CFP: HEALTH AND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, OCTOBER 29-30 2010

> We would like to direct your attention to the following call for papers:
> CFP: Health and Governance in Africa
> Stanford University, October 29-30 2010
> What are the links between the provision and distribution of health in
> Africa and economic changes, political reform, and transnational
> connections, in contemporary and historical frames? This conference seeks
> to foster conversation between scholars, policy experts, and practitioners
> that will address change and continuity in the relationship between health
> and governance in Africa.
>
> 2009 saw the launch of the Pan-African Clinical Trials Registry, an attempt
> to promote transparency in the growing field of medical research in
> Africa. Such trials at once provide some standard of health care while
> posing challenging ethical and political questions. In 2006, 17 people
> died and over 80,000 sought medical attention in the Ivory Coast when 500
> tons of toxic waste were dumped in the country by a Panamanian ship turned
> away from Amsterdam. In 1901 the colonial administration of Lagos adopted
> a policy of racial segregation in an attempt to fight malaria and in the
> 1940s, to the same ends, they remade the city’s landscape by draining its
> marshes as part of the War effort.
>
> These examples make clear the extent to which health issues in Africa are
> and have long been thoroughly intertwined with questions of government and
> the state, political economy and the environment. In order to explore this
> complex terrain, we have four core questions:
>
> -How are health and illness understood, debated, and achieved by different
> actors and agencies operating at local, national, and transnational
> scales?
> -How are circulations of drugs and illness, doctors and aid, capital and
> patents managed by citizens, patients, policy makers and health
> practitioners?
> -How does health become a site in which the boundaries between the state,
> the population, the body, NGOs, multinational corporations, and
> international development institutions are negotiated?
> -How are these developments historically produced and what are their
> effects on the provision of health care?
>
> Stanford’s Student Forum for African Studies invites submissions for
> 15-minute presentations or papers from a wide range of disciplines –
> anthropology, environmental studies, engineering, history, legal studies,
> medicine and public health, political science, psychology, science
> studies, sociology – that touch on the above questions. Submissions could
> address broad trends or specific cases. Potential panel topics include:
>
> -Security, conflict, and humanitarianism
> -Ecology, land use, and urban planning
> -Histories of colonial and postcolonial public health
> -Informal economies of care
> -Health as a public good
> -Climate change, pollution, and public health
> -Access to clean water and sanitation
> -Migration, mobility, and displacement
> -Mental health and psycho-social well being
> -Gender, sexuality, and reproductive health
> -Labor and personnel in medical infrastructure
> -Customary law
> -Legal struggles for the human right to health
> -Political mobilizations around treatment
> -Medical pluralism
> -Privatization of health services
> -Injuries, accidents, and occupational health
> -Nutrition and food security
>
> Abstracts or descriptions of the presentations, posters, or papers should
> be no longer than 250 words and should include your name, email address
> and telephone number, as well as your university and department
> affiliations. Eligibility: Although we strongly encourage graduate
> students, we also welcome submissions from undergraduates, professionals,
> post-doctoral researchers, lecturers, professors, activists, and
> practitioners. Papers and presentations on related topics in all
> disciplines and from all institutions, programs and organizations will be
> considered.
>
> Deadlines
> abstracts: August 1, 2010
> papers/detailed outlines for discussants: October 19, 2010
>
> Abstracts or descriptions may be sent via email to:
> stanfordfas@gmail.com<mailto:stanfordfas@gmail.com>
> (Link: stanfordfas@gmail.com<mailto:stanfordfas@gmail.com> )
>
> Info:
> http://www.stanford.edu/group/sfas/Conference.html (Link:
> http://www.stanford.edu/group/sfas/Conference.html )