South African Association of Political Studies SAAPS NEWSLETTER – July 2006

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Dear SAAPS Members and Other Interested Scholars

This newsletter brings you the April to July 2006 updates on activities and events in SAAPS. In particular, we wish to draw your attention to three matters: you can still get yourself onto the SAAPS September Biennial Conference programme, we are re-advertising for Politikon editor and review editor, and you may start recruiting nominations for SAAPS office-bearers and a number of Council positions. You are also welcome to navigate the website on www.saaps.org.za for further information.

SAAPS SEPTEMBER 2006 BIENNIAL CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE Keith Gottschalk and his University of the Western Cape (UWC) team are reporting excellent progress in the finalisation of arrangements for our Biennial Conference of 5 – 8 September 2006. A recent count of paper proposals showed that the 100-proposal mark was reached, with contributions coming from the Centre for Conflict Resolution, Institute for Global Dialogue, Africa Institute, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Centre for Public Participation, Human Sciences Research Council, the Universities of Western Cape, Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Free State, Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Limpopo, Pretoria, Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan, Rhodes, Walter Sisulu, KwaZulu-Natal, Zululand, as well as Parliament and a range of universities and institutes in the rest of Africa, the UK, North America and specifically also Moscow.

An urgent announcement is that the UWC conference organisers have agreed to leave the door ‘marginally open’ for latecomers. Several of the universities listed above only have a tiny number of paper presenters. Please grab this opportunity still to come on board. This conference promises to be one of the most vibrant, and probably biggest, conferences SAAPS and its predecessor associations have ever hosted. Don’t miss the boat. Contact Keith on 021-9593228 or kgottschalk@uwc.ac.za, and ensure that your name will be on the programme. For more information, you may also visit the SAAPS website, which is hyperlinked to conference information on www.uwc.ac.za/ems/pols.

Our sincerest thanks go to Keith and all his UWC colleagues for their incredible enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism.

POLITIKON The SAAPS Executive Committee recently resolved to re-advertise the positions of Editor and Review Editor of Politikon, Journal of the South African Association of Political Studies. The full advertisement is posted on the SAAPS website. I shall also be sending it to those of you who are on my departmental contact list. The new closing date is Tuesday 15 August 2006.

The new editor will commence duties as soon as possible after July 2006, and will be responsible for the editing of the journal for two years. Outgoing editor, Dr Stephen Louw, has agreed to continue in this position for the time being. Please submit applications to the President of SAAPS, Prof Susan Booysen, on sbooysen@icon.co.za. For enquiries please call 083-2901636.

BEST STUDENT AWARD, 2005 We thank the universities that nominated students for the two SAAPS Best Student Awards – Best Third Year Student, and Best Honours Student. Nominations for Best Third Year Student were received from the Universities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Rhodes, Stellenbosch and Witwatersrand. Best Honours Student nominations came from the Universities of Cape Town, Free State, Johannesburg, Rhodes and Stellenbosch.

These nominations are now going to two judges in each of the two categories. We hope to announce the results in a couple of weeks’ time, in order for the winners to be able to attend the SAAPS Conference.

ASSESSING THE ‘STATE OF THE DISCIPLINE’ IN SOUTH AFRICA In taking forward the September 2005 Members’ Meeting request to Anthoni van Nieuwkerk and myself to conduct a ‘State of the Discipline’ survey, the Exco approved that the early steps in this process will be:

1. Susan and Anthoni will prepare a concept document for consideration and discussion in a Round Table panel at the SAAPS conference. We hope to get the participation of leading scholars. If you have an interest in this matter, please contact Anthoni and myself as a matter of urgency. b. As part of the panel discussion, we shall devote time to the ‘how to’ of assessing the state of the discipline in South Africa. We hope to obtain relative consensus on methodology. c. As a first step in the implementation of the broader mandate, I shall conduct a survey of how scholars in South African universities ‘teach’ South African politics, with special consideration of the extent to which it is positioned within theoretical and Southern Africa regional contexts. I shall be in contact with Departments soon. d. As a concurrent first step, Anthoni shall conduct a comparable survey into how the International Relations discipline is ‘taught’ in South African universities. e. Further steps in the process will be informed by the SAAPS panel discussion.

CONFERENCE PANEL DISCUSSION ON EMERGING SCHOLARSHIP IN POLITICAL STUDIES IN SOUTH AFRICA At the forthcoming conference, Exco member Lubna Nadvi will convene a special panel on the issues of facilitation of emerging scholarship in Political Studies in South Africa. The objectives will be for the event to serve as a rallying point for emerging and young scholars, and to assist SAAPS in mapping possible future programmes.

SAAPS STUDY GROUPS Your conference folder at UWC will contain information on the to-be-launched SAAPS Study Groups. Anthoni van Nieuwkerk is in charge of this initiative.

UPDATE ON THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION OF POLITICAL STUDIES As SAAPS Exco we take this opportunity to share with you some of the news about our parent association, the African Association of Political Science (AAPS). The AAPS Secretariat has effectively collapsed, but actions are underway to resurrect it. AAPS now occupies an office in the Unisa complex. The AAPS website has again become active, and it should be updated soon. It has also been reported to us that AAPS has sold its house-office in Pretoria, and funds consequently are available to tie it over in the crisis period ahead.

There are plans to hold an AAPS executive committee meeting later this month, or soon thereafter. It is hoped that a business plan and a plan of action could be adopted in order to help resurrect AAPS. Dr Cheryl Hendricks, AAPS Deputy President for Southern Africa, has agreed to provide an updated briefing to the September 2006 SAAPS Members’ Meeting. We as Exco have offered our support to the AAPS Executive, should we be able to assist the association in any way.

CONFERENCE ELECTIONS AND IMPORTANT DATES Biennial Conference also means nominations and elections for a number of SAAPS office bearer and Council positions. We shall send out a specific call for nominations, and then also provide you with the nomination form. In the interim, please note the following:

• Nominations will be called for President, Deputy-president, Secretary-Treasurer and a number of Council positions. (The President and Deputy-president are not eligible for re-election to the same positions.) o The names of the retiring Council members (constitutionally set at three) will be announced by approximately 27 July 2006. There are currently also a number of co-opted additional Council members. These positions are for the duration of the current term of Council only. The exact number of Council vacancies will be announced. o Nominations will close four weeks prior to the Member’s Meeting, which will take place in the course of the UWC conference, probably on Thursday 7 September 2006. You will be notified of the exact date. Bear in mind that it will be not later than 10 August 2006. o In order to nominate and be nominated for positions, your membership of SAAPS has to be up to date. o In addition, contributions to the agenda of the Members’ Meeting (including proposals for change of the SAAPS Constitution) have to reach the Secretary-Treasurer not later than four weeks prior to the Members’ Meeting, thus also by not later than 10 August 2006.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL AND UPDATE OF CONTACT DETAILS Secretary-treasurer Dr Thabisi Hoeane again requests SAAPS members to renew their membership. We are investigating facilities to do this online. However, in the interim, please contact Thabisi on t.hoeane@ru.ac.za, should you require information or wish to make your payments.

Furthermore, kindly remember to notify Dr Hoeane of any change in your electronic or postal contact details. We obviously also encourage hitherto non-members – including students and other young scholars – to become SAAPS members.

With best wishes on behalf of the SAAPS Executive Committee

Susan Booysen

Professor Susan Booysen President South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS)