Alternation, a peer-reviewed journal, is accepting papers for a special issue on the theme of religion, governance, and humanitarianism in Africa. CIHA’s very own co-editors will be the editors of this special issue as well! We encourage you to submit your work. Keep reading for a description of the issue and guidelines.
ALTERNATION CALL FOR PAPERS
THEME: Religion, Governance and Humanitarianism in Africa.
In this Special Issue of Alternation, we invite academics, religious and secular actors, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), students, and other observers, to interrogate contributions and challenges of religion/s within humanitarian practice.
Religion is of critical importance on the continent, as much elsewhere in the world. The impact of missionary histories, the multiple forms of religious beliefs and practices in humanitarianism today, offer us a fundamental need to engage in critical yet productive discussions about the uncomfortable associations of religious humanitarianism with colonialism, slavery, neo-colonial exploitation, and neo-liberal forms of paternalism. This also evokes the search for more positive associations such as commitments to education, healthcare, and the affirmation of human dignity in humanitarian interventions including the dignity of aid recipients. We also probe some Religious actors and organizations that have been involved in harmful practices as well as others engaged in resistance to them including those that have been the primary initiators of emancipatory strategies of thought and action. Such histories and commitments, call for constructive engagements into inclusive yet critical dialogues.
We further seek to provide a platform for the next generation of African scholars, religious leaders, NGO representatives, and policymakers who are the future leaders of the continent, especially on how they should be able to determine its future needs. Both Africans and non-Africans should be provided with an opportunity for critically informed thinking regarding the problematic legacies as well as the possibilities for more egalitarian collaboration in humanitarian endeavours in Africa as well as other parts of the world.
Therefore, this Issue seeks to examine the multiple roles of religious leaders in governance, assessing the state of religion and of governance on the continent. It will interrogate the current state of humanitarian governance on the continent and its relationship to domestic as well as transnational religious traditions. This will further assess whether the transnational aid industry continues to bypass governments and/or create parallel governance structures, even as it complains about the lack of strong governance on the continent. Lastly, it will explore the critical genealogies of humanitarianism and religion focusing specifically on how religious leaders, from the colonial times until the present-day Africa, have framed and reframed the uses and misuses of charity and humanitarian aid.
Proposed Themes
- The culture of giving, and/or issues emerging from African religions.
- The concept of being ‘human’ in the humanitarian discourse; how the (historical) African understanding of humanitarianism could be helpful and how it has influenced and/or been oppressed by foreign religious actors.
- Critical references to Issues that religious humanitarian organisations in Africa are grappling with:
- Governance and politics in Africa
- Gender and Sexuality/ies
- Environmental sustainability
- d) The humanitarian industry and economic development
- e) Religion, power and money
Timeframe
Title and Abstract Friday 28 June 2019
Vetting feedback Friday 19 July 2019
Article Submission Tuesday 3 September 2019
Review Feedback Tuesday 1 October 2019
Final article Friday 1 November 2019
Final Editing Monday 2 December 2019
Submission to Press Friday 15 January 2020
Issue Editors: Prof RS Kumalo (UKZN), Prof C Lynch (UCI), Prof C Kemedjio (Rochester), Prof AA Akosua (UG – Legon), Prof Penda Ba (Gaston Berger – Senegal) and Dr K Toussaint (Hekima Jesuit Institute – Nairobi).
Please submit the proposed titles of your articles, as well as a brief abstract of about 150 words, to the guest editors: Dr Thandi Ntuli (thandicot@hotmail.com) and Bangirana Albert Billy (bangiranaa@ukzn.ac.za) by 28 June 2019 for vetting. Contributors of the successful abstracts will be requested to submit full articles, for the review process, by 3 September 2019 (Late submissions will not be considered).
Please use the Alternation Guidelines for Contributors, and style format for submissions. Cf. below, and Guidelines for Contributors at: http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/submissions.aspx
Alternation is a fully accredited, peer-reviewed South African Department of Higher Education and Training journal (DoHET). It is edited by Prof J.A. Smit (Chief Editor) from the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, and is published at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on an Open Access platform. All articles are subject to peer-review by at least two independent peer reviewers. All articles that pass the review process, and that are accepted for publication, will be published online, at: http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/archive.aspx
The Alternation homepage is available at: http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/Homepage.aspx