Course catalog

29652

WiSe 18/19: Growth as problem. Contemporary debates in the ethnography of Africa

Sandra Calkins-Schürg

Information for students

Please note that in contrast to former information, this seminar will be held in Boltzmannstr. 20, K019 !

Comments

This seminar pursues two main goals: 1) conveying a solid understanding of the specificities of ethnographic writings and 2) familiarizing students with both classic and contemporary themes in the ethnography of Subsaharan and Southern Africa. Our focus will be on the ways in which possibilities and dangers of growth were articulated across different periods of African history. We will revisit earlier debates about fertility, reproduction and wealth in African settings and relate them to more recent discussion of population explosion, youth bulges, and growing food insecurity. Growth in many African countries long was a promise stirred and fueled by colonial and later neoliberal imaginaries, a promise of catching up and of prosperity gradually trickling down to reach everyone. We will discuss recent ethnographic texts that capture how people deal with the fading of dreams of economic growth that in the light of recent demographic transitions in many African countries have often been displaced by imaginaries of self-devouring and threatening growth. close

Suggested reading

Recommended literature:

- Comaroff, Jean and John Comaroff. 1999. Occult economies and the violence of abstraction: notes from the South African postcolony. American Ethnologist 26: 279-303. close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 14:00 - 16:00 16 Class schedule

Wed, 2018-10-17 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-10-24 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-10-31 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-11-07 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-11-14 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-11-21 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-11-28 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-12-05 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-12-12 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2018-12-19 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2019-01-09 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2019-01-16 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2019-01-23 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2019-01-30 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2019-02-06 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

Wed, 2019-02-13 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Sandra Calkins

Location:
Boltzmannstr.20 - Anbau Hörsaal (K 019) (Boltzmannstr. 16-20)

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