Discussion

Adopting an interdisciplinary, transregional perspective, and inspired by the spatial turn in the humanities and social sciences, the participants in this roundtable will aim to cast new light on aspects of the role of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the decolonisation of Africa. The roundtable will draw on new sources to explore some of the networks that were shaped through the movement of individuals and ideas from Africa to the “East” and from the “East” to Africa in the decades in which African countries moved to independence. It is now widely recognised that a Cold War perspective falls short in unfolding the complex geographies of such connections and the multipolarity of actions and transactions, some of which continue to influence relationships today. The history of the ties that existed between African liberation movements and the socialist bloc will be of particular interest, taking further themes explored in a collection of essays published by the organisers of the roundtable in 2019.