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Paper short abstract:

Neotraditionalism sees decolonization as retraditionalization. It is an invention of new tradition based on the image of precolonial one in public memory. This connection between real and invented traditions is the essence of neotraditionalism as a decolonial ideology and political strategy.

Paper long abstract:

In post-colonial sub-Saharan African states, an appeal to the historical past for the construction of national identity acquires great importance. In particular, it becomes important due to the failure of attempts to copy political models based on European theories and experience and therefore turning to “neotraditionalism” as an ideological basis in attempts to rally citizens around authorities. In such ideologies, decolonization is actually understood as “retraditionalization” – a return to pre-colonial models of political and social relations. However, in practice, this is an invention of new tradition under the guise of restoring pre-colonial traditions. The policy of neotraditionalism is not a deception of the population, but the exploitation not of the tradition of the past itself, but of its image imprinted in the cultural memory of the people. At the same time, neotraditionalism manifests itself in different spheres of post-colonial societies’ life, including political, also beyond the conscious policy of states. This is because the bearers of state power simply exploit, directing and strengthening neotraditionalist tendencies in societies, but do not generate the phenomenon of neotraditionalism as such, since in many non-Western versions of modernity neo-traditionalism is an attribute of the modern cultures of the peoples of these countries themselves. What makes neotraditionalism possible is the eclecticism of public consciousness and collective picture of the world generated by colonialism and strengthened by the transformations of the postcolonial era. This inextricable connection between real tradition and invented tradition is the essence of neotraditionalism as a decolonial ideology and political strategy.

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Drawing on ethnographies conducted in Guinea since 2020, I analyze how development and epidemic surveillance initiatives institutionalize negative narratives about local actors, perpetuating historical dominations and contributing to the stigmatization of populations deemed originators of epidemics.

Paper long abstract:

Amid recent epidemic crises in Guinea, global health institutions have implemented nationwide epidemic preparedness and management policies, alongside development projects targeting improved population health through healthcare access, clean water, and nutritional monitoring. Drawing on ethnographies conducted in Guinea since 2020, I analyze the complexities of these development and epidemic surveillance initiatives. I study how these projects and policies contribute to the “projectization and partnering” of the Guinean State, characterized by a dependency on development and epidemic funding, a delegation of public services to external partners and funders, and the perception of epidemics and crises as economic opportunities. I explore how various actors are conceptualized, polarized, and hierarchized through categories from the realms of development and health, questioning how this perpetuates historical dominations by institutionalizing a negative narrative about local populations. I examine how this contributes to the State's abdication of responsibility and the stigmatization of populations deemed "originators of epidemics" due to their practices and cultures—participating in marginalizing and discrediting local practices and actors in Guinea, while overlooking local "community" systems for epidemic risk management. I interrogate how these narratives obscure structural political power and domination relationships in a postcolonial context, questioning the surveillance of Southern global risk countries by Northern and/or global institutions without healthcare provision for the population. Finally, I examine the role of anthropologists caught between these power dynamics, as they are widely seen in Guinea as social mediators capable of averting "community hesitations" since the Ebola epidemic of 2014-2016.

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How can be conceived an anthropology made by those who have often been mere 'ethnographic documents'? Can the 'subjects' of ethnographic research make their own anthropology? Starting from my Dogon ethnography, the paper considers these controversial issues in a context of violence and conflict.

Paper long abstract:

Colonial anthropology imposed an interpretation of experience, local knowledge and the psyche that conformed to Western epistemological and political horizons. Colonial psychiatry and psychoanalysis have not escaped this process (Boni and Mendelsohn 2023). Today, there are many critics of the idea of a fully-fledged hegemony, of a 'apparatus' (in the sense defined by Agamben) that would have successfully inscribed its own meanings onto the territories of desire and the forms of experience.

