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Savoirs d’Afrique
Independent perspectives

Africa in focus.

News and in-depth perspectives on politics, society and Africa’s global connections.

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State & society · Culture & knowledge · Africa & the worldIndependent perspectives
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Cast brass Akan gold weight with two rounded forms above a flared base.
Akan brass gold weight, Ghana, 18th–19th century; exact manufacture and photograph dates unknown. The Met collection. This weight is distinct from the court regalia returned to Kumasi.
Akan artist / The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 1.0
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Gold Weight

Historical record: 18th–19th century (object); exact dates unknown.

Converted to lossless WebP; no cropping or compositing.

Original image · Rights record
History, culture & knowledgeJournal essay

When Asante regalia comes home, who decides its future?

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8 min read
Historical engraving showing a central figure reading a document to Black figures gathered on a West Indian plantation.
Later representation of emancipation on a West Indian plantation, Cassell’s History of England, vol. VII, circa 1873–1875; exact creation date and artist unknown. Historical illustration, not an eyewitness image of 1833.
Unknown artist / Cassell’s History of England / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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West Indian plantation receiving news of emancipation

Historical record: Circa 1873–1875 edition; exact creation date unknown.

Converted to lossless WebP; full 1600 × 1045 image preserved without cropping or compositing.

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International relations & political economyJournal essay

Caribbean reparations at the Commonwealth: who sets the terms of repair?

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9 min read
A shared field of inquiry

How is authority made?
Who gets to shape it?

Current decisions about war, debt, migration, work and public services are examined through African political and social perspectives.

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Six connected perspectives

01

State, authority & accountability

Indigenous authority, colonial administration, nationalism, postcolonial institutions, democratisation and citizen participation.

35 publications · Explore this topic02

Development, labour & the African city

Modernisation, structural adjustment, land, livelihoods, urbanisation and the distribution of public resources.

16 publications · Explore this topic03

Security, borders & Pan-Africanism

Wars, peace processes, military power, border politics, regional institutions and competing meanings of sovereignty and African unity.

18 publications · Explore this topic04

History, culture & knowledge

African histories, archives, oral traditions, popular culture, literature, languages and the politics of scholarship.

17 publications · Explore this topic05

Gender, inequality & social experience

Gendered authority, social hierarchy, belonging, exclusion and the lived consequences of political and economic change.

19 publications · Explore this topic06

International relations & political economy

African agency in relations with China, Europe, Russia, the US and Gulf states; diplomacy, military cooperation, trade, debt, resources and sovereignty.

21 publications · Explore this topic
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