Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses current efforts by scholars and institutions to promote more equitable discourses and practices in international research collaborations. It argues that Francis Nyamnjoh's notions of incompleteness and conviviality can contribute to address and analyze inequalities in academia.

Paper long abstract:

The global production of scientific knowledge is still characterised by structural inequalities. Researchers from Africa in particular face major challenges like in obtaining research funding and in publishing internationally. In addition, national research collaboration efforts in Africa for are limited due to a lack of government policies. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the inequalities and power structures of scientific collaboration. Scholars in the Global South and North are rightly calling for a decolonisation of knowledge production. Many funding institutions in the Global North are also looking for new forms of funding to meet this demand. But much remains to be done. This paper explores which discourses and practices hold promise for enabling strategies for more equitable international research collaboration in the social sciences and humanities. Drawing on Francis Nyamnjoh's notions of incompleteness and the ethics of conviviality as a starting point, we argue that the recognition of incompleteness by all actors involved in collaboration can sharpen the focus on the mutual and complex benefits as well as the power relations involved in a particular collaboration and pave the way for more equitable relations. But how far do these notions go beyond the personal level at which any cooperation begins, in order to achieve lasting change at the institutional level? To discuss this, we will draw on our experience with the DFG-funded Point Sud programme, which organises international conferences in Africa together with a network of research institutions in eight countries on the continent.