The long lasting research I have carried out in several West African countries, and more specifically on the transformations of the languages of suffering and ritual therapies on the Dogon plateau (Mali), has enabled me to consider the ways in which local knowledge resisted colonial discourse, and the singular effect of a 'reverse colonization' such as can be recognized in Dogon ethnography itself. Apart from this, how can be conceived an anthropology made by those who have often been mere 'ethnographic documents' ? Can the subjects of classical anthropology make their own anthropology? And where do we recognize the latter: just in books or even in ‘local’ knowledges, cultural memories and rituals? Reflecting on the dialectic of decolonisation/decoloniality also requires to consider the forms in which this specific desire for 'epistemic sovereignty' is manifested today. My paper explores how these issues are often revealed in difficult academic relations, cultural and artistic productions, or more simply in the desire for autonomous anthropological reflection on oneself and one's own culture.

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This paper analyzes the intersections of decolonial feminist theory, the application of a critical anthropological perspective and empathy in the execution of a project for women’s empowerment in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, exploring the relationships between the different agents involved.

Paper long abstract:

This paper proposes to analyze the intersections of decolonial feminist theory and the application of a critical anthropological perspective to an ongoing project for women’s empowerment in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, exploring the relationships between the different agents involved.

It looks at the (im)possibility of establishing horizontal relations between the players: the target communities, foreign and local NGOs, foreign and local universities and the anthropologist. In this sense, the anthropologist faces what Djamila Ribeiro (2020) calls her own “place of enunciation”, her whiteness and her colonial heritage (Bullen, 2017).

It also explores the complexities of moving between a decolonial and/or feminist perspective in a region with a complex cultural, religious and political make-up and a persisting situation of gender based violence and female genital mutilation. It addresses the limitations of language and the use of translators, the problems for mobility and the priorities of sustenance.

As a strategy for upsetting dichotomies such as colonial-decolonial, North/South, religious/feminist, we consider the proposal to create an Africa-India-Europe triangle of synergies by bringing to the project facilitators from a feminist organization in India who will provide training for local Ethiopian trainers.

Finally, we ask how far feminist empathy can help or hinder an African anthropology.

RIBEIRO, Djamila (2020) Lugar de enunciación, Ediciones Ambulantes.

BULLEN, Margaret (2017) “¿Puede hablar de feminismo decolonial una antropóloga feminista blanca?”, en SOS Racismo/SOS Arrazakeria (coord.) Islamofobia y Género. pp. 102-111

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Known for beautiful parks, ranches, and wildlife conservation, Laikipia County is Kenya’s epicenter of conservation efforts, with 43 ranches occupying 50% of the total land area and 24 private conservancies. Drought has led to tensions in recent years between the conservancies and the pastoralists

Paper long abstract:

he idea that the African continent was uninhabited before the coming of the whites was a mythical statement. The perception that land was virgin and only wild animals roomed all over was a misconception. The African continent had people who although few practised subsistence farming and pastoralism.

The coming of European settlers led to the massive destruction of forest cover to clear land for plantation farming and intensive hunting and especially of elephants and rhinos for their precious ivory and horns. Unfortunately, the European settlers blamed the Africans for the ecological damage thereby creating hunting reserves that were no go zones for the Africans. The reserves were converted into national parks, ranches, and wildlife conservation.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) set out to conserve nature. This led to the creation of conservation institutions. This was supported at a conference in Arusha in 1961. Thereafter, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) funded European conservation experts to come and conserve nature in Africa. Although a report by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations observed that indigenous people ensure the protection of world territory, this does not apply in Laikipia.

Pastoralism is a community’s way of life, their cultural identity that is pegged to land. The conservation carried out in Laikipia ought to have a mutual understanding among the inhabitants: both human and non-human, land for pasture and water for their animals. The hiving off and fencing of conservancies are tantamount to selling indigenous rights in the name of conservation.

