Dear all This year we are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Centre of African Studies Cambridge, for our programme of events click here. Registration for our annual lecture given by Professor James Ferguson of Stanford University is now open and places are filling up quickly! To reserve a seat click here.
News from the Centre of African Studies
The Audrey Richards Annual Lecture in African Studies 2015
Professor James Ferguson
Stanford University
Give a Man a Fish: From Patriarchal Productionism to the Politics of Distribution in Southern Africa (and Beyond)
Rooms SG1 & SG2, Alison Richard Building 7 West Road, Cambridge Followed by a reception in the atrium
James Ferguson is the Susan S and William H Hindle Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University. His research has focused on southern Africa (especially Lesotho, Zambia, South Africa, and Namibia), and has engaged a broad range of theoretical and ethnographic issues. These include the politics of "development", rural-urban migration, changing topographies of property and wealth, constructions of space and place, urban culture in mining towns, experiences of modernity, the spatialization of states, the place of "Africa" in a real and imagined world, and the theory and politics of ethnography. Professor Ferguson is the author of The Anti-Politics Machine (1990), Expectations of Modernity (1999), Global Shadows (2006), and Give a Man a Fish (2015).
CAS Lent Term Seminar Series
Gender in Africa
Monday 2 Feburary 2015 at 5pm Room S1, Alison Richard Building, Cambridge
Professor Caroline Rooney
University of Sussex
Dr Julia Borossa
Middlesex University
Same Sex Cultures and Pariah Formations in North Africa
Wednesday 4 February 2015 at 2pm Room SG1, Alison Richard Building, Cambridge Chaired by Professor John Lonsdale
Professor Klein has been one of the driving forces behind research into slavery and the slave trade in West Africa for decades. His work put the 'slave exodus' in early colonial French West Africa on the map, and has been crucial in establishing the politics of slaving and slavery in the nineteenth-century Sahel and Senegambia. He has been involved also in the study of resistance to enslavement and self-emancipation, and has facilitated a great deal of work by African-based scholars.
Africa Research Forum
Seminar
Daniel Wroe
Universit of East Anglia
"It's a Heavy Thing": Being a Man in Rural Central Malawi
Wednesday 11 February 2015, 1-2 pm Room S2, Alison Richard Building, Cambridge For pre-circulated papers and details on the Africa Research Forum click here.
Africa Research Forum
PhD Students' Workshop
Friday 6 February 2015 Elton-Bowring Room, Clare College, Cambridge
The aim of this day-long event is to provide a forum for Cambridge PhD students working on Africa-related topics to present their research and share ideas, and indeed to meet one another! Anyone is welcome to attend the Workshop as a member of the audience, but since space is limited we request that you register via the button below. Presenters will be registered automatically.
Embodied Memories - Another Perspective on Research in Africa
Photographic exhibition by Ashley Ouvier on floors 2 & 3 of the Alison Richard Building, 29 January to 27 March 2015.
A reception and academic colloquium entitled 'Virulence: Visualising the African Body as a Vector of Epidemics' will take place on 19 February 2015. For more information on the symposium click here.
This exhibition gathers a series of portraits, family stories and social facts collected in 2012 alongside an anthropological study on traces and memories of science in Niakhar. Its intention is to foreground personal points of view of those who work at the ground level of an international health and demographic research site in Africa. It is also a way to visually query the meaning of African bodies and agency in the context of global health and post-independence relations. For further details on Ashley Ouvrier's work click here.
News and Events from Elsewhere
CRASSH Faculty Research Group
Locating Religion
Monday 23 February from 1.30-3.30 pm Room 204, Alison Richard Building, Cambridge Please email jmc67@cam.ac.uk to receive pre-circulated paper. For further details click here. For a flyer click here
Andrea Grant, Cambridge
Spiritual Temporalities and the New Pentecostal Churches in Rwanda: Affect, Silence, and Noise
CRASSH Conference
Pursuing Justice in Africa
27-28 March 2015 CRASSH, Alison Richard Building, Cambridge
For registration details, a programme and speaker abstracts click here.
Convenors: Jessica Johnson and George Karekwaivanane The Keynote address will be given by Kamari Maxine Clarke (Professor of Anthropology, Yale/Pennsylvania).
