Sishuwa Sishuwa

Sishuwa Sishuwa is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow on Political Parties in East and Southern Africa at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and a Lecturer in African History at the University of Zambia. He holds a PhD in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

His scholarship locates current political developments in a historical context, showing that the roots of contemporary democratic politics in Africa lie in the early post-colonial and even late-colonial periods. He has published widely on historical biography and political leadership, focusing primarily on the old question of structure and agency.

Sishuwa’s current work examines the often-surprising pillars of democratic resilience in Zambia through a close and historically informed analysis of the country’s 2021 general election.

His research has had noticeable impact beyond academia. In addition to being regularly consulted by policy makers, donors and non-governmental organisations in Zambia, Kenya, and South Africa, Sishuwa has also engaged with broader publics through a steady stream of highly regarded writings and interviews on Zambian politics in the print, online and broadcast media, including international news channels such as eNCA, the BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera.