4 - Thoughts on Intellectual and Institutional Links Between African and Black Studies
Corresponding Author(s) : Godwin R. Murunga
Africa Development,
Vol. 33 No. 1 (2008): Africa Development: Special Issue The Politics of Knowledge Production in Africa - Nurturing the Fourth Generation
Abstract
Black identity and nationalism in the civil rights era were forged through trans- Atlantic and Pan-African solidarity. Both African and African-American intel- lectuals and institutions played key roles in Pan-African nationalism and the sustenance of civil rights struggles across the Atlantic. However, in the 1970s onwards, these Pan-African links were subverted by vertical dialogues between western, especially white, ‘experts’ of Africa and Africans; a dialogue that was skewed in favour of Africanist paradigms and knowledge because of the obvi- ous unequal distribution of intellectual resources in favour of white researchers in the global North. This shift was also matched by the preponderance of nega- tive themes about Africa, an increasing amount of ignorance in the west of the realities in Africa and the treatment of Africa as a mere object of curiosity and theory testing. This paper locates the growing ‘ignorance’ of African realities among African-Americans in the rise and dominance of Africanist Africa, its disengagement from Black Studies, the marginalisation of African-American and African scholarship (conducted by black scholars) in Euro-American scholar- ship and the de-emphasis of radical and Black intellectual traditions in the main- stream study of Africans. The paper proposes the enhancement of direct hori- zontal dialogue between Africans and African-Americans instead of the vertical dialogue between Africans and Africanists which has failed to provide an objec- tive presentation of Africa’s achievements and failures, gains and losses.
Godwin Rapando Murunga, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
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- Adeleke, T., 1998, UnAfrican Americans: Nineteenth-Century Black Nationalists and the Civilizing Mission, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
- Amory, D., 1997, ‘African Studies as American Institution’, in Akhil Gupta and James. Ferguson, eds., Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science,Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Anyidoho, N. A., 2003, ‘Identity and Knowledge Production in the Fourth Generation’, Paper Presented at the CODESRIA 30th Anniversary Celebrations Conference on ‘Intellectuals, Nationalism and the Pan-African Ideal’ held in Dakar, Senegal from 8–11 October 2003.
- Appiah, K. A., 1992, In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Apraku, K., 1996, Outside Looking In: An African Perspective on American Pluralistic Society, Westport: Connecticut: Praeger.
- Bayart, F. et al., 1999, The Criminalization of the State in Africa, Oxford: International African Institute in association with James Currey; Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
- Brantlinger, P., 1989, ‘Victorians and Africans: The Genealogy of the Myth of the Dark Continent’, in Critical Inquiry, 12.
- Bruner, E., 1996, ‘Tourism in Ghana: The Representation of Slavery and the Return of the Black Diaspora’, in American Anthropologist, Vol. 98, no. 2.
- Chabal, P. & Daloz, J., 1999, Africa Works: Disorder as Political Instrument, Oxford: International African Institute in association with; James Currey and Indiana University Press.
- Collins, P. H., 2000, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, New York: Routledge.
- Curtin, P., 1971, ‘African Studies: A Personal Statement’, in Africa Studies Review, Vol. 14, no. 3.
- Depelchin, J., 1999, ‘Braudel and African History: Dismantling or Reproducing the Colonial/Capital Paradigm’, in William G. Martin and Michael O. West, eds., Out of One, Many Africa’s: Reconstructing the Study and Meaning of Africa, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
- Depelchin, J., 1992, From the Congo Free State to Zaire: How Belgium Privatized the Economy: A History of Belgian Stock Companies in Congo-Zaïre from 1885 to 1974, Dakar: CODESRIA Book Series, 1992.
- Fage, J. D., 1980, ‘Slaves and Society in Western Africa’, Journal of African History, Vol. 21, no. 3.
- Gilroy, P., 1993, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
- Gough, K., 1967, ‘Anthropology: Child of Imperialism’, in Monthly Review, Vol.19, no. 11.
