new early bird registration deadline: 31 January 2014
new call for papers deadline: 30 November 2013
1st INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF
AFRICA-ASIA DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY NETWORK - AFRICA’S ASIAN OPTIONS
(AADUN-AFRASO) 2014
AFRICAN-ASIAN ENCOUNTERS (I): NEW COOPERATIONS - NEW DEPENDENCIES?
11-13 March 2014
Research Management & Innovation Complex
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
About 1st AADUN-AFRASO Conference (Click here for Conference Website)
The 1st AADUN-AFRASO conference is the result of collaboration between the Africa-Asia Development University Network (AADUN), the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, the University of Malaya, the research project Africa’s Asian Options (AFRASO), and the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany.
Introduction
African-Asian relations have become ever more important on a global scale – in the political and economic as well as in the social and cultural sphere. The transregional arena constituted by the recent strong growth of African-Asian interactions may well have a decisive impact on the 21st century.
While China has been at the forefront of attention for some time, more recently an increasing number of Asian countries have become active in Africa and numerous African actors (governments, businesses, NGOs, etc.) have forged links with Asian countries. This multipolar scenario opens up new options for economic development, political solidarity and the emergence of a transnational civil society. At the same time, there has been growing concern (both outside and inside Africa) about new forms of dependency and exploitation – or even a “new colonialism” – generated by Asia’s and especially China’s intensified engagement in Africa.
The aim of this international conference is to provide a more systematic overview of the empirical dimensions and analytical implications of these multifaceted and conflicting processes. What is new about Asian-African interactions? Do they follow specific patterns? How can they be characterised and analysed? Do they give rise to mutually beneficial modes of cooperation, or do they produce new asymmetries?
