Imagining Africa’s Future – SOAS Africa Conference

As part of a two-day SOAS Africa Conference (20th-21st July) entitled ‘Imagining Africa’s Future: Language, Culture, Governance, Development’, Jenny was invited to participate in a roundtable at a lunchtime session on ‘Alternative Forms of Protest’, jointly organised by the Royal African Society and SOAS. The discussion welcomed contributions from James Wan (RAS) who provided an overview of various alternative forms of social protest throughout the continent; from Nanjala Nyabola (Kenya) on the role of social media in triggering and organising protest around gender and public space; and from Stephen Chan (SOAS) who shared an historic overview of forms of protest, especially in Southern Africa. Jenny shared some insights on more conventional forms of protest in the context of Senegal, drawing on the specific experiences of the Y’en A Marre movement and a ‘everyday form’ of protest that the Journal Télévisé Rappé (JTR) suggests.

Roundtable conversation can be found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFIpYoBANGw&feature=youtu.be

More on the JTR and Y’en A Marre: http://www.hebel.arch.ethz.ch/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Hebel-and-Heisel-2014-Formal-Informal-and-Forms-of-In-Between.pdf (see p.64)