Japan Society for Afrasian Studies 2021 Kanto Branch Workshop “Negotiating African Livelihoods: at Home and Abroad”

One of the consequences of neoliberal globalisation in Africa has been the escalation of interconnectedness within Africa and beyond. This interconnectedness, while spurring growth opportunities, has also been aiding new challenges to African life-worlds. The precarious opportunities emerging out of neoliberal globalisation have attracted a myriad of interventions exercised upon African livelihoods. Historically, many interventions have exploited the vulnerability of African livelihoods by heavily relying on asymmetrical dichotomies of power relations. In this respect, it has become apparent that more accurate interpretations of expressions and meanings of the context of social and material environments are paramount in an analysis whose aim is to avoid previous pitfalls. Examples of such new approaches encompass a deliberate focus on human and social resources that include local knowledge and understanding.

Furthermore, a more appropriate trajectory offers a consideration of material means of living within a broader context of the global flows and interconnectedness that pays attention to the social, cultural, religious, and political context. This perspective allows dealing with aspects beyond material and economic resources to envisage social forms of life that are developed as people navigate and respond to the challenges of their present environment. Against this backdrop, this workshop aims at expanding the pool of knowledge of the African lived experiences in two crucial aspects. First, one that captures the central realities in rural Africa, and second aspect that captures the African livelihoods in motion destined to relatively newer frontiers in the process of globalisation (in regard to African migrations). To achieve this, we will cover two key topics whose themes are; how mobile phone technology is raising hopes of anticipated economy and democracy in rural Africa, and the manner in which African migrants to Japan negotiate space and meaning in their new environments and solidify their lives

Opening remarks: Vick Ssali (Aichi Gakuin University)

Introduction: Kazuyo Hanai (The University of Tokyo)

*Presentation 1: Kinyua L Kithinji (Hosei University)
“Digital Spaces and Democratisation in Rural Kenya: Participation, Mobilisation, and Claiming Resources”

*Presentation 2: Rebecca Babirye (International Christian University)
“Coming to Tokyo, Losing Faith: Chronicles of African Student Migrants in Japan”

*Commentator:
Yoko Ishii (University of Sacred Heart)
Tomonari Takeuchi (ICT for Development)