The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 spelled the end of communism in East-Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Like the communist experience itself, postcommunism is seen as a distinct phenomenon, with countries facing a triple transition: political, economic, and societal. So far, the notion of postcommunism has only been used for the Eurasian countries. As a consequence, it is unclear whether postcommunism is a regional phenomenon or truly captures the unique legacies of Leninist regimes worldwide.
This workshop seeks to fill that gap by focusing on the post communist experience in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of particular interest are the five African countries that adopted Marxist-Leninism and had revolutionary parties in power: Angola, Benin, Congo (Brazzaville), Ethiopia, and Mozambique. In addition, several African countries embraced state socialism (such as Senegal and Tanzania). Since 1989, these countries have followed different trajectories and they occupy the full span from democracy to autocracy.
We are looking for contributions that systematically apply the notion of postcommunism to one or more formerly communist and state socialist countries in Sub-Saharan Africa or that explicitly compare the postcommunist experience in Africa and Europe, engaging in comparative area studies. Each paper should address directly one or more of the four questions that guide the conference: First, how did African countries experience the triple transition? Second, what are the Leninist legacies in Sub-Saharan Africa? Third, how does postcommunism in Africa compare to post communism in Europe? Finally, what role does communism play in contemporary Africa? We are open to contributions from different disciplines.
The aim is to publish the (revised) conference papers as a special issue in an international peer-reviewed journal or as an edited volume with an academic press. Limited funding is available to reimburse travel expenses and accommodation. In your application, please indicate whether you request funding to attend the conference.
If you are interested, please send a 300-word abstract and a 100-word bio to: polsci@ceu.edu. The deadline for applications is February 15, 2016.
Kontakt: Prof. Dr. Matthijs Bogaards
Visiting Professor
Department of Political Science
Central European University
Nador utca 9
1051 Budapest, Hungary
eMail: polsci@ceu.edu