Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa
CAMRI Africa Media Series: University of Westminster, London, UK
1st Call: Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in
Africa Conference: 25 - 26 March 2010
Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa are
the topics of a 2-day interdisciplinary
conference to be held at the University of
Westminster from 25-26 March 2010. Not only are
the concepts and practices of racism and
ethnicity related and multifaceted - covering
issues such as race, sex, colour, status and
class - but they are also part of multi-staged
pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial
realities. The crisis in global capitalism,
rising levels of poverty in Africa, together
with political mismanagement, appear to be
fuelling unprecedented levels of racial and
ethnic conflict on the continent. This debate
matters because racism and ethnicity have, to a
large extent, undermined African efforts that
aim to achieve national unity and development.
The Nigerian-Biafran War, 6 July 1967 - 15
January 1970, serves as a prominent example.
More recent examples include Rwanda, where, in
1994, RTML radio played a leading role in the
massacre of millions of Rwandans. In December,
2007, Kenyan media reports and songs, during
what many regarded as ethnic-divided elections,
contributed to the violent clashes that killed
900 and displaced more than a quarter of a
million people. The ethnic and racial killings
in Darfur, the murder of albinos in Tanzania,
the 2008 xenophobic attacks in South Africa and
many other unreported conflicts in Africa raise
many questions: How are the mass media
implicated in the growing ethnic and racial
conflicts and violence in Africa? In what ways
are the media challenging, undermining or
reinforcing issues relating to racism and
ethnicity in Africa? How have African media and
journalists covered racial and ethnic topics?
Both old and new media have opened new spaces
for debates that were formerly suppressed, but
have they not also encouraged extremism? This
interdisciplinary conference calls on academics,
media practitioners, policy makers, journalists,
Africa specialists, and development
practitioners to debate on the growing linkages
between 'racism, ethnicity and the media in
Africa'. Papers may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
- Theorising representation, racism and ethnicity in Africa
- Contemporary and historical dimensions of minority media in Africa
- Racism and the media in Africa
- Ethnic languages and the media in Africa
- Global, National, Local identities and the media in Africa
- Human rights and the media in Africa
- Identity politics and the media in Africa
- Suppressed imaginations and mediation of suppressed histories
- Memory and the media in Africa
- Hate media in Africa
- Reporting tribal, racial and factional politics in Africa
- Capitalism, poverty and marginalisation in the African media
- The politics of funding and regulating minority media in Africa
- Old and New Media (e.g. Internet,
Mobile phones) in a Polarised Africa
- Peace journalism/intercultural
communication/inclusive media practices in Africa
Please e-mail your 200-word abstract to Helen
Cohen at: (journalism /at/ westminster.ac.uk)
<<mailto:(journalism /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>mailto:(journalism /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>
. All submissions must include title of
conference, topic, an abstract and should list
the author's full name, with contact information
and affiliation. The deadline for the submission
of abstracts is 15 November 2009 and those whose
abstracts are accepted will be notified by 1 December 2009.
Conference Fees:
Unwaged/Students: £50 Waged/Non-Students: £125
Fees cover registration, conference pack, lunch, coffee/tea and wine reception
Conference Team: Prof. Colin Sparks, Dr Peter
Goodwin, Dr. Roza Tsagarousianou, Dr. Winston
Mano, Dr Tarik Sabry, Helen Cohen, Maria Way and Brilliant Mhlanga.
Dr. Winston Mano
Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
School of Media, Arts and Design
University of Westminster
Harrow Campus
Watford Road
Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 3TP, UK
Tel: +44(0)2079115000 ext 4427
Fax:+44(0)2079115942