The focus of the conference is on the many and varied actors pursuing visions of justice in Africa – their aspirations, divergent practices and articulations of international and vernacular idioms of justice. We will bring together, in a coherent format, topics of research that are at the cutting edge of contemporary scholarship across a wide range of disciplines, including activism, resource extraction, international legal institutions, and post-conflict reconciliation. Our engagement will be both empirical and theoretical: we aim to grapple with alternative approaches to the concept of justice and its relationships with law, morality, and rights.
MPhil in African Studies 2015-16
Find out how to apply here. Deadline for applications30 June 2015.
The CAS Audio Collection
To listen to our latest seminar 'Contesting Compliance: Tales of 'Women's Empowerment' from Nineteenth-Century SW Nigeria', click here.
Further Seminars
Cambridgde Centre for Christianity Worldwide
Lecture Series 2015, for further details click here.
9 March: Militant Masks; Youth and Insecurity in the Niger Delta. For details click here.
Scolma Seminar
11 Feb: Southern African Port Towns and the Shaping of Indian Ocean Cosmopolitanisms in the Early 19th Century For details click here.
Conferences & Calls for Papers
Postamble
Peer-reviewed online journal with a focus on the multidisciplinary study of Africa. Call for papers: Transdisciplinarity, Transformation and the Humanities, for further details click here.
2015 Oxford Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop
A weeklong workshop hosted by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities at Oxford University, 12-18 July 2015. Deadline 15 March 2015, for further details click here, for a flyer click here.
Twelfth Cadbury Conference: Money Judgments
21-22 May 2015, University of Birmingham. Call for papers, deadline 1March 2015, for details click here.
African Studies in the 20th Century: Past, Present, and Future
13-17 Oct 2015 Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Call for papers, deadline 30 March 2015, for details click here.
Africa Research Day 2015
16 March 2015, SOAS. Call for papers, deadline 15 Feb 2015, for details click here.
Print Media in the Colonial World
CRASSH Cambridge 16-17 April 2015 For details click here.
Landscapes, Sources and Intellectual Projects in African History: Rethinking Historical Evidence and its Interpretation
University of Birmingham For details click here, deadline 31 Jan 2015.
The 2nd Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies Conference
Textualities of Space: Connections, Intricacies, and Intimacies 20-22 August 2015. Makerere University, Uganda For details click here, deadline 31 Jan 2015.
Environment, Race, and Land Use
13-15 July 2015, Rhodes University. For details click here, deadline 31 January 2015.
African Intellectual Mobilities: Diasporic Travel and Texts, Past and Present
7 Feb 2015, University of York Further details click here.
Nigeria after the 2015 Elections
Africa Confidential Conference 25 March 2015, London Further details here.
2nd International Thematic Conference on Africa and the Indian Ocean
Fluid Networks and Hegemonic Powers in the Western Indian Ocean 9-10 April 2015, Lisbon. For more info click here, deadline 31 January 2015.
Awards, Fellowships & Scholarships
UAC Nigeria Travel Fund
Grants for Cambridge University graduate students towards field work travel in Africa. Deadline 6 March 2015, for more info click here.
Urban Studies Foundation
International Fellowship
For more details click here, for the website click here. Closing date 6 March 2015.
Opportunities
Public Health & International Development Internships in Uganda - Summer 2015 For more info click here, deadline 1 February 2015.
Dakar Institute of African Studies Summer Study Abroad Programme, Dakar, Senegal More info here.
Oxbridge Africa Mentorship Programme. For info click here and for a leaflet click here.
Africa Realities Media is independent. Your support helps us expose injustice, challenge silence and produce evidence-based analysis on Africa and the Great Lakes Region.
Africa Realities Media offre un espace aux écrivains, chercheurs, experts, activistes, voix communautaires, militants, analystes et personnes ayant une expérience vécue qui souhaitent contribuer à des contenus réfléchis, responsables et courageux sur les changements nécessaires dans la région des Grands Lacs, ainsi que sur les réalités politiques, économiques, culturelles et sociales africaines souvent ignorées, minimisées ou mal représentées.
Nos articles et vidéos visent à ouvrir le débat, renforcer la sensibilisation, encourager la pensée critique et favoriser une réflexion plus profonde sur les réalités vécues par les populations africaines. Nous voulons aider les peuples de la région des Grands Lacs à mieux comprendre leurs droits, notamment leurs droits humains, leur droit au développement, leur droit à la dignité, à la sécurité, au bien-être et à une vie meilleure.
