Epistemic freedom in Africa : deprovincialization and decolonization / Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo J., author.

Series:

Rethinking development

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education.

Social epistemology.

Intellectual life.

Africa--Intellectual life.

Africa.

Africa--Colonial influence.

Colonial influence.

Decolonization--Africa.

Decolonization.

Social epistemology--Africa.

Education--Africa.

Physical Description:

xvi, 266 pages : 1 illustration ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2018.

Summary:

"Epistemic Freedom in Africa is about the struggle for African people to think, theorize, interpret the world and write from where they are located, unencumbered by Eurocentrism. The imperial denial of common humanity to some human beings meant that in turn their knowledges and experiences lost their value, their epistemic virtue. Now, in the twenty-first century, descendants of enslaved, displaced, colonized, and racialized peoples have entered academies across the world, proclaiming loudly that they are human beings, their lives matter and they were born into valid and legitimate knowledge systems that are capable of helping humanity to transcend the current epistemic and systemic crises. Together, they are engaging in diverse struggles for cognitive justice, fighting against the epistemic line which haunts the twenty-first century. The renowned historian and decolonial theorist Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni offers a penetrating and well-argued case for centering Africa as a legitimate historical unit of analysis and epistemic site from which to interpret the world, whilst simultaneously making an equally strong argument for globalizing knowledge from Africa so as to attain ecologies of knowledges. This is a dual process of both deprovincializing Africa, and in turn provincializing Europe. This landmark work underscores the fact that only once the problem of epistemic freedom has been addressed can Africa achieve political, cultural, economic and other freedoms. This groundbreaking new book is accessible to students and scholars across Education, History, Philosophy, Ethics, African Studies, Development Studies, Politics, International Relations, Sociology, Postcolonial and the emerging field of Decolonial Studies. "--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : seek ye epistemic freedom first

Nomenclature of decolonization

The onto-decolonial turn

Reconstituting the political

Reinventing Africa

Epistemic legitimacy of Africa

Education/university in Africa

National question

Rhodes must fall

Conclusion : African futures.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138588578

1138588571

9781138588592

1138588598

OCLC:

1022483882