Research and partnerships
Read about our scholarship on Africa and our partnerships with local and African organisations.
Research
Our interdisciplinary research on the continent of Africa revolves around seven key themes:
- History, memory and culture
Bringing together researchers from the humanities and social sciences, this strand of research includes research on: war and memory in Algeria and Zimbabwe; colonialism and reparative justice; the politics of museums, heritage and returns; social media and humour; life histories and biography, and the cultural politics of urban space in Africa.
Funders include AHRC, ESRC, ERC and charitable foundations. Members maintain links with the Centre for Rights, Reparations and Anti-Colonial Justice.
- Conflict, violence and rights
Research in this theme combines anthropological, geographical, legal and developmental perspectives on conflict and rights in African transnational contexts. It brings together the conflict, violence and development cluster at the Institute of Development Studies with members of the School of Global Studies.
This strand hosts the large Armed Conflict Location and Events Data base, which is developing innovative means of monitoring conflict across the continent, working with civic and human rights groups to create better information about humanitarian emergencies.
- Mobility and diasporic connections
Our research on mobility and African transnational connections within and beyond the continent includes studies of: transit migration in North Africa, the politics of asylum and new diasporic communities in Europe; displacement, rural-urban migration and the politics of vulnerability, protection and livelihoods in African urban spaces. Researchers in this cluster are members of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research.
- Agricultural and environmental futures
This research combines work on the politics of land, water and other natural resources with cutting-edge scholarship on climate change and its social impacts. It brings together environmental and social scientists, including researchers from the Institute of Development Studies, the Sussex Policy Research Unit (SPRU), Geography and Anthropology.
- Energy and technology
Our research on energy and technology in Africa encompasses the natural and social sciences and engineering. This includes collaborations between development studies and science and technology studies, particularly through the ESRC-funded STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability).
This research involves researchers at SPRU, Global Studies, and IDS. A major focus in this strand is technology transitions and low carbon development in Africa.
- Health, gender and sexuality
This strand links researchers working on major initiatives on global health, gender and sexuality. It brings together researchers at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the School of Global Studies and the Institute of Development Studies.
Research in this theme includes work on HIV-AIDS in Africa and on African migrant health. Members maintain close links with the University’s Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence.
- Education, youth and citizenship
Our scholarship on education, youth and citizenship combines researchers at Sussex’s Centre for International Education and the School of Global Studies.
We have a strong body of policy research which engages closely with African educational institutions and teachers.
Partnerships
We have productive partnerships with local and international research organisations including:
Tshepo Institute for the Study of Contemporary Africa
African Economic History Network