8th European Conference on African Studies (ECAS):
AFRICA: CONNECTIONS & DISRUPTIONS
Conference will be held at: Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh, June 12-14, 2019
CALL FOR PAPERS for the Panel: Mining’s Connective & Disruptive Effects on Human Settlement in Africa
Panel ref no Econ25 convened by Deborah Bryceson & Kate Symons, Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh
Over time, many African countries have witnessed mining booms followed by quiescence. Mining of non-renewable resources (minerals, oil and gas) is associated with uneven development, including cycles of expectant discovery, mobilization of capital and labour for mineral extraction leading to peak production, followed by diminishing production to the point of cessation. The demographic size and economic and social forms of mining settlements are impacted by mineral depletion, fluctuations in global mineral prices, national and local politics, as well as numerous contextual specificities. This panel probes when, where & how such dynamics happen.
Along the mining settlement cycle, a number of interactive connections and disruptions occur including:
1) speculative labour flows and market demand for land related to the initiation and progress of mining exploration creating ‘economies of desire’;
2) mining’s dislocative and stimulating impacts on rural settlements over the mining cycle;
3) competing resource and land use engendering ecological change;
4) conflict and contention over land uses (e.g. mining vs conservation areas);
5) urban growth from boom town to ghost towns or non-mineral take-off of the settlement;
6) changing social and economic character of settlement in relation to settlement: sex ratios, occupational patterns and class and ethnic reconfigurations;
7) aspects of indirect urbanization in the aftermath of mineral booms, when mining profits are invested in housing and businesses beyond the mining site;
8) the contentious divide between mine labourers’ formal housing as opposed to residence in informal settlements.
Evolutionary case studies of a single location or analytical comparisons of settlement patterns in relation to differences exemplified by: forms of minerals, geographical regions, size of urban settlement, small versus large-scale mining, etc. are welcome.
ECAS instructions for submission of paper proposals:
Only one paper/contribution per person!
Please note that an individual must not make more than one solo-authored paper proposal or roundtable contribution (although they may also convene one panel/roundtable; or be a discussant or chair in one panel).
All paper proposals must consist of:
- a paper title
- name/s and email address/es of author/s
- a short abstract of fewer than 300 characters
- a long abstract of fewer than 250 words
The main conference language being English, this information should be submitted in either English or French.
The Call for Papers is open. Your paper proposal must be submitted via the panel’s link (Econ25) on the ECAS conference website.
On submission of the proposal, the proposing author (but not the co-authors) will receive an automated email confirming receipt. If you do not receive this email, please first check the Login environment – Cocoa (see toolbar above right) to see if your proposal is there. If it is, it simply means your confirmation email got spammed/lost; if it is not, you will need to re-submit, as for some reason the process was not completed. Co-authors cannot be added/removed nor can papers be withdrawn by the proposers themselves – for that, please email admin@ecasconference.org .
Proposals will be marked as pending until the end of the call for papers. Convenors will then be asked to make their decisions over the papers proposed to their panel with two weeks of the end of the CFP and to communicate those to the proposers, marking them up within the login environment (Cocoa).
All presenting authors (of accepted papers) will be expected to register online in advance of the event and pay a registration fee to attend.
The deadline for submission of your paper proposal is JANUARY 21st.
POLLEN 