PARC at ASAUK Conference 2024

Developing thought around the Africa Charter at ASAUK24

At this conference, which also celebrates the 60th anniversary year of the African Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK), PARC will be convening four roundtable discussions on the Africa Charter, each with a different aim.

These events will bring an academic constituency together to reflect critically on the arguments the Charter makes and help locate it within the long history of African thought on knowledge production.

We will be covering specific imbalances in knowledge production – looking at where further research could be of benefit, along with how it affects policy and also the practical change we can implement across different fields.

Roundtable 1 – Friday 30 August

This discussion focuses on locating the Charter within the long history of Pan-African intellectual thought and engagement concerned with upholding and advancing the continent’s contribution to the generation of scientific knowledge. To what extent and how does the Charter build on (or diverge from) key scholarly perspectives on correcting Africa’s marginal role in the scientific knowledge production ecosystem? 

Roundtable 2 – Friday 30 August

This discussion invites critical reflection on the conceptual framework of the Charter, where the multiple layers of power imbalances are identified. To what extent and how does the Charter’s conceptual framework inform – or require further intellectual inquiry, and what are possible implications? 

Roundtable 3 – Saturday 31 August 

This panel deliberates on where and how higher education and science policy and regulatory frames in the UK need to be altered or expanded in order to ensure that a transformative mode of research collaboration is actively required, rewarded, and enabled. And what promising approaches or initiatives exist within the UK space that one might draw on? Speakers from key constituencies in the knowledge production ecosystem, including research funders, publishers, research assessment and government bodies, will be invited to consider these questions. 

Roundtable 4 – Saturday 31 August 

This panel focuses on the question of how to translate the concept of a ‘transformative collaboration mode’ into practice. What could transformative collaborations entail across the Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM fields – and what major challenges and opportunities arise? Speakers will consider relevant learning emerging from existing Africa-‘global North’ cooperation experiences and initiatives and ways upon which these can be built upon. 

All conference attendees are very welcome, and some sessions may be made available online. See the ASAUK website for more details.