Conclusion and Policy Recommendations

Central to the discussion in “Pan-Africanism in Dialogue: 21st Century Strategies for the Future” is an exploration of Pan-Africanism as an intellectual idea, theory, methodology, and movement that originated and continues to influence the 21st century. Contributors highlight how issues and concerns of the 19th and 20th centuries related to slavery, imperialism, colonialism, and discrimination against people of African descent necessitated the emergence of Pan-African ideas and movement that continue to concern people of African descent in the 21st century. They demonstrate how calls for unity and solidarity in the 19th and 20th centuries continue to be central to the message of empowerment for people of African descent in local and global contexts. As an idea that espouses social justice and self-determination of all humanity, Pan-Africanism continues to be relevant if concerns behind the ideology persist. As the contributors to this volume show, it is an idea that transcends time and context. It is a global idea that is embedded in human rights and democratic ideals that any society and its citizens must embrace for freedom and self-realization.