Call for Papers: January 2021 (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Journal of Internal Displacement

CALL FOR PAPERS

‘A Crisis within a Crisis: Global Pandemics and Displacement’

January 2021 (Volume 11, Issue 1)

Submission Deadline: 1 September 2020

The Coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has shaken the world to its core. It is beyond doubt that the current pandemic will have a fundamental and long-lasting impact on how we work, learn and live. The implications of global pandemics for human movement are indeed readily apparent. With billions of people in lockdown, the majority of the world’s population are now personally and collectively experiencing what it means to have restrictions imposed on their movement rights. But for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and others, this is not the first time they find their freedom of movement controlled by extraneous factors that lie outside of their control. Forced migrants are accustomed to such restrictions, and many are adept at finding ways and means by which to continue their lives in times of crisis. Nonetheless, little to no attention is being given to either the impact of COVID-19 on displaced persons or the insights they themselves might bring to benefit others for whom restrictions on their movement rights are a short-term novelty. Instead, the pandemic has increased the risks of violence, racism and other forms of discrimination against persons displaced internally and internationally, rendering them ever more vulnerable to the worst forms of abuse and exploitation.  

For its upcoming January 2021 issue, the Journal of Internal Displacement (JID) is seeking original contributions on the inter-relationship between displacement and global pandemics, not only COVID-19 but also SARS, Ebola, H1N1 and similar. Submissions are welcome from all disciplines and topics on displacement, defined broadly to include IDPs, refugees, trafficked persons, stateless persons, nomads, “boat/cruise ship people”, the homeless, and other migrants. Papers on the following indicative topics are especially encouraged:

·       health factors as a cause of displacement;

·       the social, economic and political impact on displaced persons;

·       pandemic prevention, containment and mitigation in camp settings;

·       consultation with displaced persons, and strategies for information-sharing and awareness-raising;

·       rights, legal protection and advocacy;

·       coping strategies and self-care;

·       how people who are not “home” stay “home” and experience social distancing;

·       displacement of the rich and famous;

·       efforts to promote and sustain community relations; and

·       the role(s) that displaced persons can and do play in bringing pandemics under control.

Submission guidelines:

·       Manuscripts must be submitted via the JID online submission portal, available here, no later than 1 September 2020. Manuscripts must be no more than 7,000 words in length. Further author guidelines are provided here.

·       Please direct all questions to JID Assistant Editor, Dr Ben Hudson, at the following email address: ben.hudson@journalofinternaldisplacement.org.

The Myth of Democracy: A Series on the United States Role in Destabilising African Countries

I am not an anarchist, but I have always known that democracy doesn't work. First of all, democracy is not the only form of government. For some reason, the United States, armed with its so-called exceptionalism concept, have paraded the idea of democracy as the only form of government that can modernise and transform "rogue state" into one that is accountable, less corrupt and governed by the rule of law. Since the Second World War, the US has made it a national priority to ensure that corrupt leaders, especially those in Africa, are either "spanked" for misbehaving and/or "removed from power" if they did not follow the "good governance" and "rule of law" of democratic leadership par American standard. Well, until Donald J. Trump came along, the US was perceived as the epitome of democracy. I doubt whether the perception is the same after "corrupt Trump" entered the White House.

In this series, I discuss the US's participation in the destruction of a number of States across Africa in efforts to transform their leadership from a bad one to a good democratic nation. Over the next months, I will consider the removal of leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Libya, Somalia, Liberia and more. The series will close with highlights of the Trump government's efforts to derail US democracy. What are we waiting for? Let's take off with the assassination of one of Africa's promising leaders, Patrice Lumumba.