- Gough, K., 1968, ‘New Proposals for Anthropologists’, in Current Anthropology, Vol. 9.
- Harrison, F. V., 1992, ‘The Du Boisian Legacy in Anthropology’, in Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 12, no. 3.
- Inikori, J. E., 1996, ‘Slavery in Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade’, in Alusine Jaallon and Stephen E. Maislish, eds., The African Diaspora, Texas: A & M University Press.
- Kassimir, R., 1997, ‘Internationalization of African Studies: AView from the SSRC’, in Africa Today, Vol. 44, no. 2.
- Liu, T., 1991, ‘Teaching the Differences among Women from a Historical Perspective: Rethinking Race and Gender as Social Categories’, Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 14, no. 4.
- Mafeje, A., 1996, Anthropology and Independent Africans: Suicide or End of an Era, Dakar: CODESRIA Monograph Series 4/96.
- Magubane, Z. & Zeleza, P. T., 2002, ‘Dr. Gates, We Presume: The Interplay of Text, Audience, and Narrator in Wonders of the African World’, in ChemChemi: International Journal of the School of Humanities and Social Science Kenyatta University, Vol. 2, no. 1.
- Mamdani, M., 1998, Teaching Africa: The Curriculum Debate at UCT, Cape Town: University of Cape Town Centre for African Studies.
- Mamdani, M., 1996, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Marable, M., 2000, ‘A Debate on Activism in Black Studies’, in Manning Marable, ed., Dispatches from the Ebony Tower: Intellectuals Confront the African American Experience, New York: Columbia University Press.
- McCracken, J., 1993, ‘African History in British Universities: Past, Present and Future’, in African Affairs, Vol. 92, no. 367.
- Mikell, G., 1999, ‘Forging Mutuality: The ASA and Africa in the Coming Decades’, in African Studies Review, Vol. 42, no. 1.
- Mkandawire, T., 1997, ‘The Social Sciences in Africa: Breaking Local Barriers and Negotiating International Presence’, M.K.O. Abiola Lecture delivered at the ASA 50th Anniversary Celebrations. in African Studies Review, Vol. 40, no. 2.
- Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
- Mwangola, M. S., 2003, ‘Nurturing the Fourth Generation: Defining the Historical Mission for our Generation’, Paper Presented at the CODESRIA 30th Anniversary Celebrations Conference on ‘Intellectuals, Nationalism and the Pan-African Ideal’ held in Dakar, Senegal, October 2003.
- Njubi, F. N., 2002, ‘Migration, Identity and the Politics of African Intellectuals in the North’, Paper presented during the 10th CODESRIA General Assembly, Kampala, Uganda, December 8-12, 2002.
- Owusu, M., 1971, ‘Viewpoint: Or Just New Stereotypes?’, in Africa Report, Vol. 16, no. 7.
- Richburg, K. B., 1997, Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa, Basic Books.
- Robinson, P. T., 2003, ‘Area Studies in Search of Africa,’ UCIAS Edited Volume 3, Article 6.
- Robinson, P., 1997, ‘Local/Global Linkages and the Future of African Studies’, in Africa Today, Vol. 44, no. 2.
- Russell, M. and Mugyenyi, M., 1997, ‘Armchair Empiricism: A Reassessment of Data Collection in Survey Research in Africa’, in African Sociological Review, Vol. 1, No. 1.
- Sardar, Z. and Davis, M. W., 2002, Why Do People Hate America? Cambridge: Icon Press.
- Skinner, E. P., 1983, ‘Afro-Americans in Search of Africa: The Scholars’ Dilemma’, in Pearl T. Robinson and Elliot P. Skinner, eds., Transformation and Resiliency in Africa, Washington D. C.: Howard University Press.
- Smock, A., 1970, ‘A Critical Look at American Africanists’, in Africa Report, Vol.15, no. 9.
- Thornton, J., 1992, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680, New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Uchendu, V., 1977, ‘Africa and the Africanist: The Challenge of a Terminal Colonial Order’, in ISSUE: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 7, no. 1.
