Call for Papers-Lumumba at 100 Conference

An Academic Conference at Columbia University on April 18th

Featuring:

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja

Didier Gondola

Pedro Monaville

Call For Papers

This year marks 100 years since the birth of Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the Congolese anti-colonial movement and the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lumumba was tragically assassinated as part of a Belgian-sponsored and CIA-approved military coup, ultimately leading to a brutal three-decade dictatorship. In honor of Lumumba’s pan-African commitment, this conference will focus on the remarkable legacy of the Congolese anti-colonial struggle and the post-colonial state. Especially in these troubling days marked by the deadly advance of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia into the city of Goma, we must direct due attention toward this important region of Africa. The conference will take place at the Maison Française at Columbia University on the 18th of April.

This call for papers is for a workshop in the late afternoon of the 18th, in which the conference speakers as well as Africanists invited from across NYC, will gather to respond to selected papers from graduate students and early-career academics. The organizing committee encourages abstract submissions on the following topics, though this list is neither prescriptive nor exhaustive:

• The history of the Congolese anti-colonial struggle;
• The killing of Lumumba and Africa in the Cold War;
• Enduring resource extractivism and alternative development models;
• 21st Century wars in DR Congo’s East;
• Art, film, and literature of post-colonial DR Congo;
• The politics of language in post-colonial DR Congo;
• The importance of Congolese minerals for the high-tech economy and the green transition;
• DR Congo’s Role in the New Cold War between the US and China

Interested candidates should submit an abstract no longer than 350 words as well as a 100-word biography. All participating scholars should be present. Unfortunately, at this stage, we are unable to provide travel funding for the authors of selected papers.

The deadline for abstracts is March 15th, 12pm. If selected, final papers are due by April 7, 12pm.

We look forward to welcoming you to the conference.

Best,

The Conference Organizing Committee