The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba
On 17 January 1961, the American and Belgian governments used Congolese accomplices and a Belgian execution squad to assassinate Patrice Lumumba. The first elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lumumba led the DRC to independence on 30 June 1961. Although, it exploited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for its natural resources, precisely its use of Uranium for atomic weapons to bomb Japan, the US and Belgian could not stomach the fact that Russian, a communist government, was at the brink of helping Lumumba protect DRC's sovereignty. According to Emmanuel Gerard and Bruce Kuklick, In Death in the Congo: Murdering Patrice Lumumba, "[a] coup in September, secretly aided by the UN, toppled Lumumba’s government. In January 1961, armed men drove Lumumba to a secluded corner of the Katanga bush, stood him up beside a hastily dug grave, and shot him. His rule as Africa’s first democratically elected leader had lasted ten weeks." The body of the young, vibrant, and promising leader of Africa was later dissolved in sulphuric acid (see page 208 of In the Death of Congo for details on the gruesome murder).

Sadly, since the US, Belgian, and the United Nations removed Lumumba almost seven decades ago, the DRC has never been the same again. Beginning with Mobutu Sese Seko, the DRC has struggled for peace and stability free from natural resource exploitation and plundering of the country's wealth. Between 1998 and 2008, an estimated 5.4 million people have died as a direct result of the violence in the DRC.  In 2018 alone, In 2018, the United Nations documented 1,049 cases of conflict related sexual violence against 605 women, 436 girls, 4 men and 4 boys. As at July 2019, 20,044 UN peacekeepers have been deployed in the DRC. In recent times, rebel groups in the Kivu provinces have killed at least 1,900 civilians and abducted more than 3,300 others. Those responsible are yet to be brought to justice.

Call For Chapter Proposals: Book Project on Patriarchy and Gender in Africa

Globally, males disproportionately predominate leadership roles and exert power in diverse forms of social systems and institutions. Patriarchy, the supremacy of fatherhood whereby women and children rely totally on male line, is entrenched in many societies around the world. Differential enjoyment of rights and dignity predetermined for women and men, based on their social, cultural and legal disposition, typify gender inequality. Patriarchy and gender inequality are two important but complex and debatable issues facing the African continent today. Argued to be the main cause of gender inequality, patriarchy plagues Africa in spite of immense progress made in the last two decades to address the prolonged impacts of gender injustice and male dominance. On the occasion of the 15^thanniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, we announce a call for chapter proposals to critically analyze the situation of girls and women in Africa. To assess the state, role and impact of patriarchy and gender inequality on African girls and women, we seek broad themes of Patriarchy and Gender. We welcome papers from all disciplines that address the following, but not limited to: 

• the roots and foundations of patriarchy and gender in different societies and cultures in Africa;
• the expressions of femininities and masculinities in religion (e.g., African Traditional Religion, Christian, Islam and others);
• power relations among, between and within the sexes;
• traditional and non-traditional roles of gender;
• issues of domestic, family and personal violence;
• various social factors affecting patriarchal and gender institutions;
• issues of gender identities, gender expressions, gender relations, and gender roles;
• inter-connections between patriarchy, gender inequality, and violent extremism in Africa;
• existing gaps and opportunities for policy, law and social reform in gender justice; and
• empirical research and case studies on regional and sub-regional best practices and solutions to addressing patriarchy and gender inequality. 

Other issues related to patriarchy and gender are most welcome with particular regard to an examination of major issues relevant to the above themes for the purpose of contributing to deeper understanding of patriarchy and gender inequality, as well as, developing long-term solutions to the problem at stake.

Guided by the core objectives of the African Studies Research Forum (ASRF), we aim for a comprehensive coverage of the African continent in our search for well-researched papers to generate knowledge on reforming discriminatory laws, benefitting human-centered public policies, promoting best practices, harnessing research rigor, and expanding academic scholarship beyond the African continent. Selected papers will be published under “The ASRF’s Book Series.”

Submission Guidelines

Chapter Proposal: All chapter proposal must contain the following: i) topic (12 words maximum), ii) name, iii) institutional affiliation, iv) a brief description of the chapter (300-500 words maximum), and v) keywords (a maximum of five). 

