‘Militant Africa’ in the Twentieth Century...

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Yuzhou (Jodie) Sun delivers a seminar on their research, fully titled "‘Militant Africa’ in the Twentieth Century: Modern China’s Historical Discourses of War and Military in Africa" - 

Discourses on war and military have been a substantial part of the knowledge production pertaining to Africa. Unlike the West, modern China has never engaged in any direct military confrontation with the African continent, which makes its historical discourses of Africa’s military past an almost ‘black box’ to external observers. How did the historical discourses of ‘militant Africa’ emerge and evolve in the twentieth century China? How did it differ from/relate to that produced by the West and other socialist states? What’s the legacy and to what effect? With a study of official archives, historical newspapers, literary and visual representations, this paper traces the discursive lineage of ‘militant Africa’ in modern China. An emphasis on the ‘longue durée’ and comparative perspectives offers a fresh view of China-Africa military engagements. 

Arrivals from 11:45 am for a 12:00 noon start. For those joining in-person, lunch will be served after the seminar from 1:00pm.

This event is hybrid format, please use the required booking button at the bottom of the page to choose either in-person or online attendance.
(Please note that in-person spaces are limited and booking is required, so we can manage numbers for catering and also the space inside International House)

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