Date: January 23 – 24, 2016
Venue: Large meeting room (333) on 3rd floor of Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall, Kyoto University

Outline

This research project started in 2011 as a five-year project, and this symposium was held in Kyoto as the final international symposium. The meeting had two objectives.

In this research project, we held ‘African Forums’ annually in different cities in African countries, inviting African researchers, in order to strengthen our idea of ‘African Potentials.’ In this process, a group of regular members was created, which provoked serious discussions, and deepened our thoughts on ‘African Potentials’. In this Kyoto symposium, we invited these regular members to finalize our discussion on ‘African Potentials,’ and to exchange our ideas how we can proceed in future. This is the first objective of this symposium. These regular members are:

The second objective of this symposium was to announce the publication of five books in Japanese, as a result of this research project which had more than 50 Japanese members. These books will come out by the end of March 2016, published by Kyoto University Press. The project leader and five editors of these five books made presentations in which results of this project were summarized.

In the end of this symposium, presenters of the meeting agreed to publish a book on ‘African Potentials’ in near future in English.

Program

January 23 (Saturday), 2016

10:30 – 10:40

Welcome Address: Shigeki Kaji (Kyoto University)

10:40 – 10:55

Opening Remarks: Itaru Ohta (Kyoto University)

10:55 – 11:00

Introduction of the Keynote Speaker: Motoji Matsuda (Kyoto University)

11:00 – 11:45

Keynote Speech: Edward Kirumira (Makerere University)
African Potentials and Sustainable Development

11:45 – 12:00 Discussion

 

12:00 – 13:30 Lunch

 

13:30 – 14:05 Kennedy Mkutu (United States International University)

New Challenges for African Potentials in Meditating Cross Border Conflicts

14:05 – 14:40 Michael Neocosmos (Rhodes University)

The Universality of Humanity as an African Political Potential

14:40 – 15:15 Samson Wassara (University of Bahr El Ghazal)

African Potential in Negotiating Statehood: Handling Crises of South Sudan

15:15 – 15:35 Break

 

15:35 – 16:10 Francis Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town)

Incompleteness and Conviviality: A Reflection on International Research Collaboration from an African Perspective

16:10 – 16:45 Yntiso Gebre (Addis Ababa University)

Systematizing Knowledge about Customary Laws in Africa: The Case of Ethiopia

16:45 – 17:10

Comments (by five Japanese scholars on above five presentations: 5 minutes each)

17:15 – 18:15

Discussion

January 24 (Sunday), 2016

10:00 – 10:35 Itaru Ohta

“Liberal Peace” Debates and African Potentials for Materializing Coexistence

10:35 – 11:10 Motoji Matsuda (Kyoto University)

Cultural Creativity for Conflict Resolution and Coexistence: From the Viewpoint of African Potentials

11:10 – 11:45 Shinichi Takeuchi (Institute of Developing Economies)

African Potential as an Analytical Perspective

11:45 – 12:20 Motoki Takahasi (Kobe University)

People as Lithe Agents of Change: African Potential for Development and Coexistence

12:20 – 13:50 Lunch

 

13:50 – 14:25 Masayoshi Shigeta (Kyoto University)

How People Can Achieve the Coexistence through the Sound Use of Resources?

14:25 – 15:00 Gen Yamakoshi (Kyoto University)

Who Owns African Nature? African Perspectives on the Future of Community-Based Conservation

15:00 – 15:20 Break

 

15:20 – 16:20

Comments on these six presentations by six African scholars

16:20 – 17:00 General Discussion

 

Date：October 31 – November 1, 2015
Venue：Siyonat Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Outline

This project organizes the African Forums on Conflict Resolution and Coexistence once each year in Africa. These forums have been instrumental in furthering international discussions with African researchers and working-level personnel. They have also played an important role in moving our research forward and deepening our understanding of what is actually happening in Africa. The first forum was held in Nairobi in December 2011, the second in Harare in December 2012, the third in Juba in December 2013, the fourth in Yaoundé in December 2014, and the fifth in Addis Ababa in October and November 2015. The 2015 forum was made possible thanks to the close and cooperative relationship Japanese researchers have built with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the Departments of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Addis Ababa University. It was co-organized by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) Project: Engaged Area Studies in the Arena of African Local-Knowledge Formation and Sharing, led by Masayoshi Shigeta of Kyoto University.

The fifth forum was titled “Local Knowledge as African Potential.” Although previous forums have explored African potential that can be utilized to achieve conflict resolution and coexistence, this forum also considered African potential in areas not directly related to conflict, such as local knowledge, technology, and systems that support the livelihoods of Africans.

The two-day forum began with a keynote speech titled “Local Knowledge as Untapped Potential for Entrenching Development and Conflict Prevention and Resolution: The Ethiopian Experience” delivered by Berhanu Kassahun, professor at Addis Ababa University, in which he discussed the rich potential embedded in local knowledge found in Ethiopian societies and its relation to development and conflict prevention and resolution. This was followed by oral presentations by eleven African researchers and eight Japanese researchers, and impassioned discussions on topics such as how to define African potential, local knowledge, and tradition.

