A Cultural Anthropology interest group from Spring 2025, “China Africa”, has resulted in the publication of a special collection in Critical Asian Studies, Voices from the Field Section, featuring essays by our graduate students Yidi Zheng, Zixi Zhao, and Yuanwei Zong, and postdoc Fidele Ebia.
The interest group convened around the thesis that there has a been a paradigm shift in China-Africa relations, from state-to-state connections to one where private Chinese entrepreneurship in Africa is taking the leading role. The interest group explored this thesis and the essays published in the special edition all reflect on it in various ways.