Post-Colonialisms Today aims to recover policy insights from the post-independence era in Africa and mobilize them through a feminist lens for contemporary development challenges. In April 2018 in Dakar, researchers selected through an open call for proposals came together for the first time with the working group and advisory group of activist intellectuals based on the continent, facilitated by Regions Refocus as the project secretariat. This meeting focused on launching the research phase of the project by refining the selected research proposals and establishing a common intellectual frame grounded in feminist and heterodox approaches. To promote the project aim of recovering development policy lessons from the post-independence era, the meeting dived into sectoral discussion on industrialization, education, development planning, and more, while also examining the broader political vision of leaders such as Nasser or Nyerere through a feminist, progressive lens.
We were honored to hold the meeting at the headquarters of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), with which Regions Refocus is formally affiliated. The research papers will be published as a compendium by CODESRIA in early 2021.
Following the Research Phase Launch, researchers began drafting their papers with a process of continuous feedback from the Working Group and advisors, which they presented at the Intergenerational Dialogue in February 2019. Policy insights highlighted by the researchers will be the basis of policy advocacy work in 2020 and beyond, beginning with a series of online discussions with targeted sectors, accompanied by videos and articles in popular media outlets.