Ideology Of Pan-Africanism Research Articles

Marcien Towa et la critique Senghorienne de la négritude : Une contribution à l’idéologie du panafricanisme ?

Marcien Towa and the Senghorian Critique of Negritude: A Contribution to the Ideology of Pan-Africanism? After the first generation of Pan-Africans formed at the beginning of the 20th century mainly by black Americans and Caribbeans, the second generation is formed with black Africans. These black Africans are inspired and influenced by the founding fathers of Pan-Africanism. Marcien Towa (1931-2014) is one of them. The philosopher is a key figure in the intellectual history of Africa who has contributed ardently, alongside other renowned intellectuals, to the writing of the modern history of Africa. His fight very legitimately was to wash the Africans of opprobrium (the stereotyped images of Africa and its inhabitants created by the colonizers). Through his criticism of Senghorian negritude, he makes a remarkable contribution to the reflection on the movement, a considerable contribution to the ideology of Pan-Africanism. Keywords : Negritude, Pan-Africanism, Criticism, Contribution, Ideology

American Defender of One Nigeria: James Meredith, the Nigerian Civil War and the Politics of American Intervention in the Global South

Following the Biafran allegations of genocide against the Nigerian government during the Civil War, pro-Biafran groups emerged in the United States to pressure the American government into political intervention in the form of recognizing the Biafran republic. In response, African-American Civil Rights hero James Meredith counter-balanced the pro-Biafran groups, and advocated for one Nigeria in the United States. By analyzing public speech, correspondences, fact-finding mission reports, congressional hearing testimonies, and oral interviews, this paper examines Meredith’s pro-One Nigeria (Pan-African) activism during the Nigerian Civil War, and promotes a nuanced understanding of the international dimension of the Nigerian Civil War. This study proposes an episode of transnational history of the global black liberation movement of the long sixties, and demonstrates that Meredith’s pro-one Nigeria activism during the Nigerian Civil War was influenced by his background as a Civil Rights leader and his pan-African ideology.

Introduction: The African Union, Pan-Africanism, and the Liberal World (Dis)Order

Abstract Long considered peripheral to both international affairs and the discipline of international relations (IR), Africa is increasingly at the center of global politics and academic debates. Global powers are competing for economic, political, and strategic influence on the continent, while Africa itself has emerged as an increasingly powerful and confident actor on the world stage. In large part, this is due to the leadership of the African Union (AU), which since its founding twenty years ago has embarked on an ambitious agenda inspired by Pan-Africanism, seeking to create an Africa that is a “Strong, United, and Influential Global Player.” Following the AU’s twentieth anniversary, this article and Special Forum situate the AU within recent debates in IR about non-Western agency and the contributions of the global South to world politics. Focusing on the role of the AU and Pan-African ideology in shaping Africa and its international engagements, we argue that an analysis of the AU and the influence of Pan-Africanism is crucial to an understanding of Africa’s actions and positions in contemporary world affairs. We conclude that the heightened geopolitical rivalry following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to undermine two key aspects of the AU’s Pan-Africanism, namely its commitment to democracy and human rights and its ambition to speak with a united voice on the world stage.

Africa in IPE theorization: exclusion, oversight, and Eurocentrism in the field’s past and future

In January 2021, the largest free trade area in the world measured by number of participating countries came into effect. This African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which links 54 countries and 1.3 billion people, is designed to foster rapid economic growth and pull tens of millions of people out of poverty. Despite the fact that this project raises issues central to International Political Economy (IPE) scholarship, major journals in the field including Review of International Political Economy (RIPE) have given it negligible attention. The paper begins by asking why the AfCFTA has remained at best, marginal, and at worst, absent in the IPE literature. Drawing on the critical and postcolonial literature in the field to address this question, the paper identifies IPE’s Eurocentrism as the root cause of the discipline’s oversight of the continent. After uncovering the implications and costs of this oversight, the paper discusses the insights that emerge from a close consideration of the AfCFTA, including the Pan-African ideology which undergirds the project and insights that contribute to the literature on regionalism. Highlighting the implications of both the AfCFTA and the analysis, the paper additionally discusses the promises and challenges in the future trajectory of the field.

