African Studies Center - Babes-Bolyai University

📖Appel à contributions📚
"DEMOCRATIE ET MILITAIRES AU POUVOIR EN AFRIQUE"
✒️ Volume collectif coédité par : Sergiu Miscoiu (Centre de réussite universitaire- Centre d'Etudes Africaines UBB Cluj) et Hygin Kakai (Cespo, Universite Abomey-Calavi).
🔎Focus sur la gouvernance de l’Etat par les militaires y inclus le discours de légitimation et la capacité d’action publique.
📌 Calendrier:
25 septembre 2024 – envoi d’un intitulé, d’un résumé de max.150 mots, de 5 mots-clés, de même que d’une notice biographique de 100 mots maximum – les contributeurs intéressés sont invités à envoyer leurs propositions à l'adresse : [email protected]
15 février 2025 – envoi des premières variantes des chapitres proprement dits, rédigés en français, qui ne doivent pas dépasser 10.000 mots.
1er juin 2025 – envoi des variantes définitives des chapitres
📎🖋 La description du volume et l'appel détaillé est à trouver ici:
https://cestaf.centre.ubbcluj.ro/?p=991

POL.FR. Si le Nouveau Front Populaire veut améliorer son score estimé à 28-30% au 1er tour, il doit mobiliser une bonne partie des abstentionistes issus de l'immigration. Notre article publié au début de cette année montre que les immigrés naturalisés provenant des pays de l'Afrique subsaharienne ont très peu voté à la présidentielle de 2022 et constituent un réservoir conséquant pour la gauche, même si les quelques jours qui restent jusqu'au législatives laissent une maigre marge de manoeuvre au NFP :
Sergiu Miscoiu, Bettina Mitru, Sergiu Gherghina, "Migrants away from the polls: explaining the absenteeism of people with sub-Saharan African origins in the 2022 French presidential elections", in "Identities" (Taylor & Francis) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1070289X.2023.2298576
Notre analyse repose sur des entretiens semi-directifs et un focus-groupe avec des migrants de première et deuxième génération originaires de pays d'Afrique subsaharienne vivant en France. Les résultats indiquent que les principales raisons de leur absentéisme aux élections présidentielles de 2022 ont des racines profondes et sont peu susceptibles de changer dans un avenir très proche : un sentiment de non-intégration socioculturelle, économique et politique, une connaissance limitée des procédures d'enregistrement sur les listes électorales et des attitudes négatives à l'égard de la politique et des politiciens.

Looking forward to attending this panel!
ECPS Regional Panel Series
Panel 2: Crisis of Democratic Political Legitimacy and Emerging Populism in Africa
Date/Time: Thursday, May 09, 2024 — 15:00-17:30 (CET).
Moderator
Dr. Chipo Dendere (Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College).
Speakers
“Various Facets of Populist, Authoritarian, and Nationalist Trends in Africa,” by Dr. Henning Melber (Professor, Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala; Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria and the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein).
“Democratizing Africa: Navigating Populist Trends, Building Trust in Institutions, and Promoting Stability through Inclusive Governance,” by Dr. Nchofua Anita Nyitioseh(Assistant Lecturer, Department of English Law, University of Bertoua, Cameroon).
“Taming the Lion: On the Conditions of Possibility of a Progressive Populism in Sub-Saharan Africa,” by Dr. Sergiu Mișcoiu (Professor of Political Science, Director of the Centre for International Cooperation Babeș-Bolyai University).
“Populism and The Challenges of Democratic Governance in Africa,” by Dr. Edouard Epiphane Yogo (Executive Director and Principal Researcher at the Bureau of Strategic Studies (BESTRAT), University of Yaoundé II, Cameroon).
“Populism Discourse and the Proliferation of Hate during Elections in Central African Sub-region,” by Dr. Derick Fai Kinang (University of Buea, Cameroon).
“The Protection of Female Rights and the Rise of Populism in African Democracies: A Need for a Reformed Society,” by Dr. Ama-Ambo Chefor (Senior Lecturer, Department of English Law, University of Dschang, Cameroon).

Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEud--rrzIsGtcHrgVgkcp59WziTjH0LQ1O
More details; here:
https://www.populismstudies.org/ecps-regional-panel-2-crisis-of-democratic-political-legitimacy-and-emerging-populism-in-africa/

🇧🇯 🇷🇴 Evaluation à distance des travaux des étudiants du Master II de sciences politiques de l'Université d'Abomey Calavi (UAC) à la constitution duquel j'ai apporté ma pierre il y a sept ans, en mission Erasmus At Ubb, à l'invitation du Professeur Hygin Kakai, qui intervient à son tour chaque année dans le cadre du programme de Master Francophone Cluj de l'UBB.