The first day of the forum focused mainly on Ethiopia, with oral presentations across three common themes: “Friction between modern school education and local communities,” “Conflicts on land issues,” and “Local knowledge and development.” The second day consisted of a review of all five African Forums on Conflict Resolution and Coexistence carried out by this research project so far, and intense debates on what has been discussed and what problems still remain.

Program

31st October 2015

9:00-9:10 OPENING REMARKS

OHTA Itaru (Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University)

9:10-9:20 WELCOME ADDRESS

AHMAD Hassan (Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University)

9:20-10:00 KEYNOTE SPEECH

Local Knowledge as Untapped Potential for Entrenching Development and Conflict Prevention and Resolution: The Ethiopian Experience
KASSAHUN Berhanu (Department of Political Science and International relations, Addis Ababa University)

10:00-10:15 COFFEE BREAK

 

10:15-11:45 SESSION 1: FRICTION BETWEEN MODERN SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Chaired by GEBRE Yntiso (Department of Social Anthropology, Addis Ababa University)

1) LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AS A MODE OF COEXISTENCE: THE ACCEPTANCE OF MODERN SCHOOL EDUCATION KANEKO Morie (Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University) & SHIGETA Masayoshi (Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University)

2) PHYSICALLY EDUCATED TO BE COEXISTED: DYNAMICS OF DISCIPLINE IN THE KENYAN YOUTH IN SPORTS TRAINING SCHOOL
HAGIWARA Takuya (JSPS Research Fellow/Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University)

3) RESETTLEMENT AND ETHNIC RELATIONS IN JAWI WOREDA, AMHARA REGIONAL STATE
YOHANNES Yitbarek (South Omo Research Center/Arba Minch University)
Commentator: Edward Kirumira (Makerere University)

11:45-13:00 LUNCH

 

13:00-14:30 SESSION 2: CONFLICTS ON LAND ISSUES I
Chaired by MATSUDA Motoji (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)

1) PERCEPTIONS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENHES OF SEDENTARIZATION IN HAMER, SOUTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA
SAMUEL Tafara (Center for African and Oriental Studies, Addis Ababa University)

2) WAR AND TRADE
SOGA Toru (Faculty of Humanities, Hirosaki University)

3) URBAN LAND TRANSACTION, ACTORS’ CONFLICT AND SOME APPROACHES TO RESOLUTION
TESHOME Emana (Addis Ababa University)
Commentator: KURIMOTO Eisei (Graduate School of Human Science, Osaka University)

14:30-14:45 COFFEE BREAK

 

14:45-16:15 SESSION 3: CONFLICTS ON LAND ISSUES II
Chaired by Kennedy Mkutu (United States International University)

1) FORUM PREFERENCE/SHOPPING FOR DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BY THE RURAL COMMUNITY: THE CASE OF THE TULAMA OROMO OF ETHIOPIA
MELAKU Abera (Addis Ababa University)

2) LAND REGISTRATION/CERTIFICATION AND THE MAKING OF ‘INTIMATE ENEMIES’: ON POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES OF LOCAL ELDERS IN DEALING WITH LAND DISPUTES IN WEST ARSII, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA MAMO Hebo (Department of Social Anthropology, Addis Ababa University)

3) LAND RUSH AND THE FRONTIER PROCESS AMONG THE DASANACH OF SOUTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA
SAGAWA Toru (Faculty of Letters, Keio University)
Commentator: Michael Neocosmos (Rhodes University)

16:15-16:30 COFFEE BREAK

 

16:30-18:00 SESSION 4: LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Chaired by Sam Moyo (African Institute for Agrarian Studies)

1) TOURISM AND LARGE-SCALE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWESTERN ETHIOPIA：CULTURAL TOURISM BY ARI PEOPLE
NISHIZAKI Nobuko (Fukushima University)

2) PROPOSAL OF ENGAGED AREA STUDY TO CREATING A NEW CULTURE OF WORK FOOTWEAR IN AFRICA：SHARING LOCAL KNOWLEDGE FOR INTRODUCING JIKA-TABI TO ETHIOPIAN OX-PLOUGH FARMER
TANAKA Toshikazu (Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University)

3) THE ENSET PARK ESTABLISHMENT INITIATIVE: AN APPROACH THAT STARTED TO BENEFIT PROPLE AND BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
FELEKE Woldeyes (Arba Minch University)
Commentator: Francis Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town)

18:00-18:30 GENERAL DISCUSSION

 

1st November 2015

9:30 – 9:40 Introduction: Research Project on “African Potentials”

OHTA Itaru (Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University)

9:40 – 10:20 On all the five African Forums on “African Potentials”

MATSUDA Motoji (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)

10:20 – 10:35 COFFEE BREAK

 

10:35 – 11:05 On the 1st African Forum in Nairobi in 2011

Kennedy Mkutu (United States International University)

11:05 – 11:35 On the 2nd African Forum in Harare in 2012

Sam Moyo (African Institute for Agrarian Studies)

11:35 – 12:05 On the 3rd African Forum in Juba in 2013

KURIMOTO Eisei (Graduate School of Human Science, Osaka University)

12:05-13:35 LUNCH

 

13:35-14:05 On the 4th African Forum in Yaounde in 2014

Francis Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town)

14:05-14:35 On the 5th African Forum in Addis Ababa in 2015

GEBRE Yntiso (Department of Social Anthropology, Addis Ababa University)

14:35 – 14:50 COFFEE BREAK

 

14:50-15:50 GENERAL DISCUSSION

Discussant: Bekele Gutema (Department of Philosophy, Addis Ababa University)
Facilitator: OHTA Itaru

Date：December 4－5, 2014
Venue：Tou’Ngou Hotel, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Outline

The project has organized the “African Forums on Conflict and Coexistence” annually in Africa and has developed international discussion with researchers and strategists from African countries. In the first year of the project, the forum was held in Nairobi in December 2011, followed by the second forum in Harare in December 2012, and the third forum in Juba in December 2013. The venue was then transferred westwards, to Yaoundé, for the fourth forum in December 2014. Realization of this forum is attributed to the close collaborative relationship which Japanese researchers have firmly established with the Department of Anthropology in the University of Yaoundé I.

The Yaoundé Forum hosted oral presentations (including a keynote speech) from nine African and six Japanese researchers who have focused on studies in central and western Africa. In addition to these speakers, four African researchers who have continuously taken important roles in the past three “Conflict and Coexistence Forums,” and six Japanese key members of this research project also joined as commentators. While outcomes of the past three forums are being reviewed, at this forum a lively exchange of views from diverse perspectives illuminated what are the “African Potentials” which could be utilized for conflict resolution and coexistence.

After Professor Itaru Ohta, head of the research project, explained the purpose of the forum at the beginning, Professor Edward Kirumira of Makerere University contributed critical comments on the past three African forums as well as the research project as a whole. He discussed the importance of developing the concept of “African Potentials” incorporating critical reviews and leading to practice, without romanticizing, compartmentalizing, nor essentializing it.

Following Professor Kirumira, Professor Francis Nyamnjoh of the University of Cape Town presented a keynote speech titled “Incompleteness: Frontier Africa and the Currency of Conviviality”. Prof. Nyamnjoh is an anthropologist from Cameroon, and is one of the mid-career African intellectuals who has extensively explored broad topics ranging from recent developments in chieftaincy in Cameroon, mobility of people in cities, and issues surrounding race and nationalities in South Africa and Botswana. In this keynote speech, he talked about “conviviality”, a central concept of his discussion, with reference to the mobility, variability and presence of frontier-ness among the African characters experiencing transformation in Amos Tutuola’s book, “The Palm-Wine Drinkard”. Presumably, his concept of “conviviality” should be a great theoretical support for the exploration of “African Potentials”.

In the same way as the past forums, the participants received the following five questions prior to this Yaoundé Forum. The presenters were requested to prepare a paper in 2000 to 3000 words, answering these questions based on their own experience in their research fields in an attempt for focused discussion.

1. What are African Potentials that can be utilized for conflict resolution, reconciliation and social healing? (the concept of African Potentials could be ambiguous, multifaceted and problematic including conservative/liberal/radical ideologies.)
2. How can they work in a conflict resolution process?
3. How can African Potentials be articulated with global/universal system of justice and conflict resolution and how could they satisfy both of local and universal justice and protect human rights at once in addressing “bad, politically incorrect customs”?
4. African Potentials may include negative aspects. How those negative aspects cause situation of conflict worsen and how can they be dealt with?
5. What are unique conflict patterns, if any, in West and Central African contexts that are different from those in other African regions?

Following the keynote speech, fourteen oral presentations were made in the five panel groups in the forum. The program is as below.

In these oral presentations, issues on conflict resolution and coexistence were discussed in relation to many concrete points, such as multi-ethnicity and indigeneity; roles of families or groups sharing the same origins; funeral rites and magic; chieftaincy; states and societies in post-war societies; and roles of the youth.

The following section summarizes issues raised in the oral presentations and discussion. At the general discussion held at the end of the forum, debate was made in reference to these issues.

