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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 ➡️ As part of our 60th anniversary campaign, we asked former Editors-in-Chief of Africa Spectrum to reflect on what makes the journal distinctive and important within African Studies. #AFR60yrs Thread 🧵

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

🆕 How do rituals shape state legitimacy? Mohamed Gibril Sesay examines oath-taking in Sierra Leone, showing how ritual practices influence perceptions of authority, accountability, and justice. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

🆕 How does local context shape digital government reform? Abubakari, Agyemang, Clottey, and Arko examine digitalisation across three Ghanaian local governments, showing how resources and local conditions shape reform outcomes. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🆕 How can infrastructure projects shape regional cooperation? Yasmine Mahssoun and Chafii Jabal examine the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline and its potential to strengthen interstate cooperation between Nigeria and Morocco. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🆕 How does media shape debates on presidential term limits? James Ndlovu and Tigere Muringa examine how competing media narratives framed proposals to extend Zimbabwe's presidential term and shaped debates on democracy and constitutionalism. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

🆕 Can common-pool resources remain self-governed under rapid urbanisation? Aklilu Fikresilassie Kabiso, Eoin O'Neill, and Finbarr Brereton examine how urban growth is reshaping resource governance around Ethiopia's Lake Hawassa. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de @maxinerubin.com

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Africa Spectrum is pleased to be at the joint SGAS/VAD Conference 2026 in Basel. As the flagship African Studies journal of the @giga-hamburg.de, we look forward to engaging with scholars, authors, and readers from across the global African Studies community. #VAD2026 #SGAS2026 @maxinerubin.com

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

🆕Special Issue “Giving in Somali Diaspora Humanitarianism in Africa,” guest-edited by Nauja Kleist and Mark Bradbury, explores how Somali diaspora communities across Africa shape humanitarianism through giving, care, and solidarity. 🔗 journals.sagepub.com/toc/afra/61/2 @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🆕 Has climate change become a "single story" in explanations of insecurity? Dengiyefa Angalapu and Ernest Toochi Aniche argue that climate-security framings can oversimplify conflict dynamics in Nigeria and overlook other key drivers of insecurity. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

🆕 Are border residents a security threat or a security resource? Baami and Torsu show how border communities in Ghana contribute to intelligence gathering, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution, yet remain largely overlooked in border governance. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

🆕 What are the cultural costs of development? Rachel King, Amanda Esterhuysen, and Dineo Skosana examine how mining, infrastructure, and renewable energy projects have driven burial disturbance and reburial in South Africa. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

🆕 Why do women's land rights remain limited despite legal reforms? Millicent Awialie Akaateba and Agumah Sebastian Mbabugri examine how customary practices continue to shape women's access to land in Ghana despite statutory protections. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

🆕 What can Somali giving practices teach us about humanitarianism? Thabani Mutambasere argues that humanitarian action is shaped by relationships, obligations, and transnational networks as much as by formal institutions. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

🆕 How do migrants claim belonging in a border town? Wonder Juniper explores how community radio shapes the citizenship practices of Zimbabwean traders in Musina, South Africa, introducing the concept of "bordered voices." 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

🆕Obadia Okinda Miroro explores how belonging, migration experiences, and social media shape crisis giving among Somalis in Nairobi. The study highlights the growing role of digital technologies in connecting people to crises and mobilising support. doi.org/10.1177/00020397261467770 #SpecialIssue

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

🆕 How did African academic publishing become so dependent on external actors? Kitchen and Mills trace the rise of an "extraverted" publishing economy shaped by donors, multinational publishers, and enduring inequalities in knowledge production. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261468822 @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

🆕 How do weaker states navigate great-power competition? Vigne and Van Hoeymissen examine how the DRC balanced relations with China, the US, and the EU, showing how hedging can help preserve autonomy amid insecurity and geopolitical rivalry. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261466687 @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

🆕 Book Review: How did Transsion become Africa's leading mobile phone company? Rochat reviews Miao Lu's The Transsion Approach, highlighting how adaptation to local markets helped shape the firm's success across Africa. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