Submission Deadline: 30 September 2018

First Chapter Draft: 31 December 2018

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Submit chapter proposal to egodi.uchendu@unn.edu.ng and fynnbruv@seattleu.edu

Journal of Internal Displacement-IDMC Special Issue: Call For Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS

‘Getting to 2030: The Future of Internal Displacement and Sustainable Development’

Special Issue January 2019

The internal displacement of millions of people every year is a human tragedy, as well as a political, social and economic challenge for many countries across the globe. It is increasingly recognised that large-scale, protracted internal displacement is often underpinned by problematic development trajectories, and that long-term displacement has a significant, if still unquantified, impact on national and regional economies, stability and security. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development gives express attention to internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a vulnerable group not to be left behind. Moreover, internal displacement cuts across all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), meaning that failing to address the realities of internal displacement risks holding back or even reversing progress on achieving those goals. Yet, while the negative impacts of internal displacement can hamper national progress, the evidence for how this plays out remains fragmented, and systematic studies are scant.

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. A number of initiatives and events are celebrating this important milestone by taking stock of the progress made over the last two decades. While reflection is of course crucial, we must also look to how we take the internal displacement agenda forward, beyond 2018, building on what has been achieved to date. Towards this aim, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) is hosting a conference in Geneva in October 2018, for which it has published a call for abstracts inviting contributions that explore the relationship between internal displacement and sustainable development. For its next issue, the Journal of Internal Displacement (JID) is collaborating with the IDMC to build on the outcomes from the conference, as well as inviting additional contributions that explore how internal displacement concerns fit into national and global sustainable development efforts and the UN prevention agenda. 

Paper themes: 

To address the identified knowledge gaps, lessons on the relationship between internal displacement and the SDGs are sought from a range of disciplines, including, but not limited to, migration and mobility studies, economics, human rights, human geography, health and political sciences, law, and area studies. By inviting contributions from across the globe, and from differing socio-economic and governance contexts, this Special Issue will unpack what it actually means to integrate internal displacement into national and regional development planning today and into the future.

Paper submissions are specifically welcome on the following themes: 

• the impact of internal displacement on long-term educational and employment outcomes; 
• the effect of protracted displacement on economic growth and inequality; 
• the interplay between sudden-onset disasters, slow-onset impacts arising from climate  change, and internal displacement; 

• the nature of access to justice and state accountability barriers faced by IDPs; 
• the challenges of collecting and aggregating data to support planning, as well as the prevention of internal displacement; 

• the existing gaps and opportunities for financing; and 
• case studies of instances where national and local authorities have integrated internal displacement into planning. 

Beyond these themes, papers that present further relevant lessons under the SDGs are welcome, as are papers that explore any other aspects of the relationship between internal displacement, sustainable development and prevention. 

Submission guidelines: 

• Manuscripts must be submitted to internaldisplacement@gmail.com no later than Thursday 8 November 2018. 
• Manuscripts must be a maximum of 30 pages (i.e. approximately 15,000 words including references). Further author guidelines are provided here. 

-->Please direct all questions on the JID Special Issue to Ben Hudson (Assistant Editor) at internaldisplacement@gmail.com. All questions specific to the IDMC conference should be directed to bina.desai@idmc.ch and christelle.cazabat@idmc.ch. For more information, visit: JID.

Gender Inequality in Global Political Leadership

Hello Everyone! I know what you're thinking: it's been way too long. Yes indeed I've not kept up with my once-per month post. I am simply overwhelmed with so much. Please hear me out. I wrote eight exam papers and completed submission of two dissertations (LLB and PhD) in 2016. Trust me, it was not an easy feat. But guess what? I did it!!! YEAH! And now that the LLB is done and I am almost done with the PhD, research, book publication, conference, and journal article review requests started to literally crash in on me. Well, it is all good,  but just busy.

OK, like most people around the world, I was also immersed into the US elections for obvious reasons. In the wee hours of 8 November 2016, I sat on the couch, resting my head on the shoulders of my husband with tears running down my cheeks as I watched the results of the election. Initially, I had anticipated being a living part of two great histories, i.e., to see the first Black President and the first Female President elected in the US. It hurt then and still hurts with every news and tweets larking around on Donald Trump. 