Major Discussion Issues

1. Are TCRMs (“Traditional Conflict Resolution Mechanisms”) useful? If so, how and where? Traditional leaders, marriages, gift exchange, family, rituals, and even witchcraft. What can be a common thread?
2. Cameroon seems to be peaceful, relatively speaking, both at local and national levels. How conflicts are contained without developing into more violent ones (Farmers – hunter-gatherers – (migrant traders) – rival ethnic groups).
   Also, farmer–herder relationship in Niger, witchcraft accusations in Nigeria, Muslim–non-Muslim relationships.
3. The Regional context: Central & West Africa (Cameroon, the two Congos, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso). Is there a regional context?
   Comparison with other regions, East, North-East and the Southern Africa. Common and different features.
4. Angry and hungry youths and conflict: their agency. Vanguard or Vandals? (not adequately argued in the past African fora)
   Street gangs, “vagabonds,” village vigilantes, militias, and soldiers. Their social inclusion/exclusion. Seeking for ranks and titles, …
5. Historical perspective, or historicizing conflicts, especially from a perspective of the globalized economic system. 25 years have passed since 1989, the turning point of world history. Or, more than 3 decades since the time of SAPs. Neo-liberalism and globalization in Africa already have their own history.
6. Structure and agency
   Different structures and agencies, in relation to conflicts, need to be identified and classified.
   Traditional/modern, rural/urban, national/transnational.
   Is co-existence/cohabitation possible among social groups whose relations are asymmetrical and unequal? (“Can masters and slaves co-exist?”)
7. The role of diaspora. A new topic brought to our attention during this forum. Distant nationalism, remittance and investment, circular movements … A part and parcel of “African Potentials”?
8. Conviviality and Incompleteness: A new understanding of “African Potentials”?
   Is it a liberation/emancipation from the obsession, imposed by West, of completeness and rationality? Is there a danger that it would be considered a new version of neopatrimonial state model? That is, “Africa works,” irrespective of, or to be exact, because of a variety of incompleteness.

Program

The Forth Forum on “Comprehensive Area Studies on Coexistence and Conflict Resolution Realizing ‘African Potentials’”

December 5 (Fri.)

9:30 – 9:40 Opening Remarks

Prof. Itaru Ohta (The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan)

9:40 – 9:55 Welcome Address

Prof. Mbonji Edjenguèlè (Department of Anthropology, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon)

9:55 – 10:05 Special Remarks on ‘African Potentials’ Project

Prof. Edward K. Kirumira (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda)

10:05 – 10:10 Introduction of the Keynote Speaker

Prof. Motoji Matsuda (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan)

10:10 – 11:00 Keynote Speech

Prof. Francis B. Nyamnjoh (Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town, South Africa) Incompleteness: Frontier Africa and the Currency of Conviviality

11:00 – 11:10 Coffee/tea break

---

11:10 – 12:45 Panel 1: Conflict and Coexistence in Multi-Ethnic Societies
Chair: Prof. Sam Moyo (The African Institute for Agrarian Studies, Zimbabwe)

 

1)Prof. Godefroy Ngima Mawoung (University of Ngaoundéré, Cameroon)

Bantu Bakola/Bagyelli: A Secular Permanent Conflictual Cohabitation

2)Dr. Takanori Oishi (The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan)

Land Conflict in Multi-Ethnic Context: Trans-Ethnic Negotiation and Cultural Transmissions in the Expansion Process of Cocoa Farming in Southeastern Cameroon

3)Prof. Shuichi Oyama (The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan)

Importance of Meeting and Mediators Concerned with Local Conflicts of Nigerien Sahel, West Africa: From Viewpoints of Neutralization, Gratitude and Giving-Receiving Customs

＊Comments on Session 1

Prof. Gebre Yntiso (College of Social Science, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)
Prof. Daiji Kimura (The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan)

12:45 – 14:00 Lunch break

 

---

14:00 – 15:50 Panel 2: Conflict and Resolution from Micro Perspectives

Chair: Prof. Kennedy Mkutu (United States International University, Kenya)

1)Prof. Honoré Mimche & Dr. Blaise Nguendo Yongsi (Institut de Formation et de Recherche Démographique, Cameroon)

Family as Space of Conflicts Resolution in African Traditional Societies

2)Prof. Luc Tamba Mebenga (Department of Anthropology, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon)

Seeking Peace through the Bëti Funeral Rites in South Cameroon

3)Prof. Hidetoshi Kondo (College of Foreign Studies, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan)

Magical Turn of Relations: Rethinking Conflicting Relationships in the Study of African Witchcrafts

＊Comments on Session 2

Prof. Edward K. Kirumira
Prof. Itaru Ohta

15:50 – 16:10 Coffee/tea break

 

---

16:10 – 17:30 Panel 3: Violent and Non-Violent Conflicts in Congo and Cameroon

Chair: Prof. Shuhei Shimada (Graduate School of Global Studies, Tokyo University for Foreign Studies, Japan)

1)Prof. Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France)

Democratization by Taking up Arms: Containing Violence in the Two Congos

2)Prof. Antoine Socpa (Department of Anthropology, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon)

“Autochthons” and “Allochtons” divide, Ethnic Stereotypes and Social Conflicts in Cameroon

＊Comments on Session 3

Prof. Sam Moyo
Prof. Eisei Kurimoto (Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Japan)

December 6 (Sat.)

10:00 – 11:50 Panel 4: “Traditional” Authorities as Potential

Chair: Prof. Edward K. Kirumira

1) Prof. Hisashi Matsumoto (College of Education and Human Sciences, Yokohama National University, Japan)

Chieftaincy as an African Potential in Contemporary Nigeria: Reimagining Home among the Igbo Migrants from Southeastern Nigeria

2) Dr. Takao Shimizu (The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Japan)

Marginalized Muslim and Reproduction of Muslim in Burkina Faso

3) Dr. Ange Bergson Lendja (Université Paris 8, France) & Prof. Misa Hirano-Nomoto (The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Japan)

The Dynamics of Conflicts Resolution in Bamileke Chiefdoms in Cameroon: The State, Traditional Authority, and Supernatural Power

＊Comments on Session 4

Prof. Kennedy Mkutu
Prof. Motoji Matsuda

11:50 – 13:30 Lunch break

 

---

13:30 – 15:20 Panel 5: Struggles of Youth for Survival in Conflict and Post-Conflict Societies

Chair: Prof. Gebre Yntiso

1) Dr. Hideyuki Okano (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University, Japan)

Public Authorization of an Informal Sector Activity: Institutionalization of Motorbike Taxi in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone

2) Dr. Daniel E. Agbiboa (Department of International Development, University of Oxford, UK)

Turning the Tide against the Boko Haram Insurgency: An Increasing Role for Local Youth

3) Dr. Cyril Obi (The Social Science Research Council, USA) & Dr. Godwin Onuoha (Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, Princeton University, USA)

Youth Conversations in a Post-Amnesty Niger Delta: An Analysis of the Potential for Sustainable Peacebuilding in Nigeria’s Oil-Rich Region

＊Comments on Session 5

Prof. Shuhei Shimada
Prof. Yoichi Mine (Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University, Japan)

15:20 – 15:40 Coffee/tea break

 

---

15:40 – 16:50 General Discussions

Chair: Prof. Eisei Kurimoto

16:50 – 17:00 Concluding Remarks

Prof. Itaru Ohta

Date: 06– 08 December 2013
Venue: Juba Grand Hotel, Juba, South Sudan

The Outline and Purpose of the Forum

A report by Eisei Eisei Kurimoto, Professor of Anthropology, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

The proposed Forum was organized under the cooperation between Kyoto University’s research project, “Comprehensive Area Studies on Coexistence and Conflict Resolution Realizing the African Potentials,” headed by Professor Itaru Ohta, and Center for Peace and Development Studies (CPDS), University of Juba, and co-chaired by Eisei Kurimoto (Osaka University) and Sirisio Oromo (Director, CPDS). It was the third forum organized by the Kyoto University’s “African Potentials” research project, the first one held in Nairobi in 2011, the second one in Harare in 2012.
(https://www.africapotential.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/)

 

The basic background of the Forum was that even after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of January 2005 that put an end to the 22 year civil war and the independence of the Republic of South Sudan in July 2011, in many places peaceful coexistence among people was yet to be achieved, and armed conflicts continued. Indeed some areas were in a war situation. South Sudanese people themselves were the victims of this in one way or another. The purpose of this Forum was to explore a way forward to establish durable peace at different levels of society at all localities in South Sudan. In order to achieve this, we brought a variety of stakeholders and experts together, bringing out case studies, analyzing and contextualizing them in a three day intensive conference. A wider regional perspective was also brought in for comparison by Japanese and African scholars working in other countries. In our presentations and discussions particular emphases was put on: 1) how we are able to fill the existing gap, harmonize and seek an interface between the two approaches of peacebuilding and reconciliation, peace from above and peace from below; and 2) how we can identify, reactivate and utilize “African or South Sudanese potentials,” that is indigenous and endogenous orientation of people for peace, at various levels of society.

Program

December 6 (Fri.)

14:00 – 14:20 OPENING REMARKS

Dr. Sirisio Oromo (Director, Centre for Peace and Development Studies, University of Juba) & Prof. Itaru Ohta (Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University)

14:20 – 14:40 WELCOME ADDRESSES (chaired by Dr. Sirisio Oromo)

Prof. Aggrey L. Abate (Vice Chancellor, University of Juba)

14:40 – 14:45 INTRODUCTION OF THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Prof. Eisei Kurimoto (Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University)

14:45 – 15:30 KEYNOTE SPEECH

Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba (Former Minister of Higher Education, Republic of South Sudan / Independent scholar)
“The War of Liberation Is Over; South Sudan Is Independent; Why Are the People Still Dying?”

15:30 – 15:50 DISCUSSIONS (chaired by Prof. Eisei Kurimoto)

 

15:50 – 16:10 COFFEE/TEA BREAK

 

16:10 – 18:10 PANEL 1: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DYNAMICS OF ARMED CONFLICTS

Chair: Mr. Philip Ohuyoro (Lecturer, College of Social & Economic Studies, University of Juba)

1) Prof. Eisei Kurimoto

“Armed Conflicts in South Sudan since 2005: Old and New, an Attempt of Classification and Contextualization”

2) Prof. Samson Wassara (College of Social & Economic Studies, University of Juba)

“Indigenous Potentials for Dispute Settlement and Reconciliation Waning in South Sudan: Consequences of Armed Conflicts”

3) Mr. Simon Monoja (College of Social & Economic Studies, University of Juba)

“Ethnicity and Conflict: The Case of Jonglei State”

Discussant: Prof. Edward K. Kirumira (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University)

 

18:30 – 20:00 RECEPTION AT AFRICAN HUT, JUBA GRAND HOTEL

December 7 (Sat.)

