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Prior to Ghana’s independence in 1957, Africa—the world’s second largest, and second most populous, continent—was nearly completely divided into colonial possessions owned by European imperial powers. By 1968, a short decade later, forty African countries had become independent nations through violent and non-violent struggle, leaving only fascist Portugal—and a handful of settler states—with substantial African possessions. At the forefront of this political moment was a group of African leaders and thinkers whose work helped shape not only the trajectory of individual African countries but the world as a whole. It is my contention that one cannot fully understand contemporary world politics without appreciating the processes of African decolonization. Unfortunately, most of the brilliant poets, intellectuals, and movement leaders at the heart of this world-historic transformation are not widely read today, especially in the American academy. This semester we will addresses this absence by reading their work as an entrée into thinking about present-day issues of economic inequality, political violence, and human emancipation in Africa, and around the world. The course starts with an examination of colonialism’s political, economic, cultural, and epistemic legacies. We then turn to specific debates concerning how various thinkers understood the problems facing the forging of African nation-states, the creation of a postcolonial African identity, and the establishment of an independent economy.
International Journal of Teaching, Learning and Education
African political thought is fundamentally rooted in African heritage and culture. It is a frontal assault against the imperial powers of Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and the Union of South Africa, which denied the diverse African peoples of their right to self-government. Thus, the political concepts of African leaders at various times and places were intended to be last attacks against the denial of the basic human rights of the people. At the period, political thinking centred on two major threats to African states and the continent: colonialism and racism. In African Political Thought, the notion of Decolonization is best investigated and analysed in the context of its processes. Any attention that was paid to the African past highlighted the savage character of intergroup interactions. As colonial education was influenced by the need to explain the ills of colonialism, African history was filled with European discoveries of Africa. In order to rectify this a...
Africa Spectrum, 2024
As writing on decolonisation in African Studies has surged, efforts to avoid the concept becoming a mere metaphor, bandwagon, ideological trope, or mantra have grown, with scholars emphasising decolonial theory's ongoing relevance to the emancipation of formerly colonised Africans. This essay argues that to achieve its emancipatory goals, decolonial theory and intended praxes must re-centre the everyday realities of African societies. Recentring Africans is needed to move beyond Global North versus Africa as the ontological site for decolonisation. Recentring African societies has important epistemological and methodological implications for recentring African agency to make the decolonial project less reactionary and more proactive. I propose "post-independence" as an approach to decolonisation that offers descriptive and prescriptive means to locate the (im)material responsibilities of Africans in recentring their history. Post-independence allows a reimagining of how to undo the effects of colonialism by presenting colonialism as an episodic moment in Africa's long history.
Africa Development, 2006
African Intellectuals and Decolonization, 2012
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP)
Thanks to the CUEA family especially the philosophy department and Tangaza University College, Institute of African Studies for shaping my mind into African Studies, thank you Dr. Odinga Okia the Director (TAMCAS), thanks to Consolata Institute of Philosophy (CIP) for making me who I am. Thanks to my parents Chrisantus and Caroline for their unwavering support. lastly to my mentor Dr. Oriare Nyarwath whose African teachings matured my mind, my gratitude to you prof. Live long! "Am celebrating knowledge."
Britain, France and the Decolonization of Africa: Future Imperfect?, 2017
As the title of this volume suggests, scholars of decolonization are increasingly looking at the connected or 'entangled' histories of empire and its aftermaths. From this perspective, decolonization was not a discrete process that marked a shift from empire to national independence, but a multilayered, multifaceted phenomenon. Whilst decolonization had particular, specific causes and effects in different African settings, it was also shaped by wider, structural dimensions of empire that may be seen as systemic: the political and economic relationship between imperial 'core' and colonial 'periphery'; the colonial state in terms of its bureaucratic structure; ideologies of governance, 'development' and race; and emancipatory narratives of anti-colonial freedom and nationhood. Many of these aspects of empire and decolonization cut across particular imperial or national contexts and point us towards complex chronologies of change. 1 David Scott's reflections on the opportunities and constraints of a given moment of decolonization are pertinent here.
The drastic and manifold difficulties Africa faces suggest that something more than mere delay, unfavorable conditions or misguided policies is obstructing the goal of development. The suggestion calls for a serious reflection on the experience of colonialism, but in a way different from those studies tracing African predicaments back to colonial or imperialist misdeeds. This does not mean colonialism is not the real culprit, just that such a stance is necessary in light of the fact that many studies have not focused on the real source of Africa's ills: the phenomenon of mental colonization. Those scholars who bring out the detrimental impact of mental alienation either fail to totally emancipate their views from Western constructs, or cannot produce an alternative to Eurocentrism. This paper discusses the contributions of African philosophical debates to the elucidation of the negative impacts of colonial discourse on Africa's development effort. It draws attention to the limitations of the contributions and proposes an alternative conception vindicating the view that the great task of freeing the African mind from Eurocentric constructions takes priority over the design of development policies.
Critical African Studies
At Critical African Studies, we often publish special issues that bring together a collection of papers examining a cutting edge topic in African Studies or examining in new perspective a long-standing area of theory and inquiry. This issue is different; it brings together some of the many individual articles submitted independently to the journal. It captures the ethos and vibrancy of Critical African Studies and of the broader multidisciplinary landscape of African studies as a whole. Some of this vibrancy was reflected at a flagship roundtable organized by Critical African Studies in June at the 2019 AEGIS European Conference on African Studies, hosted by the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh. We convened a conversation with leading voices in discourse and activism to Decolonize African Studies, part of a longer term, multifaceted initiative that the journal has been undertaking for several years. Attended by almost a hundred conference participants, the symposium asked the crucial question, 'If everyone is decolonizing, why does so little seem to change?' The roundtable, moderated by Zoe Marks (Critical African Studies co-chair) included Simukai Chigudu, Marie Deridder, Elieth Eyebiyi, Simeon Koromo, Duduzile Ndlovu, and Njoki Wamai. This brought together decolonizingthemed panel convenors from across the ECAS programme, as well as contributors from a special issue of Critical African Studies to discuss tensions, setbacks, and progress toward equity and radical inclusivity in African Studies. The speakers represented some of the continent's geographic breadth and spoke to experiences of both francophone and anglophone colonialities. Each speaker opened with a discussion of their perspectives on and experience of decolonial praxis. From a range of disciplinary backgrounds, different nationalities and institutions, and at different career stages, they spoke about how their experiences, values, interests, and positionality shape their views. Elieth Eyebiyi gave compelling remarks in both French and English about linguistic imperialism and anglophone supremacy in African Studies. His comments were echoed by Marie Deridder, who spoke about the relative lack of decolonizing discourse in non-Englishspeaking African Studies circles and the challenges for building a multilingual open access knowledge economy. Duduzile Ndlovu described how her incorporation of poetry and creative methodologies had opened new avenues for scholar-activism, solidarity with the communities in which she conducts research, and most importantly, finding her own academic voice. Simukai Chigudu reflected on being at the frontlines of protest in Oxford's #RhodesMustFall movement, and how the struggle continues for him now within the system, where he contends still with issues of power and inequality. The conversation examined how research and practice interface in Simeon Koroma's comments, which brought out the challenges of doing North-South research partnerships, where power and material resources are often held by those with less longterm investment in and commitment to the communities where African partners are based. Njoki Wamai articulated how these inequalities pertain to African academic institutions, as well, providing a feminist, intersectional lens for understanding the challenges of navigating transcontinental
European imperial retreat from sub-Saharan Africa, usually described as decolonization, was one of the most sudden and momentous transfor-mations in the history of the modern world. It occurred in the aftermath of World War II. Although the granting of self-government was not entirely novel prior to the end of the war in 1945 given the independence of Libe-ria in 1848, South Africa in 1910, and Ethiopia in 1943, nevertheless, the post-war imperial transformation was unprecedented. Between 1945 and 1965, almost all European African colonies, except the former Portuguese territories, Zimbabwe and Namibia, regained their independence. So sudden and dramatic was the phenomenon that it has since become known as “the winds of change.” Some profound questions have contin-ued to engage scholars since the demise of European colonies in Africa. For instance, to what extent was the decolonization consciously planned and directed by imperial powers? Why did European withdrawal from Africa occur when it did – after the end of World War II? How did the various European powers approach the process of devolution of power? It is the purpose of this article to address these questions and to hazard a simplified analysis of this rather puzzling process.
Academia Oncology, 2024
International Journal of Biomedical and Clinical Analysis (IJBCA). , 2024
Academia Mental Health and Well-Being, 2024
Journal Library Research, 2022
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2023
Estudios de Historia Moderna y Contemporánea de México, 2015
Harvard Law Review Blog, 2020
στο Παπαϊωάννου, Η. (επιμ.) Η ελληνική φωτογραφία και η φωτογραφία στην Ελλάδα, Μια ανθολογία κειμένων, Αθήνα: Νεφέλη., 2013
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