In this guest post, Prof Jennifer Robinson (University College London, United Kingdom), Ms Varvara Karipidou (University College London, United Kingdom), Mr Emmanuel Awohouedji (London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom) and Mr Wilfred Jana (University College London, United Kingdom) introduce their Urban Studies Foundation Seminar Series “Urban politics and negotiated stateness: comparative perspectives across Africa and Eastern Europe” which brings together scholars working on Africa and Eastern Europe to explore how state actors and political dynamics shape cities.
We are excited to announce that we have been awarded the Urban Studies Foundation (USF) Seminar Series Award (reference USF-SSA-250610). Our seminar series “Urban politics and negotiated stateness: comparative perspectives across Africa and Eastern Europe” will take place in Estonia, Benin, and the UK between September 2025 and July 2026.
The award is being hosted by the Department of Geography at University College London (UCL), UK, and is managed by our international team of researchers. We are implementing this through our established institutional partnership between UCL, UK, the Civic Academy for Africa’s Future (CiAAF), Cotonou, Benin, and the University of Tallinn, Estonia.
Our seminar series “Urban politics and negotiated stateness: comparative perspectives across Africa and Eastern Europe” is engaging with analyses of urban politics, interrogating the nature of state agency and developing innovative comparative methodologies for cross-regional analysis. We are connecting scholars working on Africa and Eastern Europe to explore how cities are shaped by state actors and political dynamics. The series engages with regions that are often on the margins of urban studies by drawing from the fluid and negotiated nature of statehood in Africa and highlighting the transitional forms of statehood after the demise of socialism in Eastern European countries.
The Seminar Series begins with “Thinking with and beyond Eastern Europe and Africa” in Tallinn in September 2025. We will then “Make connections: by Learning from Elsewhere, and Theorising from Africa” in Cotonou, Benin, in February 2026. Finally, our discussions will culminate in London, UK, where we will “Put Eastern Europe and Africa in conversation” in June 2026.
Tallinn University – 15th & 16th of September 2025
This hybrid event, ‘Decentring Urban Politics: Thinking across Eastern Europe and Africa’, will bring both contexts into direct dialogue. We will explore the limits and possibilities for comparison through plenaries, roundtables, and small group discussions. Two keynote speakers will open the event by addressing ‘Thinking post-socialism with/from elsewhere,’ and discussing post-socialism as a concept and African politics. They will also share their thoughts on approaching each context in relation to wider processes and experiences or conceptualisations of other contexts. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the potential for Africa-Eastern Europe comparative urban analysis (featuring cases from Czechia, Slovakia, Ethiopia, and post-Soviet countries), around issues of ‘States, Statecraft, Stateness’. The afternoon session will examine efforts to ‘bypass’ and ‘recentre’ the State in both Eastern Europe and Africa. The day will conclude with a tour in Tallinn (location to be confirmed) and a dinner for all participants.
On day two, the first session will highlight urban research areas where connections and flows shape outcomes. Researchers will explore how ideas, practices, and concepts circulate beyond specific contexts in developing their analyses. We’ll examine how these approaches have influenced interpretations of both regions, encouraging thinking beyond geographical boundaries.
The following session will explore initiatives to transnationalize insights from Eastern Europe and Africa, treating each region as a source of theoretical innovation. In the afternoon, a roundtable discussion will identify additional urban themes for Africa-Eastern Europe comparative analysis.
The day will conclude with an open discussion on creative approaches to encourage further comparison and contextual analysis across the two regions. Participants will work in smaller groups to develop ideas and frameworks on comparison strategies based on insights learned. The session will aim to explore nodes of connection between the two contexts, focusing on:
• Unexpected connections between the two contexts
• Underlying patterns and structures that shape similarities and differences
• Ways of thinking about these contexts in conversation with each other
The event will end with shared reflections during a walk around the city to examine urban layers—pre-Soviet, Soviet, and capitalist urban transformations—before heading to the dinner venue.
Benin: Civic Academy for Africa’s Future (CiAAF) – February 2026 (3 days)
CiAAF will host a hybrid workshop titled ‘Making Connections: Learning from elsewhere, theorising from Africa’ that will bring together 10 Early Career Researchers (ECRs), 10 regional scholars, and 5 UK/EU participants. The workshop will examine how African urban experiences can enrich Urban Studies through comparative engagement with Eastern Europe. Through hybrid panel discussions and moderated small groups, participants will explore the potential for urban political analysis across Africa and Eastern Europe, focusing on connection-based comparisons and urban development politics theorisation. ECRs and PhD students will present their research in small group discussions on urban politics and innovative comparative methods. Jennifer Robinson and Expédit Ologou will lead an ECR training session on publishing and contributing to academic debates, followed by mentor-mentee meetings offering networking, guidance, and collaboration opportunities. Building on the Tallinn seminar, this event will foster cross-regional dialogue and generate new insights. Translation services will be provided to overcome linguistic barriers.
London: University College London (UCL) – June 2026 (3 days)
The final hybrid workshop, “Decentring Comparisons: Putting Eastern Europe and Africa in Conversation,” will synthesise key lessons from the previous two seminars and include in-person training for Early Career Researchers (ECRs). This event will focus on planning future networking and research initiatives.
To ensure continuity, key participants from the first two seminars will attend, while ECR participants will be invited to contribute both in person and online. This culminating workshop will refine comparative strategies, identify opportunities for cross-regional collaboration, and establish a network to support further activities with special emphasis on ECR development.
This seminar series offers a valuable opportunity to foster meaningful academic exchange and long-term collaboration through research dissemination, theoretical development, and support for Early Career Researchers (ECRs). The activities will strengthen ECRs’ positions in shaping the future of Urban Studies.
The series will offer an alternative to Urban Studies debates by challenging dominant Western perspectives on urban politics and the nature of “the state.” It will highlight insights from Africa and Eastern Europe that emphasise emergent and negotiated stateness. By bringing these regions into dialogue, we will expand comparative urban research methodologies.