‘China in Africa’: From Under-researched to Under-theorised?
| Author | Darius A’Zami |
| Published date | 01 January 2015 |
| Date | 01 January 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0305829814557555 |
| Subject Matter | Review Articles |
Millennium: Journal of
International Studies
2015, Vol. 43(2) 724 –734
© The Author(s) 2014
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DOI: 10.1177/0305829814557555
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MILLENNIUM
Journal of International Studies
‘China in Africa’: From
Under-researched to
Under-theorised?
Darius A’Zami
University of Sussex, UK
Abstract
The literature on China–Africa relations is a rapidly developing field. However, whilst it is a
much richer body of work now than it was a few years ago, it has been somewhat resistant to
compelling theorisation. This claim is demonstrated via discussion of three recent contributions
to this literature. The discussion develops a claim that a helpful problématique might be found by
framing China–Africa relations as relations between ‘unequal equals’, a particular benefit of which
is that it emphasises that China–Africa relations are, inter alia specifically international relations.
Whilst rigorous theoretical work has already been done, the emphasis has been societal. In this
sense, the unequal equals formulation amounts to a call for greater dialogue between social and
internationally oriented disciplines to resolve the under-theorisation that afflicts the study of
China–Africa relations.
Keywords
China–Africa relations, China in Africa, international theory, unequal equals
Stephen Chan (ed.), The Morality of China in Africa: the Middle Kingdom and the Dark Continent
(London: Zed Books, 2013, xi + 154 pp., £14.99 pbk).
Lucy Corkin, Uncovering African Agency: Angola’s Management of China’s Credit Lines (Farnham:
Ashgate, 2013, xiii + 244 pp., £55.00 hbk).
Li Xing and Abdulkadir Osman Farah (eds), China–African Relations in an Era of Great
Transformations (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013, xiv + 207 pp., £55.00 hbk).
Corresponding author:
Darius A’Zami, University of Sussex, Arts C, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9SJ, UK.
Email: d.azami@sussex.ac.uk
557555MIL0010.1177/0305829814557555Millennium: Journal of International StudiesA’Zami
review-article2014
Review Article
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