THE POLITICS OF CONCRETE IN AFRICA

A seminar organized within the framework of the Research Group ‘ Africa: Citizenship, Violence and Politics‘.

The politics of concrete explore the everyday forms of urban politics that shape the aspiration of housing in Africa from the building in concrete blocks when it was illegal during the colonial period to the current cementing of the West African coast.

Speakers:
Armelle Choplin, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Geneva.
Author of Matière grise de l’urbain. La vie de ciment en Afrique, Genève, Métis Presses, Matières à Penser, 2020.

David Morton, Department of History, University of British Columbia.
Author of Age of Concrete: Housing and the Shape of Aspiration in the Capital of Mozambique,  Ohio University Press, New African Histories Series, 2019.

Discussants:
Didier Péclard, Department of Political Science and Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva.
Laurent Fourchard, Sciences Po – CERI.

Matière grise de l’urbain. La vie de ciment en Afrique, Armelle Choplin, Métis Presses, Matières à Penser, 2020.

L’Afrique connaît aujourd’hui une croissance urbaine rapide qui se traduit par une multiplication des constructions en béton. Le ciment, composant essentiel de ce matériau, est devenu le symbole de cette urbanisation frénétique qui bouleverse le paysage des villes africaines. Plus qu’une simple matière inerte, il se charge d’affect et de valeurs et redéfinit les pratiques et les imaginaires de sociétés en quête d’émergence économique et de réussite sociale, alors même qu’à l’heure du dérèglement climatique des voix s’élèvent pour dénoncer une industrie cimentière aux effets destructeurs sur l’environnement. […]

Age of Concrete: Housing and the Shape of Aspiration in Maputo, David Morton, Ohio University Press, New African Histories Serie, 2019.

Age of Concrete is a history of the making of houses and homes in the subúrbios of Maputo (Lourenço Marques), Mozambique, from the late 1940s to the present. Often dismissed as undifferentiated, ahistorical “slums,” these neighborhoods are in fact an open-air archive that reveals some of people’s highest aspirations. At first people built in reeds. Then they built in wood and zinc panels. And finally, even when it was illegal, they risked building in concrete block, making permanent homes in a place where their presence was often excruciatingly precarious. Unlike many histories of the built environment in African cities, Age of Concrete focuses on ordinary homebuilders and dwellers. […]

Organizers: Richard Banégas, Sciences Po-CERI, Laurent Fourchard, Sciences Po-CERI, Roland Marchal, Sciences Po-CERI / CNRS & Sandrine Perrot, Sciences Po-CERI.

This seminar will take place online via the Zoom platform.
You will receive a confirmation email with the login information after registration.

Registration