Cabo Verde à beira da revolução”: a emergência do pan-africanismo cabo-verdiano e os protestos em África

The history of Cape Verde is a history of anti-colonial resistance and revolts. Therefore, it has not escaped the social protests that have arisen in all African cities since the 2000s, which had, on 30 March 2015 and on 5 July 2017, its largest street demonstrations and rap as its main speaker and political messenger. This article based on qualitative research conducted in the cities of Praia and Mindelo – the stage of these demonstrations – aims to analyse the following points: the socio-political context of the emergence of the protests in Cape Verde; their nature and connection with African protests and pan-African ideology; and the role played by rap in this process.

ЖИЗНЬ МАРТИНА РОБИНСОНА ДЕЛАНИ И ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ ЕГО ИДЕЙНО–ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ ВЗГЛЯДОВ

This article examines the evolution of the ideological and political views of Martin Robinson Delany, who is credited with the first conceptual justification of the doctrine of "black nationalism" in the United States. The author analyzes the main milestones of the biography of this figure, his rich literary heritage, focusing on the consideration of the internal dialectics of Delany's political philosophy, the variability and inconsistency of his views at various stages of life. Special attention is paid to Delany's attitude to the ideology of pan-Africanism and black nationalism, as well as his controversy with Frederick Douglass. The uniqueness of the study lies in the fact that it is the first attempt in Russian academic science to present the biography and analysis of the ideological and theoretical heritage of an outstanding African-American public figure, an assessment of his contribution to the struggle for the rights of the black population in the United States. The source base is the work of Delany himself and his biographies, none of which has been translated into Russian. A number of sources are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The historical-genetic and historical-typological methods are used as specific historical methods in this work.

Rethinking Pan-Africanism: The Quest for Supra-State Formation and Authentic Development in Africa

Pan-African ideology assisted African people to realise political independence and achieve national sovereignty in the time of colonialism. From 1900 to 1960, Pan-African ideology brought a dramatic change in the social, political, and cultural lives of African people and black diasporans who were living in Europe and North America. Pan-African ideology resolved the cultural and political questions of black people at the time of slavery and colonialism. However, since the 1960s the cultural, political, psychological, social, and scientific movements of Pan-Africanism have ceased and become stagnant, without the ability to properly address the economic and governance problems of the continent. And today, neo-colonial tendencies, from both the West and the East, continue to challenge the continent. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is three-fold: first, to suggest the possibility and potential of the neo-Pan-African movement for realising supra-national sovereignty in Africa; second, to show how rethinking Pan-African ideology can help to overcome the apparent economic crisis of Africa; and third, to capitalise on the significance of Pan-Africanism as a panacea to block neo-colonial tendencies in contemporary Africa. The study used interviews with key informants, books, and published articles as sources from which to draw important inferences.

THE PAN-AFRICAN IDEAL UNDER A NEW LENS: THABO MBEKI'S CONTRIBUTION

This essay is an attempt to assess the important evolution undergone by the pan-African ideology. It argues that from its inception the ideal was marked by moral values and political ambitions that were grounded on the desire to reverse the dominant views of African inferiority. This has not resolved the identity and racial connotations that have provoked the proliferation of views about what pan-Africanism really means. Yet pan-Africanism has become the most powerful magnet for generations, and remains the most solid reference for the construction of an integrated Africa. The last 10 years have witnessed large-scale affirmation of a particular brand of the pan-African ideology. Thabo Mbeki is one of the most significant architects of this development.

The Sixth Zone: Historical Roots of African Diaspora and Pan-Africanism in African Development

The re-emergence of Pan-African ideology in the last two decades is reflected in social, political, and economic structures found in Africa today. Pan-Africanism was the foundation upon which the struggle for African continental independence was anchored. This ideology united Africans and other individuals of African descent under a continental ideology that created a domain for support, cooperation and understanding. Today, Pan-African ideology has become a pull factor for the African diaspora to contribute to African development initiatives. By tracing the historical emergence of African diaspora and Pan-Africanism in Africa, this article argues that Pan-African ideology and the experiences of African diaspora has influenced increased contributions of African diaspora to development. Using explanatory methodology, this article adopts an in-depth analysis of historical accounts of the emergence of African diaspora to examine how the African diaspora has emerged as a strong pillar of development.

