AEGIS European Conference on African Studies “African Alternatives: Initiative and Creativity beyond Current Constraints”

We hope to move away from the perspective of African ‘victimhood’ by stressing ‘African agency’. Originating in nineteenth-century philosophical discourse, the theme of ‘Structure and Agency’ has been adopted in many academic disciplines. The conference also allows for a development-relevant perspective, with development being understood as a dynamic process but not necessarily following a linear model. African trajectories of development do not need to copy Western or Eastern models and the conference will look for possible alternative trajectories. We plan to include empirical case studies of initiatives and ventures in Africa that present alternatives to current development discourses and encourage a theoretical debate on the representation of African voices and visions.