Paper short abstract:

Drawing on 1260 readings from 24 undergraduate syllabi in North America, this paper investigates the content and instructional approaches in the teaching of "African politics.” I critique the hegemonic concepts and theories from the Global North and present alternative perspectives and approaches.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on 1260 readings from 24 undergraduate syllabi in North America, this paper investigates the dominant content and instructional approaches in the teaching of "African politics.” Despite recent momentum around decolonizing curricula, most courses still rely predominantly on articles and books written by male non-African authors based in the Global North. These materials are more likely to engage in sweeping generalizations about how politics works on the continent, employing concepts like “neopatrimonalism”, “personal rule”, and “clientelism”. While some of these “seminal” materials make use of secondary Africa-wide data to support their broad claims, in other cases the supporting evidence for such generalizations remains elusive or unconvincing (e.g., a lab experiment in one African capital city). Next, the paper underscores that the books and articles most prominent in North American classrooms have been cited between 1,000 and 6,000 times, whereas the materials offering counternarratives or critiques, from non-African and African authors alike, typically receive less than 500 citations. Finally, I conclude with two suggested remedies for the current situation. The first is that book and journal editors change the incentives for authors so that generalizations to all of Africa are made with far greater caution and qualification (through their submission guidelines and guidance to reviewers). Second, I advocate for an alternative approach to teaching that emphasizes counter-hegemonic narratives and amplifies the voices of Africans and women. I provide examples of suggested readings and instructional methods that encourage students to think critically about power relations and knowledge production in “African politics.”