Deadline: 22 October 2018

The French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA)-Nairobi is currently seeking applications for its 2019 fieldwork grants to support Masters and PhD students who conduct research in social sciences and humanities in the East African region (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and Eastern Congo).

Research Themes

IFRA will prioritize support to the following research themes:

• Devolution and Local Politricks: Support will be given to research on Devolution and the role played by the new County positions in Kenyan politics. Research topics include the political identities of the new electoral constituencies and the making of ethnic identities, the sociological profiles of local leaders, their policies and projects on the ground, as well as the strategies of the citizens and specific groups (council of elders, associations, NGOs, community-based organizations, etc.) to challenge or benefit from the new devolved system.
• Workers, labour and employment: This research area targets studies on workers in industries, factories and on plantations in East Africa, focusing on working conditions, workers relations (considering gendered issues), workers/employers relations, organized protest or consent, the growth of a working class culture, etc.
• Decolonizing epistemology: this research theme is concerned with the contexts, conditions and actors of the production and use of knowledge in social sciences, philosophy and art in relation to (East) Africa; it will support studies on (East) African thinkers and intellectuals, including artists, to understand activism, epistemological renewal and critical thinking in and about (East) Africa
• Gender and LGBT in words and in practice: this theme concerns gendered identities in African postcolonial politics; it explores the construction and uses of gender in various settings; it also focuses on frictions between LGBT activists and the state, and on the interplay between global gendered identity and local conceptions and practices.

Beyond these priority research themes, IFRA aims to foster research in general in the East African region and grants may be given to non-priority project proposals when considered relevant.

How to Apply

Applicants should send their duly filled application forms at the address given on the website.

Eligible Countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Eastern Congo.

For more information, please visit Fieldwork Grants 2019.