This workshop is a follow-up to the symposium “‘Actualité’ of African Philosophy” held at Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès and Sciences Po Paris from January 15 to 18, 2024.
This symposium proposed to present works in African philosophy currently being carried out in France and internationally, particularly in Africa. It aimed to contribute to: demonstrating the need to refer to the works of African philosophy in our own time, and their relevance to the most pressing social and political issues, in Africa and the rest of the world; integrating the field of African philosophy, across its geographical and linguistic differences, while at the same time opening it up on an inter-area and inter-disciplinary level; taking stock of the structuring issues of its contemporary history (the definition of African philosophy, the liberation struggles, the problem of ethnophilosophy, the articulation between the continent and the diaspora, between the north and the south of the Sahara, the globality of African history and situation, providing a criticism of the traditional history of philosophy, etc.).
It also aimed to help introduce the academic field to African philosophy, which is still largely ignored in France, and to this end was anchored in local institutional initiatives: at Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, the creation in 2021 of an African Philosophy Teaching Unit in the Master’s program, the organization of the Rencontres des Études Africaines en France in 2022, followed by the creation of the Structure Collaborative de Recherche en Études Africaines led by the seminar “Les Afriques au pluriel”; at Sciences Po Paris, the creation of the “Africa” minor in the undergraduate program and the foundation of the “Africa” program.
This workshop consists of a series of interviews with symposium speakers, conducted by students from Sciences Po Paris and Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès or by other speakers. It is gradually opening up to new researchers and students beyond the symposium.
Workshop coordinated by Salim Abdelmadjid, associate professor of philosophy at Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès
Image credit: Benoît Colas
