Pan-African Integration from Below

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Pan-African Integration from Below is written by Finex Ndhlovu and published by Mandela University Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 1998959155 (ISBN 10) and 9781998959150 (ISBN 13).

Would a decolonial theory of Pan-Africanism that is built from below – that is, from the perspective of lived experiences of diverse African communities of practice (the publics) – facilitate the realisation of the Pan-African dream that has eluded mainstream political initiatives for decades? This book brings linguistic, cultural, and grassroots mediators of identity narratives to the well-trodden, but elusive, project of Pan-Africanism. It pulls together three distinct, yet interrelated, strands of social-scientific theorisation—language, publics, and culture—in crafting the vernacular discourse approach as a fruitful pathway for Pan-Africanism that might work for all. The vernacular discourse approach advanced in this book pays attention to the agency of local actors in carving social, cultural, and political spaces to live, to thrive, and literally, to breathe—on their own terms and in ways that sidestep identity narratives imposed by instruments of state-centric colonial ideologies. The overarching themes and arguments explored in the book are supported by ethnographic data on the language practices and experiences of African diasporas in Australia and cross-border traders sampled from three African ports of entry. By drawing attention to the largely ignored and least appreciated mediators of Pan-Africanism, the book appeals to readers who can influence policy transformation, academic practitioners, and the general interested reader.