09:00 – 10:30 PANEL 2: DESIGNING PEACEBUILDING AND RECONCILIATION

Chair: Dr. Sirisio Oromo

1) Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van (Head of the South Sudan Recovery Fund Secretariat, UNDP) & Dr. Mayumi Yamada (Recovery, Reintegration, Peace Building (RRP) Officer, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office)

“A Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to Sustainable Peace and Development in South Sudan”

2) Hon. David Okwier Akway (Chair, The Peace and Reconciliation Committee, South Sudanese Legislative Assembly)

 

3) Hon. Chuol Rambang (Chair, The Peace and Reconciliation Commission, Government of the Republic of South Sudan)

 

Discussant: Prof. Yoichi Mine (Graduate School of Global Studies, Doshisha University)

 

10:30 – 10:50 COFFEE/TEA BREAK

 

10:50 – 12:50 PANEL 3: VIEWS FROM BELOW: LEARNING FROM CASE STUDIES

Chair: Prof. Samson Wassara

1) Mr. Isao Murahashi (Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University / JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow)

“Inter-ethnic and inter-communal conflicts after CPA: The root cause of conflicts and the possibility of coexistence in Eastern Equatoria State”

2) Ms. Eri Hashimoto (Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Social Science, Hitotsubashi University)

“Searching for ‘African Potentials’ in the ‘Modern’ Conflicts of South Sudan: An Aspect of Armed Youth and the Prophet in Jonglei State”

Discussant: Prof. Motoji Matsuda (Department of Sociology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)

 

12:50 – 14:30 LUNCH BREAK

 

14:30 – 17:20 PANEL 4: CHALLENGES OF GRASSROOTS PEACEBUILDING AND RECONCILIATION

Chair: Prof. Eisei Kurimoto

1) Mr. Michael Arensen (The PACT-South Sudan)

“Implementing Peacebuilding in South Sudan”

2) Ms. Gladys Mananyu (The South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC))

“Peoples Voices, Desires for Peace That Starts within Tender Hearts”

3) Fr. Archangelo Lokoro (Vicar-General, Catholic Diocese of Torit (DOT))

“Be a Good Neighbour Yourself”

4) Rev. James Ninrew (Nuer Peace Council)

 

Discussant: Prof. Sam Moyo (The Executive Director, The African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS))

 

December 8 (Sun.)

09:00 – 11:00 PANEL 5: VIEWS ACROSS NATIONAL BORDERS

Chair: Mr. Simon Monoja

1) Dr. Itsuhiro Hazama (Assistant Professor, Graduate School of International Health Development, Nagasaki University)

“Peace and Bodily Expression from Below: Violence through Disarmament in Karamoja, Northern Uganda”

2) Prof. Tanga Odoi (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University)

 

3) Dr. Christine Mbabazi (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University)

“Potential and Limitations of Traditional Rituals in Peacebuilding”

4) Prof. Akira Okazaki (Graduate School of Social Science, Hitotsubashi University)

“Peacebuilding from the ‘Bottom’: African Traditional Wrestling Matches as Potentials for Conflict Prevention and Reconciliation”

Discussant: Prof. Kennedy Mkutu (International Relations and Peace Studies, United States International University)

 

11:00 – 11:30 COFFEE/TEA BREAK

 

11:30 – 13:00 GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Chairs: Prof. Eisei Kurimoto & Prof. Motoji Matsuda (Department of Sociology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)

13:00 – 13:10 CONCLUDING REMARKS (by Prof. Itaru Ohta)

 

13:20 – 14:50 FAREWELL LUNCH

 

Date: Octorber 5-6, 2013
Venue: Large meeting room (333) on 3rd floor of Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall, Kyoto University

Admission: free

Outline

One of the most serious problems in Africa is the disruption of the social order due to civil wars and regional conflicts. It is essential to the stability and growth of African societies to find effective means to ameliorate the varied problems these conflicts cause. This symposium aims to clarify the knowledge and institutions that African societies have themselves developed and utilized in resolving conflicts and maintaining co-existence. We discuss how this existing body of indigenous knowledge and institutions —which we term “African Potentials”— might most effectively be employed in settling conflicts, bringing about reconciliation, and healing post-conflict societies in Africa today.

