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EXC 2052:  Africa Multiple: Reconfiguring African Studies

Subject Area Social and Cultural Anthropology, Non-European Cultures, Jewish Studies and Religious Studies
Geography
Literary Studies
Linguistics
Term since 2019
Website Homepage
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390713894
 
Building on its internationally recognised strength in African studies, the University of Bayreuth (UBT) proposes a cluster spearheading innovative approaches to the study of Africa. The overarching aim of the cluster is no less than the reconfiguration of African studies, on both the conceptual and the structural level. The cluster is conceived as a transformative space within which to systematically advance the study of African and African diasporic ways of life and world-making via the pursuit of cutting-edge research and theory-building based on new inter- and transdisciplinary formats of research cooperation.At the current juncture, the field of African studies is confronted with profound conceptual questions, such as what constitutes Africa, or whether Africa is to be posited as exceptional or not. At the same time, power imbalances continue to characterise knowledge production on Africa, raising the question of who studies Africa, and how. The cluster is designed to develop new responses to the theoretical, methodological, and structural challenges the field is facing. The title "Africa Multiple" stems from our proposition that Africa is neither unitary, nor isolated, but rather is, and always has been, constituted through its ever-changing relations, globally entangled and in flux. This understanding calls for a new conceptual framework that allows us to capture the simultaneity of heterogeneous and mutually influential African lifeworlds as they emerge in relational processes. We posit “multiplicity” as such a framework. The concepts of “relationality” and “reflexivity” will serve as our analytical tools for the study and conceptualisation of multiplicity. Our innovative research structures will be well-tailored towards gaining new empirical insights and the realisation of theoretical advances across specific thematic fields studied in our Research Sections.On the structural level, we will realise our vision of reconfiguring African studies through new forms of collaborative partnership with international institutions and colleagues that include joint research projects undertaken within an innovative Digital Research Environment. The Knowledge Lab will be the core of our joint work on theory, methodologies and the critical reflection on knowledge production in African studies, advancing novel forms of collaboration with academic partners at the African Cluster Centres we seek to establish.The cluster will be founded on forty years of experience at UBT in conducting Africa-focused research. The institutional setup will provide a framework for research, early career support, and equal opportunity within a system of professional management, which will implement continuous quality assurance on both the academic and administrative levels. The cluster’s innovative research and governance structures will radiate across the university, ensuring its academic excellence in the field of African studies and beyond.
DFG Programme Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
Applicant Institution Universität Bayreuth
 
 

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