Collective Africa-Southeast Asia Platform (CASAP)

Proceeding from multiple discussions in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe over the last several years – especially within the Africa-Asia: A New Axis of Knowledge platform – IIAS and some of its African and Southeast Asian partners initiated an agenda of action linking Africa and Southeast Asia as key interdependent fields of inquiry, knowledge creation, and socially engaged research. 

Africa and Southeast Asia contain a rich diversity of material and share a great deal in terms of historical experiences and contemporary institutional conditions. Together, the regions are home to 1.8 billion persons. Emerging from histories defined by divisions and instrumentalities imposed from without, the regions today face a variety of common challenges and share striking affinities. Thus, these two regions and their interrelations represent a distinctive and productive interface for exploring connections between regions of the Global South. 

This multidisciplinary, regionally diverse network is supported by seven universities from Africa and Southeast Asia. It sets out to jointly consider the multifaceted aspects of interactions between the two regions. The specification of a geographically diverse network allows for an exchange of ideas and knowledge in a multidisciplinary manner. Each of these areas is rich in its distinct cultural, political, and economic contexts as well as knowledge traditions. By combining efforts, this group aims to shift knowledge production away from the traditional ‘North-South’ axis and forge a truly inclusive exchange.