Finding Afrotopia in Times of Technological Transformation – Toward Pluriversal African Future-Making
DETAILS
Call for Papers
Finding Afrotopia in Times of Technological Transformation – Toward Pluriversal African Future-Making
Journal: Africa Journal of Management
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Group
Special Issue
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 1 November 2027
Africa Journal of Management (AJOM) invites submissions for a Special Issue exploring how technological transformation can enable—or constrain—pluriversal, locally grounded, and distinctly African approaches to future-making. The Special Issue draws inspiration from the concept of Afrotopia and its invitation to imagine African futures shaped by the continent's histories, cultures, knowledge systems, and contemporary realities.
About the Special Issue
Technological transformation is increasingly shaping Africa's economic, organizational, and social futures. Developments such as mobile banking, digital ecosystems, artificial intelligence, platform economies, and technological leapfrogging offer opportunities for locally responsive innovation. At the same time, technological dependence, data extraction, surveillance, cybersecurity risks, labor displacement, misinformation, and externally imposed technological models raise important questions about who benefits from digital transformation.
The Special Issue connects these developments with research on future-making and pluriversal perspectives in management and organization studies. It seeks scholarship examining the conditions under which technological change can contribute to alternative African modernities while remaining attentive to indigenous knowledge, local institutions, societal needs, geopolitical realities, and Africa's diverse cultural and philosophical traditions.
Topics of Interest
Submissions may address, but are not limited to:
Afrotopia and African future-making
Pluriversal perspectives in management and organization studies
Alternative African modernities
African philosophies and indigenous knowledge systems
Ubuntu, Sankofa, Gada, Kgotla, Harambee, Nwa Boi, and related traditions
Technological transformation in African organizations
Digital transformation and organizational change
AI and African futures
Technological leapfrogging
Digital innovation and entrepreneurship
African digital ecosystems
Governance of digital ecosystems
Platform economies and data extraction
Digital and technological colonialism
Cybersecurity and technological vulnerability
AI-driven labor displacement
Surveillance and misinformation
Digital divides and digital literacy
Unequal technological affordances
Strategic technological autonomy
Geopolitics and technological transformation
Africa in global technology value chains
Rare-earth minerals and critical resources
Technological dependencies and global powers
Indigenous approaches to technology and innovation
Relational and non-linear approaches to future-making
African histories and technologically mediated futures
Youth-led technological innovation
Digital entrepreneurship among young Africans
Creative industries and future-making
Gen Z digital and social-media movements
Technology, political participation, and activism
Inclusive governance
Institutional and regulatory conditions for innovation
Preferred Article Types
The Special Issue welcomes:
Empirical Research Papers
Theoretical Research Papers
Conceptual Contributions
Submissions may employ any methodology consistent with AJOM's aims and scope. Approaches grounded in African and indigenous epistemological traditions are particularly welcomed, including:
Participatory methods
Narrative approaches
Community-based research
Indigenous and locally grounded methodologies
Research should demonstrate engagement with management and organization scholarship while drawing meaningfully on African indigenous knowledge, wisdom, contexts, and contemporary realities.
Key Research Themes
Alternative African Modernities
How can African philosophies, traditions, histories, and organizational practices inform pluriversal approaches to technological transformation and future-making?
Technological Opportunities and Threats
Under what conditions can technology support African futures, and when might platformization, data extraction, AI, surveillance, cybersecurity risks, or technological dependence create new vulnerabilities?
Digital Ecosystems and Governance
How are African digital ecosystems established, governed, and sustained, and which organizational and governance arrangements support locally meaningful technological futures?
Technology, Geopolitics and Autonomy
How are multipolar geopolitics, critical resources, global technology value chains, and competing technological dependencies influencing African organizations and societies?
African Future-Making
How do African conceptions of time, indigenous knowledge, cultural traditions, and local practices shape technologically mediated visions of the future?
Youth and Digital Innovation
How are young Africans using entrepreneurship, technology, creative industries, digital platforms, and social media to develop alternative futures and forms of participation?
Paper Development and Mentoring Opportunities
The Special Issue includes a mentoring and paper-development process designed to encourage intellectual exchange among African and non-African scholars.
Online Information Session: 10 September 2026, 2:00 PM Central Africa Time
Pre-Submission Online Paper Development Workshop: March 2027
Exact date and submission deadline are to be announced.
Interested workshop participants will be invited to submit a 3,000-word short paper, including references and supplementary materials. The short paper should address:
Theoretical framework
Research gap, puzzle, or problematization
Data and analytical methods for empirical papers
Preliminary findings
Expected contributions
Additional paper-development activities are planned around:
Academy of Management Annual Meeting: 30 July–3 August 2027, Vienna, Austria
Africa Academy of Management Biennial Conference: January 2028
Participation in these events is not compulsory for submitting to the Special Issue.
Submission Information
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 1 November 2027
Manuscripts should be prepared according to the Africa Journal of Management manuscript preparation requirements.
Authors should submit through the AJOM submission portal and select the appropriate Special Issue title during submission.
All manuscripts will undergo the journal's double-blind review process.
Submit to Africa Journal of Management
Africa Journal of Management – Instructions for Authors
Africa Journal of Management – Journal Page
Guest Editors
Natasha Winkler-Titus
Stellenbosch University
Email: natashawt@stellenboschbusiness.ac.za
Emamdeen Fohim
University of Bern
Email: emamdeen.fohim@unibe.ch
Rebecca Namatovu-Dawa
Copenhagen Business School
Email: rn.msc@cbs.dk
Thomas Anning-Dorson
University of the Witwatersrand
Email: thomas.dorson.anning@wits.ac.za
Renate E. Meyer
Vienna University of Economics and Business
Email: renate.meyer@wu.ac.at
Joel Gehman
George Washington University
Email: jgehman@gwu.edu
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