Summary of Discussion

1. An Overview
Total number of presentations: 16 papers (No. 1-16), 1 keynote speech, and 13 poster presentations (P1-13). There were a variety of diversified topics

1-1. Different kinds of “Conflicts”:

• 1) Civil wars: Sierra Leone (1), Uganda (4, P-11), Mozambique (15), South Sudan (P-5, P-6). However, they do not deal with civil wars per se, but with their consequences and impacts.
• 2) Armed conflict: Among pastoralists in Northern Kenya (5) and South Sudan (P-6); between villages in Cameroon (P-12).
• 3) Non-armed conflict: Moshi cooperatives (6), “Green Revolution” (7) and Kilombero Valley Basin (10) in Tanzania; Arsii (9) in Ethiopia; wildlife conservation – local people (11, 12) in Kenya & Ethiopia; Hausa – Fulbe/Tuareg (8) in Niger. Non-armed conflicts do not necessarily mean that they are not violent. On the contrary, often they force people to behave in a certain way against their will, which may relocate and uproot them, or create new conditions that make their traditional ways of livelihood difficult.
• 4) South Africa (2, 3, P-4, P-8).
  How do we classify the violent situation under Apartheid and post-Apartheid regimes?

1-2. Conflicts between who/what?

• 1) State (government) vs. armed groups,
• 2) State (government) vs. local communities/ethnic groups,
• 3) Between local communities/ethnic groups: Bamileke and others (16) in Cameroon; “Basotho” and “Batwana” in South Africa (P-8), Manjo and Kafa (P-10) in Ethiopia,Agriculturalists vs. pastoralists/agro-pastoralists: New migrants vs. autochthonous people (16, P-2)
• 4) Within civil society / community / ethnic group: Arsii (9) in Ethiopia, Igembe-Ameru (14) in Kenya, Bamileke (16) in Cameroon,
• 5) Global regimes (environmental, developmental, humanitarian & human rights) vs. local communities/ethnic communities: P-7,
• 6) Global regimes vs. state (government),
• 7) Class struggles?: CIDs in Johannesburg (P-4),
• 8) Between the dead and the living (P-11).

It is not easy to draw clear dividing lines among them. They are intermingled. A seemingly very local conflict does have a national/regional/international/global aspect. It may be the key nature of conflicts that we are dealing with.

The below Arsi saying quoted by Dr. Mamo Hebo seems to be very revealing.
A human being is a human being because of other human beings.
A massacre, ethnic-cleansing or genocide may only occur when some people of a certain category becomes “dehumanized” or demonized. They are no longer considered fellow human beings to live together. … When and how this can happen?

2. What is “African potentials”?
The below is a result of group discussion during lunch break by Ohta, Matsuda, Takahashi, Shigeta and Kurimoto.

Four basic points:

• 1) Whose potentials? Who are to identify and utilize them? It should not be something only to be discovered by outsiders, scholars and experts.
• 2) Compatibility of economic development and conflict resolution and co-existence. In other words, economic growth should be achieved in a way that it would not create development induced conflict (Session 2).
• 3) Natural resources vs. livelihood. No doubt that competition for resources is a root cause of conflict. It is inevitable, multi-layered and complex (Session 3).
• 4) The issue of justice/injustice, social and economic, remains to be answered. Here it suffices to note the importance of existing gap in the conceptualization of justice between various stakeholders (cf. Ogada’s paper).

3. For clarification of the notion of “African Potentials”:

• 1) A simple dichotomy, i.e., modern/traditional, universal/particular, or Western/African, which is often helpful to clarify the analysis, may not work effectively when we consider “African Potentials”.
• 2) What we observe or what is happening on the ground is much more complex and intrigued than one might expect. It is not static but dynamic. For instance, no one can take it for granted what is being “traditional,” “customary,” “tribal,” “ethnic,” or “communal.” It is not given, but it is a process and situational, always being contested and negotiated among themselves and with other stakeholders. That is why the notion of positionings (cf. Hodgson, Session 3) is essential.
• 3) In the same line of argument we may not take it for granted what is government or governmental. Although the structure of government is universal, its actual working may be different.
• 4) A variety of stakeholders are not only multi-layered but intermingled. They shift positioning according to situations. The social/political/cultural group/institution that a stakeholder claims to belong may be subject to shifting.
• 5) The dynamic, flexible, shifting, contested and negotiated nature is the essence of “African Potentials” that we need to explore.
• 6) Because of the above mentioned nature “African Potentials” can be manipulated and abused by a stakeholder for personal or group benefit at the expense of others. This aspect also needs to be explored.

Program

Sat. Oct. 5, 2013

9:20 – 9:30 Itaru Ohta (Kyoto University) Opening Address
9:30 – 10:45 Frederick Cooper (New York University) Keynote Speech: Decolonization and the Quest for Social Justice in Africa

11:00 – 12:00 Poster Presentations Core Time

◎Session 1. Revisiting Transitional Justice

13:30 – 16:00

– John Caulker (Fambul Tok) The Role of Community Owned and Led Reconciliation Processes in Post War Sierra Leone

– Zenzile Khoisan (First Nation News) Transitional Justice under Pressure: South Africa’s Challenge

– Toshihiro Abe (Otani University) Is Transitional Justice a Potential Failure? Understanding Transitional Justice Based on its Uniqueness

– Tamara Enomoto (University of Tokyo) Governing the Vulnerable Self at Home and Abroad: Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda and “KONY 2012”

Comment: Kyoko Cross (Kobe University)
Chairperson: Shinichi Takeuchi (Institute of Developing Economies)

◎Session 2. Beyond Conflicts in Africa: How to Understand Nexus between Social Relations, Resource Scarcity and Economic Development

16:20 – 18:50

– Othieno Nyanjom (Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)) Understanding Pastoralism in Northern Kenya: The Imperative for Socio-economic Transformation

– David Gongwe Mhando et al. (Sokoine University of Agriculture) & Juichi Itani (Kyoto University) Why Some Primary Societies in Moshi, Tanzania Sell Coffee Independently from the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperatives Unions’ Cartel?