As I thought about topics to share on my block the global trend of rejected female leadership in politics became obvious. Each day as I introspect and think critically about social justice and equality issues, I wonder why females in leadership face ongoing challenges especially from men. Then, I started to familiarise myself with more information on these political leaders in relation to Hillary Clinton's loss of the US presidency to Trump: Dilma Rossef, President of Brazil (2011-2016), Park Geun-Hye (President of South Korea 2013-2017), Ameenah Gurib-Fakim (President of Mauritius (2015-2018) versus Jacob Zuma (president of South Africa 2009-2018) and Rodrigo Duterte, (President of the Philippines 2016-present).

I am constantly abhorred by some Americans narrow view and lack of ability to think critically about Obama's leadership. Even when there seems to be some level of objective assessment of Trump's insanity, still he and the GOP will find a way to always blame President Obama for every political problem in America. Sometimes, it is ridiculous and nonsensical how far some of these vitriolic spew can go. But for the ability to exercise independent research and examination, I wonder the fate of all those who gulp down junk media in a zombie-like fashion. Such toxic hatred definitely spilled over to inherent dislike of Clinton and the most powerful democratic nation mockery of gender equality. Well, at this point, the only logical conclusion as to why women are so fiercely examined and discriminated against by men primarily boils down to their gender. The patriarchal and paternalistic world over, men will stop at nothing to ensure they continue to assert power and control over women. But, not for too long, especially with increasing rise in women's voices.

Comments: The New Jim Crow Online Documentary

I find that comments made online in response to a You-Tube video, a news article or whatever are awash with hate, racism, and insults. So, if there is one place I exercise the most restraint, it is making comments online. However, nine months ago, I watched The New Jim Crow Online Documentary and felt the need to respond to two comments made by HG and TR:

HG: I'm a white man, from the west coast, of lower middle class means. I live in a wealthy area with hardly any African Americans. That is due to a certain level of racism. I get that. Police routinely harass black men just because they can. That is racism. I understand that. Prisons are disproportionately filled with black men when we all know that white men commit many crimes as well. That is injustice. I believe that. We have a serious problem in this country. Overall, black men trail other races in the area of income level. That is something that desperately needs to change. I watched this video because I care, and I despise racism. Having stated all of that, I have a serious question. When I was in university, I saw that African Americans were extremely underrepresented. There were many White, Hispanic, and Asian people of both sexes, but very few African Americans working toward their university degree. Why? What can we do to change that? There are many African Americans in the metropolitan area of Southern California where I live, but they are not educated as well as the other races. We have a high population of incarceration and a low level of education. That is very troublesome. I was a substitute teacher from 2003-2005. In my own professional opinion, the students who had recently immigrated from Africa were much more enthusiastic about their education than African Americans. What can we do to change that? Vietnamese people started to immigrate to the USA on a massive scale in 1975. They were poor, could not speak English, and lived in the ghettos of America. Yet, they escaped the ghettos while other races continue to languish in those ghettos. Why? What can we do to bring the level of education and income of African American men up to those of White men, or even Asian men? If that were to happen, it would certainly get rid of some of the injustices that we have seen in this documentary.

TR: Read the bell curve. What MSM and the apologists fail to mention is that nobody makes anybody commit a crime. That's voluntary behavior. The FBI DOJ crime stats separate black n white criminals. BUT ... included in white category are Latinos. If you were to separate the whites from latinos in the stats provided then white criminals diminish substantially and what you have is hi brown n black crime. Why? Education n work ethic. Simple.

My response was:

+HennaGaijin: Thanks for your humility, sincerity and respect. 

