The African Union Border Programme

This book studies the history and inner workings of the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) and its partnership with Germany. Based on extensive empirical research, it sheds light onto the relations between the African Union (AU) and the German development agency Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), the day-to-day interactions and dynamics within this key AU programme in the field of peace and security and outlines contemporary border-making practices on the continent. Challenging conventional and eurocentric approaches to making sense of North-South partnerships and the AU as a central regional organisation in the Global South, Constanze Blum highlights the agency of African actors in collaborative programmes as well as the multi-directionality of institutional partnerships. Against the backdrop of the increasing importance of North-South collaborations, the findings on the inner life of the AUBP provide a deeper understanding of the intricacies and complexities of AU programmes and external partnerships.

This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of International and Regional Organisations, African Politics, Governance, Peace and Security Studies as well as International Relations and Development Studies more broadly.

Unpacks the African Union Border Programme (AUBP) and the African Union's partnership with Germany Argues that the AUBP can best be understood by focussing on the relationships between its stakeholders Sheds light on historical processes as a basis to understand contemporary events and everyday practices between actors

Autorentext

Constanze Blum is a researcher at the ResearchCentreGlobal Dynamics (ReCentGlobe) at Leipzig University, Germany.

Inhalt

Introduction: Approaching the African Union Border Programme.- 1. Chapter: Of declarations, practices and the agency of individuals: The genesis of the AUBP.- 2. Chapter : Competing imaginaries of African borders: The AUBP stakeholders.- 3. Chapter : A German-African border programme? The partnership between the African Union and Germany.- 4. Chapter : Intermediaries, consultants and translators: The importance of external experts and BPoC GIZ advisors for internal programme cohesion.- 5. Chapter : Pockets of agency: Joint knowledge production within the AUBP.- 6. Chapter : Perceptions of the other and clashes of organizational cultures.- 7. Chapter :Conclusion: How to approach AU partnerships in peace and security? A proposed way forward.