Globalisation and the New Pan East Africanism : Exploring Bordeland Research and Theoretical Issues in the Study of Regional Integration

Abstract

Intellectual discourses on regional integration in Africa have continued to generate diverse and often contradictory debates and responses. A common convergence in these debates, as they have increasingly come to be associated with the current process of globalisation, is that regional integration is not only desirable but also necessary. The latter consensus seems to be justified on the premise that individual states cannot readily achieve their social, economic and political goals in isolation from their neighbours. Thus, the desirability of promoting regional integration continue to be widely acknowledged by multilateral agencies, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), national governments and academics on the continent. The concept of Pan-East Africanism, seen as the new initiative to integrate the East African states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania is contextualized within the emerging global realities and trends. This paper sets out to review the state of regional integration efforts in East Africa. Viewed within the context of Pan-East Africanism, the paper explores some of the theoretical and methodological backgrounds informing current research on regional integration. Away from the often-accepted state-centric and mainly economistic theoretical formulations, the paper offers some critical reflections on regional integration based on the new emerging borderland perspectives. It specifically argues that people centred top-up theoretical perspectives offer a more informed and practical approach to regional integration in East Africa.