Transmodern heritage as a space for imagining pluriversal relations : insights from the African 'periphery'

A groundbreaking study challenges the conventional binary narrative of colonial urban development, proposing that African encounters with modernity should be understood through the decolonial pluriversal perspective and the concept of transmodernity. Focusing on N'zima village in Grand-Bassam (Côte d'Ivoire) and Abbashawel area in Asmara (Eritrea), both inscribed as part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the research reveals these areas as spaces that contest Western onto-epistemologies. By rejecting the center-periphery dynamic inherent in colonial narratives, the study highlights how these African urban entities enable a pluralistic politics, offering a nuanced visualization of reality beyond the binaries created by Western modernity.

Human Sciences Research Council. (2026). Transmodern heritage as a space for imagining pluriversal relations : insights from the African 'periphery'. HSRC. https://doi.org/10.14749/32362368