- Van Sertima, I., 1976, They Came Before Columbus, New York: Random House.
- Veney, C. R. and Zeleza, P. T., 2001, ‘Women’s Scholarly Publishing in African Studies’, in Cassandra Rachel Veney and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, eds., Women in African Studies Scholarly Publishing, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
- Von Eschen, P. M., 1997, Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anti- Colonialism,1937-1957, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
- Wamba, P., 1999, Kinship: A Family Journey in Africa and America, New York: Plume.
- Zeleza, P. T., 1997, Manufacturing Africa Studies and Crises, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Zeleza, P. T., 2003, Rethinking Africa’s Globalization: Volume 1: The Intellectual Challenge, Trenton NJ: Africa World Press.
References
Adeleke, T., 1998, UnAfrican Americans: Nineteenth-Century Black Nationalists and the Civilizing Mission, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
Amory, D., 1997, ‘African Studies as American Institution’, in Akhil Gupta and James. Ferguson, eds., Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science,Berkeley: University of California Press.
Anyidoho, N. A., 2003, ‘Identity and Knowledge Production in the Fourth Generation’, Paper Presented at the CODESRIA 30th Anniversary Celebrations Conference on ‘Intellectuals, Nationalism and the Pan-African Ideal’ held in Dakar, Senegal from 8–11 October 2003.
Appiah, K. A., 1992, In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
Apraku, K., 1996, Outside Looking In: An African Perspective on American Pluralistic Society, Westport: Connecticut: Praeger.
Bayart, F. et al., 1999, The Criminalization of the State in Africa, Oxford: International African Institute in association with James Currey; Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Brantlinger, P., 1989, ‘Victorians and Africans: The Genealogy of the Myth of the Dark Continent’, in Critical Inquiry, 12.
Bruner, E., 1996, ‘Tourism in Ghana: The Representation of Slavery and the Return of the Black Diaspora’, in American Anthropologist, Vol. 98, no. 2.
Chabal, P. & Daloz, J., 1999, Africa Works: Disorder as Political Instrument, Oxford: International African Institute in association with; James Currey and Indiana University Press.
Collins, P. H., 2000, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, New York: Routledge.
Curtin, P., 1971, ‘African Studies: A Personal Statement’, in Africa Studies Review, Vol. 14, no. 3.
Depelchin, J., 1999, ‘Braudel and African History: Dismantling or Reproducing the Colonial/Capital Paradigm’, in William G. Martin and Michael O. West, eds., Out of One, Many Africa’s: Reconstructing the Study and Meaning of Africa, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Depelchin, J., 1992, From the Congo Free State to Zaire: How Belgium Privatized the Economy: A History of Belgian Stock Companies in Congo-Zaïre from 1885 to 1974, Dakar: CODESRIA Book Series, 1992.
Fage, J. D., 1980, ‘Slaves and Society in Western Africa’, Journal of African History, Vol. 21, no. 3.
Gilroy, P., 1993, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
Gough, K., 1967, ‘Anthropology: Child of Imperialism’, in Monthly Review, Vol.19, no. 11.
Gough, K., 1968, ‘New Proposals for Anthropologists’, in Current Anthropology, Vol. 9.
Harrison, F. V., 1992, ‘The Du Boisian Legacy in Anthropology’, in Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 12, no. 3.
Inikori, J. E., 1996, ‘Slavery in Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade’, in Alusine Jaallon and Stephen E. Maislish, eds., The African Diaspora, Texas: A & M University Press.
Kassimir, R., 1997, ‘Internationalization of African Studies: AView from the SSRC’, in Africa Today, Vol. 44, no. 2.
Liu, T., 1991, ‘Teaching the Differences among Women from a Historical Perspective: Rethinking Race and Gender as Social Categories’, Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 14, no. 4.
Mafeje, A., 1996, Anthropology and Independent Africans: Suicide or End of an Era, Dakar: CODESRIA Monograph Series 4/96.
