{"id":5033,"date":"2026-10-27T23:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T21:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/?page_id=5033"},"modified":"2026-10-27T23:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T21:54:04","slug":"wg-8-africa-across-the-social-sciences-early-career-perspectives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/working-groups\/wg-8-africa-across-the-social-sciences-early-career-perspectives","title":{"rendered":"WG 8: Africa Across the Social Sciences: Early-Career Perspectives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coordinators:<\/strong>
\nIlmari Huotari (University of Helsinki \/ Global Development Studies)<\/em>
\nKirsten Nielsen (University of Helsinki \/ Anthropology)<\/em>
\nLina Bonde (University of Helsinki \/ Sociology)<\/em>
\n
\nDescription:
\n<\/strong>Across different disciplines, researchers in and on Africa share similar challenges and concentrate on similar themes. Yet early-career scholars frequently encounter these themes through disciplinary silos. This working group brings together early-career scholars working on research topics related to Africa to discuss how social scientific research can be collaboratively imagined across disciplinary boundaries. Organized by researchers in development studies, anthropology, and sociology, the group will provide a space for doctoral researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and recently appointed academics to share work in progress, reflect on methodological, epistemological, ethical, and professional challenges, and build a supportive intellectual network during the conference.<\/p>\n

The session will combine conventional paper presentations and thematic discussions concerning research in\/on Africa. Participants are encouraged beforehand to identify a question they would like to explore. These may include, for example, how to work across scales and sites, how to navigate positionality and collaboration in fieldwork, how to write for different academic audiences, or how to engage critically with categories such as \u201cdevelopment,\u201d \u201cAfrica,\u201d or \u201cthe field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The working group also seeks to strengthen networking over disciplinary boundaries. By fostering dialogue across development studies, anthropology, sociology, human geography, and related fields, the working group aims to make the conference a space not only for presenting research, but also for building community. We hope the session will create the basis for future collaborations, such as reading groups, writing exchanges, conference panels, or informal peer-support networks among early-career researchers.<\/p>\n

Type of call:<\/strong>
\nCall for Abstracts<\/p>\n

Participation mode:<\/strong>
\nIn-Person Only (Helsinki)
\n
\nSubmission details: <\/strong>
\nEmail address for submissions and inquiries: ilmari.huotari@helsinki.fi<\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract word count limit: 300 words, full papers not required<\/p>\n

Funding note:
\n<\/strong>Working Group has no external project funds for travel and\/or accommodation.<\/p>\n

Contacts:
\n<\/strong>Ilmari Huotari, ilmari.huotari@helsinki.fi <\/a>
\nKirsten Nielsen, kirsten.nielsen@helsinki.fi <\/a>
\nLina Bonde, lina.bonde@helsinki.fi<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coordinators: Ilmari Huotari (University of Helsinki \/ Global Development Studies) Kirsten Nielsen (University of Helsinki \/ Anthropology) Lina Bonde (University of Helsinki \/ Sociology) Description: Across different disciplines, researchers in and on Africa share similar challenges and concentrate on similar themes. Yet early-career scholars frequently encounter these themes through disciplinary silos. This working group brings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":3437,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5033"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5034,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5033\/revisions\/5034"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kehitystutkimus.fi\/conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}