Short Abstract

At the crossroads of urban studies, research on the senses and affects, work on atmospheres has been multiplying over the past twenty years. This panel aims to explore this topic in depth within the context of African studies.

Long Abstract

This panel aims to demonstrate the analytical relevance of this notion, discussed from different philosophical and methodological traditions (Thibaud 2020; Böhme 2017; Olivier, Lamola, Sands, 2023) and its limits based mainly, but not only, on urban colonial and postcolonial case studies in Africa. An atmosphere can be defined as a space-time that can be experienced individually and/or collectively. Although ephemeral, atmospheres are generally reproducible because they are generated by the combination of a social environment, an activity, a location, a mode of transportation or communication, and a broader context. Atmospheres are often spontaneously created, yet their potential can be strongly directed. The atmosphere of an official ceremony, a place of worship, or a social gathering are some examples. This means that an atmosphere can consolidate a social order or, on the contrary, challenge it, indirectly or more openly. Deeply connected to a specific world and rooted in its context, an atmosphere can serve as interface with more distant spaces. It can, therefore, reflect and expand on the analysis of material phenomena which are usually in the focus in the social sciences: the circulation of people, social practices, goods, and norms. Atmosphere can also be a social, generational, or gender marker. In this sense, it integrates and/or distinguishes socially and culturally. It is not only associated with a time of peace but also permeates critical moments, if not profound upheavals. Finally, by mobilizing perceptions, sensations, and emotions, atmosphere fuels imaginations inscribed in time.

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