Grassroots cosmopolitics: critical notes on a 'cosmopolitan Africa'

History Compass, 2017

This essay locates the concept of Afropolitanism, introduced in the mid-2000s by Achille Mbembe and Taiye Selasi, inside a longer historiography on cosmopolitanism in Africa. Used to describe the multifarious ways that Africa is enmeshed in the world, today 'Afropolitanism' connects Africa's global metropolises, transnational cultures and mobile populations under a single analytic term, signifying the radical diversity that Africa possesses now and has throughout history. This essay argues that the idea of Afropolitanism has impacted theory on Africa in two ways. First, instead of regarding pluralism as a threat to state stability, Africa's cosmopolitan cities and zones are now thought to be harbingers of a new post-racial political future; rather than supposing that states will progressively coalesce into defined nations , as per the organic analogy, ethnically heterogeneous states are increasingly upheld as 'modern'. Second , Afropolitanism marks a radical shift from a longer history of black emancipatory thought. Contra 20th century Pan-African and Afrocentrist endeavours to create a civilization based on the 'African Per-sonality', proponents of Afropolitanism instead propose a world in which there can be no centre for Africa, no cultural integrity, only networks and f lows.

Migration, Urbanity and Cosmopolitanism in a Globalized World, 2021

Drawing on 20 years of anthropological research in Dakar, this study aims at bringing to light some ways of being-in-town that organize towards desires for being-in-the-world. It relies on a simple and yet substantial premise: a very large number of urban Senegalese youths express a strong willingness to move North, or West, while only a small minority is able to achieve such an expectation. The questioning focuses on those who actually stay, but whose modes of sticking here are deeply influenced by their longings for a larger world. Such configurations can be understood through the concrete urban cosmopolitan experiences they convey, which rely on inherently relational terms, that is: being cosmopolitan ‘rather than…’, citizen of the world ‘rather than…’, and so on. This relative, relational and contrastive cosmopolitanism emerges in the wake of constant non-travelers’ paths into the city, as compared to “frequent travelers” moving around the world. Empirically, these issues are addressed from the standpoint of the contrasted uses of urban temporalities, the nocturnal one in particular. The Dakar-by-night is thus engaged as a scene revealing the cosmopolitical dynamics that inhabit, cross or impregnate the metropolis.

As we embark on the journey of stimulating the flows of new and different, critical and timely intellectual ideas in this maiden issue of Jenda, I suggest that we look both to the past and future. From the past, we consider the record of victories won, gains made, and challenges that continue to move us to action. In the future lies the possibility of making change through the inspirational force of ideas, the mobilizational impetus of action that points out the shortcomings of the past and present, and provides worthwhile alternatives. It is an exciting new day. Given the optimism that I have for the future, the perilous and unwarranted cosmopolitanism of African women scholars and activists is uppermost in my mind. I bring up this issue as opposed to any other because of the changes and developments that are afoot in this new, global world. As with any new phenomenon, globalization presents numerous possibilities of benefits to humanity. It also challenges us in a myriad of ways.

Social Dynamics, 2011

European Journal of English Studies, 2017

Despite all the attention it has received, Afropolitanism remains undertheorised. Afropolitanism, inspired by the concept of cosmopolitanism, includes an explicit link to the African continent, which may result in promoting racialised and territorialised biases. It is also often conceived as an identity position, which tends to result, first, in unfruitful debates on who qualifies as ‘Afropolitan’ and, secondly, in generating critical interest in a mere handful of ‘Afropolitan’ star authors. This article argues that, instead of introducing a ‘new’ concept, it would be more useful to continue to revisit the concept of cosmopolitanism in order to explore its potentials in the analysis of African literatures.

Throughout world history, Africa and its people have contributed greatly to the spread of knowledge, religion, goods, and culture across the face of the globe. Indeed, Africa has played pivotal roles time and time again in the development of the world as it is known today; notably, it is where modern humans first emerged and from which they spread out across our planet.

2000

Feminist Africa Issue 7, 2006