Overview

Moving beyond a self-indulgent attitude about Africa’s historical victimhood, the book seeks to capture how African states individually and Africa’s collective institutions (the AU) are providing agency in Africa’s international relations. While African states have been trailblazers in such ideas as ‘The Responsibility to Protect’, as conceived in the African Union Constitutive Act (2001) which preceded the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s report “In Larger Freedom” (2005) in which the UN adopted the concept, African agency in international relations has not always been captured proactively. This volume seeks to document Africa (and African states) in a state of proactivity as opposed to a reactionary mode of international relations which has long been the case due to the discipline’s heavy concentration on the West. The main themes explored are: African agency in international relations and commerce, agency in Africa’s balancing of big and regional powers, reshaping Africa-EU relations beyond the Cotonou Agreements, Africa and international human rights institutions, African efforts in elections and conflicts in Africa and relationship building among African leaders.

Full Product Details

9781786612700

Table of Contents

Reviews

Beyond History is a most welcome addition to the analysis and advocacy of the 'global South' in IR/IPE from rising African scholars. It suggests a variety of 'African agency' as well as shifts in regional relations around the Horn of Africa. It resonates with current discourses and foreign policy debates, focusing on the evolution of inter-regional relations, non- as well as inter-state. This original book deserves to be read and discussed as a major contribution to overlapping fields into the third decade of the 21st century. Beyond History deepens the contemporary discourse on African agency through presenting a collection of 13 chapters on state and non-state manifestations of it. ... The collection draws on a roster of esteemed scholars--heavyweights in their respective fields ... This edited volume unravels African agency from the theoretical to the practical, through a multitude of case-studies. This will allow a broader audience to engage with an important--but often abstract--theme and identify how the concept intersects with their own research. I would recommend all scholars, students, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners studying or working to advance African priorities from within the continent and beyond to read the book, examine the sector-relevant examples or peruse the ones that provoke curiosity.

Beyond History is a most welcome addition to the analysis and advocacy of the 'global South' in IR/IPE from rising African scholars. It suggests a variety of 'African agency' as well as shifts in regional relations around the Horn of Africa. It resonates with current discourses and foreign policy debates, focusing on the evolution of inter-regional relations, non- as well as inter-state. This original book deserves to be read and discussed as a major contribution to overlapping fields into the third decade of the 21st century.--Timothy Shaw, Faculty Fellow, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

Author Information

David Mwambar is a lecturer in african security and leadership studies at the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London (UK). He is a Meaning-making Research Initiative (MRI) fellow at The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Elijah Nyaga Munyi is an assistant professor of international relations at the United States International University and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Science Po University, France. Aleksi Ylönen is an associate professor of international relations at the United States International University, Africa.

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