The EUI Diplomatic and International History Working Group hosts a paper presentation by Dr Jonathan Harris (King's College London).
This research forms part of a broader project, which draws on archives and oral histories, maps the global networks of training courses for African diplomats following independence, and examines the geopolitics of this training.
The researchers affiliated to the project argue that post-colonial training for African diplomats, delivered by external Global North providers, represented an important site for the (re-)enactment and embodiment of Western, liberal norms in diplomatic practice. It belied an assumption that the world system was a settled one, which countries in the global North would continue to dominate, and into which the 'new states' and their diplomats would be 'socialised'.
This paper focuses on courses in London, Paris, Geneva and elsewhere as places where distinct practices of diplomacy were taught, rehearsed and enacted. Not only was theoretical and practical knowledge about professional diplomacy codified and shared, but trainee diplomats were socialised as members of the diplomatic community. This process of socialisation was contested and negotiated, as students brought African perspectives, practices, issues and concerns with them. By turning attention to the micro-geographies of this diplomatic training – the classrooms, dining/ reception rooms, buildings, city contexts and study tours - Harris demonstrates the relevance of the material sites of training for the transmission and contestation of diplomatic norms and practices, and the production of affective atmospheres of collegiality, tutelage and paternalism.
Bio
Dr Jonathan Harris joined King's College London in 2021 to work with Dr Ruth Craggs on a Leverhulme Trust Research Project on diplomatic training, following posts at Stranmillis University College and Cambridge University. His research examines the geopolitical assemblages of diasporic and educational settings, with a particular focus on Francophone postcolonial contexts.
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