Internationalists, sovereigntists, nativists: Contending visions of world order in Pan-Africanism

AbstractContrary to common assumptions that the liberal world order was ‘made in the West’, this article argues that it was produced in interaction with Pan-African ideology and actors. Developing a morphological analysis, it identifies three contending visions of world order within Pan-Africanism: a world of continental unity and transnational solidarity; a world of national sovereignty; and a world of racially defined units. It concludes that Pan-Africanism contains intellectual and political resources for the defence, reinvigoration, and invention of a more just, equal and rule-bound multilateral world, but that this cannot be taken for granted. Pan-Africanism is neither inherently progressive, nor reactionary, and can support multilateralism and sovereigntism in equal measure. Pan-Africanism's nativism also carries particular risks at a time when similar identitarian viewpoints are promoted by Radical Right movements. Understanding the manner in which Pan-Africanism informs and legitimises diverse political agendas is thus of crucial importance for IR, for Pan-Africanists, and for the future of world order.

Abàmì Èdá: Personhood and Socio-political Commitment in Fela's Music

Nigerian Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, is a political maverick not only because of the depth of his musical oeuvre, but also because, as a human rights activist, his personhood unreservedly engages the tempered socio- political space of Nigeria's post-independence phase. Fela's artistic commitment emanates from the genre Afrobeat through which he entrenched his musical ideology of Pan-Africanism and a materialist engagement with the leadership predicament of Nigeria's socio-political milieu. In addition, his performance space called Kalakuta Republic is a symbolic space from where he constantly conscientised his audience about the array of post-independence maladies afflicting the African continent. Through an examination of specific childhood events, I show that Fela's iconoclasm and creative oeuvre are catalysed through his parental inheritance. I then further my argument that, while operating within Nigeria's geographical microcosm, Fela's artistic and humanistic commitment transcends such borders and approximates the predicament of post-independence Africa as a whole. To expand my discussions, I investigate the deployment of his peculiar linguistic tool and vituperative poetics termed Yabis. The article in the end suggests that Fela's personhood significantly evokes how his celebrity life mediates between the state and individuals, and how this personhood has been absorbed into the contemporary Nigerian cultural space.

African Regional Economic Integration: The Emergence, Evolution, and Impact of Institutional Innovation

The power of Pan-Africanism as a guiding vision for the continent’s development is widely studied, mostly as an aspirational phenomenon. At worst, Pan-Africanism has often been seen as a poor imitation of American federalism or European integration. Both of these perceptions do not reflect the profound nature of the role that the ideology of Pan-Africanism played in shaping the continent’s economic transformation.

Decolonising Universities in South Africa: Rigged Spaces?

This article provides a broad overview of the necessity for and challenges of decolonising universities in South Africa. It situates the student protests for the decolonisation of knowledge within the debates on the African Higher Education landscape, the ideology of Pan-Africanism, and calls for an African Renaissance. The article highlights the context in which the Fallist Movement emerged in South Africa and the demands it articulated. This article questions whether or not the decolonisation of knowledge, and the broader university system, can truly materialise, given the inherent nature and functioning of these institutions and the current practices of decolonising universities. The article argues that to date the decolonisation of universities has largely been ad-hoc, performative, and technical, rather than the sustainable and substantive transformative processes that should be at the heart of any decolonisation project. Furthermore, the article asserts that the universities that we are trying to decolonise are rigged spaces as they have been fashioned in the image of western universities and align with their norms, values, and epistemologies. To break this foundational epistemological and cultural bedrock requires a complete overhaul of the structure, ideology, and functioning of the universities. Without major shifts in the power relations, orientation and forms of knowledge production at these universities, there can be no decolonisation.

Pan-Africanism and Epistemologies of the South

Abstract The topic of pan-Africanism today brings to the fore questions of the unfinished humanistic project of decolonisation in Africa. When Kwasi Wiredu (1996) calls for the need for conceptual decolonisation in Africa, he recognises the intellectual price the continent continues to pay as a result of conceptual confusions and distortions caused by a colonial conceptual idiom implanted in the African mind. Reflecting on the potential which the ideology of pan-Africanism holds for the continent’s future, my position is that the same passion and energy which brought about political independence should now be redirected to the epistemic front. A new form of pan-Africanism on the intellectual front is required to galvanise Africans to develop and deploy in their thinking veritable categories of analysis born out of the experiences of being African in Africa. It is in the generation and application of these alternative epistemologies that the future of the continent lies.

