News & Events

The ASC and the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC) will be organizing the second edition of the Africa Works! conference on 16 & 17 October 2014 in Leiden. The objective is to explore the challenges and opportunities Africa poses to companies, government bodies, NGOs and knowledge centers. Scientific seminars and practical workshops will highlight the themes that are relevant to people working in or with Africa today. Registration is now open!

The ASC and Amnesty are organizing a screening of the Cameroonian film 'Born This Way'. In Cameroon, homosexual relations are subject to punishments of up to five years in prison, and it is almost impossible to come out even to your own family. The two young gay men in this film are crazy about Lady Gaga, who has been a gay icon since her hit song ‘Born This Way’. The film focuses on the first centre for HIV patients. Run entirely by the LGBT community, it takes care of HIV patients and raises awareness of LGBT rights. Yves Yomb, director of the centre, is more or less tolerated by the government. He will be interviewed after the screening.

The last few years have seen a huge amount of interest in the hotly contested issue of ‘land grabbing’ - the large-scale acquisition of land in the global South. It is a phenomenon against which locals seem defenceless, and one about which multilateral organizations such as the World Bank as well as civil-society organizations have become increasingly vocal. This in-depth volume edited by ASC researcher Mayke Kaag and Annelies Zoomers of Utrecht University takes a step back from the hype to explore a number of key questions: does the ‘global land grab’ actually exist? And what are the real problems?

This book is the first attempt to understand Boko Haram in a comprehensive and consistent way. It examines the early history of the sect and its transformation into a radical armed group. It analyses the causes of the uprising against the Nigerian state and evaluates the consequences of the on-going conflict from a religious, social and political point of view. The book is a co-publication of the ASC and IFRA-Nigeria (Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique).  

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been waging a brutal insurgency in Uganda since the late 1980s. Little is known, however, about the people who fought against the LRA. Who were these people and why did they take up arms against one of Africa’s most dreaded rebel groups? On 20 March, Klaas Castelein will consider the ‘Arrow Boys’, a militia that was founded in Teso in Eastern Uganda and successfully challenged Kony’s guerrilla fighters from 2003-2005. Castelein's findings are based on yet unpublished sources and data.

 Two new researchers have started at the ASC: Fantu Cheru and Laura Mann. Professor Fantu Cheru is a political economist. His research concentrates on emerging powers and African development, natural resources governance, and South-South cooperation in agriculture and food security. Laura Mann is an economic sociologist whose research focuses on the political economy of markets in Africa. She received her Masters and PhD from the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Before joining the ASC, she worked at the Oxford Internet Institute.

This Friday 14 February, 11:45, Lidewyde Berckmoes will defend her PhD thesis entitled 'Elusive Tactics: Urban Youth Navigating the Aftermath of War in Burundi'. This will take place at the VU University. Jan Abbink is her promotor. Everyone is welcome!