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A Question of Agency: Africa in international politics

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  • William Brown

Abstract

Over recent years African states have become increasingly prominent actors in high-level international politics. This article makes the case for studying Africa's international relations from the point of view of agency. The article outlines contemporary contexts within which questions of African agency have come to the fore and argues a need to think conceptually about agency in international politics in a way that accommodates the range of different agencies at work. The article outlines three elements as foundations for the analysis of African agency: first, a conceptualisation of different dimensions of agency; second, a recognition of the importance of sovereignty in differentiating between state, or state-enabled agents, and others; and third, a temporally embedded approach to agency that historicises contemporary agency. Combined, these elements suggest that future work on African agency would be able to engage seriously with the continent's role in international politics in a way that presents Africa as actor not just acted upon, historical agent not just history's recipient.

Suggested Citation

  • William Brown, 2012. "A Question of Agency: Africa in international politics," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(10), pages 1889-1908.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:33:y:2012:i:10:p:1889-1908
    DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2012.728322
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    Cited by:

    1. Devon E.A. Curtis, 2015. "Development assistance and the lasting legacies of rebellion in Burundi and Rwanda," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(7), pages 1365-1381, July.
    2. Scoones, Ian & Amanor, Kojo & Favareto, Arilson & Qi, Gubo, 2016. "A New Politics of Development Cooperation? Chinese and Brazilian Engagements in African Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Bloomfield, Michael J., 2020. "South-South trade and sustainable development: The case of Ceylon tea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    4. Chiyemura, Frangton & Gambino, Elisa & Zajontz, Tim, 2023. "Infrastructure and the politics of African state agency: shaping the Belt and Road Initiative in East Africa," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114271, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Jon Harald Sande Lie, 2019. "Local Ownership as Global Governance," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 1107-1125, September.
    6. Jennifer Melvin, 2019. "Optimising the Role of Sub-Saharan African Remittance Senders in Sustainable Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(3), pages 684-702, July.

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