The African diaspora as a reflection and transformative subject of international relations, based on the concept of sankofa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51349/veg.2026.1.03Keywords:
African diaspora, global history, international relations, sankofaAbstract
The African diaspora is a crucial space from which to think about Africa's place in the world, to understand the agency of African actors and their constraints, and to make visible both the global configurations of power and the imprint of racism on them. Adopting the comprehensive analytical prism of the sankofa concept and drawing on a sustained reflexive effort to review the relevant literature, this text examines the African diaspora, with its changes and continuities, as a relevant epistemic site for explaining, deconstructing and reconfiguring the history of international relations. It concludes by advocating for greater recognition of the agency of the African diaspora to think critically about global power structures and to overcome the Eurocentric view of international relations.
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