The African Geopolitical ATLAS 2025: Conflicting Information, Conflicted Realities
by Stake experts
Author: Stake experts
Publisher: Stake Books
DOI: https://doi.org/10.63542/hbhi9598
ISBN: 979-8-218-64378-2
Document Type: Book
Publication date: May 5, 2025
Keywords: ATLAS; maps; information politics; African geopolitics; information power and legitimacy; digital epistemologies; information disorder; state narratives; conflict and perception
ABSTRACT - In this edition of its ATLAS, Stake experts challenges the dominant assumptions on information, such as the central role of the internet as a “neutral” tool for information dissemination or the realist theoretical perception of states as sole players or power brokers in the information space. Instead, using specific perspectives and case studies from African scholars and practitioners, this volume points out a conflictual intersection of subjectivities in the information space, whereby information—and, therefore, perceived realities—is constructed through the intertwining of power dynamics, colonial legacies in framing African state actors, and struggles for legitimacy impose one’s subjective “truth” over others. Hence, although this volume admits some structural representation surrounding key concepts such as access, reach, and dissemination of information, it does so from the standpoint of seeing them as necessary fuels and tools for those conflictual intersections of subjectivities.
STAKE EXPERTS is a research consultancy firm that accompanies organisations to smoothly simplify the process of researching and addressing conflict and security risks in the African context. We specialise in developing and implementing early warning systems, conducting in-depth field research, and translating complex data into actionable insights for our partners. Our expertise facilitates improved conflict-sensitive and research-driven programming in volatile regions in the Sahel and West Africa.