À travers nos contenus, nous cherchons également à rappeler aux décideurs, aux institutions publiques, aux acteurs régionaux et internationaux, ainsi qu’aux responsables politiques, leur devoir de transparence, de responsabilité et de redevabilité envers les populations qu’ils prétendent servir. Notre objectif est de contribuer à une culture de vérité, de justice, de participation citoyenne et de protection égale pour tous les peuples africains.
Why We Exist
Many abuses facing African people are committed by African states, ruling elites, armed groups, military forces and security services. But these abuses are often sustained by international silence, Western lobbying, trade interests, migration deals, mineral access, diplomatic partnerships and unequal global accountability.
Africa Realities Media exposes that system.
Lived Experience Matters
Survivors, displaced communities, refugees, families affected by repression, journalists, activists, women, young people and diaspora voices are not passive subjects. They are knowledge holders.
Their experiences must shape policy, advocacy, journalism and public debate. The people closest to injustice are often closest to the solutions.
En l'espace de quelques heures, en moins de 24 heures, je viens de lire 3 postings différents, provenant d'autant de membres différents, qui pointent vers la défaillance du système d'éducation au Rwanda. Certains surnomment ironiquement les diplômes générés par ce système "Merci Kagame"! Rares sont les écoles, fussent-elles du tiers-monde, où les étudiants à la fin de leurs études seraient incapables de fonctionner dans d'autres écoles à l'étranger. Pourtant c'est la triste réalité actuelle au Rwanda. Pour ceux qui connaissent le fonctionnement des Nations-Unies, il est grand temps de dépêcher sur place un rapporteur spécial... L'UNESCO peut-être! Sibomana Jean Bosco. *DHR* BBC: Iyumvire uburyo Kagame na FPR bazambije uburezi mu Rwanda kuburyo ababyeyi bifite bahitamo kohereza abana babo hanze Libellés : Forums Peter Rwagasabo - 29 janv. à rwagasabo, (bcc:Democrac...
http://www.veritasinfo.fr/m/article-122363461.html Itangazo ry'inama yahuje amashyaka i Buruseli kuwa 01/02/2014 Nk'uko byari biteganyijwe, kuri uyu wa gatandatu tariki ya 01/02/2014, i Buruseli mu Bubiligi hateraniye inama y'amashyaka atavuga rumwe n'ubutegetsi bwa Perezida Paul Kagame. Ku mashyaka icumi yari yatumiwe, ayabonetse mu nama ni atandatu (60%), ari yo : 1. Forces Démocratiques Unifiées (FDU-Inkingi) ; 2. Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) ; 3. Pacte Démocratique du Peuple (PDP-Imanzi) ; 4. Parti pour la Démocratie au Rwanda (PDR-Ihumure) ; 5. Parti Social (PS-Imberakuri) ; 6. Rwandan Dream Initiative (RDI-Rwanda Rwiza). Ihuriro FCLR - Ubumwe naryo ryari rihagarariwe muri iyo nama. Mu gutangira inama, abayijemo batoye umuyobozi wayo. Bamaze gusuzuma no kwemeza umurongo w'ibyigwa, bemeje ko muri iki gihe, ubufatanye bw'amashyaka ya opposition ari ngombwa cyane ...
The FDLR Myth: How Rwanda Weaponises a Diminished Threat to Justify Occupation Investigation Exposes Contradictions in Rwanda's Security Narrative For over a decade, Rwanda has justified its military presence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo by citing threats from the FDLR, a Hutu militia group linked to the 1994 genocide. But an investigation into FDLR's actual capabilities, Rwanda's military operations, and patterns of violence reveals a narrative that does not match reality. The FDLR threat, whilst real, has been systematically exaggerated and manipulated to justify objectives that have nothing to do with the militia group. Introduction The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) occupies a central position in Rwanda's justification for military intervention in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. For more than two decades, Rwandan authorities have portrayed the militia group as an existential threat requiring sustaine...
Kigali wants Washington to punish Congo too. But a ceasefire that leaves the occupier in place is not peace; it is occupation without noise. African lives are not worth less. African deaths are not normal. Western interests must never become a licence to kill African people. Introduction: A Familiar Complaint On 29 June 2026, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, sat before the cameras of France 24 and declared that his country was “disappointed by the increasingly biased US mediation” in the conflict with the Democratic Republic of Congo. He asked why sanctions had targeted only Rwanda. He called the measures unfair, one-sided and counterproductive. Weeks earlier, President Paul Kagame had told Jeune Afrique that sanctions and threats were insults thrown at Rwanda, and accused Washington of exerting heavy pressure on Rwanda while treating the DRC more delicately. The grievance sounds reasonable until you remember where you have heard it before. Since 2022, the Kr...