🆕 How do youth movements reshape democratic space? Han examines how marginalised youth in post-2011 Tunisia reclaimed streets and public spaces to challenge political exclusion and demand socio-economic justice. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261462573 #specialissue @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

🆕 Introduction to the Special Issue: Giving in Somali Diaspora Humanitarianism in Africa Nauja Kleist and Mark Bradbury introduce research on Somali diaspora humanitarianism and crisis relief across Africa. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261460467 @giga-hamburg.de @naujakleist.bsky.social

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

🆕 How is Africa positioned in British academia? Beidollahkhani argues that Africa's visibility as a site of research and policy engagement often coexists with the marginalisation of African epistemic authority, raising questions of epistemic justice. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261457156

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

🆕 How does Islamic ethical thought shape socio-political life in Northern Nigeria? Fahm and Ibrahim show how Islamic ethical frameworks shape ideas of leadership, community resilience, and social repair amid governance, insecurity, and inequality. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261452691

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

🆕 Can women’s land ownership strengthen climate adaptation and food security? Wegenast, Hänze, and Haer show that joint land ownership in Tanzania improves food security and diet diversity among households facing extreme weather events. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261450226 @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

🆕 How did Ghana frame diaspora engagement during the Year of Return? Kutor, Oklikah, Saaka, and Arku examine how Ghanaian media framed the initiative through tourism, investment, branding, and emotional connection with diaspora communities. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261448904 @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

🆕 How is legitimacy negotiated in contested land governance systems? Awoh examines land governance in Kom and Bali, Cameroon, showing how traditional authorities use hybrid strategies to maintain legitimacy and mediate land conflicts. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261446002 @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

🆕 How does prolonged displacement shape identity and belonging? Rudolf and Tufa examine the Amiche in Ethiopia, showing how protracted exclusion and displacement produced a distinct identity shaped by stable liminality and permanent in-betweenness. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261446238

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

🆕 How do telecom companies shape humanitarian response in Somalia? Chonka examines how Somali telecom firms use CSR narratives around connectivity, empowerment, nationalism, and piety amid conflict and humanitarian crises. 🔗doi.org/10.1177/00020397261443322 #specialissue @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 ➡️ Co Editor-in-Chief Kendra Dupuy highlights an article showing how community-based conservation initiatives can create openings for marginalised individuals to claim recognition in rural Tanzania. #AFR60yrs Thread🧵

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

🆕 How do corporations and communities negotiate access on resource frontiers? Yang examines Chinese bauxite mining in Guinea, showing how corporate strategies and community repertoires interact to renegotiate access, compensation, and rights claims. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261443317

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

🆕How has France’s image shifted in Malian media? Zhuang analyses 822 Maliweb articles (2017–2024), showing how anti-French narratives gained prominence after the 2020 political rupture, reshaping public discourse and highlighting African media agency. 🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

🆕 How do communities organise aid during crisis? Mohamed, @naujakleist.bsky.social, and Kanyinga examine how Somali WhatsApp groups function as spaces for coordinating drought relief, extending kinship-based support into digital humanitarian action. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 ➡️Co Editor-in-Chief @maxinerubin.com highlights an article that explores how religious symbolism can be mobilised to legitimise authoritarian rule, using the Gambian case to reveal broader political dynamics. #AFR60yrs Thread🧵

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 ➡️ Editor-in-Chief @marthacj.bsky.social (since 2023) highlights an article that stood out for offering a fresh perspective on #Africa’s global significance and challenging #Eurocentric assumptions in the study of languages. #AFR60yrs Thread🧵

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

🆕Can social media defend constitutionalism? Zvaita and Muringa explore how Zimbabwean citizens use X to contest presidential term extensions, revealing “performative constitutionalism” and fractures within ruling power. #OpenAccess 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/00020397261430358 CC: @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 ➡️ Former Editor-in-Chief @timglawion.bsky.social (2019–2023) highlights an article from his tenure that stood out for the engagement it generated and its contribution to ongoing debates on knowledge production in #Africanstudies. Thread🧵 @sagepub.com

