Paper long abstract:

Abstract

Decolonising African studies might be one such challenging business to venture. At a time when we can hear voices for decolonisation, we also see European and American cities exchanging host roles of African studies conferences and workshops. This is happening amid growing numbers of African universities in the continent. We also see long established and beginning centres of African studies in Europe, America and Asia while less effort is done in Africa to strengthen participation in knowledge creation and ownership. In this paper we shall analyse the relevance and politics involved in the production and dissemination of knowledge in and about Africa. We shall take the argument that there is an urgent need and relevance to enhance the role of African based scholars in the processes of knowledge creation and dissemination. It shows that despite the increase in the number of higher learning institutions and the number of African based scholars in the continent; the powerhouses dependable on African studies are still in America, Europe and recently establishing in Asia. This has influenced theories, methods and thematic trends to which Africa depends on and has no control of. These same challenges haunt the teaching in lower and higher levels, as the materials and conceptualisations used are West-centred understanding of Africa. Real decolonisation should involve active participation of African institutions and individuals, something that has proved difficulty to attain for decades. For now, Africa needs to define its own concepts, theorisations and relevance in the global context of knowledge production. This paper will trace the development of African studies over the past six decades showing the dynamics, changes and continuities in the efforts to decolonise it and the challenges it embodies. It will also analyse the influence of western approach to African scholarship for the past sixty years of African independence.