International Network of Scholars and Activists for Afrikan Reparations (INOSAAR)

Description

The International Network of Scholars and Activists for Afrikan Reparations (INOSAAR) is an independent and voluntary reparations consultancy and advocacy group. It acts as a self-organizing cross-community bridging agency.

The Network was born out of the mutually respectful engagement of scholars and activists in collaboration with communities of Afrikan reparations interest who have been involved in the local building of the International Movement for Afrikan Reparations (ISMAR) in link with the Peoples’ Reparations International Movement (PRIM).

INOSAAR is sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), as part of the UN International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–24).

The group was founded in 2017 as a collaborative project of scholars and activists seeking to harmonise efforts on Afrikan reparations within various institutional and community spaces, including those associated with the Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe (PARCOE) as well as the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, and Boston University, USA.

Its initial aim was to assist in the consolidation of a growing global Afrikan reparations movement, recognized by some as the International Social Movement for Afrikan Reparations (ISMAR) by uniting activists and scholars on an international scale, while developing a strong youth-led base to ensure the movement’s sustainability. In all that the Network does, members recognize the long history of reparations activism, such as the pan-Afrikanist struggle and its desire to unite the Afrikan continent, unify Black people of Afrikan heritage and bring an end to the multiple forms of anti-Black racism, including Afriphobia. In particular, members recognize the centrality of the Abuja Proclamation of 1993 which called ‘upon the international community to recognize that there is a unique and unprecedented moral debt owed to the Afrikan peoples which has yet to be paid’.

INOSAAR advocacy is conducted through the creation of forums in which different voices from around the world are brought into conversation, for example through workshops, seminars and international conferences. Scholars, activists, artists, political leaders, community leaders and many others engage in knowledge exchange and mutual education, rooted in INOSAAR Principles of Participation and its emphasis on cognitive justice, or the equity of all knowledges. Collectively, members seek to provide education on the need for reparatory justice from Afrikan heritage perspectives and challenge political and media disinformation about the meaning of reparation.

In terms of consultancy, the Networks provides strategic advice on key issues relating to reparations and reparatory justice in terms of its meaning, history and necessity. Members have been called upon to write supporting papers for political parties, contribute to high-level reports, set up community-based consultations and assist with activist-led campaigns. This work is based on INOSAAR collaborations with, and commitment to, the voices and perspectives of Afrikan Heritage Communities of Reparatory Justice Interest and related campaigns, such as the Stop the Maangamizi: We Charge Genocide/Ecocide campaign.

INOSAAR aims include:

• To establish a recognisable network consisting of registered participants with a commitment to adhering to its rules, principles and obligations;
• To advocate for reparations by providing global legitimacy and visibility to the broad spectrum of viewpoints relating to reparations and reparatory justice, and the diversity of their exponents;
• To act as a consultancy for international bodies, parties, public institutions, community groups and others on matters relating the reparatory justice for Afrikan enslavement and its legacies today;
• To challenge public and political misconceptions and disinformation about reparations and reparatory justice for Afrikan enslavement, which are too often reduced to a ‘pay cheque’, by providing academically rigorous outputs and materials for public and specialist consumption (such as reports, articles, podcasts etc.);
• To build and expand knowledge-production partnerships with individuals and groups committed to Afrikan reparations by establishing equitable, enduring and international partnerships;
• To provide opportunities for bilateral knowledge exchange rooted in cognitive justice and shaped by respect for the multiplicity of knowledges, with the longer-term view of contributing positively to the work of grassroots and activist organisations and the building of the ISMAR in link with the PRIM;
• To ensure that the structure, space and themes of the network's events, workshops, meetings, conferences, fora etc. always respect the needs and requirements of Afrikan Heritage Communities;
• To support the development of youth and student engagement, involvement and proactivity through the creation of a youth-led auxiliary fellowship, popularly known as RepAfrika, and the establishment of a related mentorship scheme;
• To support the struggle for the voluntary rematriation/repatriation for peoples of Afrikan descent to any Afrikan country of their choice, with due respect for indigenous communities and their own reparations interests, through the granting of citizenship, the removal of visa and customs requirements, and the creation of socio-economic, political and cultural reinsertion programmes in harmony with those already domiciled in such countries.

Note that data produced through the collaborative efforts of the INOSAAR is co-owned by its members and is for use by its members.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

2017

Contact details

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University affiliation(s)

University of Edinburgh
Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh
EH8 9YL