Monday, March 21, 2016
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Joukowsky Forum
The ascendance of “China in Africa,” and the deepening of African-Chinese connections have attracted widespread attention and commentary. However, there is no singular story that can be told which could encapsulate all the different ways a Chinese presence has come to be seen and felt in Africa. In this panel discussion, we explore this relationship through three distinct lenses: the economic, the geopolitical and the cultural through three distinct cases: Chinese foreign investment in Nigeria, Chinese maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean, and the Asian martial arts in Tanzania. These might be imagined as three dimensions of a singular Africa China relation, or three distinct yet interrelated sites where a story about China in Africa can be told. In the process, these challenges could refine our understanding of what deepening African-Chinese formations mean for broader, economic, geopolitical and cultural transformations in the region.
Commentators on the panel will include:
Patricia Agupusi, Postdoctoral Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Brown University
Derek Sheridan, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Brown University
James R. Holmes, Professor of Strategy, US Naval War College