Interdisciplinary Approaches to Addressing and Eradicating Xenophobia

Recent decades have seen a surge in extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric in many countries and regions, including Southern Africa, despite the African Union's emphasis on continental mobility as a key aspect of sustainable development. We propose a collaboration to assess and promote research on anti-xenophobia policies in Southern Africa. The deliverables will include a fall 2025 Workshop, a Report or Symposium with recommendations, and an article on the international, regional and comparative normative framework. We will also launch the first collaboration between the co-PIs. Our work will be informed by UNZA’s expertise in African regional comparative law and human rights, and Cornell’s research on anti-xenophobia policy. We will also assess the utility of collaborating to test our online xenophobia ML model in the context of Southern Africa, using nation-states with historical challenges in addressing xenophobia as a case study. Cornell PI: Beth Lyon, Cornell Law School Zambia PI: O'Brien Kaaba, Department of Law, University of Zambia