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This UG3 optional Politics course aims to critically contest myths and stereotypes about\u00a0African politics. Informed by postcolonial theory, the course explores the ways in which\u00a0\u201cAfrica\u201d has been represented within unequal global power relations, and the ways in which\u00a0coloniality and capitalism reproduce intersectional inequalities of class, race, gender and\u00a0sexuality.<\/p>\n
I have taught the course since 2014, and as a white, male, English speaking, middle-class\u00a0academic I devote considerable attention to discussing issues of positionality, authority, and\u00a0alternative epistemologies with students during the semester. We also reflect on how \u2018African\u00a0Studies\u2019 is taught in the UK context, the opportunities and challenges of decolonising\u00a0curricula, and the continuing inequalities in UK academia, particularly in terms of Black professors and lecturers. The course draws upon a diverse and African-centred reading list,\u00a0and we make frequent use of videos, podcasts and other online materials that centre African\u00a0perspectives on global politics. However, it is important not to miss out on opportunities to\u00a0allow students to engage in person with African experts. In the context of our discussions\u00a0about the ways in which African perspectives are often\u00a0 marginalised in International\u00a0Relations, it is important for all students \u2013 and is often especially welcomed by the many\u00a0students of African heritage who take this course \u2013 to see and hear African academics as\u00a0authoritative knowledge-producers.<\/p>\n
Including visiting speakers is one way of foregrounding African voices in the course. In\u00a02024-2025 I used the Diversify the Curriculum fund to bring Dr Mitterand Okorie and Dr\u00a0Akinyemi Oyawale to Manchester to give guest lectures, and Dr Matipa Mukondiwa was also\u00a0able to join us online for a shorter talk. This built on previous guest speakers, such as Dr\u00a0Patrick Tom and Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey, who have also been funded by the Diversify the\u00a0Curriculum fund in previous years for similar purposes.<\/p>\n
In Feb 2025 Dr Mitterand Okorie (Nelson Mandela University, South Africa) gave a guest\u00a0lecture on his research on elections and security policing in Nigeria. His published work on\u00a0Nigerian democracy, security and counter-terrorism, and Nigeria\u2019s Coronavirus Response\u00a0was included on the course reading list, and the students particularly appreciated his insights\u00a0into the role of political parties in Nigeria, his perspectives on the 2024 South African\u00a0election, and his experiences as an early career African academic.<\/p>\n
In March 2025 Dr Akinyemi Oyawale (Warwick, UK) gave a guest lecture on vernacular\u00a0security discourses in North Eastern Nigeria. Akin has won teaching prizes for his pedagogy,\u00a0and the combination of \u2018big-picture\u2019 theoretical framing with in-depth detail on security\u00a0politics in Nigeria was really appreciated by the students. Akin\u2019s enthusiastic and accessible\u00a0style really helped the students get to grips with this important and complex topic, and several\u00a0of them decided to write their final coursework essays on Boko Haram as a result. Student\u00a0feedback was that that they \u201cloved the lecture\u201d and \u201creally appreciated the emphasis on firsthand, vernacular accounts of counter-terrorism\u201d. Akin also gave a research seminar during his visit and so additional funds from the Politics Dept budget supplemented the Diversify the\u00a0Curriculum funding.<\/p>\n
In April 2025 Dr Matipa Mukondiwa (Cambridge, UK), gave a short online talk about her\u00a0PhD research on decolonising secondary school education in Zimbabwe. All these visiting\u00a0speakers significantly expanded the diversity of perspectives available to the students, and\u00a0their first-hand experiences of research, fieldwork and the challenges of being an early career\u00a0African academic really enriched the course. As with previous visitors \u2013 such as Patrick Tom\u00a0(St Andrews) who talked about his research on conflict and peacebuilding in Sierra Leone,and Robtel Neajai Pailey (LSE) who gave a book talk on development and citizenship in\u00a0Liberia \u2013 the speakers also provided resources that can be used in subsequent years.<\/p>\n
Student feedback this year, and in previous years (including when visiting speakers have\u00a0fallen through due to strike action or other circumstances), confirms how valuable they find the opportunity to hear directly from African experts. The visiting speakers have also\u00a0expressed how much they welcomed the opportunity to visit, especially in the case of early\u00a0career academics building their networks and experience. There are challenges \u2013\u00a0administrative and financial \u2013 in making these opportunities available afresh to each new\u00a0cohort of students, but from my perspective the benefits outweigh the costs and I hope to be\u00a0able to continue to bring in more guest lecturers in future years.<\/p>\n
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