African Studies and the Challenge of the Global in the 21st Century

The rise of global international institutes or global studies has been celebrated and decried. For some, global studies represent all the best of the increasing interconnectivity that shapes modern life; for others, it represents the most recent repackaging of the unequal relations of power that shape geopolitics, international trade, and the very architecture of the academy. The emergence of global studies creates a lengthy list of dilemmas for area-studies programs in general and African studies in particular. In the United States, where race deeply informs the culture, the emergence of global studies intersects with long-standing racial ideas that are being reinvigorated in the current political climate. Race shapes the importance attributed to knowledge produced by and about Africans and people of the African diaspora. Africa is often projected as a site to be acted upon or as lacking, rather than as a site from which we can build theories. With equal importance, global studies often appear to encourage a focus on the present that is ahistorical at the same time that they reinforce the concentration of power and resources in certain world regions.

The rise of global or international institutes or schools reflects a deeper problem within the academy—one where knowledge production outside the sciences and technology is suspect and increasingly marginalized in the larger intellectual mission. Knowledge is instrumentalized and commodified, usually with a patent at the end. Scientific discoveries and technological innovations have advanced human society in numerous ways; however, these advances are produced within larger social and cultural contexts. It is critical that Africanist scholars participate in knowledge production in these areas. Africa cannot only be the repository of resources needed for technological advancement such as Colton, a critical component in cell phones. African scientists must be part of conversations in which research questions are framed and methodologies clarified. African intellectual property rights have to be acknowledged and respected. Africanists must be part of the discussions that push the boundaries of STEM research by engaging the ethical and social dimensions of this enterprise. Our appreciation of advances in communication cannot end with merely acknowledging Africa as the source of components: we must examine the environmental, health, and social consequences for the producers of the materials.

The new global institutes do not by definition raise or erase the profile of Africa. At Cornell, for example, the Institute for African Development (IAD) is a vibrant constituency within the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. It is a relatively recent addition to Einaudi because it was created in 1989, while the center itself was established in 1961 to support and coordinate international studies and activities around the university. Einaudi houses several Title VI centers, such as the Southeast Asia Program and the South Asia Program. It is home to a number of regional institutes that provide students the opportunity to create a major or minor, such as the Institute for European Studies, the Latin American Studies Program, and the South Asia Program, which offers a master’s degree. Other programs are built around specific topics, such as the Comparative Muslim Societies Program and the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. IAD and the East Asia Program are the only two regional programs under Einaudi that do not offer a major or minor. IAD organizes a series of speakers each semester around a specific theme, and it offers students a two-course credit if they attend the weekly talks. The course credit ensures a regular following of students for the lecture series; however, its specific charge disconnects it from intellectual work going on in many departments across the campus. That disconnect encourages some within IAD’s orbit to feel they are dealing with real Africans and real issues, in contrast to those in the humanities. While IAD contributes to African studies at Cornell, its impact on a more sustained program of study of Africa—such as majors, minors, independent studies, and honors theses—is difficult to discern. Cornell at this time does not have a specific institutional home for an African studies major or minor, though students can craft...