Panel 2: New Topographies of Power? Africa Negotiating an Emerging Multi-polar World

With the end of the Cold War, the world seemed to move from a bipolar system to a unipolar world in which the neoliberal West globally imposes its laws. However, it has been acknowledged that other, mostly Asian, actors have become increasingly influential, helping to lead to a new multi-polarity at the global level. The question as to what this emerging multi-polarity means for Africa is an important one. Will Africa become crushed in a mounting struggle over raw materials and political hegemony between superpowers and fall victim to a new scramble for Africa (e.g., Lee 2006)? Or does this new historical conjuncture offer African countries greater room for negotiation and maneuvering, eventually leading to stronger democracy and enhanced growth (e.g. Alden 2008, Vittorini and Harris 2009)? We particularly invite papers that highlight the agency of African groups in co-shaping the new global world order, by looking at the ways in which different African groups have been able to seize the opportunities created by the broadening of the range of possible international partners, including China, India, and the Arab world, and what this means for (power) dynamics at different levels of African society.