Call for papers: American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting,
Boston, 5-9 April 2017
Session title: Cross-Border Co-operation in West Africa
Organizers: Olivier Walther, University of Southern Denmark and Rutgers
University; Marie Trémolières, OECD
Session description: West Africa is subdivided by 32 000 kilometres of land
borders which, if placed end-to-end, would almost circle the Earth. Most of
these territorial divisions are the legacy of colonisation and were long
considered to be obstacles to regional integration. West African borders are
often criticised for the costs and time delays related to border crossing, as
well as for obstructing the free movement of traders and individuals and
encouraging corruption. This session adopts a different approach to West
African borders. Its aim is to discuss how cross-border co-operation
contributes to the regional integration process. Building on an ongoing
research project that examines the current challenges of cross-border
co-operation in the region, we are particularly interested to understand more
about the economic potential of West African regions, the structure of
cross-border policy networks, the spatial perceptions of the region’s policy
makers, and the place-based policies that could be developed in the region. The
session’s geographical and relational approach to cross-border co-operation is
different from the more commonplace analyses of West Africa which describe the
legislative and institutional principles of co-operation, without necessarily
considering the geographic dimension of the spaces and actors involved. For the
most part, this aspect of CBC is still relatively unknown.
The session will capitalise upon recent geographical scholarship on
cross-border co-operation to explore themes such as:
· micro-regions and regional integration
· borders and policy networks
· spatially-blind vs. place-based policies
· economic development in border regions
· emergent policy approaches to cross-border cooperation
· innovative methodologies for studying CBC (network analysis,
mental maps)
We invite papers on these or related topics. Please send proposed titles and
abstracts (250 words or less) and/or expressions of interest to both Olivier
Walther (olivier.walt...@rutgers.edu) and Marie Trémolières
(marie.tremolie...@oecd.org) no later than 15 October 2016.
We will notify contributors of acceptance by 20 October 2016. All accepted
contributors will then need to register for the conference through the AAG
website, and should then send the registration code (PIN) they receive to us.
Please note that you must submit your abstract AND also pay the registration
fees in order for your PIN to be activated.
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Olivier J. Walther, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Southern Denmark
DK-6400 Sønderborg
+45.65.50.83.93
Twitter: @ojwalther
