2012 APSA Africa Workshop: Gaborone, Botswana: “Local Communities and the State in Africa”

From July 15 to 27, APSA launched the fifth annual Africa Workshop in partnership with the faculty of social sciences at the University of Botswana in Gaborone. The program is part of a multiyear initiative to support political science research and teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa through a series of residential political science workshops at African universities and research institutions. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Africa Workshop is a major component of APSA's efforts to support research networks linking US scholars with their colleagues overseas and engage political science communities outside the United States.

The 2012 workshop, Local Communities and the State in Africa, focused substantively on the dynamic between formal state institutions of power in Africa and the many influential subnational actors, with an added emphasis on field research methods. A diverse team of five professors from across the social sciences jointly led the event, which was attended by 26 political and social scientists, including 22 Africa-based scholars and four advanced PhD candidates from the United States, who were competitively selected from a pool of over 130 applicants. Together, these scholars represented 14 countries and 27 different institutions and comprised the largest and one of the most diverse workshop groups to date.

Arka Abota Aynako and Adel Saleh Mohmed are deep in discussion during a workshop session.

Throughout the workshop, participants discussed an extensive set of readings based on topical, theoretical, and methodological subthemes, presented findings from their own research, and focused heavily on improving their manuscripts for publication. An all-day symposium “Botswana's Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective” included several local guest speakers and was attended by students and faculty from across the university community. Participants also made time to explore various cultural sites in and around Gaborone, including the Thamaga women's pottery cooperative, the ancient rock paintings at Manyana, and the Mokolodi Nature Reserve.

Leaders, participants, and staff gather on campus at the end of the APSA Africa Workshop at the end of July 2012.

Bottom Row: Sethunya Mosime, Lungisile Ntsebeza, Happy Kayuni, Azeez Olaniyan, Joyce Ejukonemu, Abosede Babatunde, Jeffrey Paller, Felicia Odame, Naomi Moswete, Danielle Carter

Next Row: Fatai Aremu, Booker Magure, Adel Saleh Mohmed, Yacouba Moluh, Mesharch Katusiimeh, Richard Houessou, Kirk Harris, Martha Wilfahrt, Tabitha Naisiko

Next to Top Row: David Udofia, Majuta Mamogale, George Bob-Milliar, Lapo Magole, Joseph Mbaiwa, Oluyemi Oyenike Fayomi, Lauren MacLean, Andrew Stinson, Opportuna Kweka

Top Row: Parakh Hoon, Innocent Chirisa, Adediran Ikuomola, Arka Abota Aynako

Dorothy Mpabanga, director of the Center for Specialization in Public Admin-istration and Management (CESPAM) at the University of Botswana, provided invaluable assistance in facilitating the workshop.

The event has now been held twice in both West Africa (Ghana, Senegal) and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania) and once in Southern Africa (Botswana). To date, 98 Africa-based scholars from 26 countries have participated in the workshop, as well as 21 US-based scholars. For more information on the 2012 workshop or the overall program, please visit the APSA Africa Workshop website at www.apsanet.org/africaworkshops.

Workshop Coeaders:

• Mr. Parakh Hoon, Virginia Tech; USA

• Ms. Lauren MacLean , Indiana University; USA

• Mr. Joseph Mbaiwa, Okavango Research Institute; Botswana

• Ms. Sethunya Mosime, University of Botswana; Botswana

• Mr. Lungisile Ntsebeza, University of Cape Town; South Africa

Richard Houessou, seated with a laptop computer, fields questions for some workshop participants about his statistical research.

Workshop Participants:

• Mr. Fatai Aremu, University of Ilorin; Nigeria

• Mr. Arka Abota Aynako, Addis Ababa University; Ethiopia

• Ms. Abosede Babatunde, University of Ilorin; Nigeria

• Mr. George Bob-Milliar, University of Ghana; Ghana

• Ms. Danielle Carter, Michigan State University; USA

• Mr. Innocent Chirisa, University of Zimbabwe; Zimbabwe

• Ms. Joyce Ejukonemu, Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi; Nigeria

• Ms. Oluyemi Oyenike Fayomi, Covenant University; Nigeria

• Mr. Kirk Harris, Indiana University; USA

• Mr. Richard Houessou, Institute of Empirical Research in Political Economy; Benin

