Transcending Member States

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Introduction

   Threading Together the “Africas” Babatunde Fagbayibo

   Abstract

   Africa is currently experiencing one of the most consequential phases of its integrative development. Since 2015, there have been increasing activities around the development of policies and practices around enhancing the African Union (AU) with more assertive powers to coordinate and make binding rules regarding the regional integration process. The success of these initiatives is dependent on the extent to which member states are willing to key into this vision by seeing it as an essential geostrategic tool for enhancing Africa’s positioning in global realpolitik. This introductory chapter sets the tone for the entire book.

3. Chapter 2. The Idea of Continental Supranationalism

   Babatunde Fagbayibo

   Abstract

   This chapter engages in a conceptual analysis of continental supranationalism. It highlights the different ideational prisms that have shaped the way in which scholars and political elites have interpreted the meaning of continental supranationalism in Africa. While there has been some measure of agreement on the need to have a supranational structure that is able to exercise its autonomy and powers over constituent African states, opinions have differed on the nature, pace and context of such entity. This chapter analyses supranationalism in Africa through these three prisms.

4. Chapter 3. The African Union

   Navigating the Intergovernmental/Supranational Terrain Babatunde Fagbayibo

   Abstract

   This chapter places the African Union (AU) within the discursive paradigm of the concept of supranationalism. At the core of the discussion is the need to be more contextual in the assessment of AU’s supranationalism. While the chapter does not dispute the intergovernmental nature of the AU, it questions an assessment that leaves out nuances and complexities, especially as it relates to the assertive roles played by both state and non-state actors in the AU. In this respect, three assessment factors were considered: intention, action and outcomes. These three analytical elements show how the AU continues to navigate the fraught intergovernmental/supranational terrain, with mixed outcomes that either betrays its aspirational goals or provides a glimmer of hope and purpose.

5. Chapter 4. Understanding the Interplay of Law and Politics in the Matrix of Continental Supranationalism

   The Elemental Prisms Babatunde Fagbayibo

   Abstract

   This chapter examines the interplay between law and politics in the operationalisation of actual and aspirational supranational arrangements in Africa. The ideas underpinning regionalism in Africa were, and are still, formulated within certain political contexts that moderate the crafting of legal norms and the implementation, or lack thereof, of those ideals. In assessing the relationship between law and politics of continental supranationalism in Africa, three broad elemental prisms will be considered: imitation (the copying of the EU process), relational (AU-RECs, AU-member states, and AU-civil society), and the politics of reform.

6. Chapter 5. Transcending Member States

   Pathways to Building Continental Supranationalism in Africa Babatunde Fagbayibo

   Abstract

   This chapter explores the feasible pathways to achieving a meaningful continental supranationalism in Africa. It contends that such development should be understood through a triptych analytical frame. These are the internal dynamics (issues such as enhancing the AU’s technocratic efficiency, self-restraint mechanisms and bottom-up supranational regionalism); the external dynamics (the role of global actors on current and future issues that affect supranational regionalism in Africa, including domestic uncertainties determining the global projection of these powers); and the syncretic dynamics (which speaks to a practical policy position on balancing both internal and external dynamics and determining the suitability of application).

7. Chapter 6. Conclusion

   Summary and the Way Forward Babatunde Fagbayibo

   Abstract

   This concluding chapter provides a summary of the findings of the book. It highlights the three key insights provided by the book. The first is the indivisibility of law and politics in the broader context of realising the goals of continental supranationalism in Africa. Second is the imperative of a contextual assessment of continental supranationalism in Africa. The third insight is the book’s consideration of internal and external dynamics as interlocking variables that shape the process of continental supranationalism in Africa.

8. Backmatter