MASS KILLINGS OF HUTU BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER 1994 IN RWANDA, DRC AND UGANDA INTRODUCTION TO PART 2 Part 1 established the assassination of President Habyarimana, the Bruguière and Spanish investigations, Kagame's responsibility for starting the war, the Kigali massacres, challenges to the "genocide against the Tutsi only" narrative, and the need for UN framework revision. Part 2 documents specific mass killings of Hutu populations that have been systematically erased from history: the Kibeho massacre of 1995, the Byumba Stadium massacre of 1994, the hunting and slaughter of Hutu refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1996 to 1997, killings in Uganda, and the pattern of political assassinations and property seizures. 2. THE KIBEHO MASSACRE (22 APRIL 1995) 2.1 The Camp and Its Population By April 1995, the Kibeho internally displaced persons camp in Gikongoro prefecture southwestern Rwanda held between 80,000 and 100,000...
How Paul Kagame Uses Diplomats' "Bury Your Head in the Sand" Strategy as a Green Light to Continue Rwanda's War in the DRC Africa Realities Media | 17 July 2026 The purpose of this article is to expose a deliberate and systematic strategy: Paul Kagame's years-long practice of creating events — diplomatic dinners, RPF party meetings, genocide commemorations, international business forums and RPF Bureau Politique addresses — to which he invites foreign ambassadors and the world's business and political elite for one purpose: to explain, justify, and defend Rwanda's military invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Everybody who follows this region knows the strategy now. The same narrative. The same arguments. The same defiance. At one event he tells the Trump Administration to go to hell. At the next he says those sanctioning him will leave power and he will remain. At the RPF Bureau Politique of 17 July 2026, he tells ambassadors that the on...
Le 30 juin 2026, pour la première fois en cinquante-six ans d'existence de l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, les candidats au poste de Secrétaire général ont été auditionnés publiquement devant les ministres des Affaires étrangères des 53 États membres de plein droit, réunis en Conférence ministérielle extraordinaire à Paris. Parmi les quatre prétendants au mandat 2027-2030, qui sera attribué par les chefs d'État au XXe Sommet de la Francophonie à Phnom Penh les 15 et 16 novembre 2026, figure un profil inédit : Dacian Cioloș, ancien Premier ministre de Roumanie, ancien commissaire européen à l'Agriculture et ancien président du groupe Renew au Parlement européen, seul candidat non africain de la course. Cet article, premier d'une série de cinq consacrée aux auditions, analyse la prestation de M. Cioloș sur huit axes : la vision, l'innovation, le développement des communautés locales, la promotion de la langue française, les conflits et la s...
Comment Paul Kagame utilise la stratégie diplomatique de « l’autruche » comme feu vert pour poursuivre la guerre du Rwanda en RDC Le but de cet article est d’exposer une stratégie délibérée et systématique : la pratique, poursuivie depuis des années par Paul Kagame, consistant à créer des événements — dîners diplomatiques, réunions du parti FPR, commémorations du génocide, forums internationaux d’affaires et interventions devant le Bureau Politique du FPR — auxquels il invite des ambassadeurs étrangers ainsi que l’élite mondiale des affaires et de la politique dans un seul but : expliquer, justifier et défendre l’invasion militaire de la République démocratique du Congo par le Rwanda. Tous ceux qui suivent cette région connaissent désormais cette stratégie. Le même récit. Les mêmes arguments. La même défiance. Lors d’un événement, il dit à l’administration Trump d’aller au diable. Lors du suivant, il affirme que ceux qui le sanctionnent quitteront le pouvoir tandis que lui restera. Lor...
La francophonie utile à l'épreuve des projets concrets Conseillère à la présidence mauritanienne, forte d'une longue expérience auprès de cinq chefs d'État successifs de son pays, Coumba Bâ porte la candidature de la Mauritanie au poste de Secrétaire général de la Francophonie, dont le titulaire du mandat 2027-2030 sera désigné par les chefs d'État au XXe Sommet de la Francophonie, prévu à Phnom Penh les 15 et 16 novembre 2026. Son audition publique du 30 juin 2026 à Paris, devant les ministres des Affaires étrangères des 53 États membres de plein droit, reposait sur un positionnement singulier : celui d'un pays carrefour, à la fois africain, arabe et sahélien, présenté comme un pont possible vers les États qui ont quitté l'organisation. Cet article, quatrième d'une série de cinq consacrée aux auditions, analyse sa prestation sur huit axes : la vision, l'innovation, le développement des communautés locales, la promotion de la langue française, les confli...
