A short introduction to the book from one of the editors. The volume looks at the values, emotions and cultural practices that are being traded, negotiated and circulated along the China-led Belt and Road Initiative.
“Local and Transregional Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative” took place on 22 February 2024 in the Kenyan capital. It was co-organised by the French Institute for Research in Africa, the Zentrum für Moderne Orient, and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and provided a valuable forum for some of our researchers to present their work.
The exhibition “Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-Navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora” took place at Gropius Bau and SAVVYContemporary, Berlin, from April to August 2023. John Njenga Karugia presented his work there in a session chaired by Hajra Haider Karrar.
In September 2023 the Dekoloniale Festival looked at transnational Afro-Asian connective memories in Berlin, Germany and Bandung, Indonesia. John Njenga Karugia attended the exhibition, walking tour, and international conference.
How might it be possible to integrate the results of research on the BRI into education on globalisation? A workshop for teachers, organised by Ulrike Cordier and John Njenga Karugia, addressed this theme and others in late 2023.
During the summer and winter semesters of 2023, we hosted four research fellows. In order for them to share their work with our network, we hosted a Silk Roads Roundtable session. They shared their diverse approaches to researching the multifacted BRI.
Our PI John Njenga Karugia (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) will give the next Silk Road Talk on 22 November from 4.15 to 5.45 p.m. The lecture will take place in the Department of Asian and African Studies at Invalidenstraße 118, Room 410. China and the European Union’s interests and competition across Africa are perceptible through various
World Café
Tuesday, 28 November 2023 | 4pm – 5:30pm
Zentrum für Osteuropa- und internationale Studien (ZOiS), Mohrenstrasse 60, 10117 Berlin
10 years after Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as the New Silk Road, it is time to take stock. On this occasion, we are pooling the diverse expertise of ZOiS and its partners for you in the format of a World Café to present new insights about local perspectives on the BRI and the goals China is pursuing with this initiative.
We are delighted to anounce that Dr. Ibrahima Niang (Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar/ZMO, Berlin) will give the next Silk Road Talk on 25 October from 4.15 to 5.45 p.m. The lecture will take place in the Department of Asian and African Studies at Invalidenstraße 118, Room 410. The New Silk Roads celebrate their tenth
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the biggest projects in transportation, freight, road, rail, air, and maritime linkage in the history of the world, but it concerns itself inadequately with road safety. Out of 1.2 to 1.3 trillion US$, the transport investment is 144 billion to 304 billion. BRI transport projects are estimated to increase trade by between 2.8 and 9.7% for corridor economies (Pakistan, Indonesia and African continent) and between 1.7 and 6.2% for the world (ibid). With this huge volume of trade, one may ask: are road safety, carbon emission, environmental degradation and smog mitigating measures adopted in this mega initiative? BRI transport projects will contribute to lifting 7.6 million people from extreme poverty and 32 million people from moderate poverty (Ibid) but will security and safety of the road users be considered adequately?
