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SUMMARY:Doing research on\, in and around state buildings in Africa: Refle
 ctions from Lesotho\, Malawi and Zimbabwe - Innocent Batsani-Ncube (Univer
 sity of London)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250227T153000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20250227T173000Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/070ee2e1-d958-433f-8d76-1734bbfce16d/
DESCRIPTION:China has financed\, built and refurbished new parliament buil
 dings for African countries. Recent examples include parliament buildings 
 in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)\, Gabon\, Lesotho\, Malawi\, Seyche
 lles\, and Zimbabwe. The involvement of the Chinese government and Chinese
  construction firms in these building projects starts from their design\, 
 construction\, furnishing\, up to long-term maintenance. China’s financi
 ng of African parliament buildings is a new and tangible phenomenon around
  which to understand China-Africa relations\, the evolution of African par
 liaments and policy-relevant debates on contemporary representative politi
 cs in Africa.  This talk is based on research conducted in and around thes
 e Chinese government funded parliament buildings in Lesotho\, Malawi and Z
 imbabwe. Data was collected through official access to all the three build
 ings\, key informant interviews with political and civil society elites (f
 ormer heads of state\, cabinet ministers\, foreign affairs ministry offici
 als\, donor aid coordination ministry officials\, parliament executives\, 
 parliamentarians\, public construction officials\, NGO leaders\, trade uni
 onists\, academics and journalists) and focus group discussions with a cro
 ss section of ordinary citizens who live and work around the buildings. Th
 is talk principally draws on the researcher’s field diary and focusses o
 n how the study was carried out\, how access to these sensitive buildings 
 was negotiated\, the complexities and rewards of conducting research in an
 d around state buildings. The talk enhances our understanding of the pract
 icalities of doing fieldwork in Africa\, especially the ways in which Afri
 can studies researchers can navigate the complexity of access to utilise s
 tate buildings as vantage points to gather vital primary data for their st
 udies.\n\nInnocent Batsani-Ncube (Ib) is Lecturer in African Politics at t
 he School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary\, Universi
 ty of London (QMUL). He researches Africa -China relations\, Elections in 
 Africa and the politics of African states’ nuclear power projects.  His 
 research has been recognized by the most prestigious Early Career Research
  prize in African Studies in the UK\, the 2024 African Studies Association
  (ASA-UK) Best Thesis Prize. In addition\, Ib received the 2023 Journal of
  Southern African Studies Terence Ranger Prize. His book China and African
  Parliaments is forthcoming at the Oxford University Press (2025). He is a
 lso project director of the QMUL 2025-2028 Regional Organisations and Elec
 toral integrity peer review mechanisms in Africa project that is funded by
  the Leverhulme Trust.\n\nSpeakers:\nInnocent Batsani-Ncube (University of
  London)
LOCATION:St Antony's College - Main Site (Pavilion Room\, accessed via lif
 t)\, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/070ee2e1-d958-433f-8d76-1734bbfce16d/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Doing research on\, in and around state buildings in Afri
 ca: Reflections from Lesotho\, Malawi and Zimbabwe - Innocent Batsani-Ncub
 e (University of London)
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