Research

My research agenda beyond my first book reflects my interests in South-South relations, security-development nexus, historical memory, political nostalgia, and postcolonial theory. Some of the projects I am excited to be working on include theorizing International Relations concepts from Global South perspectives, and extrapolating from my work on China-Africa to understand post-Western perspectives on hegemony, development, and power relations.

Working Papers

‘“We’ll be the victims, but still, it will be beautiful’: The Cruel Optimism of Mega Infrastructure Projects “

Abstract

International Relations scholarship has traditionally viewed infrastructure mainly through the lens of coercive power centering the state’s ability to exercise governance through manipulating infrastructure. However, in recent years, some scholarly attention has started examining infrastructure’s affective dimensions as well. Building on this scholarship, this article looks at infrastructure as connected to future-making by interrogating a central paradox about megaproject construction which often necessitates the displacement and eviction of local communities resulting in them losing land ownership, livelihoods, and sometimes even their social and political identity. Despite such experiences of loss, why do marginalized communities for whom pursuing the desire for a better life is itself the cause of their loss of home, livelihood, and stability continue to be fascinated by mega infrastructure projects? Leaning on Lauren Berlant’s concept of “cruel optimism,” this paper argues that affective attachments to the promise of infrastructures that either take too long to materialize or do not deliver on the promises of brighter futures even when they are completed amount to a form of emotional attachment which keeps aspirations and hopes up despite in reality only making more visible the state of despair and need communities find themselves in. The paper further argues that such delayed or suspended optimism is rooted in a futuristic nostalgia, a forward-looking longing which describes the yearnings for future aspirations that are impossible to achieve and yet create attachments for subjects desiring an imaginary future.  

Between DNA Testing and Archeological Digging: The Makings of an Origin Story in  Sino-Afro-Indian Ocean Maritime Silk Routes

Abstract

This paper deploys a biopolitics lens to read Chinese and Kenyan joint archaeological digging projects that aim to establish evidence of Ming Dynasty maritime encounters between Chinese and Africans. Between DNA testing of residents in Kenya’s Pate Island and terrestrial as well as underwater archaeological digging work, Chinese authorities have invested significant resources in constructing a story of origin about China’s maritime power in the Indian Ocean dating back to the 15th century. The narratives of this story of origin are built from a combination of material objects found in the digging sites as well as nostalgic imaginaries of what is yet to be found archeologically. The former refers to rearrangements of gallery expositions and rectifications of narratives following the uncovering of Ming era blue porcelain, coins, and tomb decorations in Malindi and Mambrui. The latter refers to imaginations of Ming Dynasty admiral Zheng He’s visit to the Swahili Coast in tandem with (inconclusive) maritime archaeological diggings for his shipwreck in Lamu. While clearly at the service of Beijing-led New Silk Roads (or Belt and Road Initiative), understanding these activities as a form of biopolitics underlines the important links between heritage diplomacy and historical statecraft. 

Ongoing Research

Worldmaking by the Global Majority: The Role of Nostalgia and Selving Practices (book manuscript)

Security Partnerships and Post-Liberal International Order: Between fragmentation and alternative arrangements (a couple of article projects)