On November 20, 2025, the Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC’s) African Peacebuilding and Developmental Dynamics (APDD) Program hosted a panel at the 68th annual meeting of the African Studies Association (ASA), held from November 20-22, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. The ASA conference, themed “Crossing Boundaries and Recovering Intellectual Traditions,” invited participants to reflect on the politics of knowledge and structural inequalities in African studies. Entitled “Decolonizing the Politics of Knowledge Production in African Peacebuilding: Concepts, Theories, and Practices,” the Program-sponsored panel questioned dominant structures of power, historicized them, and presented avenues for resurgent African agency as a pathway towards sustainable peacebuilding on the continent.

The first presentation, entitled “African Solutions to African Problems”: Political Sloganeering or African Renaissance? A Historical-Linguistic Reflection was delivered by Dr. Zaid Sekito (Makerere University; Next Gen 2020, APN IRF 2024). Dr. Sekito deliberated on the popular slogan, “African Solutions for African Problems,” which he explained is currently elite and state-driven, without intentional consideration paid to historical linguistics, which delineate how people use language to promote and sustain violent conflicts. He argued that, given the importance of oral histories in communication and in providing a populace with shared memory, operationalizing  African Solutions for African problems for sustainable peacebuilding requires that interventions pay attention to continuities and evolutions in the language styles that ‘people’ use to sustain violent conflicts. This approach, Dr. Sekito argued, is what can genuinely inform the development of solutions tailored to specific contexts and community needs, effectively working to decolonize peacebuilding.

Sasha Claude Rai (University of the Witwatersrand; Next Gen 2024) followed with a presentation titled, “Against Moral Empire: Racialized Sexuality and the Limits of Liberal Peace”, stating that decolonization and deapartheidization in South Africa are far more complex than the transitioning of the country’s system of governance. Instead, Rai argued, both processes require reconciling with the past and reimagining the future of knowledge. Within the context of gender and sexuality, she historicized South Africa’s colonial project’s moralization of the body, policing of desire, and its use of controlled intimacy as a way of ensuring a compliant citizenry, citing the passage of laws criminalizing interracial relationships and homosexuality, for example, as ways to ensure that the racial, and moral order of Apartheid society was left unthreatened. Rai’s presentation contemplated the ways that the regulation of sexuality in South Africa, rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity, has historically and continues to define belonging and knowledge in the country, where violence against and ‘corrective’ measures taken against homosexuals persist. She also situated this within ruptures led by Black South Africans, like the Rhodes Must Fall, calling for epistemic disobedience in intimacy—a site of liberation.

Grace Kagoyire (Stellenbosch University; APN IRG 2019 and Next Gen 2021, 2024) presented on “Decolonizing Knowledge Production in African Peacebuilding: Concepts, Theories and Practices”. Using Rwanda’s community-based conflict resolution mechanisms — the Gacaca Courts —as a case study to exemplify effective grassroots initiatives that foster unity and promote dispute resolution for sustainable peace, Kagoyire asserted that the decolonization of knowledge production in peacebuilding is not just an academic exercise but a political and ethical imperative. This imperative, she explained, could be achieved through multistep processes. Firstly, by re-centering African agency, valorizing local narratives, and employing historically informed, culturally grounded methodologies that are termed home-grown solutions. Secondly, by restoring dignity to African ways of knowing through consideration of African histories, cultures, and methodologies. Thirdly, by engaging with theories like postcolonialism, Afrikology, and critical theory to reconstruct knowledge systems. Lastly, by encouraging practices such as community-based conflict resolution models that promote healing and reconciliation.

The fourth presentation, “Africanizing Democracy and Coup Prevention in Africa: Towards a Practical Approach,” was delivered by Dr. Hakeem Onapajo (National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies; APN IRF 2023). Dr. Onapajo explored the resurgence of coups in African countries—primarily in the western region—and attributed this to bad governance, geopolitical interests in the area, foreign intervention, weak institutions, and the mismatch between a Western-style democracy and the continent’s realities. He explained the failures of liberal democracy in Africa, including the lack of democratic dividends, state capture, electoral manipulation, and the influence of Western capitalism, concluding that forestalling coups in Africa may require Africans to develop a democratic system that appears relatable to them and their society. Dr. Onapajo argued for the need to develop more research and advocacy on the concept of an African Democracy and called for investment in civil society organizations and lobby groups to undertake this action and push the agenda at regional institutions.

Dr. Gloria Longba’am-Alli’s (University of Jos; Next Gen 2021, 2023, and APN IRF 2024) presentation, “Decolonizing Impact Assessment: Centering African Communities in Evaluating Peacebuilding Effectiveness: A Study of Central Nigeria,” focused on the metrics used to evaluate peacebuilding initiatives. Dr. Longba’am-Alli argued for the need to center local African communities in evaluating the effectiveness of peacebuilding initiatives, stating that African peacebuilding initiatives are evaluated using Western frameworks that perpetuate colonial knowledge patterns. This process, she argued, begins with external, Western, “experts” determining evaluation questions, acceptable evidence, and effectiveness standards for peacebuilding initiatives. As a result, African communities, who may be consulted in the development of these frameworks, are positioned as passive data sources rather than legitimate knowledge producers with the power to define the success of peacebuilding initiatives implemented in their local communities. Dr. Longba’am-Alli concluded that decolonizing impact assessment requires a fundamental shift in power: from external experts determining success criteria to African communities controlling evaluation design, methodology, and standards of evidence. The Program’s panel presentations–informed by linguistics,  gender/sexuality studies, political science, governance, anthropology, and history– highlighted the importance of language, epistemic disobedience in intimacy, the value of community-led conflict resolution mechanisms, and the need for Africa to define what democracy means to it—responding to the ASA’s theme of “Crossing Boundaries and Recovering Intellectual Traditions”.

On November 22, Program Staff, fellows, and alums attended the ASA Awards Ceremony, where five APDD Fellows received awards from the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY), including four named CCNY Outstanding Scholars and one honored with the ASA Samora Graça Machel Presidential Award. Respectively, the fellows are as follows: Tamia Botes (Next Gen 2024), Kgomotso Komane (Next Gen 2024), Dr. Hlengiwe Ndhlovu (Next Gen 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022, and APN IRF 2025), Dr. Robert Ojambo (Next Gen 2012, 2014), and Dr. Eugenia Anderson (APN IRF 2025).