Africa Realities Media speaks to Africa and to the developed world. Many abuses facing African people are committed by African states and ruling elites, but they are often protected by international silence, lobbying, public relations, trade interests, migration deals and unequal global accountability. While governments pay lobbyists to present a good image abroad, ordinary African people continue to face violence, hunger, disease, poverty, repression and exclusion. We challenge the normalisation of African suffering and demand equal truth, equal justice and equal protection.
Pourquoi Africa Realities Media est différent?
Africa Realities Media s’adresse à l’Afrique et au monde développé. De nombreux abus subis par les peuples africains sont commis par des États africains et des élites dirigeantes, mais ils sont souvent protégés par le silence international, le lobbying, les relations publiques, les intérêts commerciaux, les accords migratoires et une responsabilité mondiale inégale. Tandis que des gouvernements paient des lobbyistes pour présenter une bonne image à l’étranger, des Africains ordinaires continuent de faire face à la violence, à la faim, aux maladies, à la pauvreté, à la répression et à l’exclusion. Nous contestons la normalisation de la souffrance africaine et exigeons une vérité égale, une justice égale et une protection égale.
Our work is designed to trigger debate, discomfort and action. We do not only expose injustice; we work for policy and systems change.
We want governments and institutions to address the root causes of inequality, disadvantage, discrimination, exclusion and barriers affecting African people. We believe lasting change must be shaped by people with lived experience.
Exposing Injustice in Africa
Africa Realities Media is an independent African accountability platform based in London. We report, analyse and challenge the systems that shape African suffering, silence African victims and protect abusive power.
We are not here to repeat diplomatic language. We are here to ask the questions that are often avoided: why are African deaths treated as normal? Why are African victims given less urgency? Why are governments that imprison, exclude, displace or kill their own people protected when they serve powerful international interests?
Africa Realities Media gives space to writers, researchers, experts, activists, community voices, campaigners, analysts and people with lived experience who want to contribute thoughtful, responsible and courageous content about the changes needed in the region, as well as the political, economic, cultural and social African realities that are often ignored, minimised or misrepresented.
Our articles and videos aim to encourage debate, raise awareness, stimulate critical thinking and support reflection. We seek to help people in the Great Lakes Region understand their rights to human rights, development and wellbeing, while also encouraging decision-makers to be more transparent, responsive and accountable.
Appel à contributions
Sensibilisez le public aux causes qui vous tiennent à cœur. Prenez part au changement que vous souhaitez voir émerger. Aidez à combattre l’injustice partout où elle se manifeste.
Africa Realities Media accueille des articles originaux, analyses, tribunes, réflexions communautaires et commentaires fondés sur des faits concernant la région des Grands Lacs africains, ainsi que les questions liées à la justice, aux droits humains, à la gouvernance, aux conflits, à la paix, aux réfugiés, aux ressources naturelles et à la responsabilité publique en Afrique.
Nous accueillons également les annonces concernant de nouvelles ou d’anciennes publications liées à nos domaines d’intérêt. Vous pouvez annoncer gratuitement votre publication, notamment un livre, un rapport, une étude, un article académique ou tout autre travail pertinent.
Les articles doivent être rédigés en anglais ou en français et ne doivent pas dépasser 1 500 mots.
Veuillez inclure le nom complet de l’auteur, qui sera publié avec l’article s’il est accepté.
Avant de soumettre votre article, veuillez d’abord lire nos pages du site web afin de vérifier si votre article correspond à nos priorités éditoriales, à nos thèmes et à nos domaines d’intérêt.
Si vous avez un article, un commentaire ou une annonce de publication à partager avec un public plus large, veuillez l’envoyer par email à :
africarealitiesmedia@gmail.com
Nous étudierons la possibilité de publier gratuitement les articles et annonces de publications appropriés s’ils répondent à nos critères éditoriaux, notamment la pertinence, la clarté, l’originalité, l’intérêt public, le respect des communautés concernées et l’utilisation responsable des informations et des preuves.
Les articles sont publiés tels qu’ils sont soumis s’ils répondent à nos critères et à notre politique éditoriale. Nous ne procédons pas à une modification supplémentaire de votre article avant sa publication.
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