Gaming Borderless Internationalism: From International to Interlocalized System Using Ujamaa Epistemology

Abstract

This article develops a proposed unifying theoretical framework for the concept of ‘interlocalization’ as an explanatory adjustment to the hegemonic concept of internationalism. This is a response to an exploratory study by Francis Onditi, published by the Futures, ‘Futuring an “Inclusive Knowledge Futures” Framework beyond IR Theories’, aimed at elucidating Afrocentric international studies scholars’ understanding of Africa’s futures that emboldens both local and global value systems. In the current article, ‘interlocalization’ is defined as a process of (re)creating a seamless linkage between African local epistemologies (ujamaa) and international knowledge systems. In this system of knowledge production and consumption, institutions and debates shift from the national scale to the global scale and downwards to the local level. In this proliferation and restless knowledge scaling, it remains blurred, whether the local African epistemologies and knowledge networks are capable of becoming simultaneously more globalized and transnational? In this article, we utilize gaming model to theoretically simulate the ‘positivity’ and ‘negativity’ of the attributes that build up a mutual global system and international order.