BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Sabre//Sabre VObject 4.6.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Zurich X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Zurich TZURL:http://tzurl.org/zoneinfo/Europe/Zurich BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:19810329T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:19961027T030000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:news2811@europa.unibas.ch DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260818T202351 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20260908T180000 SUMMARY:Public Lecture by Elísio Macamo (University of Basel): “Studying Africa\, Making the World Thinkable” DESCRIPTION:What would it mean for Global Studies to become genuinely globa l? Much of the debate has understandably focused on positionality\, Euroce ntrism\, unequal structures of knowledge production\, and the need to reve rse established intellectual gazes. Drawing on debates within African Stud ies\, Macamo argues that globality cannot be achieved simply by expanding the geographical range of scholarship or by incorporating perspectives pre viously excluded from supposedly universal conversations. The more demandi ng question concerns the conceptual conditions under which the world becom es intelligible.\\r\\nAfrican Studies provides a particularly productive s ite from which to pose this question. African societies have repeatedly co nfronted scholars with historical experiences and social realities that si t uneasily within inherited theoretical vocabularies. Such moments of conc eptual friction need not be understood as evidence of African exceptionali sm or of the inadequacy of theory for understanding Africa. They can inste ad become occasions for conceptual creation\, i.e.\, opportunities to deve lop distinctions\, concepts and\, indeed\, explanations whose analytical s ignificance travels beyond the circumstances from which they emerged.\\r\\ nThe lecture\, therefore\, proposes a movement from the politics of inclus ion towards the intellectual production of universality. Rather than askin g how Africa can be better represented within Global Studies\, it asks wha t studying Africa might enable us to understand about the world that would otherwise remain difficult to see. A genuinely global Global Studies\, Ma camo suggests\, emerges when different locations become sources not simply of empirical knowledge or alternative perspectives\, but of concepts with which the world itself can be thought.\\r\\nElísio Macamo is Professor of Sociology with a focus on Africa at the University of Basel (since Octo ber 2009). He previously taught development sociology at the University of Bayreuth\, where he was a founding member of the Bayreuth International G raduate School of African Studies. X-ALT-DESC:

What would it mean for Global Studies to become genuinely glo bal? Much of the debate has understandably focused on positionality\, Euro centrism\, unequal structures of knowledge production\, and the need to re verse established intellectual gazes. Drawing on debates within African St udies\, Macamo argues that globality cannot be achieved simply by expandin g the geographical range of scholarship or by incorporating perspectives p reviously excluded from supposedly universal conversations. The more deman ding question concerns the conceptual conditions under which the world bec omes intelligible.

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African Studies provides a particularly product ive site from which to pose this question. African societies have repeated ly confronted scholars with historical experiences and social realities th at sit uneasily within inherited theoretical vocabularies. Such moments of conceptual friction need not be understood as evidence of African excepti onalism or of the inadequacy of theory for understanding Africa. They can instead become occasions for conceptual creation\, i.e.\, opportunities to develop distinctions\, concepts and\, indeed\, explanations whose analyti cal significance travels beyond the circumstances from which they emerged.

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The lecture\, therefore\, proposes a movement from the politics o f inclusion towards the intellectual production of universality. Rather th an asking how Africa can be better represented within Global Studies\, it asks what studying Africa might enable us to understand about the world th at would otherwise remain difficult to see. A genuinely global Global Stud ies\, Macamo suggests\, emerges when different locations become sources no t simply of empirical knowledge or alternative perspectives\, but of conce pts with which the world itself can be thought.

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Elísio Macamo \;is Professor of Sociology with a focus on Af rica at the University of Basel (since October 2009). He previously taught development sociology at the University of Bayreuth\, where he was a foun ding member of the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studi es.

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