– Shuichi Oyama (Kyoto University) Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Conflict Prevention in Sahel Region of West Africa

– Yuko Nakano et al. (University of Tsukuba) & Kei Kajisa (Aoyama Gakuin University) The Determinants of Technology Adoption: A Case of Rice Sector in Tanzania

Comment: Jun Ikeno (Kyoto University), Takahiro Fukunishi (Institute of Developing Economies)
Chairperson: Motoki Takahashi (Kobe University)

Sun 6th October, 2013

◎Session 3. Whose Potential Can Contribute toward the Process of Conflict Resolution over Natural and Livelihood Resources?

9:30 – 12:00

– Mamo Hebo Wabe (Addis Ababa University) Mutual-Avoidance as a Mode of Handling Dispute in Everyday Life: Cases from Arsii Oromo Villages, Southern Ethiopia

– Stephen Nindi et al.(Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute) Conflicts over Land and Water Resources in the Kilombero Valley Basin, Tanzania

– Nobuko Nishizaki (Fukushima University) Contribution of Local Praxis to Conflict Resolution over Conservation Issues: Lessons from the Management of Conservation Areas in Ethiopia

– Toshio Meguro (JSPS Research Fellow/University of Tokyo) Potential of Changing Attitudes and Representation for Resolving Multilayered Conflicts over Wildlife

Comment: Gen Yamakoshi (Kyoto University)
Chairperson: Masayoshi Shigeta (Kyoto University)

◎Session 4. Local Wisdoms and the Globalized Justice in a Process of Conflict Resolution

14:00 – 16:30

– Mikewa Ogada (Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies) Reframing Our Understanding of the Production of “African Potentials” for Conflict Resolution: Lessons from the Fragmented Localization of the Discourse of International Criminal Justice in Kenya

– Shin-ichiro Ishida (Tokyo Metropolitan University) Egalitarian Conflict Management among the Îgembe of Kenya

– Euclides Gonçalves (Eduardo Mondlane University/Centro de Estudos Sociais Aquino de Bragança) The Colours of Justice: Village Chiefs, Secretaries and Community Leaders in Conflict Resolution in Northern Mozambique

– Misa Hirano-Nomoto (Kyoto University) The Potential to Deter Conflict in Urban Africa: The Case of the Bamileke of Yaoundé, Cameroon

Comment: Rumi Umino (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Chairperson: Motoji Matsuda (Kyoto University)

Poster Presentation

Midori Daimon (Kyoto University) Performers Pick up the Gauntlet: The Tense Relations between People and Performers of Entertainment ‘Ｋarioki’ in Kampala, Uganda

Masaya Hara (Kyoto University/JSPS Research Fellow) Social Ties and Food Exchanges in a Multi-ethnic Agricultural Community in Northwestern Zambia

Hitomi Kirikoshi (Kyoto University) Tree Management and Sharing Customs of Famine Food in Hausa Society of Sahel Region, West Africa

Yohei Miyauchi (Rikkyo University) The Powers of Neoliberal Communities: The Pursuit of Safe Living Environments in Post-apartheid Johannesburg

Yuko Tobinai (Sophia University) How Did People Become “True” Christians?: The Kuku’s Migration and the Christian Revival Movement in Greater Sudan

Eri Hashimoto (Hitotsubashi University) Prophets, Prophecies, and Inter-communal Conflicts in Post-independence South Sudan

Naoaki Izumi (Kyoto University) Labor Force of Large-scale Farmer with Capitalist Mode in Agro-pastoral Society, Tanzania: Focusing on Economic Relationship between Two Ethnic Groups

Sayaka Kono (Tsuda College) A Study of Local Protest within the Framework of ‘Divide and Rule’ in Apartheid South Africa: Being ‘Basotho’ to Protest ‘Ethnic Antagonism’

Noriko Narisawa (Kyoto University) Gift-giving for Developing Personal Friendships among Women in Rural Zambia: A Case Study on the Burgeoning Ceremony called Cilongwe

Sayuri Yoshida (JSPS Research Fellow/Osaka Prefecture University) Social Discrimination and Minority Rights Petitions by the Manjo in the Kafa and Sheka Zones of Southwest Ethiopia

Hiroko Kawaguchi (Kyoto University/JSPS Research Fellow) Interpretation of Death and Coping with the Dead among Post-Conflict Acholi in Northern Uganda

---

Co-organized by
– The Grant in Aid for Scientific Research (S) Project: Conflict Resolution and Coexistence through Reassessment and Utilization of “African Potentials”
– The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University