Ep. 178: E. Tendayi Achiume and Eleanor Paynter on race, refuge, and border justice (rerun)

E. Tendayi Achiume is a professor of law at UCLA and a newly announced 2023 MacArthur Fellow. Her research focuses on international migration, refugee displacement, and especially the role of international law in shaping the way that borders work.  Today’s episode is a rerun in celebration of her recent fellowship announcement and  covers a broad Read More…

Ep. 172: A conversation with E. Tendayi Achiume and Eleanor Paynter on race, refuge, and border justice

E. Tendayi Achiume is a professor of law at UCLA. Her research focuses on international migration, refugee displacement, and especially the role of international law in shaping the way that borders work. Today’s episode covers a broad scope of Achiume’s work, including colonialism, human rights, and migration.  This episode is a podcast mashup between Ufahamu Read More…

Ep. 122: Hear Ufahamu Africa on Migrations: A World on the Move

Hear more of our conversation with Nanjala Nyabola, continued from Ep. 113: A conversation with Nanjala Nyabola. In this podcast mash-up with Cornell University’s Migrations: A World on the Move podcast. Their episode shares previously unaired parts of our conversation with Nanjala and Migrations postdoctoral fellow Eleanor Paynter.

Nyabola’s work and writing spans themes of migration, politics, and personal experience in her new book “Travelling While Black.” Listen to the episode to hear her read excerpts from select essays.

Ep. 115: A conversation with Robtel Neajai Pailey on citizenship and Liberia

Robtel Neajai Pailey is a writer, activist, and academic whose recent book engages with the topic of citizenship in Africa, especially in Liberia. She joins Rachel for a great conversation about her work, the scholar-activists who influence and inspire her, and how to make our work ethical, emancipatory, and accessible. We conducted this interview on the sidelines of the 52nd Annual Liberian Studies Association conference, hosted by Cornell University’s Institute of African Development.

In the news wrap, Kim and Rachel talk about academic freedom in Zambia, the corruption trial in South Africa against its former president, and legal challenges surrounding closings of Kenyan refugee camps, and Twitter’s move to Ghana.

Ep. 103: A conversation with Cyril Obi of the African Peacebuilding Network

Joining us in conversation this week is Cyril Obi, program director of the African Peacebuilding Network, to talk with Rachel about the geopolitics of oil in Africa, his work with the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program, and the great work of the African Peacebuilding Network.

And if you’re still looking for gifts for your African studies friends, check out this week’s news wrap where Kim and Rachel share the books we should be reading. In other news, we talk Ghanian elections, all of the happenings in the Sahel, and Malawi being selected as the country of the year.

Ep. 97: A conversation with Lina Benabdallah on the link between China and Africa

Presidential elections are happening in multiple African countries, where we’re seeing constitutional changes that allow presidents to seek third terms. Kim and Rachel also talk about the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Nigeria, the politics of education access, and a new report on migration in Africa.

This week’s interview features Lina Benabdallah—an expert on China-Africa relations—and the links between China and Africa (plus, her new book!).

Ep. 70: A conversation with Ato Kwamena Onoma on property rights, refugees, and more

In this week’s episode, we talk about Malawi’s elections, the passing of Binyavanga Wainaina, and ethnic violence and displacement in Ethiopia. Our featured conversation is with Ato Kwamena Onoma, a political scientist currently serving as a senior program officer at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. He is also the author of two books, Anti-Refugee Violence and African Politics and The Politics of Property Rights Institutions in Africa, both published by Cambridge University Press. His segment begins at 13:06.

Ep. 65: A conversation with Jeffrey Paller on urban politics, democracy in Ghana, and more

We start our episode this week talking about recent pieces on Sudan published in The Monkey Cage, the row between Uganda and Rwanda, African migrants stuck in Mexico, and the latest on events in Mali. This week’s conversation is with Jeffrey Paller (@JWPaller), an assistant professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. He was formerly a fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University and a Research Associate at the Center for Democratic Development in Ghana. Our listeners might be familiar with Jeffrey’s weekly news bulletin, This Week in Africa. We spoke with him about his new book, published this week, Democracy in Ghana: Everyday Politics in Urban Africa. Our conversation with Jeffrey begins at 10:34.

Ep. 53: A conversation with Beth Whitaker on Africa’s international relations

This week’s episode begins with a discussion of protests and repression in Zimbabwe, the terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya, Senegal’s upcoming election, and the re-launch of the Africa Online Digital Library. Our guest this week is Beth Whitaker, an associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Her research examines migration and security issues in Africa. We spoke with her about her new book, Africa’s International Relations: Balancing Domestic and Global Interests during the annual meeting of the African Studies Association in Atlanta, Georgia in November 2018. Some topics we cover include diaspora voting (especially in Kenya) and refugees. Our conversation begins at 10:25.

Ep. 30: A conversation with filmmaker Christiane Badgley about Guangzhou Dream Factory

After an unplanned break, the podcast returns this week, highlighting a new film: Guangzhou Dream Factory. In a conversation with filmmaker Christiane Badgley (@pipelinedreams), we talk about African migrants in China and the missed opportunities in these entrepreneurs’ home countries. Much of Badgley’s earlier work is set in Africa. In recent years, she has focused her attention on the extractive industries and controversial U.S. investments in West and Central Africa, writing and producing film and new media work for multiple broadcast and online outlets. Guangzhou Dream Factory is Badgley’s latest documentary (with producing partner, Erica Marcus), and was made with funding from The National Endowment for the Humanities and The National Endowment for the Arts. Our conversation begins at 4:59.