Magubane, Z. & Zeleza, P. T., 2002, ‘Dr. Gates, We Presume: The Interplay of Text, Audience, and Narrator in Wonders of the African World’, in ChemChemi: International Journal of the School of Humanities and Social Science Kenyatta University, Vol. 2, no. 1.
Mamdani, M., 1998, Teaching Africa: The Curriculum Debate at UCT, Cape Town: University of Cape Town Centre for African Studies.
Mamdani, M., 1996, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Marable, M., 2000, ‘A Debate on Activism in Black Studies’, in Manning Marable, ed., Dispatches from the Ebony Tower: Intellectuals Confront the African American Experience, New York: Columbia University Press.
McCracken, J., 1993, ‘African History in British Universities: Past, Present and Future’, in African Affairs, Vol. 92, no. 367.
Mikell, G., 1999, ‘Forging Mutuality: The ASA and Africa in the Coming Decades’, in African Studies Review, Vol. 42, no. 1.
Mkandawire, T., 1997, ‘The Social Sciences in Africa: Breaking Local Barriers and Negotiating International Presence’, M.K.O. Abiola Lecture delivered at the ASA 50th Anniversary Celebrations. in African Studies Review, Vol. 40, no. 2.
Mudimbe, V. Y., 1988, The Invention of Africa, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Mwangola, M. S., 2003, ‘Nurturing the Fourth Generation: Defining the Historical Mission for our Generation’, Paper Presented at the CODESRIA 30th Anniversary Celebrations Conference on ‘Intellectuals, Nationalism and the Pan-African Ideal’ held in Dakar, Senegal, October 2003.
Njubi, F. N., 2002, ‘Migration, Identity and the Politics of African Intellectuals in the North’, Paper presented during the 10th CODESRIA General Assembly, Kampala, Uganda, December 8-12, 2002.
Owusu, M., 1971, ‘Viewpoint: Or Just New Stereotypes?’, in Africa Report, Vol. 16, no. 7.
Richburg, K. B., 1997, Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa, Basic Books.
Robinson, P. T., 2003, ‘Area Studies in Search of Africa,’ UCIAS Edited Volume 3, Article 6.
Robinson, P., 1997, ‘Local/Global Linkages and the Future of African Studies’, in Africa Today, Vol. 44, no. 2.
Russell, M. and Mugyenyi, M., 1997, ‘Armchair Empiricism: A Reassessment of Data Collection in Survey Research in Africa’, in African Sociological Review, Vol. 1, No. 1.
Sardar, Z. and Davis, M. W., 2002, Why Do People Hate America? Cambridge: Icon Press.
Skinner, E. P., 1983, ‘Afro-Americans in Search of Africa: The Scholars’ Dilemma’, in Pearl T. Robinson and Elliot P. Skinner, eds., Transformation and Resiliency in Africa, Washington D. C.: Howard University Press.
Smock, A., 1970, ‘A Critical Look at American Africanists’, in Africa Report, Vol.15, no. 9.
Thornton, J., 1992, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Uchendu, V., 1977, ‘Africa and the Africanist: The Challenge of a Terminal Colonial Order’, in ISSUE: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 7, no. 1.
Van Sertima, I., 1976, They Came Before Columbus, New York: Random House.
Veney, C. R. and Zeleza, P. T., 2001, ‘Women’s Scholarly Publishing in African Studies’, in Cassandra Rachel Veney and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, eds., Women in African Studies Scholarly Publishing, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Von Eschen, P. M., 1997, Race against Empire: Black Americans and Anti- Colonialism,1937-1957, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
Wamba, P., 1999, Kinship: A Family Journey in Africa and America, New York: Plume.
Zeleza, P. T., 1997, Manufacturing Africa Studies and Crises, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Zeleza, P. T., 2003, Rethinking Africa’s Globalization: Volume 1: The Intellectual Challenge, Trenton NJ: Africa World Press.