+tomas rader: I respectfully beg to differ. Reductionist theories can be dangerous, simplistic and downright uncritical; so that it lacks any room from substantial inclusive debates. To completely disregard such complex intergenerational history of subjugation, colonialism, trauma, slavery,  and everything else shoved down the unfair avenues of Blacks in America; only to reduce their predisposition to "apparently" high crime prevalence rates as a matter of choice, in my view, is naive, ignorant and condescending. A sophisticated introspective mind always tend to offer an opportunity for genuine learning exchange. Complicated issues in life and the intertwining conditions and factors could make one person prune to say "committing" a crime (or not). (Note my careful use of inverted commas on "apparently" and "committing" - go figure). 

HennaGaijin: now to attempt a response to your question (because I don't have the answer) , I think your current geographical location might partly explain the low representation of African Americans in your particular university. If you must know, I am not an African American, but I am Black from Africa. I'm a sucker for education. I have attended world-class universities on at least 4 continents on the globe. Most often than not, I'm the only black person in my class or program or one of very few. Again, this is partly due to where I have chosen to go to school. Notwithstanding, if you were to visit (for example) Howard, Spelman, or Morehouse universities, your observation will certainly be different.

Immediately after I posted my comments, TR reacted:
+Fynn Bruey: So lets take a look at tye cradle of civilization whete white men had very minor interactions wuth the heathens. Africa today. Your PC mindset will eventually get tou or someone you live killed, robbed, raped, or worse ... loose their very soul to rap. Nature or nurtures been bullshit from its inception .... like keeping it real keeps me alive and aware. I don't source from MSM or a doctorates thesis read online ... I go back to hardcover texts that taught and didn't indoctrinate. They ceased to exist after the fourth global warming climate change hoax ... greenhouse effect circa 1976. I only trust math now ... it can't lie or have a funding agenda. 

Then, that of DE's six months ago:
+Fynn Bruey: Well if intergenerational history of subjugation continues after the subjugation then something is the matter.

Alas, six hours ago, I woke up to a message in my inbox that SB has left a comment:
SB: The actual truth is hard to swallow. There is a disparity on the average IQ of different racial groups in America as follows: Blacks

Well, as I said earlier, I refuse to be dragged into a fit of rage and anger where much needed energy is wasted on frivolous arguments that usually lead to hate, racial slurs and insults. But I thought, since this is my critical thinking space, I could briefly respond to SB's comments here. Question! Why would anyone try to compare Asian-Americans to African-Americans regarding IQ test scores and incarceration rates? I guess it is easy to do, especially when it does not require much thinking/researching. Notwithstanding, here are three points SB and other could consider. One, IQ test scores are not reliable. Two, none of the 12.5 million Africans in 20,528 voyages across the Atlantic for almost 315 years were Asians. Three, the last time I checked, there was no law ever passed in the US to prevent Asian-American from acquiring education.

I could go on, but let me leave you with a message I read from a presentation made by Jeannine Bell at the Law and Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans early June -- a message a White person delivered to a Black family who recently moved into a so-called "White neighbourhood" in Chicago:

We don't know if you have realized this, but you and your family are niggers. We, as members of the white society, do not down the idea of having niggers living in our community. We are not happy to see our property values plummet to an all-time low. We have worked hard to bring up our property value with strict community restrictions. Since the real estate appraisers have learned that niggers live in our communities, we lost thousands of dollars on the resale to the nigger section in town, to another state or community, or to Africa where you really belong.

Yet Another Trek

I know, I know, I know...it's been almost a year. I have been neglectful in keeping up with my monthly postings. It's been an interesting journey in the last nine months: from successfully completing the final milestone of my PhD in August 2015, to returning to Liberia to present findings of the dissertation before completing it (almost there) and delving into new research and teaching opportunities. In early June, I presented at the Law and Society Annual Meeting 2016 in New Orleans. Now, that was a real experience, not just of NOLA's wonderful food and friendly culture but certainly getting a glimpse of the reality of former slaves who returned to Liberia in the early 1800s. These days, I have been inhaling "hateful" toxins exuding out of America's election. You bet I certainly have my perspectives...you will soon find out.

I can't thank you enough for your continuous visits to my blog!