CFP: Accountability in African Public Policy and Administration

A Special Conference to be held at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, 12-14 February 2025.

Co-sponsored by JMU’s Department of Political Science and the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Supported by the Institute of International Education’s Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship program.

This Conference will be held concurrently with the 15^th Annual African, African

American, and Diaspora Studies (AAAD) Conference hosted by James Madison University, 12-15 February 2025. This is an in-person conference and presenters who encounter insurmountable difficulties will be offered an opportunity to present virtually.

Deadline: EXTENDED to 1 November 2024

Land is an important factor of production that can be a source of conflict and instability if not well governed. The African Union Commission (AUC) together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) established the African Land Policy Initiative (LPI) in 2006. This eventually saw them establish the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), which works to enable the use of land to advance Africa’s development. The African Union (AU) has mandated the ALPC to support national and regional land policy processes in Africa.

African governments, traditional authorities, research and epistemic communities, land activists and various African and international stakeholders have identified critical land issues that need attention to improve its governance for development. Their views draw inspiration from and are consistent with the LPI, the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa, the AU Agenda 2063, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs), the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and the World Bank Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF). Land governance and administration are among the critical issues they flag as weak and fraught with persistent corruption. Deep and extensive political interference in land governance processes exists at all levels. These challenges require a better understanding of corruption, its sources, and its nature to combat it and establish systems of land administration that promote transformation and sustainable development. They need the promotion of transparency in land use, land development, land tenure, land value, and land market functions.

Given the AUC’s mandate to the ALPC, the AU’s aspirations to use the land to accelerate Africa’s development, and, most importantly, the urgent need to transform Africa for the wellbeing of its peoples, the Department of Political Science at JMU in association with the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), Department of Political Sciences, in the University of Pretoria, South Africa, welcomes scholars, policymakers and practitioners to the 2025 15^th AAAD Conference from February 12 to 14, 2025. The conference aims to explore the complexities of accountability in African public policy and administration and to examine corruption, the use and abuse of land, and their impacts on land governance, administration, and development in Africa.

We invite interested scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from across disciplines to submit proposals for papers to be presented at the conference. We welcome papers that focus on but are not limited to the following themes:

Land and corruption

Land distribution and marginalized groups

Land grabbing and dispossession

Land formalization and land rights recognition

Land access and foreign direct investment

Land and resource extraction

Land and remnants of colonial structures that encourage abuse

Land, civil society, and donor engagement

The urgent need for transparency, accountability, integrity, ethics, and responsibility in administering public resources and land.

Challenges of theft, misuse, fraud, wastage, maladministration, and mishandling of public resources

The challenging conditions in which anti-corruption initiatives are being implemented in Africa

The nexus between anti-corruption initiatives and national development.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to the conference organizers at aaadstudies@jmu.edu by 1 November 2024. The abstract should clearly state the research question, methodology, and main arguments of the proposed paper. In addition, please include a short biographical note (no more than 150 words) with your submission. Please specify in your proposal that you would like to be considered for this special stream.

International respondents traveling to the United States in need of Visa documentation are encouraged to submit their abstracts as early as possible, ideally before September 1, to allow additional time for the Visa process. International respondents will be notified on an ongoing basis. Respondents already residing in the US will be notified within a month after the conference-wide deadline listed above.

Those interested in presenting on other topics at the AAAD Conference are encouraged to consult the conference-wide CFP.

KEY DATES 

• Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 November 2024
• Notification of acceptance: Ongoing
• Conference dates: 12-15 February 2025