Pan-African Frontiers: Reparative Futures and the Reimagining of Global Order
Lead Research Organisation:
School of Oriental and African Studies
Abstract
This project brings together contemporary policy discourse on Pan-Africanism with a broader analysis of its long-standing and multifaceted political tradition. Originating in the African diaspora—particularly in the United States and the Caribbean—as a cultural and intellectual response to racial subjugation, Pan-Africanism was later taken up by nationalist leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah as both a philosophy of anti-colonial liberation and a blueprint for postcolonial state-building. Since the 1980s, it has been revitalised, particularly through the African Union (AU)’s agendas on regional integration, peace, development, and international engagement. Today, Pan-Africanism also functions as an ideology of mobilisation and a strategic vehicle for advancing demands around inequality, historical injustice, and global governance reform—repositioning Africa, the diaspora, and the Caribbean as active agents in reshaping the international order.
The first phase of the project examined why Pan-Africanism continues to carry high political and policy expectations despite its uneven record in delivering regional peace, development, and global solidarity. It analysed how Pan-Africanism is mobilised through institutions such as the AU and across popular registers in regions such as the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin, as well as in Ghana, South Africa, and UK-based diasporic communities. While anchored in Africa and the UK, the renewal phase expands the scope of the study to North America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus on reparations debates and global institutional transformation. This next phase comes at a critical juncture, as widespread democratic retrenchment, rising geopolitical contestation, and the erosion of the post-war international system are unsettling the global order and exacerbating instability across Africa and beyond. At the same time, nationalist and exclusionary discourses threaten to displace the emancipatory ideals historically associated with Pan-Africanism. Amid these dynamics, the AU and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have positioned themselves as key advocates of global governance reform, invoking Pan-African principles to address the legacies of injustice and structural inequality.
The project explores how Pan-African inter-hemispheric resonances—across African, Caribbean, and diasporic spaces—illuminate or unsettle dominant visions of solidarity, equitable development, and world-mindedness. It introduces new and expanded fieldwork in the United States, Jamaica, South Africa, and at key regional and global institutions, including the AU, CARICOM, and the United Nations. It builds on the multi-level research approach developed in the first phase, which combines analysis of top-down institutional and policy processes with bottom-up perspectives on justice and reparations among citizens across field sites. Empirical data will be gathered through interviews, focus group discussions, and ethnographic observations. This will enable cross-site and cross-scalar comparative analysis, bringing diverse experiences of Pan-Africanism into conversation and highlighting how context-specific practices intersect with broader global governance reform agendas. Grounded in long-term empirical and comparative research, the project aims to reframe Pan-Africanism as a transcontinental repertoire of ethical practice, political imagination, and transformative social action—and to understand how historically marginalised regions seek to reimagine the world.
The project aims to bridge gaps between theory, policy, and practice through direct engagement with policymakers, practitioners, and civil society actors. To maximise impact, we will work closely with African, Caribbean, and UK-based organisations to share findings through policy briefs, toolkits, and collaborative regional workshops. The research will also be disseminated through academic conferences and publications, and public seminars at the SOAS Centre for Pan-African Studies (CPAS).
The first phase of the project examined why Pan-Africanism continues to carry high political and policy expectations despite its uneven record in delivering regional peace, development, and global solidarity. It analysed how Pan-Africanism is mobilised through institutions such as the AU and across popular registers in regions such as the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin, as well as in Ghana, South Africa, and UK-based diasporic communities. While anchored in Africa and the UK, the renewal phase expands the scope of the study to North America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus on reparations debates and global institutional transformation. This next phase comes at a critical juncture, as widespread democratic retrenchment, rising geopolitical contestation, and the erosion of the post-war international system are unsettling the global order and exacerbating instability across Africa and beyond. At the same time, nationalist and exclusionary discourses threaten to displace the emancipatory ideals historically associated with Pan-Africanism. Amid these dynamics, the AU and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have positioned themselves as key advocates of global governance reform, invoking Pan-African principles to address the legacies of injustice and structural inequality.
The project explores how Pan-African inter-hemispheric resonances—across African, Caribbean, and diasporic spaces—illuminate or unsettle dominant visions of solidarity, equitable development, and world-mindedness. It introduces new and expanded fieldwork in the United States, Jamaica, South Africa, and at key regional and global institutions, including the AU, CARICOM, and the United Nations. It builds on the multi-level research approach developed in the first phase, which combines analysis of top-down institutional and policy processes with bottom-up perspectives on justice and reparations among citizens across field sites. Empirical data will be gathered through interviews, focus group discussions, and ethnographic observations. This will enable cross-site and cross-scalar comparative analysis, bringing diverse experiences of Pan-Africanism into conversation and highlighting how context-specific practices intersect with broader global governance reform agendas. Grounded in long-term empirical and comparative research, the project aims to reframe Pan-Africanism as a transcontinental repertoire of ethical practice, political imagination, and transformative social action—and to understand how historically marginalised regions seek to reimagine the world.
The project aims to bridge gaps between theory, policy, and practice through direct engagement with policymakers, practitioners, and civil society actors. To maximise impact, we will work closely with African, Caribbean, and UK-based organisations to share findings through policy briefs, toolkits, and collaborative regional workshops. The research will also be disseminated through academic conferences and publications, and public seminars at the SOAS Centre for Pan-African Studies (CPAS).
People |
ORCID iD |
| Daniel Mulugeta (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |