{"id":34712,"date":"2022-06-30T13:23:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T17:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/polisci\/?post_type=cu_people&p=34712"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T19:36:00","slug":"isaac-odoom","status":"publish","type":"cu_people","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/polisci\/people\/isaac-odoom\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaac Odoom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Assistant Professor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Isaac Odoom is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Carleton University, where he specializes in International Relations and the Politics of Development in the Global South, with a regional focus on Africa (and China). Dr. Odoom\u2019s research interests include African Politics and Governance, Africa-China relations, South-South cooperation, and the political economy of development. His work centres African agency in shaping external partnerships and development relations, with particular attention to Chinese engagement in infrastructure, energy, and digital sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His current research project, \u201cChina\u2019s Digital Silk Road and Geopolitics in Ghana\u2019s Digital Frontier,\u201d<\/em> investigates the movement of Chinese people, capital, and technology in Ghana\u2019s digital sector. It explores how Chinese involvement in digital infrastructure, governance systems, and private enterprise intersect with U.S. and EU strategic interests, and how Ghanaian actors are navigating these competing influences. Beyond his regional and development focus, Dr. Odoom is also interested in Critical IR Scholarship and Decolonizing Knowledge with particular focus on decolonization in higher education, and academic dependency in knowledge production. He also has an ongoing project on Canada\u2019s economic and development cooperation across Africa. His scholarship has been published in Third World Quarterly<\/em>, Journal of Asian and African Studies<\/em>, African Review of Economics and Finance<\/em>, and several edited volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana, and formerly a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies in Beijing. Before joining Carleton in 2022, he taught at the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan University, Concordia University of Edmonton, and Lancaster University (Accra Campus). He serves on the executive board of the Chinese in Africa\/Africans in China Research Network and on the board of the Canadian Association of African Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selected Publications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2026). From North\u2013South to South\u2013South Cooperation: China\u2019s Role in Renewable Energy Development in Africa.<\/a> In: Tang, V.T., Hanson, K.T., Puplampu, K.P., Arthur, P. (eds) Green Development and Finance in a Globalized Africa<\/em>. Palgrave Macmillan (co-authored with Frangton Chiyemura).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2025). Theoretical Reflections on Knowledge Production and Teaching Africa: Insights from Africa-China Scholarship<\/a> in Che , A. M., & Malito, D. (Eds.). How We Teach Africa Matters<\/em><\/a>.<\/a> UJ Press (co-authored with Korbla P. Puplampu)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaac Odoom (2023) \u201cChinese Miners, Community Resistance and Collaboration in Ghana\u201d in Folashad\u00e9 Soul\u00e9 (ed.) Shaping the Future of Africa-China Engagement<\/em>. CORA: Collective for the Renewal of Africa, REPORT: pp 147-174 October 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2021) \u201cResistance as Agency in Ghana-China Relations\u201d In Lloyd Amoah (eds.) 60 Years of Ghana-China Relations: Friendship, Failures and Futures.<\/em> (Centre for Asian Studies\/University of Ghana Press: Accra).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac with Nathan Andrews (2021). \u201cOutside the Orthodoxy? The Crisis of IR and the Challenge of Teaching Monocultures\u201d in Teaching International Relations in a Time of Disruption<\/a> (<\/em>eds.) Heather A. Smith and David Hornsby (Palgrave Publishing: NY).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2019) \u201cGhanaian Agency in Economic Relations in the 21st Century\u201d in
\nRichard Aidoo (ed.), The Politics of Economic Reform in Ghana<\/em><\/a> (Routledge: NY).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2018) \u201cSouth-South Cooperation, SDGs, and Africa\u2019s Development: A Study of China\u2019s Development Intervention in Ghana\u201d in Kobena T. Hanson, Korbla P. Puplampu, Timothy M. Shaw (eds.) From Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals: Rethinking African Development<\/em> <\/a>(New York: Routledge).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2017) \u201cDam In, Cocoa Out; Pipes In, Oil Out: China\u2019s Engagement in Ghana\u2019s Energy Sector\u201d<\/a> Journal of Asian and African Studies<\/em> Vol. 52, Issue 5, pp. 598-620 (Article first published online: October 26, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odoom, Isaac (2016) (with Nathan Andrews), \u201cWhat\/Who Is Still Missing in International Relations Scholarship? Situating Africa as an Agent in IR Theorizing”<\/a> Third World Quarterly<\/em> Vol 38 (1) 42-60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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