Rethinking the EUropean project through Pan-Africanist Narratives

This article examines Pan-Africanist conceptualizations of the ‘EUropean project’ by engaging with the writings of key Pan-Africanist authors – namely Cheikh Anta Diop, Frantz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah and Walter Rodney – as well as the contemporary narratives of the Pan-African League Umoja. It investigates how Pan-Africanist perspectives provincialize dominant historiographies of European integration. The findings demonstrate that, rather than serving as a model for regional integration or global governance, European integration is predominantly framed as a continuation of (neo)colonial structures, perpetuating economic dependence and political fragmentation in Africa. Pan-Africanist narratives position the 'EUropean project' as an obstacle rather than an ally in Africa’s pursuit of self-determination. EUrope is at the same time an undesired cause for the birth of Pan-Africanism and an undesired continuous presence. By foregrounding these alternative readings, the article underscores the need for critical engagement with perspectives from the Global South in an increasingly multipolar international order.