Conference ‘Does Africa need new borders? International relations in Africa in the context of separatism in the region’

On October 25, 2018 Jagiellonian Center for African Studies and Chair of International Relations and Foreign Policy of JU IPSIR organized an academic conference 'Does Africa need new borders? International relations in Africa in the context of separatism in the region’.

The conference that took place in the Michał Bobrzyński Room at the Collegium Maius of the Jagiellonian University was opened by the Head of the Jagiellonian Centre for African Studies and Director of JU IPSIR dr hab. Robert Kłosowicz, prof. UJ. Then, the foreword was given by representatives of scientific societies, who took the event under the honorary patronage - President of the Polish Political Science Association - prof. dr hab. Arkadiusz Żukowski, Vice-President of the Polish International Studies Association and President of the PISA Krakow - prof. dr hab. Andrzej Mania, as well as the President of the Polish Africanist Society - dr hab. Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł.

The keynote speech entitled “Separatism and borders in post-colonial Sub-Saharan Africa” was delivered by dr hab. Robert Kłosowicz, prof. UJ, thereby opening the debate on the issue of borders in modern Africa. The paper presentations and discussions that came after were rich in theoretical, as well as historical, reflections. Some of the papers were devoted to specific case studies – a good exemplification of the problem of borders and separatism experienced by the African continent. Special attention was paid to the problem of unfinished decolonization of Western Sahara and its consequences. The conference was attended by researchers from seven Polish universities and one military academy. The event was also honored by the presence of the former journalist, Wiesława Bolimowska, correspondent of PAP in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s that collaborated, inter alia, with Ryszard Kapuściński.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the October conference was the third Africanist conference organized by the Jagiellonian Center for African Studies and the Institute of Political Science and International Relations of the JU. In previous years, the attention of the participants was focused on issues related to the history of Polish African Studies, particularly in Krakow (conference The Pioneers of Cracow African Studies. Roman Stopa – the profile of an outstanding Africanist on his 120th birthday anniversary, May 5th, 2015) and international relations in the Horn of Africa (conference International Relations in the Horn of Africa - yesterday and today, May 14th, 2016).

fot. Anna Wojnar/JCBA