🇷🇴-🇷🇼 Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai welcomed on Friday, April 19, 2024, the visit of the delegation of the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences from Huye, Rwanda (IPAS), https://www.piass.ac.rw/ . Prof Balint Marko, vice-rector of UBB, Prof. Sergiu Miscoiu, director of the Centre for International Cooperation at UBB and Prof. Dr. Olga Lukács, dean of the Faculty of Reformed Theology and Music, received Bishop Rev. Dr. Jered Kalimba, IPAS legal representative, and Rev. Dr. Dieter Brandes, Scientific Advisor. Discussions between the two universities focused on cooperation in the fields of theology, history, political science and economic science, with a particular focus on expertise and experience in conflict management and inter-ethnic and inter-religious reconciliation policies.
In these exchanges of ideas, UBB showed its support for the internship and mentoring of Rwandan PhD students in the latest project won by the Association of African Research-Oriented Universities ( ARUA, https://arua.org.za/ ), in partnership with GUILD ( https://www.the-guild.eu/ ), the organization of some of the most representative European advanced research universities, of which UBB is a part. This project involves the awarding in the period 2024-2029 of 1,000 annual scholarships for doctoral students enrolled in African universities who wish to carry out 18-month internships in European member universities of the GUILD, UBB will receive doctoral students in internship within the Afro-European Cluster of Excellence dedicated to the "Management of Land and Water Resources, with an impact on Human Welfare", a project piloted by the African Studies Center of UBB https://cestaf.centre.ubbcluj.ro/.
UBB and IPAS signed a five-year cooperation agreement.

AFR-RUS. My interview in the Ghanaian press:
"In this insightful interview, Professor Sergiu Mișcoiu discusses the political situation in the French-speaking West African countries, the existing multiple challenges and Russia’s diplomacy within the context of current geopolitical changes and the scramble for influence in Africa."

Russia Scrambles for Influence in French-speaking West Africa By Kestér Kenn KLOMEGÂH In this insightful interview, Professor Sergiu Mișcoiu at the Faculty of European Studies, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), where he serves as a Director of the Centre for International Cooperation and as Director of the Centre for African Studies, discuss...

AFR.RUS. Am răspuns întrebărilor jurnalistei Carmen Prodan de la PressHubb referitoare la motivele pentru care Rusia câștigă teren în Africa centrală și de Vest.
Extras: „Rusia și-a reactivat rețeaua sovietică de lideri și apropiați politici africani ai Moscovei și în același timp a reactivat celulele serviciilor de informații rusești, care acționau deja de zeci de ani pe teritoriul statelor africane. În felul acesta Rusia a putut să pătrundă mai ales în zonele de conflict cu unități paramilitare, în special faimosul grup Wagner care se află în proces de reorganizare acum, după căderea lui Prigojin.”
Integralitatea interviuluim aici:
https://www.presshub.ro/de-ce-prinde-propaganda-rusa-in-africa-316562/

EN. Invited by the East Stratcom Task Force of the European Commission, I conducted a study about how numerous young Africans, disillusioned by socio-economic struggles, are drawn to alternative narratives making them receptive to Kremlin's anti-Western propaganda. The main conclusions of the study are here (EN) 👇🏻
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/the-wind-is-blowing-towards-the-east-the-vulnerability-of-young-africans-to-anti-western-propaganda/

FR. Invité par le Groupe de Travail East Stratcom de la Commission européenne, j'ai mené une étude sur les nombreux jeunes Africains, qui, désillusionnés par les difficultés socio-économiques, se laissent attirer par des récits alternatifs et deviennent réceptifs à la propagande anti-occidentale du Kremlin. Les principales conclusions de l'étude sont ici (FR) 👇🏻
https://euvsdisinfo.eu/fr/le-vent-souffle-vers-lest-la-vulnerabilite-des-jeunes-africains-face-a-la-propagande-anti-occidentale/

🇷🇴 🇩🇿The visit at Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai of the delegation of the University Constantine3 of Algeria (UC3), composed of Prof. Faouzi Kenzai and Dr. Messahel Mohammed. The discussions with Rector Daniel David focused on cooperation between the two universities, exchange of students, teaching staff and researchers, participation in joint cooperation programs in the field of research and institutional development.
The agreement signed between the two universities provides for the opening of working points in the premises of the partner institution. Thus, UC3 will have a work point hosted by the Centre de réussite universitaire- Centre d'Etudes Africaines UBB Cluj, led by Prof. Sergiu Miscoiu, and UBB will open a representation in Constantine, this being the second UBB working point in Africa, after the one opened in the summer of 2023 at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (Senegal). The opening of some UBB work points in African countries is part of the UBB internationalization strategy and is consistent with the mission assumed by the university within the Guild of Research-Intensive European universities (www.the-guild.eu), an organization that coordinates a series of international excellence projects in the field of academic research and development in partnership with universities and university networks in African states (https://www.the-guild.eu/news/2023/universities-launch- africa-europe-clusters-of-research-excellence.html).
For example, within the framework defined by GUILD, UBB is already the main partner in an African-European Cluster of Excellence dedicated to "Sustainable Water and Land Resource Management for Human Well-Being". On the European side, the Cluster is led by the University of Bern, with UBB as main partner, along with other partners ("World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies"), and on the African side, the Cluster is led by Addis Ababa University, with main partners the University of Nairobi, Rhodes University and Cheikh Anta Diop University, along with other partners (e.g. Ministry of Water and Energy of Ethiopia).

POL.FR. First article in 2024: "Migrants away from the polls: explaining the absenteeism of people with sub-Saharan African origins in the 2022 French presidential elections", in "Identities" (Taylor & Francis), written with Bettina Mitru and Sergiu Gherghina.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1070289X.2023.2298576
Our article aims to identify why French people with origins in sub-Saharan African countries did not vote in the 2022 presidential elections. This group of migrants is particularly inactive in politics. The qualitative analysis uses semi-structured interviews and one focus group with first- and second-generation migrants from sub-Saharan African countries living in France. The findings indicate that the main reasons for their absenteeism at the 2022 presidential elections have deep roots and are unlikely to change in the near future: feelings of non-integration, limited procedural knowledge about voting, and negative attitudes towards politics and politicians.