Power, Identity and Political Inequality in Africa

Political inequality in Africa is shaped by historical legacies, social hierarchies, economic disparities and institutional arrangements that determine access to power, resources, recognition and representation. Gender, ethnicity, religion, class, nationality, age, disability and other social identities influence political opportunities and experiences of belonging, exclusion and participation. Although identity politics has frequently been associated with conflict and division, recent scholarship increasingly demonstrates that identities can also provide foundations for political agency, collective mobilization and transformative change. Important debates concern the relationship between identity formation and state power, the consequences of intersecting inequalities, and the capacity of democratic institutions to accommodate diverse claims. Existing research has advanced understanding of representation, citizenship, social movements and conflict, yet further investigation is needed into how marginalized individuals and communities negotiate unequal political structures and reshape political authority across varied African contexts.This Research Topic aims to advance theoretical and empirical understanding of how power relations produce, reproduce and challenge political inequalities in Africa. It seeks to move beyond narrow interpretations of identity politics by examining how identities intersect with political institutions, governance systems, democratic processes and social movements. The Research Topic will address how marginalized groups claim representation, negotiate authority, pursue recognition and challenge exclusionary structures. It will also consider how structural constraints interact with individual and collective agency, and how identity-based mobilization can contribute to conflict, peacebuilding, social justice or democratic transformation. Contributions may engage with questions concerning the conditions under which identity-based claims strengthen inclusion, the ways political institutions mediate unequal participation, and the potential of intersectional and decolonial approaches to expand theories of political inequality.To gather further insights into the relationship between identity, power and political inequality in Africa and comparative contexts, this Research Topic welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Intersectionality and political inequalities• Gender, political representation and leadership• Ethnicity, citizenship and belonging• Religion, identity and political mobilisation• Marginalised communities and struggles for recognition• Social movements and resistance politics• State power, exclusion and unequal governance• Youth, disability and political participation• Peacebuilding, conflict and identity-based inequalities• Decolonial approaches to political power and knowledge production• Identity, elections and democratic accountability• Comparative and transnational perspectives on political inequality• Qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches to identity and power• Theoretical perspectives on representation, recognition and political agency Topic editors: Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo, Omosefe Oyekanmi, Nana Amma Asante-Poku Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85868/power-identity-and-political-inequality-in-africa