AFRASO researches African-Asian Interactions on the premise that regional studies in a globalized world are increasingly confronted with processes of deterritorialization and transregionalization. These processes have to be approached with new innovative concepts and theories in order to keep up with the continuously changing subject matter of African and Asia studies. AFRASO addresses this problem by focussing on new African-Asian interactions and assumes that these interactions – on the economic, political, social, and cultural level – are not only opening up new opportunities for Asian countries, but also for their African counterparts. In addition to China and India, other countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam, whose relations to Africa have not received much attention yet, will also move into the focus of research.
Within AFRASO Marc directs one of the two key areas (Markets on the Move), acts as member of the steering committee and is PI of the following research projects:
·       Post-Terrestrial Area Studies? The Indian Ocean, Translocal Histories and Maritime Constructions of Space (with Prof. Dr. Julia Verne)
·       Landed Markets«: Commodification, Mobilization and Deterritorialization of Land in the Context of Asian Investment in African Land Markets (with Dr. Philippe Kersting)
·       East African Regionalism (with Dr. Veit Bachmann)