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This paper explores the decolonization of Kenyan foodscape It analyzes how local culinary traditions are being legitimized and reclaimed, identifying key factors in repossessing traditional knowledge and products, reshaping national culinary identity and challenging Western gastronomic dominance.

Paper long abstract:

This paper delves into the concept of decolonization within the gastronomic realm, specifically focusing on the evolving restaurant scene in Nairobi, Kenya. It explores how decolonization manifests as a practice of rediscovery and reconstruction of the local and national foodscape, examining the tensions between Western influences and Kenyan traditional cuisines.

At the heart of this study is the concept of gastronomic decolonization, which involves a critical reassessment of the influences that Western culinary practices have exerted on Kenyan cuisine. Through ethnographic research, including interviews with local chefs, restaurant owners, and patrons, as well as analysis of menu offerings and food preparation techniques, the paper identifies key factors contributing to the repossession of traditional Kenyan culinary knowledge and products. It highlights how these factors help to re-establish local food traditions as legitimate and prestigious within Nairobi's modern gastronomic landscape.

The paper also examines the role of the restaurant industry in Nairobi as a catalyst for culinary decolonization. It looks at how restaurants are becoming spaces of cultural expression and identity reclamation, showcasing traditional Kenyan ingredients, recipes, and cooking methods. This shift not only challenges the dominance of Western culinary standards but also contributes to a broader cultural and national reawakening regarding the value of Kenyan gastronomy.

In conclusion, the paper argues that the process of decolonizing Kenya's foodscape is multifaceted, involving the reclamation of traditional culinary practices and the redefinition of what constitutes prestige and authenticity in the realm of gastronomy.

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Paper short abstract:

African Film Festivals are a successful cultural product that present themselves as a new means to understand African realities. This work questions the "Africanness" of these discourses financed and largely constructed from the world of NGOs and Western development cooperation agencies.

Paper long abstract:

African film festivals are a successful cultural product of late modernity that present themselves as a new means to understand African realities and break stereotypes. Aware that information about Africa is in the hands of large Western communication companies, these festivals offer themselves to the public as a unique opportunity to hear the true voice of Africa. But continents do not speak, no matter how big they are.

As a result of a long-term ethnography carried out at the Tarifa African Film Festival (FCAT), considered one of the most important festivals of this genre in the world, this work questions the "Africanness" of discourses financed and largely constructed from the world of NGOs and Western development cooperation agencies. An approach to the representations and representatives of this umpteenth re-construction of the idea of “Africa”.

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This paper examines the ways in which African-Americans conceptualize decolonization, including the idea of anti-colonialism as a parallel to the Civil Rights struggle in the US, the comparison of "slavery vs. colonialism", and the more recent idea of applying the notion of decolonization to the US.

Paper long abstract:

The process of decolonization was, since its very beginning, a key influence on the political thinking of many African-American leaders (including such notable figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Asa Philip Randolph etc.). This paper examines the multitude of ways in which both African-American intellectuals and the wider culture in general conceptualize decolonization. These concepts are intrinsically tied to the African-American experience, with the African anti-colonial struggle seen as a parallel process to the Civil Rights struggle in the US. In recent decades, the perception of decolonization of Africa determined how the African-Americans perceive more recent immigrants from Africa, with the historical comparison of "slavery vs. colonialism" being relatively ubiquitous. The theoretical developments in post-colonial studies have given rise to the idea of decolonizing the US, the American society itself, applying the (post-)colonial optics to contemporary social issues in Western countries. Thus, African-American culture offers a distinct, separate and somewhat underappreciated view of decolonization, which can have direct consequences for the African diaspora (in terms of its relations with local Black communities in the US) and African countries (through, for example, the development of heritage tourism). Understanding how African-Americans perceive decolonization in relation to their own experience is necessary for anthropologists working in the US, but may prove instrumental for those working in Africa as well – today’s anthropology of Africa would undoubtedly be enriched by acknowledging and addressing the multiple perspectives from which the process of decolonization can be seen and understood.