RASS Workshops
In order to move beyond identified Gaps in Mainstream/Western and African Regionalism Research and re-center African subjects and subjectivities in regionalism research, the network will carry out three consecutive and interrelated workshops. Each workshop topic corresponds with one of the outlined aims of the network and defines the theme for that year. The workshops provide fora for thorough deliberation of concrete project outputs among the members of the network. There will be internationally renowned external guests to provide specialist expertise. Additionally, each workshop will include one public event to facilitate knowledge exchange with external guests.
Workshop I - (Re)conceptualizing / (re)thinking subjectivities in African regionalism
Workshop I will discuss the variety of African subjectivities that are invisibilized in mainstream/Western research and focus on re-centering African subjects and subjectivities. The participants will produce draft papers on the topics of re-centering subjectivities of African regionalism that outline the elaborated research questions and research designs of participants which will be discussed indepth and further developed during the workshop. An additional event will be held which will be open to the public and specifically aimed at disseminating ongoing discussions to the academic and practitioner community; the event will be livestreamed.
Location: Accra, Ghana | Date: October 2024 | Guest experts: tba
Workshop II - (Re)conceptualizing / (re)thinking methodological approaches to study African regionalism
The second year will focus strongly on fostering the academic research of the network. At this workshop network members will critically discuss the methodological challenges of studying African regionalism and alternative (decolonising) research methods that may be more appropriate for studying the African context. The network aims to produce innovative contributions to the debates on how to study African regionalism(s) which will be part of the upcoming edited volume on methodology and theory development. An additional event will be held which will be open to the public and specifically aimed at disseminating ongoing discussions to the academic and practitioner community; the event will be livestreamed.
Location: Marburg, Germany | Date: 2025 | Guest experts: tba
Workshop III - (Re)conceptualizing / (re)thinking theory building on African regionalism
In the final year of the network, we will focus on the original theories and concepts emerging from the research projects as well as reflect critically on the practice of theorising with African subjects and subjectivities. The third year will also be about ensuring the substantive outputs of the network and concluding the upcoming edited volume. An additional event will be held which will be open to the public and specifically aimed at disseminating ongoing discussions to the academic and practitioner community; the event will be livestreamed.
Location: tba | Date: 2026 | Guest experts: tba
