Cultures of Dialogue and Pro-democracy in Equatorial Guinea and Diaspora

by Carolina Nvé Díaz San Francisco – [ Journal of Dialogue Studies Vol 11 ]

Abstract

In March 2022, pro-democratic actors, civil society platforms and organisations, and political activists from Equatorial Guinea and its diaspora signed the Pacto Político and Pacto de Concordia, an agreement to build a culture of dialogue and deepen its mechanisms toward peaceful political transitions and governance collaboration. This paper presents perspectives on a culture of dialogue within the contexts of national and diasporic socio-political movements, transnationalism, and webs of digital connections committed to defending human rights, civil liberties, and political freedom and representation in Equatorial Guinea. The inquiry of a culture of dialogue as an agreement to respect political plurality and cooperate in cohesion in response to lived experiences of struggle for liberation focuses on the trajectories of a civic society platform or social alliances. This inquiry considers phenomenology as a point of departure to analyse how the centrality of bodies’ expressions, performances, and lived experiences represent cultural references for the meaning and practice of dialogue. This preliminary and general overview of one description of the culture of dialogue among pro-democratic actors in Equatorial Guinea and diaspora identifies characteristics and qualities of dialogue based on the trajectories and combinations of identities, spaces, and social structures. Pro-democratic actors’ transnational, diasporic, and digital political mobilisation enrich theoretical conversations about intra- and inter-community dialogues, calls for dialogue, and public dialogues. The goal is to expand into possibilities and venues of peaceful pressure systems that, despite the challenges in communication and non-existent peaceful relations between dictatorship and pro-democratic systems in Equatorial Guinea, attempt to solve immediate needs and build up a culture of understanding and collaboration.