From Congo to GONGO
Higher Education, Critical Geopolitics, and the New Red Scare
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Contents
- List of Illustrations and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 African—Russian Relations: Historical and Political Contexts
- Introduction
- Notes on Reflexivity
- Education as a Diplomatic Tool
- Engaging Individuals
- Establishing Institutions
- Implementing Policies
- Contextualizing the Global Education Arena
- Theoretical Considerations
- Neocolonialism, Neoliberalism, and Soft Power
- Value Homophily
- Transnational Social Capital
- Critical Geopolitics
- Conclusions
- References
- Chapter 2 Dissolving Borders: Transnationalism and the African Elite
- Introduction
- What is in a Name?
- Early African Russian Relations
- The Cold War and Soviet Partnerships
- Red Shadows: The Dark Side of Global Soviet Engagement
- Current Russian Higher Education Development in Africa
- Symbolic Partnerships
- New Hybrid Universities
- Scholarships to Russian Universities
- From Congo to GONGO: Russian Cultural Centers in Africa
- Closing Thoughts
- References
- Chapter 3 Research Considerations and Theoretical Applications
- Introduction
- Higher Education Development in Africa during the Era of the Soviet Union
- Higher Education Development in Africa during the Era of the Russian Federation
- Development of the African Elite
- In Egypt
- In Zambia
- In Ethiopia
- Dignity, Political Camaraderie, and Respect
- Research Methodology
- Data Collection Procedures
- Archival Research
- Content Analysis
- In-Depth Sociocultural Data
- Data Analysis
- Limitations
- Positionality
- References
- Chapter 4 The New Red Scare
- Introduction
- The Purpose of Russian Cultural Centers in Africa
- State Perspectives
- Student Perspectives
- Areas for Further Study
- Conclusions and Implications
- References
Acknowledgements
The sincerest thank you to my mentors and colleagues: Drs. Walter Allen, Edmond Keller, Grant Parker, Andrey Rezaev, Parna Sengupta, Daniel Solórzano, Robert Teranishi, Rick Wagoner, and Fred Zimmerman. I truly appreciate your guidance and enthusiasm in my pursuit of interdisciplinary knowledge.
A heartfelt thank you to my family for all of your support: especially my sister Faith and my aunt Dolly.
A warm thank you to my close friends and colleagues: Anubha Anushree, Dionne Berry, Rahsaan Chionesu, Bartosz Chmielowski, Jason Cieply, Steve Coupet, Jennifer Daly, Betty Dao, Jennifer Hsu, Jen Furlong, Rich Gallion, Lally Gartel, Alexey Goloshchapov, Jay Harris, Ryan Hughes, Cameron Jones, Stacey June, Elizabeth Kalbers, Alex Khramova, Gina Mink, Jenny Lee, Adam Levin, Ameer Loggins, Nik Lund, Joellen McBride, Taylor Minas, Dayo Mitchell, Sara Mrsny, Rusana Novikova, Maro Oganesyan, Alissa and B. Pagels- Minor, Carlisle and John Rex-Waller, Nicole Robinson, Stefi Skuro, Azeb Tadesse, the Tertulia community, Averi Thomas-Moore, Yuri Zhayvoronok, Johana Zuazo, and мои русские друзья.
· 1 · African—Russian Relations: Historical and Political Contexts
Keywords: International Higher EducationRussian EducationAfrican EducationPolitics in EducationSoft PowerDiplomacySymbolic PartnershipsCultural CentersGeopoliticsAbstract: Prompted by Cold War-era political competition, the Soviet Union engaged in wide-ranging soft power initiatives on the African continent. This included supervising the building of key infrastructure, founding colleges, supporting the study and preservation of indigenous languages, and educating future political leaders in Africa. Although much of these programs were shuttered in the early 1990s, there has been a rekindling of interest in Africa since the mid 2000s, further catalyzed by the current political tensions between East and West, marked by the Russo-Ukrainian War.
This chapter introduces the topic of educational diplomacy and delves into Russia’s current strategy: fostering symbolic partnerships, establishing hybrid universities, building cultural centers, and awarding scholarships to African students to study in Russian universities. Higher Education serves a diplomatic instrument: engaging individuals, establishing institutions, and implementing cross-national policies. Russian Cultural Centers represent a new tool in the diplomatic toolbox, and the result of a recent trend of prioritizing the non-university sector in African higher education.
Introduction
In 1958, 90-year-old W.E.B. Du Bois travelled to Russia to give lectures, attend events celebrating the anniversary of the October Revolution, and, to attend meetings with then Premier Nikita Khrushchev (Higbee, 1993). Du Bois had just recently received his passport, which had been confiscated by the United States government after years of political persecution. Like many African-American intellectuals of his time, such as Langston Hughes and Richard Wright–Du Bois was a long-term supporter of socialist ideals, and endured the combination of McCarthy-era paranoia, racism and oppression (Clark, 2016; Lewis, 1993; Morris, 2017).
Details
- Pages
- XVI, 96
- Publication Year
- 2024
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781433196027
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781433196034
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781636671734
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9781636671741
- DOI
- 10.3726/b21182
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2023 (November)
- Keywords
- Transnationalism African Education Russian Education International Higher Education Politics in Education Soft Power Diplomacy Cultural Centers Geopolitics From Congo to GONGO Higher Education, Critical Geopolitics, and the New Red Scare Hope McCoy
- Published
- New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2024. XVI, 96 pp., 2 b/w ill., 2 b/w tables.
