3rd Africa Regional Conference
Cotonou, Benin Republic
By Ebenezer Obadare, Centre for Civil Society, London School of Economics and Political Science
The third conference of the African network of civil society researchers was held in the serene ambience of Hotel Du Lac, Cotonou, Benin Republic, May 7-10, 2004. It was hosted by the Benin Centre for Environment and Socio-Economic Development (CEBEDES-XUDODO). The central aim of the conference, as expressed in the initial call for papers, was to “provide a forum for debate on the extent to which rhetoric, practice, activism and social engagement within Africa’s civil society have yielded any outcome as far as political emancipation and people’s livelihood are concerned.” This objective informed the theme of the conference, which was The Role of Civil Society in the Challenges Confronting Africa. The conference was well-attended, with participants (activists, NGO practitioners and researchers) coming from both within and outside the African continent.
Discussions were organised around such themes as: challenges of civil society development in Africa, civil society in the context of decentralisation and integration, civil society and conflict, methodological issues in civil society research, civil society’s engagement in development initiatives, and civil society and sustainable livelihoods. In addition, there were also presentations focusing on the state of civil society research in individual African regions, and scholarships and capacity building for civil society research and funding in Africa. As is fast becoming the norm at such fora, the benign intellectual rancour in the plenary sessions rooms predictably spilled over into the coffee sessions and dinner, all of which went a long way in making the entire conference one long session of animated debates. Arguably the most controversial subject was the role of African civil society in the project of ‘African renaissance.’
The conference was roughly divided between those who canvassed an imperative continental focus for African civil society organisations and others who favoured dealing with problems at the national level in the first instance. By the time the conference came to an end on May 10, a truce had to be declared when it appeared that neither of the two camps (which individually had declared victory) had the upper hand. Still, a clear basis had been established for further discussions of the role of civil society in the project of African emancipation. There were also theoretically illuminating assessments of the methodological challenges of researching civil society in Africa and the unenviable role that civil society seems to play in causing, deepening and sustaining conflicts in Africa. This was a clear philosophical challenge to extant uncritical celebrations of civil society as the domain of civility and pacifism.
The next conference with the theme of Civil Society in Africa was tentatively scheduled for the last quarter of 2005 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A full report of the conference appears in the ISTR Occasional Report series.