CFA -15 Nov- "Siyavuma!" - 13th Annual Wild Coast Philosophy Symposium
Christopher Allsobrook
The annual Wild Coast Philosophy Symposium is a one-day in-person event cooperatively hosted by philosophers at the Universities of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela, and Rhodes.
This is a symposium in the sense of a convivial discussion in a relaxed setting in Chintsa, at a beautiful resort at the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, confined to a roundtable of around 18 participants, encouraging intense dialogue on fresh ideas on particular topics with short papers. The topic this year is Siyavuma!
Siyavuma!
___interjection. (/siːaˈvʊːma/). From the Nguni languages: ‘we agree.’ The traditional response of approval to a diviner’s diagnosis, now used more generally to signify agreement.
This symposium, titled "Siyavuma!", invites a critical examination of the concept of agreement, a cornerstone of much African philosophical thought and political practice. While agreement and/or consensus are often lauded as an African social and ethical ideal, this symposium aims to probe the ambivalences in the moment of accord. How is agreement recognised? What power dynamics are at play in reaching agreement? Whose voices may be sidelined in pursuit of unity? Whose interests are at stake in the handshake?
We explore the possibility that agreement can sometimes serve as a tool of legitimation for existing power structures. The aim is not to dismiss the value of consensus, but to enrich our understanding of it by considering the complex interplay of freedom, power, spirituality, and ideology that underpins any declaration of "Siyavuma!"
Sessions of 30 minutes include short papers of 15 minutes, with 5-minute responses to these papers, and 10 minutes for general discussion.
If you want to present a paper, please send us a title and brief abstract of around 150-200 words by 31 August 2025. Alternatively, let us know if you’d like to respond to any paper by the same time. Email: wildcoast...@gmail.com
The speakers should be able to make their presentations available to the respondents by 1 November 2025.
The conference fee for in-person attendance for the day is R700 (including refreshments and lunch). Graduate students may request subsidisation, for which some funds are reserved.
Call for abstracts: Siyavuma!
Conference Dates: Nov. 15, 2025
Location: University of Fort Hare, Chintsa
Submission Deadline: July 30, 2025
Submission: Please email proposals (abstracts), approximately 250 words,
prepared for blind review, to: wildcoast...@gmail.com. Please include
your name and affiliation in the body of the email, and attach the proposal as
a Word file or PDF.
Possible Subtopics include:
* Agreement and Consent (e.g. in intersubjective personal relations) (family,
sexual, friendship)
* Explicit, overt, expressed consent vs implicit, unexpressed, or tacit agreement
* Consensus and/or Consent in African Philosophy (e.g. Ubuntu / Leadership)
* Unanimous and/or/vs Majority Agreement
* Manufactured Consent/Consensus/Agreement
* Divine Agreement and/or Expert Agreement
* Consent as Failure to Resist
* Consensus as Failure to Object
* Political “agreement” – e.g. in Social Contract theory, the Racial Contract, the Sexual Contract, etc.
* Legitimacy and Dissent
* Constitutional ‘Agreements’ and Negotiated ‘Settlements’
* Informed Consent and/or Terms of Agreement
* Pragmatics of agreement
If you have any questions about the symposium, please contact Chris Allsobrook calls...@ufh.ac.za or Pedro Tabensky p.tab...@ru.ac.za
Christopher Allsobrook
The annual Wild Coast Philosophy Symposium is a one-day in-person event cooperatively hosted by philosophers at the Universities of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela, and Rhodes.
This is a symposium in the sense of a convivial discussion in a relaxed setting in Chintsa, at a beautiful resort at the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, confined to a roundtable of around 18 participants, encouraging intense dialogue on fresh ideas on particular topics with short papers. The topic this year is Siyavuma!
Siyavuma!
___interjection. (/siːaˈvʊːma/). From the Nguni languages: ‘we agree.’ The traditional response of approval to a diviner’s diagnosis, now used more generally to signify agreement.
This symposium, titled "Siyavuma!", invites a critical examination of the concept of agreement, a cornerstone of much African philosophical thought and political practice. While agreement and/or consensus are often lauded as an African social and ethical ideal, this symposium aims to probe the ambivalences in the moment of accord. How is agreement recognised? How is agreement manufactured? What power dynamics are at play? Whose voices may be sidelined? Whose interests are at stake in the handshake?
We explore the possibility that agreement can sometimes serve as a tool of legitimation for existing power structures. The aim is not to dismiss the value of consensus, but to enrich our understanding of it by considering the complex interplay of freedom, power, spirituality, and ideology that underpins any declaration of "Siyavuma!"
Sessions of 30 minutes include short papers of 15 minutes, with 5-minute responses to these papers, and 10 minutes for general discussion.
If you want to present a paper, please send us a title and brief abstract of around 150-200 words by 31 August 2025. Alternatively, let us know if you’d like to respond to any paper by the same time. Email: wildcoast...@gmail.com
The speakers should be able to make their presentations available to the respondents by 1 November 2025.
The conference fee for in-person attendance for the day is R700 (including refreshments and lunch). Graduate students may request subsidisation, for which some funds are reserved.
Call for abstracts: Siyavuma!
Conference Dates: Nov. 15, 2025
Location: University of Fort Hare, Chintsa
Submission Deadline: August 10, 2025
Christopher Allsobrook
The annual Wild Coast Philosophy Symposium is a one-day in-person event cooperatively hosted by philosophers at the Universities of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela, and Rhodes.
This is a symposium in the sense of a convivial discussion in a relaxed setting in Chintsa, at a beautiful resort at the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, confined to a roundtable of around 18 participants, encouraging intense dialogue on fresh ideas on particular topics with short papers. The topic this year is Siyavuma!
Siyavuma!
___interjection. (/siːaˈvʊːma/). From the Nguni languages: ‘we agree.’ The traditional response of approval to a diviner’s diagnosis, now used more generally to signify agreement.
This symposium, titled "Siyavuma!", invites a critical examination of the concept of agreement, a cornerstone of much African philosophical thought and political practice. While agreement and/or consensus are often lauded as an African social and ethical ideal, this symposium aims to probe the ambivalences in the moment of accord. How is agreement recognised? How is agreement manufactured? What power dynamics are at play? Whose voices may be sidelined? Whose interests are at stake in the handshake?
We explore the possibility that agreement can sometimes serve as a tool of legitimation for existing power structures. The aim is not to dismiss the value of consensus, but to enrich our understanding of it by considering the complex interplay of freedom, power, spirituality, and ideology that underpins any declaration of "Siyavuma!"
Sessions of 30 minutes include short papers of 15 minutes, with 5-minute responses to these papers, and 10 minutes for general discussion.
If you want to present a paper, please send us a title and brief abstract of around 150-200 words by 10 September 2025. Alternatively, let us know if you’d like to respond to any paper by the same time. Email: wildcoast...@gmail.com