Achille Mbembe Wins the €100000 Gerda Henkel Prize for Research

Congratulations to PEN SA member Achille Mbembe, who has been named the 2018 recipient of the bi-annual Gerda Henkel Prize for Research. He is the first African scholar to win it.

“Since 2006,” writes the prize organisers, “the Gerda Henkel Prize has been awarded every two years to scientists who have achieved outstanding research achievements in the disciplines and funding areas promoted by the foundation and expect others to do so. The Gerda Henkel Prize-winner is endowed with €100,000, which may be used freely.”

In its joint statement, the jury notes that Mbembe’s work “on Africa’s place in the global order are both controversial and unsettling and have made an enduring mark even far beyond fundamental debates on post-colonialism.” Also highlighted in the statement are the ways in which Mbembe’s interventions have taken the study of Africa “beyond all the customary stereotypes and highlight links between colonialism, racism and capitalism.”

More information may be found on the Gerda Henkel website, or in English on Brittle Paper.