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

🆕Zoubere Dialla examines the digitisation of cadastral procedures in #BurkinaFaso. The author demonstrates how technological solutions alone cannot address underlying structural issues or resolve conflicts arising from stakeholder strategies. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de @sagepub.com

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

📚Planning to submit a book review to Africa Spectrum but still looking for the right title? 🔷Our latest Book Review Newsletter features a new curated list of recommended books from our in-house librarian @giga-hamburg.de. Read further 👇 CC: @sagepub.com @marthacj.bsky.social

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 Former Editor-in-Chief Leonardo Arriola (2019–2023) highlights three articles from his tenure that stood out to him for their conceptual clarity, empirical strength, and timely contributions to key debates in #Africanstudies. Thread 🧵 CC: @giga-hamburg.de

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Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) @miasa-ug.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Join us this Monday 9 March at 3:30pm (UTC) for a Roundtable on „Sustainable #Publication Practices: Perspectives from the Global South and Global North“ at the University of Ghana & online. Zoom link via: miasa.ug.edu.gh/event/public... @giga-hamburg.de @africaspectrum.bsky.social

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60🎉 @maxinerubin.com & @marthacj.bsky.social reflect on the journal's presence over six decades. They highlight efforts to decolonise knowledge production, expand African-based scholarship & map the road ahead. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de @sagepub.com

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

🆕Patience Chadambuka, Sandra Bhatasara & Talent Moyo examine how extreme heat impacts residents across Zimbabwe’s Beitbridge. Using a structural violence lens, they show how inequalities shape exposure & adaptation to extreme heat in a single town. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... CC: @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

🆕Lotfi Sour analyses Russia’s multi-layered strategy in the Sahel through the “Matryoshka” model. The author argues that Russia’s engagement in Sahelian states is not only opportunistic but a deliberate effort to reshape regional power dynamics. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... CC: @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

🆕 @edle100.bsky.social, @peteralalbrecht.bsky.social & Karuti Kanyinga examine Somali diaspora humanitarianism in Nairobi's Eastleigh & Mogadishu. They argue 'altruistic' acts of giving reinforce hierarchies, reciprocal obligations & claims to legitimacy. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/0002... @giga-hamburg.de

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

📕Ada Johnson-Kanu reviews Nicholas Kerr's "Electoral Commissions and Democratization in Africa", praising it for challenging single-dimensional approaches to studying electoral administration. It also shows how minor administrative failures can threaten democratic legitimacy. 🔗 bit.ly/4cNEQRF

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Maxine Rubin @maxinerubin.com · 25/02/2026

Another set of exciting picks from our past Editor-in-Chief, Julia Grauvogel! I am fortunate to work with @grauvogelj.bsky.social at the @giga-hamburg.de. Drawing on her experience as Editor-in-Chief of Africa Spectrum, she’s always generous with advice and ideas.

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 ➡️Former Editor-in-Chief @grauvogelj.bsky.social (2018–2022) highlights articles from her tenure that impressed her for their strong empirical grounding & for raising important ethical questions for Global North-based #Africanstudies scholars. Thread 🧵

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Maxine Rubin @maxinerubin.com · 20/02/2026

Here's the first of our "Past Editors' Picks" posts 👏 🤓 ⬇️ We are also fortunate to still benefit from the support of @he-mel.bsky.social and @mehler.bsky.social who readily provide advice when we ask and generously act as peer reviewers when asked despite their busy schedules! 🌟

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Africa Spectrum @africaspectrum.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Celebrating Africa Spectrum at 60 🎉 🔷 @he-mel.bsky.social & @mehler.bsky.social (former Editors-in-Chief 2009–2018) highlighted these articles from their tenure that sparked debate about anthropological research in African studies. #AFR60yrs Thread 🧵

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