The Media Anthropology Network e-seminars are email-based discussions centred on media anthropology-related papers (e.g., working papers, published materials) or events (e.g., follow-up seminars on workshops or panels). Discussions typically run over a two-week period, with discussion materials circulated in advance by the Network Convenors. Each e-seminar features a moderator and discussants to facilitate discussion; however, all list members are welcome to participate. Many authors find constructive feedback valuable in enhancing their manuscripts for publication.
- Subscribe to the EASA Network for Media Anthropology (MediaNet) mailing list
- E-seminar seminar archive (featuring presented papers and discussion transcripts)
- Propose a paper for a future e-seminar to network coordinators.
Please note that paper is already online and it is highly recommended that attendees read this paper ahead of the discussion
Decentering the Black Atlantic in “global” pop: Afrobeats and the politics of cultural visibility (.doc)
Jaana Serres, postdoctoral scholar, Groningen University
Discussants
- Prof. Tommy Tse, University of Amsterdam
- Prof. Rashid Jeduah, University of Mainz
- Prof. Léon Tsambu, Université de Kinshasa
Before platformization made it a segment of global pop, Afrobeats was already shaped by circulations spanning the Nigerian ethnoscape. Its expansion from below relied on fluid structures and mobile agents operating notably through trading hubs, such as Dubai or Kuala Lumpur. This paper examines how these liminal actors and geographies have been erased from the dominant #AfricaToTheWorld narrative centered in London, Paris, and New York, where Afrobeats is increasingly championed by cultural institutions and Afro-diasporic corporate professionals. It then presents ongoing research on the multiple contemporary mediations of Afrobeats across Asia. Preliminary findings reveal how top-down, Western-mediated corporate initiatives articulate with entrepreneurial, diasporic practices. The paper suggests a novel use of the “inter-Asia” theoretical-methodological framework, mobilizing it to trace the commercial circulations of West African cultural production across networked Asian hubs. This delineates the construction of a “global” popular culture that bypasses the historical routes of the Black Atlantic. Ultimately, the paper interrogates the politics of visibility in an emerging multipolar cultural order and calls for a reassessment of reference epistemological frameworks.