Panel #4B:

"Practical Knowledge:  Addressing the Gap between Academia and Activism"

Organizers:

Amal Hassan Fadlalla (University of Michigan)
Sondra Hale (University of California, Los Angeles)



As our academic work on Sudan is growing, it is also illuminating urgent areas of research pertinent to the socio-economic and political crises facing the country: war, famines, poverty, disease, racism, sexism, and environmental degradation, to name a few. Inherent in our academic practice, however, is still a stark division between academia and activism. The panelists question the wisdom of the continuation of such a division. What are the possible ways through which we can enable our academic knowledge to influence the lives of the people we work with/for? And to what extent are we committed through our academic work to mitigate the gap between research and action? In this panel we attempt to address these questions through the research experiences of many scholars of /activists on gender, development, health, art, education, environment, etc., who reflect on their own academic work and the challenges they face in doing research and action. We need to foreground an active academic practice and to strengthen our scholarly commitment for policy making and social change.

The Growing Gap between Abstract Theories and Practice within Women's Studies and How These Contradictions Can be Addressed (with Reference to Sudan)

Sondra Hale
(University of California, Los Angeles)

In this paper I will present some contradictions that have emerged within academia in the more "activist" disciplines or programs such as Women's Studies, Ethnic Studies, Marxist studies, and some regional studies, and relate this to my Sudan activism.

Women's Studies, on which I will focus, was supposedly founded as an "arm of the women's liberation movement." It has, in fact, moved appreciably away from activism and practice. The "cutting edge" of WS studies fields have moved toward increasingly abstract ideas, especially poststructural and postcolonial theories, even though many of the ideas within these are "progressive."  In order to survive in academia feminist scholars committed to activism, have been forced to abandon many areas of practice while perhaps simultaneously embracing even more radical ideas from these new paradigms.

In this paper I will make suggestions about the kind of research that may lend itself to activism.  For example, oral history and self-reflexive ethnography are thriving approaches within WS.  I will describe how collecting the oral histories of Nuba women, for instance, to document genocide or other atrocities, is a way of fusing academia and activism.

The Pedagogy of Action

Rahwa Haile
(University of Michigan)

Drawing from my experience in the Pedagogy of Action project during the summer of 2002, I will discuss the ways in which the rift between activist and academic practices can be bridged through privileging sustainable interventions. This H.I.V. intervention project that was undertaken in South Africa is one powerful testament to the value of providing people with tools to empower themselves, rather than insisting on ones own centrality as expert in the domain of academic knowledge. In this project, the academic knowledge generated by fields such as postcolonial studies profoundly shaped the ways in which our activism was practiced.

Zameel Network: A Contribution of the Sudanese Left in the Qualitative Research Field

Mohamed Algadi
(University of Massachusetts, Amherst) :

There are many techniques used in gathering information in the field of Qualitative Research. Some examples are: Interviews; Focus Groups; Observations; Questionnaires; Photography; Mapping; and Documentation.

Zameel Network is a unique data-collecting tool developed by the Sudanese political left movement to overcome restrictions imposed on their freedom of expression and research.

In this presentation, I will highlight the role of activism/activists in influencing and informing research in academia. I also intend to discuss the definition of Zameel Network, when and how it is used, precautions, strengths, and weaknesses. A number of Sudanese projects will be reviewed where the Zameel Network techniques have been successfully used.

Resisting and Speaking to the Silence: An Ongoing Visual Rage

Khalid Kodi
(Boston University):

Resisting the Silence is a protest. It is a protest aimed at mainstream academia, Sudanists, and the Sudanese elite -- all who choose silence as a response to the ongoing genocide in the Sudan. It is a protest of the academy's tradition of avoiding discussing the loss of 2 million lives. A slide presentation will address the contemporary and the historical silence.

Linking Research to Action, What Works? The Case of Mother and Child Health Research in Egypt

El Daw Suliman
Johns Hopkins University

Translating research findings into policy actions is one of the challenges the researchers and academics in developing countries face. Research and facts guided policies and programs in the area of mother and child health in Sudan are lacking, and with the absence of help from international donors there seem to be no or little hope for any progress in this matter. In this paper I will discuss the experience of Egypt in this field, and how the collaboration between the domestic and international researchers and donors have made it possible for Egypt to set a success story in linking research to policy action and achieve favorable outcomes in the field of mother and child health.

The Successes and Challenges of African Refugee Resettlement in Washington Metropolitan Area


Abdul Kamus
(African Community Center, Washington, DC)

What are the impacts of 911 on the African refugee/immigrant community, such as airport screeners, taxi drivers, hospitality workers? The experience of the African refugees in getting access to government services, such as representation, employment, language access for LEP customers. What is the relationship between the African immigrant and the African-American communities?




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