A transnational research lab to strengthen anthropology
The Forum for Africa Studies (Uppsala), the Institut des Sciences des Sociétés (Ouagadougou) and the Institut des Sciences Humaines (Bamako) have jointly decided to create a mainly Francophone research laboratory on engaged, comparative and transnational anthropology. Over the years the three institutions have developed bilateral agreements, and time is now ripe to set up at joint research lab as a way to foster strong and dynamic research environments engaging with pertinent societal challenges.
The LACET operates "on a shoestring" (lacet=shoestring) with a minimal budget but maximum engagement! Visit our website (in French) here / Visiter notre site (en francais) ici. Check our flyer here.
The Laboratoire d'anthropologie comparative, engagée et transnationale (LACET) builds on decades of joint-research and training activities, such as:
-
International conferences (Bonds and Boundaries, Gaoua, Burkina Faso, July 1998; Forest management, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, November 1998; Engaging Anthropology for Development and Social Change, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso January 2010; Municipal Democracy, Bamako, Mali, March 2014; Political transition and municipal governance, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, April 2017)
-
Regular workshops in Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Uppsala, totaling between 10 and 15 over the last 10 years
-
Research programmes (forest management, sociopolitical opposition, grassroots democracy, security from below, women leadership, etc.)
-
Commissioned research (Security from below, Mali, 2016-17; Burkinabe sociopolitical transformations 2016-17; Burkina Faso seen from below 2018-20; Social Analysis, Mali 2008-09)
-
Academic assignments, including joint supervision arrangements and PhD theses defense participation.
-
Joint-publication of research results, including those published in the series Uppsala Papers in Africa Studies and Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology, as well as in journals, such as the Journal of Mande Studies.
The LACET functions as an umbrella and academic framework, as to formalize and foster stronger bonds and better opportunities between researchers and institutions, while staying flexible and open to any collaboration with other actors.
The purpose is to strengthen research in the social sciences and the humanities, particularly the comparative, engaged and transnational anthropology in Africa or in relation to African issues, including the African Diaspora. For this, the LACET will act as an international research laboratory (Laboratoire Mixte International) called Le Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Comparative, Engagée et Transnationale.
Preapred since October 2018, the official launching of LACET took place oning Tuesday 17 March 2020, by kickstart Le séminaire virtuel du LACET simultaneously in Bamako, Ouagadougou, and Uppsala. More information here
The name LACET was coined during a writing workshop in Léo, Burkina Faso, in October 2018, but the activities assembled in LACET dates back over the last decade and beyond. Participants of the October 2018 workshop were (from left to right): Ludovic Kibora, Yacouba Cissao, Siaka Gnessi, Mariatou Zongo, Amado Kaboré, Bintou Koné, Sten Hagberg, and Sidi Barry.