2025 Annual Conference : July 19-20, 2025
Theme: Rethinking Ecological, Political, Social, and Economic Prospects of the Horn of Africa
The peoples, nations, and nation-states of the Horn of Africa have rich cultural practices, complex relationships with land, and intricate kinship systems that stretch from Somalia and Kenya, through Ethiopia and Djibouti and up across Eritrea. However, the mobile architecture of Borana Oromo or the power of women in the Siinqee system, and the maintenance of these kinds of practices across changing political, economic, and ecological contexts, are too often overlooked in Horn narratives. Instead, the focus has overwhelmingly been on the excess of conflicts and crises faced in the region, as widespread famine, increasing displacement, climate disasters, and the violent conflict and displacements that have erupted in Northern Ethiopia and Oromia have come to dominate the conversation. With all of these intersecting aspects as a context, this conference uses the idea of “prospects” to think through some of the largest issues facing the Horn of Africa today and imagine possibilities for the future. We hope to engage with the Horn’s prospects from many different dimensions, giving as much care to small adaptations in local land practices as we do to conversations around a complete reorganization of the nations and state building processes in the Horn. In line with the conference theme, “Rethinking ecological, political, social, and economic prospects” we highly appreciate papers that focus on, but are not limited to the following:
1. Ecological:
a. What would an ecologically sustainable future look like in the Horn?
● Issues such as deforestation, water resource, adaptation to drought, etc.
b. How are issues like climate change, natural disasters, Indigenous land use, and eco- sovereignty being addressed across the Horn?
2. Political:
a. What are the possibilities and challenges for nation-building and self-determination in the Horn?
b. What role might decolonial, independent, and other liberation movements have in the future of Horn politics?
c. How do the federal and unitary political narratives in Ethiopia impact on the nation- state building in the country?
d. How are the socio-political systems and development policies impacting nation- state building in the Horn?
● Education, Social mobility, public health, conflict and famine in nation- state building in the Horn
3. Social:
a. How might peoples of the Horn build more inclusive communities?
● Thinking of the situation of the elderly, people with disabilities, marginalized ethnic groups, etc.
b. How can the peoples of the Horn of Africa generate more equitable futures for the women of the region? In what ways can women’s rights and roles be rethought and reimagined?
● Women’s rights in general may be considered here (pay gap/ employment, land ownership, etc), as well as more sensitive topics like FGM, child marriage, Intimate Partner Violence.
4. Economic:
a. How might we critique economic systems and relations across Horn states and peoples in order to create a different economic future?
b. How are economic production and distribution justified within nation-state building and the perspectives of the Horn?
c. What possibilities exist for rethinking economic interactions between Horn economies and outside organizations/ governing bodies (World Bank, IMF, EU, the USA, etc.)? Issues like international aid distribution, loans, dependency, etc.
d. Global trade war and its consequence to Africa and Oromo.
We welcome proposals from experts in all related fields, including the natural and social sciences, as well as activists, artists, and community organizers and organize discussion panels of their own in line with the theme. We especially encourage proposals from individuals working and living in the Horn of Africa .
Abstract submission deadline: May 7,2025
Submit your abstract on info@tumsahaqaoromoo.com