Global Britain, Backlash, and the Politics of "Values" in Contemporary UK-Africa Policy

This project critically examines the advancement, projection, and negotiation of "values" by Western aid donor officials in Africa. Defined here as ethical and normative principles that influence and inform political beliefs, interactions, and policies, "values" have always undergirded Western aid relationships with Africa. They have, however, recently received renewed emphasis in the policies of many Western states. Prominent among these is the UK – the focus of this study – where ministers have presented the promotion of values – "British" or otherwise – as a key plank of ensuring that post-Brexit "Global Britain" retains international influence.

For "frontline" UK officials in Africa – in the case of "national" staff, African citizens themselves – this presents fundamental challenges. Donor officials are expected to uphold international aid effectiveness norms on partnership and recipient "ownership" of aid. The same officials are also, however, under domestic (UK) pressure to champion (notional) UK values abroad. In some cases, these values may be shared by African interlocutors. In others, however, UK – and other Western – officials and African stakeholders may take directly oppositional stances, departing sharply from a partnership approach. Moreover, some non-Western powers have sought to undercut Western influence through presenting their own engagement as respectful of African sovereignty. This has intersected with criticisms by African leaders of Western value promotion as "neo-colonial meddling", inconsistent, and hypocritical, which resonate with many African peoples. A recent example of how these pressures play out can be found in the international response to Uganda's draconian 2023 "Anti-Homosexuality Bill". Western officials' public condemnations were rejected by Ugandan policymakers as "arrogant" and "imperialist", while rumours of Western aid cuts were met with assurances from Beijing that Chinese aid would remain without "political strings".

This project will interrogate how UK officials in Africa experience and seek to balance such challenges, constraints, and countervailing forces in their everyday work and interactions. Drawing on research in Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa, the research will combine interviews, oral history, focus-group discussions, (non-/)participant observation and archival research to answer the following questions: How are "values" understood by UK officials in Africa – and by African host governments, NGOs and civil society groups, and other aid donors? How do both UK officials and their in-country interlocutors assess the effectiveness, or even desirability, of value promotion? Moreover, how does the meaning, significance, and prioritization of different values evolve for UK officials themselves, and with what implications?

The research will significantly advance our knowledge of the critical role of frontline diplomatic and development staff in the negotiation of deeply sensitive and consequential areas of policy (dis)agreement and exchange. In doing so, it will refocus scholarly attention on the normative and relational dimensions of UK-Africa policy, including the wider question of what kind of "partner" post-Brexit Britain wishes to present itself as in Africa – a continent which receives over half of UK bilateral aid. Informed by an on-going engagement with practitioners from Africa, the UK, and elsewhere from inception, the research will illuminate the circumstances under which UK – and, by extension, wider Western – donor engagement can effectively amplify the work of African activists. Equally, the research will underline how and when UK and Western value promotion can not only be problematic, but actually backfire, undermining the interests of both the UK and African partners.