Call for Proposals
Popular Cultures and African Futures
Maputo, Mozambique
The Program on African Social Research (PASR), the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, and Kaleidoscopio Research in Public Policy and Culture invite proposals to participate in a Junior Scholars Workshop on “Popular Cultures and African Futures” to be held January 26th and 27th, 2026, in Maputo, Mozambique. PASR will cover all travel related expenses, including food and lodging during the workshop.
Popular culture in Africa is a dynamic field where politics, economics, social relations, identities, and struggles for recognition are enacted and contested. From music, film, fashion, literature, social media, sports, gaming, and festivals to everyday practices of consumption and creativity, popular culture provides unique entry points into the ways Africans imagine, critique and transform theirs and global societies.
We invite proposals on the broad theme of Popular Culture and African Futures with an emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches. Contributions may draw on political science, law, economics, history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, public health and cultural studies.
Possible themes and questions include but are not exclusive to:
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Popular culture as a tool for political mobilization, protest, or resistance; regulation and censorship of music, film or digital platforms; law, morality and the politics of obscenity
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Creative industries, cultural economies, informal markets, digital entrepreneurship, and the commodification of African creativity
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Continuities and disjunctures in music, fashion and performance; archives as sites of memory and resistance; postcolonial and diasporic trajectories of cultural production
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Ethical questions of representation, authenticity, and cultural appropriation; African philosophies embedded in song, storytelling, or performance
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Everyday practices of style, humor, dance, or food as sites of meaning making; gender and sexuality in popular forms; cartoons, posters, ads, and signs as framing identities and belonging
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Popular culture as a medium for health communication (Malaria, HIV, COVID-19, mental health); body politics in music and dance; popular narratives around the body, bodily fluids, sexuality and reproductive health
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Diaspora connections and global cultural flows; Afro futurism and speculative imaginaries; digital cultures, memes, and online activism
The workshop aims to showcase the research of junior scholars (defined as research Masters and Doctoral students and pre-tenure assistant professors or the equivalent). Preference will be given to scholars based at African institutions, but all proposals will be considered for inclusion. Participants are required to contribute original papers of ~3000 words to be discussed at the workshop and then revised for publication in our open access journal African Social Research.
To apply, please send a 300-word proposal including your current affiliation and academic level to africansocialresearch@gmail.com by October 15th, 2025.
