From ‘Françafrique’ to the war in Mali: different perspectives
Title: From Françafrique to the war in Mali: contrasting perspectives
Introduction to the guests: Joe Gazeley, ‘Françafrique: A Global History of a Controversial Idea’, discussing his book: Françafrique. The Global History of an Idea, London, Hurst, 2026. Joe Gazeley is an F.R.S.-FNRS research fellow at the Université libre de Bruxelles. An interdisciplinary researcher in the fields of international relations and history, he is recognised for his research into Franco-African diplomatic and military relations. He holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh and has been a lecturer at the University of St Andrews and a Scouloudi Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research in London. He has also been a visiting researcher at the Institut des mondes africains at the University of Paris 8, the Afrika-Studiecentrum Leiden and the French Institute for Research in Africa-Nigeria.
Florent Pouponneau, ‘Political Sociology of the French Intervention in Mali’, based on his book: A Moderate War. The Effects of the International Context on the French Intervention in Mali, Vulaines-sur-Seine, Éditions du Croquant, 2025. Florent Pouponneau is a professor of political science at the University of Toulouse Capitole (School of Law). For the past fifteen years, he has been researching France’s foreign and defence policy using the tools and methods of political sociology. He has also published French Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy: On the Division of Diplomatic Labour, Brussels, P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2015, and co-edited the collective volume Going to War in Mali: Political and Bureaucratic Struggles Surrounding the French Intervention, Rue d’Ulm, Paris, 2022 (with Grégory Daho and Johanna Siméant-Germanos), and edited the double issue of the journal *Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales*, nos. 253–254, 2024, dedicated to the ‘Field of International Relations’ (with Karim Fertikh).
Discussants: Étienne Smith (Sciences Po Bordeaux, LAM) and David Ambrosetti (CNRS, LAM)
Date and times: Thursday 24 September, 2.00 pm
Venue: Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Sciences Po Bordeaux (11, All. Ausone - 33600 Pessac) - Touchard Room
Coordination of the Africa research strand (WP5): Rozenn Guérois, Margot Herman, Marianne Morange (Inalco), David Ambrosetti, Marième N’Diaye (Sciences Po Bordeaux), Raphaëlle Chevrillon-Guibert and Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos (IRD) with Zoé Quétu, postdoctoral researcher, DÉCRIPT programme.
Registration is open until 22 September at 4.00 pm: