Africa-China relations are made not only in ministries. They are also made through everyday encounters in the workplace. Research by Robel Mulat and Chong Zhang suggests that resistance does not always take the form of open confrontation; workers also resist through everyday actions that are easy to overlook.

'Meat and Mining' is a conference on the animals whose flesh was used to power the industrial mining revolution that took place in southern Africa following the discovery of copper, diamonds, and gold from the 1850s onwards. The conference will be held in Leiden 1-4 September 2027. Deadline papers: 1 October 2026.

In this vivid ethnography, Tanja Hendriks details the decisions and dilemmas of Malawian civil servants in disaster response efforts after cyclone Idai (2019). Hendriks reveals how the aid-dependent Malawian state remains crucial to disaster governance despite chronic resource scarcity and limited capacity.

Last February, Carlien Donkor made a return visit to Nzulezo, Ghana, for her PhD research. The focus of the trip was to document the Indigenous craft of stilt construction unique to the community of Nzulezo, that have lived on and with water for more than five hundred years.

Development cooperation is not only assessed by what it delivers. It is assessed by how it is experienced and interpreted within wider narratives about power, history and global economic relations. A large study by INCLUDE with research teams across Africa examines these perceptions. 

The ASCL and the Netherlands Defence Academy are constituting parts of the Knowledge Hub Africa, which seeks to develop a research agenda on ‘African Peace and Security’. The Knowledge Hub Africa aims to highlight the agency of governmental organisations, non-state armed groups, and citizens in matters of war and peace.