Afropolitan Central

Afropolitan Central

Celebrating our cultures. Centering our narratives We bring you fresh and exciting discussions on the African continent and diaspora. New episodes are released every other Monday.

  1. S2 Ep 13: China Did What Now? Myths and Facts About The China-Africa Relations

    06/03/2019

    S2 Ep 13: China Did What Now? Myths and Facts About The China-Africa Relations

    From alarming headlines about land grabs to debt traps all amidst bold claims of an ongoing bid to neo-colonise Africa, we have all been witness to China’s increasing presence and investment in various African countries. But what are the facts vs overly blown out myths? Should we be more alarmed than we already are? To help us navigate this subject, we are joined by Bénédicte, a China-Africa scholar, whose in-depth knowledge on China’s political, economic and cultural history provides the much needed context to examine this burgeoning relationship. We touch on these and more in our conversation: How has China’s history shaped its current “business only strategy” with the African continent? Is the devil we know (the West) better than the new, potential devil we’re just getting to know (China)? How and why do African countries continuously strike bad deals even in areas like tourism where we have a bargaining chip? Debt traps vs poorly researched deals, which is which? Are we selectively outraged, after all Indians, Lebanese and others have been getting up to shady activities on the continent for the longest This time around, how can we play the game to win? As you’ll hear from this episode, this is a topic we were quite excited to finally get into with Bénédicte so definitely let us know your thoughts! We’re Afropolitan Central on Instagram and AfropolitanC on Twitter. More about the ever impressive Bénédicte: Bénédicte is a China-Africa scholar, holding a masters in international development & African studies from Sciences Po Paris and a masters of law from Peking University, where she wrote her thesis on the political economy of Chinese tourism to Africa. Bénédicte is also a Comparative East Asian Studies scholar from Keio University, Japan - Hong Kong University and Yonsei University in South Korea She has experience consulting with Chinese and African organizations in the field of renewable energy and sustainable development. During her spare time, Bénédicte often shares her thoughts on her blog benedicteking.wordpress.com or contributes to blacklivitychina.com, a platform dedicated to the Black Experience in China. You can follow her on Twitter and instagram @benedicteking

    1h 37m
  2. S2 Ep 9- Pan African to Afropolitan, are they too elite?

    03/05/2019

    S2 Ep 9- Pan African to Afropolitan, are they too elite?

    Hello everyone, thanks for joining us for another episode of Afropolitan Central! We’ve heard the arguments made about the term Afropolitan being too elite much like its predecessor of sorts, Pan African. But is that such a bad thing after all? Why is the portrayal of Africans as rich and economically mobile often hotly contested? Is there merit in the argument that terms like Afropolitan for instance, focuses more on making us palatable for the Western gaze? Is our development threatened because it’s too Western identified and elite led? Is all this dialogue much ado about nothing with little impact on the ground for everyday citizens? Tune in to the episode to hear our answers to these and many more as we explore this topic. As always we’re eager to hear your take and insight on our social media pages, Afropolitan Central on Instagram and Facebook and AfropolitanC on Twitter! Check out the articles linked below for further details on the articles mentioned in the episode: Articles referenced Debates about the Afropolitan term https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/afropolitanism-global-citizenship-with-african-routes/ The New Single Story http://asterixjournal.com/afropolitanism-africas-new-single-story-reading-helon-habilas-review-need-new-names-brian-bwesigye/ Africans can have multiple sub cultures http://www.msafropolitan.com/2013/04/can-africans-have-multiple-subcultures-a-response-to-exorcising-afropolitanism.html Why I'm Not Afropolitan- an argument on the term’s shortcomings http://africasacountry.com/why-im-not-an-afropolitan/

    1 hr
3.7
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Celebrating our cultures. Centering our narratives We bring you fresh and exciting discussions on the African continent and diaspora. New episodes are released every other Monday.