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- Convenors:
-
Katrin Seidel
(Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology)
Markus Hoehne (University of Leipzig)
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- Discussant:
-
Serunkuma Yusuf Kajura
(Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg)
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Perspectives on current crises
- Location:
- S65 (RW I)
- Sessions:
- Monday 30 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
Short Abstract:
The panel explores dynamics of knowledge production in the context of perceived crises and uncertainty in the wider Horn of Africa, focusing on the tensions and confluences of knowledge production at the local and the international level, and the consequences thereof.
Long Abstract:
Logics of international interventions in “crisis zones” are often based on the assumption of an emergency. At the level of (sub-)regional and international organisations (e.g., AU, EU or UN), these interventions are accompanied by the production of buzzwords such as “state failure”, “humanitarian crisis”, “civil war”, “terrorism”, or “authoritarianism”. Experts around the globe take these terms up and produce academicised accounts that sometimes criticise, but often legitimise and guide protracted interventions. In this panel, we explore dynamics of knowledge production in the context of perceived crises and related uncertainty in the wider Horn of Africa. We are interested in exploring the tensions and/or confluences of knowledge production about crises at local and international level, and the consequences thereof for local populations.
We invite contributions that address one or more of the following guiding questions regarding crises in the Horn of Africa:
• What is the relevance of knowledge (local, regional, external) in the context of crisis interventions?
• How and by whom is knowledge about crises constructed, used and commodified in the contexts of interventions?
• What about hegemonic logics within globalised institutions regarding knowledge productions about crises?
• What models of order are used to deal with crises (political, social, and economic), and how do these selective discourses travel and get translated?
• What are unintended consequences of interventions in situations defined as crises and how do they shape knowledge production concerning protracted crises?
• Who benefits from knowledge production about crises?
• Whose voices are marginalized and silenced?
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Monday 30 September, 2024, -Sartu Ahmed (Tangaza University, Kenya)
Paper short abstract:
Indigenous epistemologies of peacebuilding are informed by people’s understanding of peace as a holistic phenomenon beyond the liberal peace theory. Among the Oromo of Ethiopia, the Gada system is a building block of the people’s views of peace.
Paper long abstract:
Peace and peacebuilding are variously interpreted based on culture, history, and political philosophies people embrace. While the liberal peace theory often advocated by the West promotes peace-building through state and supra-state institutions, Indigenous peoples have quite different views of peace. Among Indigenous peoples, peace is defined and conceptualized not as the absence of war/conflict but as a conjointly constituted co-existence between humans, between humans and more-than-humans and the supernatural power. The Oromo people in Ethiopia have an Indigenous socio-cultural and political organization called the Gadaa system. This system informs and guides Oromo’s worldviews including their views about peace and peacebuilding. This paper, based on an ethnographic study of the Gadaa system will explore how ideas of peace and dialogue are embedded within the Gadaa system, and how it also shapes Oromo political elites’ contemporary positions on peace. It will also give a critical view of whether political elites depart from this cultural root or whether they embrace it in their political negotiations in intra-party negotiations/dialogues and peace talks.
Katrin Seidel (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology)
Paper short abstract:
The focus is on how African (sub-)regional conflict resolution meachnisms are influenced by international peace mediation models. It addresses how these interventions reproduce what they seek to avoid: epistemic violence, decontextualisation of conflict and rejection of local conflict resolution.
Paper long abstract:
The paper focuses on how African (sub)regional conflict resolution mechanisms are influenced by international peace mediation models. Peace mediation, as a guiding paradigm for global peace governance and conflict management, is used as a tool for achieving UN SDGs 16 'Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions'. It is loaded with promises of conflict transformation, peace and security, and crises prevention.
I examine effects of the transfer of peace mediation models to the African Union and IGAD frameworks. By reveiling the hegemonic power embodied in the international legal order and underlying Anglo-Eurocentric political-philosophical thought, the paper also addresses how these mediation models reproduce what they seek to avoid: epistemic violence, the decontextualisation of conflict and the rejection of local conflict resolution.
The study problematises the persistence of 'liberal' peace mediation approaches and practices embedded in a 'culture of intervention' and 'politics of domination'. It argues that the absence of agreement on 'African approaches to conflict resolution' perpetuates cycles of domination. A structural analysis of knowledge production in the field of internationalised conflict resolution reveals angles for transformative possibilities and ethical responsibilities.
Magnus Treiber (LMU Munich) Mulu Abebe (Addis Ababa University)
Paper short abstract:
2018s peace process promised a pathway towards regional stability and prosperity. The invasion of the Tigray-region by Eritrean and Ethiopian troops became devastating, also for Eritrean refugees in the country. Beyond international attention people once more try to leave.
Paper long abstract:
In the last 20 years Ethiopia has become a major destination for refugees from neighbouring Eritrea. Life has always been challenging for these refugees, inside and outside Ethiopia’s refugee camps, mostly situated in Northern Tigray province. Few got a chance to be resettled and many set out into irregular migration towards Europe. 2018s peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia promised far-reaching changes and a pathway towards regional stability, cooperation and prosperity. And certainly, the awarding of the Noble Peace price to the Ethiopian Prime Minister was big news in international media and the European Union was full of praise, hoping to strengthen control and diminish irregular migration.
Eritrean refugees, however, experienced increasing uncertainty and threats to personal safety and status. They had reason to mistrust Ethiopia’s reconciliation with the state they fled - and they were right after all. The Tigray-War (2020-2022), in which Eritrea and Ethiopia’s federal government jointly invaded Tigray province, became a devastating catastrophe, brought suffering, famine, destruction and further instability. Refugee camps in the North became inaccessible and totally cut off from international help. Refugees in Tigray were attacked by various forces, while urban refugees in Addis Ababa head to fear persecution and deportation. The relocation of refugee camps did not bring safety or improve people’s existential dilemma. Once more people are on the move, unseen and unwanted.
Dilys Amoabeng (University of Amsterdam) Benjamin Kobina Kwansa (University of Ghana)
Paper short abstract:
This paper seeks to (re) evaluate the conceptualization of crises in Africa, the impact of interdisciplinary theoretical approaches, and the impact on people’s lives. It aims to understand and show how crises manifest, the humanitarian assistance they attract, and the outcomes that they produce.
Paper long abstract:
This paper discusses the current state of crises, its conceptualization, challenges, and potential interventions - in Africa. To determine whether an epidemic, natural disaster, or other event qualifies as a crisis or pandemic, and to reevaluate the established criteria for what constitutes a crisis. How to rethink the concept of crises without imposing a Western-centric one? How to consider the definition of crises to (re)situate, possibly re(structure), or (re)create the definition of crises.
This paper aims to initiate discussions that would provide a new perspective on crises, be they disaster or health-related, through a comparative and interdisciplinary approach. The paper will critically interrogate how crises affect people’s lives: When and by whom is a natural disaster considered a humanitarian crisis? When does a health issue become one of international concern? When is an epidemic a pandemic? What goes into the conceptualisation of crisis? What meanings does a crisis take on as it travels between different contexts? How are Africans’ experiences with crises described? How can interdisciplinary theoretical approaches help us better understand how African crises manifest themselves, the humanitarian assistance they attract, and the outcomes they produce? Through these questions, and more, we hope to show how crises and pandemics are portrayed and handled in various African contexts to gain additional insight into how crises manifest there. Lastly, the paper interrogates existing plans to better address future crises in Africa.