-africachallenges.de/programme/panels/a-28/?task=add_abstract

Contact Info:

Camille Evrard, Madrid Institute for Advanced Study : evrardcamille1@gmail.com

Martin Mourre, Deutsche Historisches Institut-Paris/ Centre de recherches sur les politiques sociales : martinmourre@hotmail.com

Romain Tiquet, Institut des mondes africains, CNRS : romain.tiquet@gmail.com

Tony Chafer is Professor of French and African Studies at the University of Portsmouth

On Sunday France announced it was increasing its military presence in the Sahel by adding a further 600 troops to its 4,500-strong operation in Mali and four other countries in the region. This is in addition to the 220 extra troops for the region that Macron announced at a G5 Sahel summit which he hosted in Pau last month. The announcement came as France tries to contain a rise in violence that has increased insecurity across the region.

With this announcement France is seeking to underline its regional commitment, having lost 13 of its own troops in a helicopter collision last November.

Part of the reason for the increase is no doubt to keep up pressure on France’s European allies to mobilise troops and resources in support of the French mission in the Sahel, Operation Barkhane. Paris is also putting pressure on the US not to draw down its military presence in the region, which it has indicated it wishes to do. Defence minister Florence Parly returned last week from a visit to the US where she asked for Washington’s support in “burden sharing” in the Sahel.

Macron is also under pressure from senior military figures, who are calling for a change of strategy and increased resources if Operation Barkhane is to succeed. His own Chief of Staff, General Francois Lecointre, told a parliamentary committee last November that current troop levels were inadequate for such a large expanse of territory.