Abstract:

Over the past three decades, African Studies institutions in the Global North have increasingly tried to implement forms of research collaboration with African academic partners that redress well-known inequalities and imbalances. Whether it is the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence that seeks to “set unprecedented standards in collaborative research” and build a transcontinental research community connecting Ouagadougou, Lagos, Eldoret, Makhanda, and Bayreuth; or the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) located in Accra with its aim to “reduce asymmetries in knowledge production” together with partners institutions in Freiburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Paris; or the Point Sud Center for Research on Local Knowledge based in Bamako and Frankfurt with its emphasis on “dialogue between African, European, Asian and American researchers”—working towards more balanced relationships is nowadays a shared objective of almost all players in the field, whether clothed in decolonial language or not. At the same time, manifold structural and epistemological challenges continue to persist, as does the ambivalent role of German BPoC scholars in this process, who navigate between white-dominated structures and Afrocentric perspectives. Pertinent questions to be pursued in this roundtable include:

• How do we recognize “true” reciprocity?

• What happens when we try to put reciprocity to work?

• What practical problems arise, what epistemic issues emerge?

• What are common misunderstandings, contradictions, and tensions that we encounter in this process, and how can we tackle them?

• How do donors and funding policies encourage or inhibit reciprocal relations?

Convening scholars who represent several institutions engaged in endeavours to reduce inequalities in African Studies, the roundtable seeks to identify the myths and realities of reciprocity in the study of Africa and chart possible ways forward.

Please note that Africa Multiple will be hosting a reception (Apéro) for discussants and attendees after this session.