NCOBPS 2008
CALL FOR PAPERS

March 19-22, 2008
Allegro Hotel
Chicago, Illinois

Identity Politics in the US and Abroad:
Race, the Black Diaspora, and Electoral Politics

Globally, electoral politics in the 21st century are being impacted by the presence and political voice of African Diaspora populations in ways heretofore unseen. Immigrants, expatriates, refugees, repatriates, and the undocumented have become part and parcel, either as participants or subjects, of national discourses about citizenship, immigration policy, race, and the meanings of Blackness—an interrogation sometimes prompted by Diasporans themselves who attempt to determine group inclusion and group exclusion.

From political campaigns in which African Diasporans run for public office in the Global North such as that of US Democratic Presidential aspirant Barak Obama; to the political victories achieved against formidable odds such as the elections of Nigerian-born Rotimi Adebari as first Black mayor of Portlaoise, Ireland, Togo-born Kofi Yamgnane as mayor Sant-Coulitz, France, and Nigerian-born Emmanuel Onunwor as mayor of East Cleveland Ohio, USA; to African expatriates in the Diaspora calling for democratization, elections, transparency, probity, and accountability on the continent including the Beninnois in France, Ghanaians in Britain and the US, Liberians in the US, Togolese in France, and likewise Haitians expatriates world over; to debates about the place, space, and rights of African immigrants now living in former colonizing countries becoming priority issues on political platforms seeking to address assimilation and national identity quagmires as in France; to African Diasporan repatriates calling for dual citizenship and voting rights in Ghana amidst unbending opposition, albeit rarely publicly vocalized, African Diasporan populations worldwide are proving to be emerging pivotal actors with influence in national electoral politics. The election of African American US Representative Keith Ellison is a case in point illustrating the political strength of the new Somali community in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA that is considered by some a “voting bloc.”   

The post-cold war waves of globalization and neo-liberalism, though making possible the mobility and further expansion of the African Diaspora, along with equipping Diasporans with the nominal power to demand civil and political rights respectively, are also being challenged concomitantly as hegemonic movements and discourses by the African Diaspora in their articulations about the false hopes of global homogeneity, multicultural egalitarianism, and liberal democracy as the "final form of human governance."  The political and economic marginality of Africans, wherever we are dispersed in the world, in its various manifestations of discrimination, racism, poverty, dependence, profiling, disaffection, underdevelopment, social exclusion, and overriding problematic relations with Eurocentric societies, illustrate the reasons for the continued salience and sustained expression of identity politics globally. African Diasporans are demonstrating discontent in the streets, in popular culture, in the academy, in transnational interest-group political alliances, and at the ballot box. The African Union has recognized this marginality of the continent and the Diaspora, as well as the potential of their symbiosis, and on these bases has invited Diasporans, as the continent's declared 6th region, to join its relatively newly installed supranational Pan African Parliament. In this unprecedented move, Old Diasporans and New Diasporans are now debating identity politics among themselves, against global hegemonic systems, and rethinking whether or not Pan Africanism vis-à-vis globalization and neo-liberalism is relevant for our collective liberation in the 21st century.

The 2008 National Conference of Black Political Scientists invites a wide range of papers that interrogate identity politics, race politics, Diaspora politics, transnational politics, electoral politics, the intersection of the afore-listed, and other related topics, especially ones utilizing comparative Diasporan perspectives.  We encourage participants to think across disciplinary boundaries in organizing panels and contributing to the program. 

PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS

Program Co-Chairs are Lisa Aubrey, Arizona State University lisa.aubrey@asu.edu and Michael Mitchell, Arizona State University michael.mitchell@asu.edu

NCOBPS 2008
SECTIONS, CHAIRS, AND DESCRIPTIONS
PROPOSAL DEADLINES:  NOVEMBER 3, 2007

I. African and Diaspora Politics-Co-chairs Dauda Abubakar, Ohio University, abubakar@ohio.edu  and David Hinds, Arizona State University, david.hinds@asu.edu  

This section invites papers relevant to politics on the continent of Africa and in the Diaspora. Papers may revolve around topics including the state, civil society, governance, regime change, (under)development, grassroots movements, constitutionalism, ethnicity, and related topics. This section has also been formerly called Black Politics.

II. Politics, Inequality, and Social Justice-Chair Fatemeh Shafiei, Spelman College, fshafiei@spelman.edu 

Papers in this section might engage topics related to differential access, opportunities, outcomes people of African descent face in a wide range of situations and institutions globally. Papers might also examine challenges and resistance to the status quo, as well as movements demanding a wide range of rights and recognition. The section formerly called Criminal Justice falls under this category.

III. Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Transnational Relations-Co-chairs Hashim Gibrill, Clark Atlanta University, hgibrill@cau.edu  and Ife Williams, Delaware County Community College, iwilliam@dccc.edu

In this section, papers are invited that compare and contrast state structures, governance styles, leaders and leadership modalities, ideologies, and movements, as well as papers that interrogate relations between and among states, governments, and nations. Papers centered around non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as labor unions, the church and other religious institutions, media, professional and local organizations, that foster-people-to-people relations outside of the domain of the state are also fitting. Likewise, papers related to political participation and racial and ethnic minorities find their fit here.

IV. Identity Politics: Gender, Class, Ethnicity, Sexuality, and Religion-Co-chairs Julia Jordon-Zachery, Howard University, jjordan-zachery@Howard.edu   and D'Andra Orey, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, borey2@unl.edu  

This section seeks papers on topics which probe ways in which groups mobilize and express themselves politically for certain ends. The variegated modes in which groups define themselves in their relational environment vis-à-vis the ways in which their relational environment defines groups is also of relevance, especially when their identities become politicized. Papers may focus on single or multiple identities, and interrogate not only ways in which identities are constructed, but also ways in which identities may intersect. The former sections Gender, Women and Politics, and Politics and Religion fall under this section.


V. Teaching, Scholarly Research, and Professional Development-Co-chairs Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, University of Rochester, vsan@mail.rochester.edu  and Tiffany Howard, George Mason University, thoward3@gmu.edu

This section welcomes proposals, panels and/or roundtables focusing original research or "best practices" within the three tenets of faculty development: teaching, scholarly research and professional service.  It explores pedagogical issues such as new technologies/techniques for teaching in/outside the classroom, service learning, civic engagement, opportunities for research with undergraduates, mentoring and advising both undergraduate and graduate students on internships, thesis/dissertation preparation, and post-graduate education opportunities.  In addition, it highlights issues affecting faculty scholarly activity like fair use doctrines, intellectual property, publishing in scholarly journals, getting book contracts, community/public service, and promotion & tenure coupled with strategies/approaches to overall career preparation and advancement. We are open to a wide range of topics and methods.

VI. Undergraduate Research-Co-chairs Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, University of Rochester, vsan@mail.rochester.edu  and Tiffany Howard, George Mason University, thoward3@gmu.edu

This section welcomes proposals, panels and/or poster presentations focusing on the research, scholarly, and creative experiences of undergraduate students.  It provides students with the opportunity to present their projects in a benevolent and friendly environment, and to impress upon them the importance of faculty-mentored projects to their overall education, especially for those considering graduate education.  We are open to a wide range of topics and methods.
 
VII. Political Theory, Philosophy, and Methodology-Co-chairs Daryl Harris, Howard University, dbharris@Howard.edu and Siba Grovogui (tentative), Johns Hopkins University, sibagro@jhu.edu

Papers in this section are geared toward interrogating the relationship between individuals, society, and the state. Interrogations of "classical" political theory are welcome as well as that of Black political theory. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the racial contract and the sexual contract, especially as these contracts query the notion of identity vis-à-vis citizenship and equality of personhood of non-whites and women. Papers on "how to" conduct quantitative and qualitative research are also welcome.

VIII. Political Institutions and Public Policy, Chair Tyson D. King-Meadows, Princeton University, tking@princeton.edu

This section welcomes papers on state craft, state transformation, and decision-making. Papers that examine the institutions of governance-local, national, international and global-and assess their effectiveness are welcome, alongside papers that interrogate the roles of citizens and peoples' organizations in affecting how public polices are made, executed, and transformed. The former section Urban, Local, and State Politics falls under this section.

IX. Politics and Popular Culture-Co-chairs Melayne Price, Wesleyan University, mprice@wesleyan.edu  and Boris Ricks, University of Missouri-Kansas City, ricksb@umkc.edu  

This section invites papers that look at the interplay between politics and contemporary culture in its multiform expressions. Papers that examine how politics are being expressed through popular culture are welcomed, as well as papers that tease out how popular culture is being affected by the politics of the day.

X. Public Opinion and Political Participation-Co-chairs, Maurice Mangum, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, maruman@siue.edu  and Khalilah Brown-Dean, Yale University, khalilah.brown-dean@yale.edu  

This section welcomes papers that query public opinion, and the various ways it is formed and expressed. Papers may query whether or not there truly exist is a "collective opinion." In tandem, this section invites papers that look at various forms, outputs, and outcomes of political expression including elections, protests, organizing, formation of interest groups, political party membership, disaffection, and other avenues.