• Mr. Adediran Daniel Ikuomola, Adekunle Ajasin University; Nigeria

• Mr. Mesharch Katusiimeh, Uganda Christian University; Uganda

• Mr. Happy Kayuni, University of Malawi; Malawi

• Ms. Opportuna Kweka, University of Dares Salaam; Tanzania

• Ms. Lapologang Magole, University of Botswana; Botswana

• Mr. Booker Magure, Rhodes University; South Africa

• Mr. Majuta Mamogale, University of Witwatersrand; South Africa

• Mr. Adel Saleh Mohmed, Sohag University; Egypt

• Mr. Yacouba Moluh, University of Yaoundé II; Cameroon

• Ms. Naomi Moswete, University of Botswana; Botswana

• Ms. Tabitha Naisiko, Queen of Apostles Philosophy Center, Jinja; Uganda

• Ms. Felicia Odame,University of Development Studies; Ghana

• Mr. Azeez Olaniyan, Ekiti State University; Nigeria

• Mr. Jeffrey Paller, University of Wisconsin,Madison; USA

• Mr. David Okon Udofia, University of Juba; South Sudan

• Ms. Martha Wilfahrt, Cornell University; USA

Workshop participants and staff pose under the “David Livingstone Tree” near Manyana. This very old tree was the site of an informal school in the late 1840s where David Livingstone held classes. The tree, a landmark of sorts, is unique vegetation in the area.

Photo credits: All photos here provided by Andrew Stinson.

Calling Leadership Teams for 2013 Workshop

APSA is currently soliciting applications from political scientists interested in serving as coleaders for the 2013 APSA Africa Workshop. Submissions must come from a team of two US-based and two Africa-based scholars. Those applying to be coleaders must propose a workshop theme, location, and African institutional partner. The application deadline is November 1, 2012. For more information, visit the Africa Workshop website or contact Andrew Stinson at africaworkshops@apsanet.org.

APSA International Membership

Total international membership for 2012 is 2,680 members/112 countries and is listed as follows:

Country Count

Canada 454

United Kingdom 343

Germany 239

Japan 201

Australia 80

Switzerland 72

Israel 66

Mexico 63

Netherlands 62

Korea, Rep 60

France 58

Sweden 56

Brazil 54

Italy 51

Norway 44

Taiwan 41

Ireland 40

Spain 39

Belgium 39

Turkey 35

Singapore 32

China 31

Denmark 29

Hungary 25

Hong Kong, China 23

Austria 22

Chile 22

Nigeria 21

Argentina 19

Russia 18

New Zealand 18

South Africa 15

Greece 14

India 13

Czech Republic 13

Thailand 12

Finland 12

Portugal 12

Colombia 12

Venezuela 11

Poland 11

Romania 11

Kenya 9

Cameroon 9

United Arab Emirates 8

Ghana 8

Slovenia 7

Malaysia 6

Saudi Arabia 6

Philippines 6

Indonesia 5

Egypt 5

Ethiopia 5

Croatia 5

Bangladesh 5

Botswana 4

Bulgaria 4

Ukraine 4

Cyprus 4

Peru 4

Ecuador 3

Jordan 3

Dominican Republic 3

Scotland 3

Burkina Faso 3

Luxembourg 3

Lithuania 3

Nepal 3

Sudan 3

Azerbaijan 3

Burundi 2

Montenegro 2

Serbia 2

Slovak Republic (Slovakia) 2

Armenia 2

West Africa 2

Trinidad & Tobago 2

Pakistan 2

Uruguay 2

Tanzania 2

Algeria 2

Zambia 1

Sri Lanka 1

Afghanistan 1

Paraguay 1

Iraq 1

Kuwait 1

Bolivia 1

Bosnia-Herzegovina 1

El Salvador 1

Costa Rica 1

Honduras 1

Guatemala 1

Iran 1

Estonia 1

Morocco 1

Northern Ireland 1

Macao 1

Kosovo 1

Uganda 1

Georgia, Republic of 1

Kyrgyzstan 1

Macedonia (Republic of) 1

Swaziland 1

Qatar 1

Malawi 1

Mauritius 1

Mongolia 1

Burma 1

Greenland 1

Latvia 1

Lebanon 1

TOTAL 2,680