This book emerged out of extended conversations in the framework of the research section “Knowledges” of the “Africa Multiple” Cluster of Excellence. We are grateful to all participants in these discussions. Special thanks go to Grace Musila (Wits University), Amade M’charek (Universiteit van Amsterdam) and Xavier Garnier (Sorbonne Université) who gave us very valuable feedback on the book project during a workshop in Bayreuth.
We also wish to thank all our authors for engaging with the theme of the volume and contributing to the vibrant debate about possible new directions for African studies. Thinking together was truly an inspiration.
Ali Gülcegün helped us as a student assistant at the University of Bayreuth to prepare the initial manuscript for submission: thank you! Maximilian Lankes worked hard on the index and made sure it was ready when we needed it – we are very grateful to him. Moreover, our sincere thanks go to Franca de Kort at Brill for the generous support of the project. Sandy Shepherd’s editorial skills considerably improved the manuscript, and we are truly indebted to her for all the thoughtful suggestions and the extremely swift turnaround. Fem Eggers guided us smoothly through the production process.
This volume is the outcome of research conducted within the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2052/1 – 390713894. The Africa Multiple Cluster also provided the funds for the open access publication.