Call for Papers for Special Issue (Afika Focus, edited by Dr. Olúwábùnmi Bernard): Filth, Fertility, and Flux: Interrogating Body Waste in African Societies
Conference: 10th Annual Conference of Lagos Studies Association
Conference Theme: The State of African Studies in the 21st Century: The Century: The Lagos Studies Association (LSA) @10
Format: Hybrid (In-person, University of Lagos and Virtual)
Conference Date: June 16-20, 2026
Abstract Deadline: December 1, 2025
Panel Organizer: Dr Olu wa bu nmi Bernard (Ghent University, Belgium)
Perceptions of bodily waste are a socially and culturally constructed phenomenon which is heavily influenced by religious traditions, beliefs about purity and pollution, and psychological factors like disgust and fear. While the physical act of waste production is a universal biological necessity, how it is handled, viewed, and integrated into society varies significantly across cultures and history, ranging from deep taboo to a potential resource. The belief among many African cultures is that whatever has been inside of or has touched the body even when it leaves those spaces, should not be treated with levity, and must be properly disposed of. With this in mind, scholarship that sheds light on how waste, often deemed ‘abject’ or ‘polluting’ in many global narratives, is understood, managed, utilized, and imbued with meaning within African societies cultures, and knowledge systems is important and timely.
We invite submissions for LSA panel and a special issue exploring the complex diverse cultural, social, political, religious, and economic perceptions of human body waste across the African continent. This theme seeks to understand how traditional beliefs, modern practices, and policy interfaces shape the meaning, management, and ultimate destiny of body waste (including hair, urine, nails, spit, feces, menstrual blood, seminal fluids, human placenta, deceased remains, and other forms of body waste) in various African communities.