5 New Transnational Pan-Africanism and Its Nationalist Limitations

Abstract

Adequate knowledge of the past remains critical for understanding the present era and the future in order to appreciate the evolution of events. Pan-Africanism is highly relevant to the discourse on nationalism and internationalism considering the involvement of different groups of people across nation state borders. This is because the issues generated by Pan-African initiatives offer more insight into how continental developments became globalized and entrenched attributes of the black people wherever they find themselves. Every issue concerning PanAfricanism offers an opportunity for a reflection on the past and how to forge a new identity for Africans in this 21st century that has rather become highly contested across the world. Having a classed world in terms of culture, race, technology, and development indicates that nationalism at the continental level achievable through transnational Pan-Africanism is inevitable and must be prioritized for the expected outcome to be realized. The transnational nature of nationalism in this context shows how PanAfricanism is a collaborative endeavor that brings people from African ancestry together. Pan-Africanism has given birth to clichés like the African dream, African personality, neo-Africanism, black consciousness, black pride, dignity of blacks, and blacks in the diaspora. Africanization as a development now transcends the political independence of the states in Africa to the extent that the much-championed unity is dependent on the ability of people to come under one umbrella of ideas to forge an ethnic African identity. Transnational Pan-Africanism has become a new pathway to the realization of an African dream of unity, cooperation, and development in this globalized world where identity now matters and remains significant to the actualization of many African-centered interests. Pan-Africanism and the ideas that promote Africanness have given scholars a platform to study and engage in the discussion of issues or affairs concerning the continent. Historically, the term Pan-Africanism was first used by Henry Sylvester Williams (1867–1911), who was a barrister from Trinidad, then the West Indies, and