ZEF Public Lecture: Hyper-Imperialism and Changes in the World Order: An African Perspective

July 4, 2024 | 14:30 h - 15:30 h

We'd like to invite you to ZEF's Public Lecture.

Topic: Hyper-Imperialism and Changes in the World Order: An African Perspective

Speaker: Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, educator and researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. 

How to join 

The lecture will be held in hybrid mode (zoom and in-person at ZEF).
You can join us in-person at ZEF, ground floor, Conference Room, Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn,
or online via Zoom: https://uni-bonn.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/u5EvcOuprDopHtc5wqaMH1E0jbrQyG6upP-7

Abstract

Events in recent years, including Israel’s genocide in Gaza, signify a qualitative change in the US-dominated world order. Imperialism has begun its transformation to a new stage: Hyper-Imperialism. This is imperialism conducted in an exaggerated and kinetic way, whilst also subject to the constraints that the declining empire has foisted on itself. The spasmodic quality of its exertion is felt by the millions of Congolese, Palestinians, Somalis, Syrians, and Yemeni – whose heads instinctively jerk for cover at sudden sounds of the over US$ 2 trillion dollar military spending of the US-led Military Bloc. This session will explore some key elements of our landmark text Hyper-Imperialism: A Dangerous Decadent New Stage (January 2024). The implications for Africa are profound and multifaceted. African economies face intensified resource extraction, leading to environmental degradation and depletion of natural wealth. Whilst the threat of further entrenchment of neo-colonial patterns, impeding Africa's progress toward self-determination and development, the relative decline of Global North hegemony has shifted the geopolitical landscape and opened new possibilities for emergent organisations of the Global South.

Speaker

Mikaela Nhondo Erskog is an educator and researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. She is part of the Pan Africanism Today Secretariat, which coordinates the regional articulation of the International People’s Assembly and is also part of the No Cold War coordination committee, a peace platform promoting multilateralism and maximum global cooperation. She is also part of Dongsheng, an international collective of researchers interested in Chinese politics and society, and has hosted “The Crane: An Africa-China Podcast”. 

She earned her Masters of Arts degree from the university currently known as Rhodes, South Africa, and is going to start her PhD in International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, China, this September. Her interests range from International Relations and Public Affairs, China–Africa Relations, African Histories, National Liberation Marxism and Marxist Feminist Studies. Co-authored with Vijay Prashad, her most recent article 'The Actuality of Red Africa', was published in Monthly Review (June 2024).