Algeria: Historical Struggles and Imagined Utopias

We warmly invite the submission of papers for a British Academy Conference, Algeria: Historical Struggles and Imagined Utopias, at the London School of Economics on Thursday 28 – Friday 29 May 2026.

The important historical legacies of the Independence struggle and exciting recent developments in Algerian political, social, cultural and economic fields call for a public platform in the UK for scholars working on Algeria to share their research. Prioritising decolonising, feminist and other innovative approaches in order to learn from Algeria’s important revolutionary history, contemporary struggles and future imaginations, this conference encourages an intersectional and multidisciplinary approach.

The study of Algeria is thriving, as evidenced by the number of specialist academics and PhD theses across UK universities, and applications to the LSE Middle East Centre & Society for Algerian Studies Joint Master’s Dissertation Prize.

The conference seeks to promote, share and celebrate recent research across this growing field and encourage connections between scholars, students, professionals and members of the public. It forms a key part of a wider initiative by academics in the UK to revive and energise UK scholarly networks focussing on Algeria.

We welcome applications from disciplines including, but not limited to: history, politics, sociology, geography, ecology, economics, gender, governance, film, art, literary and media studies, languages, diaspora studies. We particularly encourage early career researchers to submit paper proposals.

Submission Guidelines

• Submissions should be submitted on a single Word document.
  
  
• Submissions should include the paper title, relevant keywords, an abstract (maximum 250 words), and a short biography (including name, position, affiliation/university).
  
  
• Only one paper may be submitted per person.
  
  
• Submissions and presentations must be in English.
  
  
• We cannot accept panel applications.
  
  

Please submit applications to: mec.events@lse.ac.uk.

The deadline for paper submissions is 21 November 2025.

Notification of paper acceptances will be made during December 2025.

All conference speakers will be required to pay a conference delegate fee of £40 (standard rate) / £20 (rate for students and those not in employment).

The fees will contribute to the conference running costs.

Conference registration for panellists and the general public will open in January 2026.

Conference Convenor:  Jessica Northey

Conference Manager:   Nadine Almanasfi

Advisory Committee:    Ikram Berkani, Martin Evans, Latefa Guemar, Jim House, Robert Lowe

For any enquiries, please contact: mec.events@lse.ac.uk.

Download the call for papers here