African Security Models for Transformative Peace

Security studies in the context of African societies have traditionally concentrated on externally imposed paradigms, often overlooking the continent’s nuanced histories, governance structures, and sociocultural realities. Although violence and protracted conflict are not endemic across all African countries, their persistent occurrence in specific regions underscores a complex intersection between security, governance, and development. Scholars have increasingly documented how war economies—fuelled by transnational elites and often resisted or supported by rebel movements—perpetuate instability, undermine legitimate state authority, and stall sustainable development. Recent research indicates that international ’sustainable peace’ models and agendas, including those of the African Union, the United Nations, and the Sustainable Development Goals framework, have struggled to accommodate local realities, often rendering their efforts aspirational yet impractical. This Research Topic aims to explore transformative models of security grounded in the lived experiences and values of African societies. The central objective is to critically examine theoretical and practical frameworks that break with the historical reliance on Western paradigms, and to investigate how indigenous concepts of statecraft, social justice, and community resilience can form the backbone of effective peace and security strategies. We seek to engage with pressing questions such as: What constitutes a genuinely human-centric security approach? In what ways does the mobilisation of African humanistic values and grassroots participation contribute to peacebuilding? How might education and citizen engagement foster new paradigms of peaceful coexistence? The Research Topic encompasses work that centres on original, context-sensitive approaches and resists one-size-fits-all solutions. The focus remains on critical, empirical, and theoretical research that illuminates the transformative potential of human-centric peace and security models, without losing sight of Africa’s global interconnectedness and internal diversity. To gather further insights in this area, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: - Critiques of externally imposed security agendas - Approaches grounded in African humanistic values and philosophies - The role of education and public participation in cultivating peace - Grassroots, community-led conflict resolution and peacebuilding - Impacts of war economies and the challenge of transnational actors - Innovations in governance for security and sustainable development - Comparative analyses of African and non-African security models Topic editors: Andreas Velthuizen, Teboho Josiah Lebakeng, Tshepo Gwatiwa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80317/african-security-models-for-transformative-peace