British Africa policy after Labour: Coalition, austerity, continuity and change

This series will be the first to systematically examine the legacy of Labour's efforts to transform British Africa policy and relations (1997-2010), exploring (dis)continuities between this period and the current coalition government. Working with leading scholars from across disciplines and partners in the policy community, including Chatham House, Institute for Public Policy Research and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Africa, we will provide the first in depth examination of contemporary Africa policy, analysing how UK Africa relations are managed, presented and justified in a context of financial austerity, coalition government and the increased public scrutiny resulting from ring-fencing aid budgets whilst making deep cuts to UK public spending.

Africa is often seen as marginal to UK interests, yet it occupies a special place in the history, foreign policy, self-image and public imagination of the UK. During the Cold War African states were often battlegrounds for superpowers and their allies, but the collapse of the Soviet Union and the bipolar world order created space for new forms of international engagement with African states, based on different assumptions about the nature of Africa's challenges and the role and strategies of international actors to resolve them. In the UK, the opportunity to redefine relations with Africa and tackle challenges of poverty, underdevelopment, chronic conflict and international marginalisation, was taken up by Labour Governments (1997-2010). Often drawing on highly abstract images of the continent, Labour presented Africa as an area of special UK interest. Prime Minister Tony Blair argued the international community must assist Africa, reflecting moral obligation based on shared humanity and, in a new addition, links between underdevelopment and insecurity in Africa and security elsewhere in the world. Africa under Labour became a matter of national interest and national security.

Labour sought to transform UK Africa policy domestically and approaches to Africa internationally. They created a ministry, the Department for International Development (DFID), and promoted a joined up approach to Africa across DFID, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence. Internationally, they pushed for development goals, aid targets, debt relief, and building African capacity to manage conflict. The claim to be pursuing an 'ethical foreign policy' foundered however on the 'arms to Africa' scandal, and some argued that new rhetoric masked 'business as usual'. Nevertheless by the end of Labour's second term the UK had developed an international reputation for its focus on Africa; when the coalition government took power in 2010 it inherited a different relationship with Africa to that of 1997. Domestically it was underpinned by new ways of working and the role of DFID, but complicated by financial crisis and need for UK spending cuts. Internationally, UK attempts to establish a shift in approaches to Africa have also been challenged by rising powers (e.g. China and India).

Providing in depth and thematic examination of contemporary British Africa policy, the series will engage with ongoing debates in policy and in UK and international scholarship, particularly in Europe and Africa, crossing Politics, Development, Political Economy, International Relations, History and Area Studies. Working closely with our non academic partners we will form a new network of scholars across these areas, prioritising early career researchers as speakers and participants. The series will contribute to ongoing and emerging debates with policy relevance, primarily focusing on: UK relationships with Africa; the role of foreign policy, especially on Africa, in UK self image; UK public attitudes to Africa and development; African agency in influencing UK policy; and the role of the UK in a changing global context, characterised by financial austerity and the rise of new actors in Africa and globally.

The seminar series will produce and disseminate a detailed and evidence based assessment of the legacy of Labour government for British Africa policy and explore how the experiences of coalition Government and financial austerity in the UK have impacted UK-Africa relations. The research presented during the series will therefore be valuable to a range of non-academic audiences:

1. UK Government Ministries, Political Parties & Cross Party Groups
In a UK political context likely to be defined by a financial austerity into the foreseeable future, the focus of this series on how this affects British Africa policy is highly relevant. Ministries that will benefit from this review include the two with primary responsibility for Africa policy, DFID, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, both of which have agreed to send representatives to the seminars. The three main political parties will also benefit from our exploration of processes of compromise and cooperation between coalition parties and of how Africa policy fits into their party identities. Across parties, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Africa, with over 150 members across parliament, is interested in our findings on trends in UK Africa relations beyond the period covered in current literature (largely pre-2005) and the APPG Chair has agreed to host a briefing in parliament on this issue.

2. Policy research, advocacy & campaign organisations in the UK
This encompasses think-tanks including Chatham House and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), both seminar hosts. It also includes large professional associations with non academic members such as the Royal African Society, African Studies Association and Royal Geographical Society. Drawing on networks established by Prof. Harrison (CI), the series will also benefit organisations including Make Poverty History, War on Want and World Development Movement, which can draw upon the systematic and thematic analysis of key drivers of contemporary UK Africa policy to inform their engagement with UK Government and public awareness/advocacy campaigns.

3. African Governments and Institutions.
The focus of the series on Africa means the discussions and outputs will have relevance to the African policy community, particularly those who are members of the Commonwealth. By inviting representatives from African embassies and African research institutes to the seminars the series will promote ties between UK researchers and their home institutions and those in Africa, such as the British Institute in Eastern Africa and Rift Valley Institute, with which PI and CIs (especially Anderson, former BIEA Director) have existing links.

4. Media covering international affairs.
The series will have a proactive, ongoing media engagement strategy, focusing on outlets that cover Africa including print media (Guardian, Times, Telegraph), news weeklies (Economist, New Internationalist) and those devoted to Africa (BBC Focus on Africa, New African), as well as radio (BBC R4/World Service) and television (Newsnight, C4 News). Representatives from such outlets regularly attend events held at two of our hosts - Chatham House and IPPR. The series will engage media by inviting attendance at seminars and via written outputs (executive summaries, press releases) and social media updates on not only the seminars in isolation but also emerging news items relevant to the series. This will contribute to better informed media coverage of UK-Africa relations and raise the series' profile.

5. The general public.
The series will seek to engage the public in debates on UK-Africa relations through a communication strategy drawing on strengths and networks of the seminar hosts, especially Chatham House and IPPR. The series will raise awareness of key issues on current and future UK-Africa policy to elevate and inform public debate, aided by engagement with NGOs, civil society and social movements (see 'Pathways to Impact').