Call for Participation
16-22 September 2024
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Development Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Context and Aim
In contrast to the prediction of mainstream economists, African wealth and income inequality, while already being among the highest in the world, is worsening. Government responses in Sub-Saharan Africa have often exacerbated this crisis by cutting public spending on social services such as health, education, and water. Inequality issues have thus become increasingly important in academic and policy circles. Notwithstanding the wide range of literature on the historical roots of the current economic performance and rising inequalities in Africa, wealth inequality-focused research remains limited in Africa. The wealth divide is important to understanding inequality because it is a product of and feeds into the maldistribution of income".
The summer school therefore aims to enhance capacities and share research on wealth inequality, the influence of neoliberal and other policies as drivers of wealth (in)equality, different forms of inequalities, methods for data collection, measuring and analyzing inequalities, and understanding the nexus between inequalities and conflict. Specific attention will be paid to the drivers of wealth inequality including class, gender, displacement, persons with disability, and the rural-urban divide. By the end of the summer school, participants will be able to collaboratively develop interdisciplinary research designs to contribute to the understanding, analysing, measuring, and reporting of the gender-disaggregated data on wealth inequality and the implications of wealth inequalities to policy and practice.
As part of the outputs, participants will collectively draft blog posts and policy briefs reflecting on the summer school’s experiential learning, which will be published on the IfSO blog. Participants will work in groups with established researchers from the US, Europe, and Africa to develop, write, and publish a paper or chapter on a wealth inequality-related subject. Finally, the participants will help to develop a plan to institutionalize the study of wealth, wealth inequality, and related policy initiatives in the curriculum of their university or department.
Organization
The summer school is jointly organized by the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany), Makerere University (Uganda), and the University of Michigan (USA) and is made possible by funding from the Volkswagen Foundation. It will take place from September 16th to 22nd, 2024, at Makerere University Kampala, Uganda. The Summer School will be attended by 45 students from East Africa and 5 students from Germany. Flights, ground transportation, accommodations, and meals will be covered where applicable.
Application
To participate, you must be enrolled in a Master's, PhD, Post-doc, or early career at a University in Africa.
Please submit your application via email: resty.naiga@mak.ac.ug. It should include a one-page curriculum vitae and a motivational letter explaining why you wish to participate in the summer school (max. 400 words). The deadline for submission is 20th July 2024 at 23:59h and a response to the application will be sent by 30th July 2024.
For further information regarding the organization of the summer school as well as the host university, please contact the lead convenor Dr.Resty Naiga, Head and Chair Department of Development Studies, Makerere University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences at resty.naiga@mak.ac.ug whatsapp +256702213776.
