 | Africa's Soft Power: Philosophies, Political Values, Foreign Policies and Cultural Exports Subjects: Area Studies; Global Development; Humanities; Politics & International Relations; African Studies; Regional Development; History; Cultural Studies; International Political Economy; International Politics; International Relations; African Culture and Society; African Media; African Literature & Language; African Politics; African International Relations; African Military and Security Studies; Science Technology and Engineering in Africa; Africa - Regional Development; African History; Popular Culture; Globalization; African Politics; Foreign Policy; Public Diplomacy; Race & Ethnicity; This book investigates the ways in which soft power is used by African countries to help drive global influence. Selecting four of the countries most associated with soft power across the continent, this book delves into the currencies of soft power across the region: from South Africa's progressive constitution and expanding multinational corporations, to Nigeria's Nollywood film industry and Technical Aid Corps (TAC) scheme, Kenya's sport diplomacy, fashion and tourism industries, and finally Egypt's Pan-Arabism and its reputation as the cradle of civilisation. The book asks how soft power is wielded by these countries and what constraints and contradictions they encounter. Understandings of soft power have typically been driven by Western scholars, but throughout this book, Oluwaseun Tella aims to Africanise our understanding of soft power, drawing on prominent African philosophies, including Nigeria's Omolúwàbí, South Africa's Ubuntu, Kenya's Harambee, and Egypt's Pharaonism. This book will be of interest to researchers from across political science, international relations, cultural studies, foreign policy and African Studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/ 9781003176022, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license Oluwaseun Tella is Director, The Future of Diplomacy, Institute for the Future of Knowledge, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. |
