The Study of Angola: Towards a New Research Agenda
Workshop held at St Peters College, Oxford University, 1-2 July 2011
Conveners: Prof. Manuel Ennes Ferreira (ISEG) and Dr Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Oxford University
As sub-Saharan Africas third largest economy, one of its major oil producers, and key regional player, Angola should have elicited a considerable amount of academic work. However, difficulties of access on account of the war that lasted from 1975 until 2002, unfamiliarity with the language and the discouragement of research resulted in serious gaps that are only now starting to be addressed. This means that crucial dimensions of this pivotal African state, as well as their relevance for comparative research, are either misunderstood or virtually unknown. Other than the decades of delay in scholarly research per se, the academic structures taken for granted in the study of contemporary Africa are relatively weak, whether in terms of frequent academic encounters, research collaborations, or institutional dialogue.
This conference brought together social scientists and historians, including Africanists from the broader Oxford community, to discuss the study of modern and contemporary Angola. Organized in partnership with SOCIUS-ISEG, the Economics Faculty of the Technical University of Lisbon, the conference benefited from the strong support of the African Studies Centre at Oxford University, St Peters College, the Camoens Institute of Portuguese Studies (KCL), the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal) and Lusiada University of Angola. Those attending included academics from Angola, North America and Europe. Discussions revolved around issues such as petroleum and political economy, the challenges of postwar reconstruction, the social and political legacies of the war, colonial legacies, and Angolas international relations. The conference had three major goals: 1) assessing the state-of-the-art of Angolan studies; 2) delineating a future research agenda that results in both country-specific studies and the inclusion of Angola into cutting-edge comparative research; and 3) creating a network of researchers that will deepen collaborative work.
(More details on this event can be found here.)
