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The conference will explore the theme of building ties across boundaries in Central Africa and beyond. Boundaries - whether between places, peoples, or disciplines - have always been contentious. They have been created to bind people, ideas, and lands together, helping to fashion identities and build solidarities (Anderson 1983). But they have also been used to exclude, separate, or contain, as they stake claims about resources, identity, and other forms of belonging and unbelonging (Ignatieff 1993). Boundaries are also often notoriously porous. At this conference, we seek to highlight questions around the nature of boundaries in Central Africa and beyond - whether that means physical, political, and communal boundaries or disciplinary boundaries. How do boundaries function in the past and present within the region and in its relationships with the rest of the continent? What might it look like to build more effective bridges across boundaries to address the pressing political, economic, and social issues in Central Africa and its diasporas?

This interdisciplinary call for papers is open (and not limited) to scholars, including but not limited to Africanist researchers, and specialists in the humanities and other scientific disciplines (including anthropology, economics, history, political science, religion, and sociology, etc.), who are interested in these issues. Below are some suggested subthemes to consider when preparing your proposals. They are not meant to be exhaustive and other subthemes are welcome:

Theme 1: Boundaries, and the (Re)Making of Identities and Solidarities

Ethnicity and belonging
Religious nationalism
Local, national, and colonial languages 
Space and Identity

Theme 2: Nation-state, spatial, and urban/rural boundaries

Borders, Conflict, and Violence
Mobility, Migration, Flight, and Diasporas
Spatial (non)Integrations (rural/urban, East/West, North/South, etc)
Regional Connections and Disruptions

Theme 3: Interdisciplinarity, Decoloniality, and Epistemic Frontiers

North/South Boundaries and Collaborations
Working Across Disciplinary Lines
Decolonial Methods and Epistemologies 

Proposals should not exceed 250 words (Times New Roman, size 12, single spaced). They must clearly indicate the title of the paper, name(s) and surname(s) of the author(s), their institutional affiliation, contact details, research question, methodology, main themes of the paper, and five keywords.

Abstracts should be sent to Kinshasaconference2026@gmail.com and copied to the following 3 email addresses:

📧roger.alfani@shu.edu
📧eggersna@utk.edu
📧aleinweber@missouristate.edu

Important Dates and Additional Information

Call for Papers Release Date: Monday, March 16, 2026

Deadline for Abstract Submission: Monday, April 13, 2026
Notification to Authors: Monday, April 27, 2026
Conference Dates: Friday, July 10, and Saturday, July 11, 2026
Conference Venue: Centre d'Études Pour l'Action Sociale (CEPAS), Kinshasa, DRCongo
Format: The conference will be bilingual (French and English). Presentations will be in person but efforts will be made to allow a virtual audience.

Scientific Committee

Alfani, Roger (Seton Hall University, USA)
Eggers, Nicole (University of Tennessee/Knoxville, USA)
Leinweber, Ashley (Missouri State University, USA)

Organizing Committee

Alfani, Roger
Biantendo Nkula, Emmanuella
Eggers, Nicole
Katambayi, Gedeon
Leinweber, Ashley