Department of Politics and International Relations
- Politics and International Relations
- PhD Study
- Current PhD researchers
- Ajibola, Boluwatife
Boluwatife Ajibola
Research
Title of Research:
Protests and Polls: A Nigerian Paradigm of Social Movements and Elections Interrelations
Brief overview of research topic:
This study, with the conceptual anchor – Protests and Polls (PaP), explores the reciprocal relations between two forms of political mobilisation – social movements and elections. PaP’s attempt at interrogating the interpenetration of movement and election rhythms takes issue with existing approaches that draw boundaries between both realms of contention and those that systematise the influence of one upon the other. It essentialises key aspects of the interactional dynamics between movements and elections that have been overlooked by existing scholarship. Hence, its focus on elements that mediate the interrelations – in their symbolic, discursive, and emotional forms. It explores Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS movement, the pre-and post-election character of the Obidient movement, and the 2023 general elections cycle to theorise a much-needed African perspective on the relationship between movement and (electoral) politics.
