Decolonizing African Studies
Title Details

690 Pages

22.8 x 15.2 cm

21 b/w illus.

Series: Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora

Series Vol. Number: 93

Imprint: University of Rochester Press

Decolonizing African Studies

Knowledge Production, Agency, and Voice

by Toyin Falola

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Examines transformational moments and liberation movements in the decolonization of inherited Western academic traditions in Africa.

This book explores how decolonization and decoloniality provide liberationist knowledge to question and replace the hegemony of Western knowledge systems imposed on Africa. It critically examines the silencing and exclusion of subalterns in global knowledge production and the far-reaching implications of this for pedagogy and policy. As global power is concentrated in the global north where Eurocentrism and white supremacy validate the monopoly of knowledge and its centrality and universality, African perspectives continue to be marginalized or excluded in research, creating the problem of misrepresentation of the continent. It is to this challenge that this book has responded&emdash;the urgent need to eliminate the vestiges of colonialism in the academy and research methodologies.

Coloniality is seen not only as a historical phenomenon but also as an ethnocentric continuum, dominating all aspects of present life, especially monopolizing human epistemology, the threshold of human existence, and even development activities. This book provides a balanced overview of what a feasible decoloniality should be. It is all-inclusive, aggregating differing perspectives, including decolonial feminist and LGBTQ thought. It deploys a holistic approach that critiques the limitations to decoloniality, the impediments that culminated in the failure of the late 20th century struggle for decoloniality, and the problems associated with current African resistance to academic decoloniality.

The book closes with a discussion of African futurism. Seen as the advanced stage of decoloniality, African futurism involves the application of "traditional" (indigenous) instruments of articulation and cohesion such as Afro-spirituality, myths, folklore, and indigenous techno-scientific innovations, deployed in their capacity to drive, harness, and actualize future possibilities.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Decolonial Moments

Part A: Epistemologies and Methodologies
1. Decoloniality and Decolonizing Knowledge
2. Eurocentrism and Intellectual Imperialism
3. Epistemologies of Intellectual Liberation
4. Decolonizing Knowledge in Africa
5. Decolonizing Research Methodology
6. Oral Tradition: Cultural Analysis and Epistemic Value

Part B: Agencies and Voices
7. Voices of Decolonization
8. Voices of Decoloniality
9 Decoloniality: A Critique
10. Women's Voices on Decolonization
11. Empowering Marginal Voices: LGBTQ and African Studies

Part C: Intellectual Spaces
12. Decolonizing the African Academy
13. Decolonizing Knowledge Through Language
14. Decolonizing of African Literature
15. Identity and the African Feminist Writers
16. Decolonizing African Aesthetics
17. Decolonizing African History
18. Decolonizing African Religion
19. Decolonizing African Philosophy
20 African Futurism

TOYIN FALOLA is Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Jacob and Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin.

"In this comprehensive book, Africanist Falola (Univ. of Texas, Austin) meticulously explores the origins of the Eurocentric academic, socioeconomic, and political onslaught on Africa. [...] Highly recommended." CHOICE
"The book demonstrates Falola as a master of the protocols of writing a generally accessible academic book which is yet summative of the field in question, engaging significantly with its constitutive ideas. On account of the sheer scope of the work in terms of its sweeping coverage of practically every aspect of the subject, and its analytical range, the extensiveness of its engagement with the relevant issues and ideas in almost every aspect of African Studies, anyone who wants to gain an overview of the subject in depth is likely to find this book indispensable." Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju, New Times
"This massive book on the question of decolonizing African studies appears to be the first of its kind from a single author. It is only fitting that it is written by a scholar of Professor Falola's stature, who has spent several decades reflecting on these issues. Students and scholars of Africa would benefit from making it part of their required reading." David Ngong, Journal of Religion in Africa

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Title Details

690 Pages

2.28 x 1.52 cm

21 b/w illus.

Series: Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora

Series Vol. Number: 93

Imprint: University of Rochester Press