Seminar Series: Urban politics and negotiated stateness: Comparative perspectives across Africa and Eastern Europe

Partnering Institutions: USF Seminar Series Awards Grant (grant code: USF-SSA-250610) from the Urban Studies Foundation (USF); University College London (UCL), UK; University of Tallinn, Estonia; and Civic Academy for Africa’s Future (CiAAF), Benin.

We are pleased to invite you to submit a proposal to present a paper at or to attend our seminar and graduate workshop in Benin titled “Africa through connections: learning from elsewhere, theorising from Africa” as part of this Seminar Series.

The series brings together scholars from and specialising in Africa and Eastern Europe to engage with research and theoretical insights drawn from across these two contexts on analyses of urban politics, especially interrogating the nature of state agency in urban development. We will also be exploring innovative comparative methodologies for cross-regional analysis. The workshop in Benin will focus on how tracing connections from African contexts can help to build comparative insights on urban developments there, and how this methodology might be used to expand the conversation between scholars in Africa and Eastern Europe. Some key themes and references are indicated below, which could be useful in guiding abstract proposals. Some of the background readings which have informed the seminar series can be found here.

Themes

We welcome presentations that open up discussion about seeing “Africa through connections: learning from elsewhere, theorising from Africa”. Connections involving private sector investment in infrastructure and urban development; ODA and multilateral as well as sovereign government financing of urban developments; strategies to secure international financial investment in infrastructure; circulating urban and development policies (eg on climate change, localising SDGs etc); policies for trade and diplomatic collaboration; military support and technical exchanges; transnational initiatives involving precarious, informal, illegal or popular practices and investments transforming urban areas. Other relevant themes are also welcome.

Apply to attend

Formal papers as well as early-stage ideas, PhD proposals, or draft research results are all more than welcome. A specific one-day early career research (ECR) day workshop will be held after the formal academic event, at which support for early career and graduate students' projects involving tracing connections and comparative analysis will be offered. Please indicate clearly in your application if you would like your proposal to be considered for this ECR workshop.

We encourage those interested in questions of states, urban governance, comparative or cross-regional urban politics, African, and Eastern European studies to attend.

Please send your abstract (max. 250 words) to Emmanuel Awohouedji [email protected], with USF COTONOU BENIN in the email’s subject by December 31st 2025.

Selected References [key references can be found at this link)

Cibian, S. 2017. Central and Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa: Prospects for Sustained Re-engagement. Africa Programme, Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London.

Cirolia, L.R. and Harber. (2022) ‘Urban statecraft: The governance of transport infrastructures in African cities’, Urban Studies, 59, 2431–2450.

De Boeck, F. 2011. Inhabiting Ocular Ground: Kinshasa's Future in the Light of Congo's Spectral Urban Politics. Cultural Anthropology, 26: 263-286.

Dobler, G., & Kesselring, R. (2019). Swiss extractivism: Switzerland’s role in Zambia’s copper sector. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 57(2), 223–245. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26847122