Organized by Dr Amara Esther Chimakonam for the Centre for African Phenomenology. Date of event is 6th of July, 2025.
An International Virtual Conference on AFRICAN PHENOMENOLOGY AND THE DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE
Date: 26th of July, 2025
Host: The Centre for African Phenomenology, University of Fort Hare, South Africa,
Organizer: Dr Amara Esther Chimakonam, Centre for African Phenomenology, UFH.
Call for Abstracts
Within the developmental discourse, far too little attention has been paid to African phenomenology and how it can drive development in Africa. While a remarkable body of literature has analyzed African developmental crises such as poverty, hunger, bad leadership, life democratic leaders, corruption (e.g., mismanagement of public funds and mismanagement of foreign aids), high maternity and infant mortality rates, healthcare crisis (e.g., under-staffed hospitals, lack of funding and little or no innovative healthcare equipment), technological backwardness, unemployment, and a large number of out of school children, none has reflected on these crises from African phenomenological standpoints. In overcoming this shortcoming, this conference seeks to situate the developmental discourse within African phenomenology and to explore how African phenomenology can contribute novel ideas, principles, and theories toward sustainable development in Africa. Accordingly, this conference will lay the cornerstone of African developmental phenomenology (ADP), which is based on lived and shared experiences that arise from the natural attitude of ordinary life. It will also consider ways in which these lived and shared experiences would inform fully-fledged human-centric developmental paradigms in Africa. The Centre for African Phenomenology invite interested speakers to submit their abstracts for this event. Submissions should be written in English and should be the author’s original work (not plagiarized, written with AI tools, or published or under consideration elsewhere).
Themes
- African phenomenology and peace
- African phenomenology and sustainable development
- African phenomenology and leadership accountability (e.g., tackling corruption)
- African phenomenology and poverty alleviation
- African phenomenology and technological development
- African phenomenology and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- African phenomenology and food production
- African phenomenology and economic growth
- African phenomenology and foreign investment
- African phenomenology and education
- African phenomenology and migration
- African phenomenology and healthcare
- African phenomenology and agricultural development
- African phenomenology and human development
- African eco-phenomenology and environmental sustainability
Submission details
In addition to the themes listed above, Centre for African Phenomenology welcome submissions of 150 to 300 (max.) words abstract on any topic relating to African phenomenology and development. The Centre for African Phenomenology encourages submissions from members of underrepresented groups.
Those interested should send abstracts in a Word document (including title, name, and institutional affiliation) to Dr Amara Esther Chimakonam ([email protected]) no later than the 15th of April 2025. Papers presented at this conference will be published as an edited collection with a reputable publishing outlet.
Please note: this conference will be recorded and uploaded to the Conversational School of Philosophy YouTube channel for educational purposes. By submitting an abstract and presenting at this conference, speakers accept that the Centre for African Phenomenology may record and upload their lectures for educational purposes.