‘When the Bull Elephants Fight’: Kwame Nkrumah, Non-Alignment, and Pan-Africanism as an Interventionist Ideology in the Global Cold War (1957–66)

From independence onwards, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana pursued a position of positive neutrality and non-alignment. Historians claim that the Congo crisis and the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 led Nkrumah to question the viability of strict non-alignment. Newly declassified Ghanaian sources and an analysis of the components that make up the pan-African ideology, however, suggest that these events validated Nkrumah's pan-African worldview. Only a combination of continental unification and non-alignment was considered to be an effective strategy to avoid a repetition of the Congo debacle. Ghana's public diplomacy tactics switched from targeting political activists to convincing people through a vociferously anti-colonial propaganda campaign, a modification that cast doubt on the sincerity of Ghanaian neutrality at a moment when non-alignment actually began to affect Ghanaian diplomacy on all levels.

From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International since the Age of Revolution, edited by Michael O. West, William G. Martin, and Fanon Che Wilkins

in the introduction to From Toussaint to Tupac, editors Michael West and William Martin claim that the “two dominant scholarly traditions, the metanarrative and the national narrative, have intellectually marginalized the black international” from Western academic discourse (1–2). West and Martin assert that generations of scholarship have facilitated a fragmented narrative of the global Black experience by isolating Blacks and their enduring struggles for equality to specific time periods and locales. Thus, From Toussaint to Tupac provides an important scholastic reorientation, a “black internationalist counternarrative” of culture and resistance within the African diaspora that transcends both time and place (2). Beginning with the Age of Revolution and concluding with the rise of hip hop culture, the collection of essays demonstrates that the Atlantic was not a barrier but a conduit for the ideological, cultural, and organizational links that have long sustained traditions of Black political radicalism and racial consciousness. Part 1 of From Toussaint to Tupac, with essays by Sylvia Frey and by Michael West and William Martin, contends that modern Pan-Africanism is rooted in a rich history that stretches back to the Haitian Revolution. According to these scholars, the American and Haitian Revolutions, in conjunction with the Evangelical Revival, produced a revolutionary and revivalist tradition that gave birth to a nascent Pan-African ideology—a loose, though recognizable, worldview that served as the springboard to more formalized institutions like the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the Pan-African Congress. Furthermore, these scholars insist that the Haitian Revolution and the geographically diverse, post-revolutionary diaspora contributed to the con-

African Homecoming: Pan-African Ideology and Contested Heritage. Katharina Schramm

<i>African Homecoming: Pan-African Ideology and Contested Heritage</i>. Katharina Schramm

African homecoming: Pan-African ideology and contested heritage

African Americans and others in the African diaspora have increasingly come home to Africa to visit the sites at which their ancestors were enslaved and shipped. In this nuanced analysis of homecoming, Katharina Schramm analyzes how a shared rhetoric of the (Pan-)African family is produced among African hosts and Diasporan returnees and at the same time contested in practice. She examines the varying interpretations and appropriations of significant sites (e.g. the slave forts), events (e.g. Emancipation Day) and discourses (e.g. repatriation) in Ghana to highlight these dynamics. From this, she develops her notions of diaspora, home, homecoming, memory and identity that reflect the complexity and multiple reverberations of these cultural encounters beyond the sphere of roots tourism.

The African Renaissance: Myth, Mask or Masquerade?

The African Renaissance, now a familiar theme in South Africa, has a longer history than general discourse seems to suggest. In the past, it has been approached from different perspectives: the political, ideological, and cultural. The African Renaissance was originally the ideology of Pan-Africanism. It was an ideological weapon used to wage the struggle against colonization and cultural alienation. It also helped to consolidate African independence after it was achieved. However, it subsequently waned as the fervour of independence lost impetus, perhaps mainly due to the weakness and decadence of Africanleadership. Today, it seems to be reinvented in order to combat recurrent social, economic and political problems, which afflict the African continent.

Kwame Nkrumah: Cold War Modernity, Pan-African Ideology and the Geopolitics of Development

This article analyses the development practices and foreign relations of Kwame Nkrumah during his nine-year regime as Ghana's first post-independence leader. It reinterprets Nkrumah's policies by situating them historically with the emergence of post-war global development discourses and geopolitically on the Third World battlefield of the Cold War. Nkrumah utilised his position at the crossroads of multiple modernities to implement a pan-African ideology. Nkrumah's ideology and policy point to a more globalised politics that emphasised supranational goals over national interest. However, these same shifts that marked his influence on the social imaginary were also limited by the political possibilities of his time. This new exploration of the contradictions of Nkrumah's rule has important implications for new global movements and organisations seeking to go beyond the nation-state framework.