1 - Producing Anthropological Knowledge in and of Southern Africa: A Case Study of the Anthropology Southern Africa Journal
Corresponding Author(s) : Shannon Morreira
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 19 No. 2 (2021): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
This article conducts an archival examination of the Anthropology Southern Africa journal (formerly the South African Journal of Ethnology/Suid- Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Etnologie), in keeping with Allen and Jobson’s (2016) call for anthropology to examine its own archives, as spaces of knowledge production which act as indexes of power. The article moves through three eras of the journal, between 1978 and 2020, showing how it evolved from being the home of volkekunde anthropology under apartheid, to a space for the production of anthropological knowledge by both established and nascent voices from the global South. Turning attention to the demographic minutiae of praxis within journals enables the start of a conversation about who was making anthropological know edge at different moments in history, and what sort of knowledge was made.
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- Allen, J.S., and Jobson, C.J., 2016, ‘The Decolonizing Generation: (Race and) Theory in Anthropology since the Eighties’, Current Anthropology, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 129–148.
- Anyidoho, Nana Akua, 2008, ‘Identity and Knowledge Production in the Fourth Generation’, Africa Development, Vol XXXIII, No. 1, pp. 25–39.
- Asad, Talal, (ed.), 1973, Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter, London: Ithaca Press.
- Briggs, Ryan C., and Weathers, Scott, 2016, ‘Gender and Location in African Politics scholarship: the other white man’s burden?’, African Affairs, Vol. 115, Issue 460, pp. 466–489.
- Connell, Raewyn, 2007, Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
- Connell, Raewyn, 2014, ‘Rethinking Gender from The South’, Feminist Studies, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 518–539.
- Czerniewicz, Laura, 2016, ‘Knowledge Inequalities: A Marginal View of the Digital Landscape’, Keynote Address, Open Repositories Conference 2016, Dublin, Ireland. Garuba, Harry, 2008, ‘Race in Africa: four epigraphs and a commentary’, PMLA, Vol. 123, No. 5, pp. 1640–1648.
- Gibson, Diana, and William Ellis, 2018, ‘Human and plant interfaces: relational- ity, knowledge and practices’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 75–79. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2018.1483735). 20 June 2021.
- Gordon, Robert, and Spiegel, Andrew, 1993, ‘Southern Africa Revisited’, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 22, pp. 83–105.
- Hassan, M., 2008, ‘Making One World of Science’, Editorial, Science, Vol. 322, Issue 5901, p. 505.
- Hountondji, Paulin, 1997, Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, Dakar: CODESRIA Book Series.
- Inda, Jonathan, and Renata Rosaldo, 2002, The Anthropology of Globalisation: A Reader, Melose, MA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
- Kuper, Adam, 2005, ‘“Today we have naming of parts”: The work of anthropolo- gists in Southern Africa,’ in B. de L’Estoile, F. Neiburg and L. Sigaued, (eds), Empires, Nations and Natives: Anthropology and State Making, Durham: Duke University Press.
- Lawuyi, O.B., 1995, ‘Identity and consciousness: who is the African South African?’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 18, No. 3.
- Mafeje, Archie, 1970, ‘The Ideology of Tribalism’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2.
- Mafeje, Archie, 1998, ‘Anthropology and Independent Africans: Suicide or the end of an era?’, African Sociological Review, Vol 2, No. 1, pp. 1–43
- Mamdani, Mahmood, 2001, When Victims become Killers: Colonialism, nativism and the genocide in Rwanda, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Mkandawire, Thandika, 1989, ‘Problems and Prospects of the Social Sciences in Africa’, Eastern African Social Science Review, Vol. 5.
- Mkandawire, Thandika, 2005, African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, CODESRIA and Zed Books: Dakar and London.
- Morreira, Shannon, 2012, ‘Anthropological Futures? Thoughts on Social Research and the Ethics of Engagement’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 35, Nos 3&4, pp. 100–105.
- Morreira, Shannon, 2016, ‘Working with our Grandparents’ Illusions: On Colonial Lineage and Inheritance in Southern African Anthropology’, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 279–295.
- Morreira, Shannon, 2017, ‘Steps towards decolonial higher education in Southern Africa? Epistemic disobedience in the humanities’, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 287–301.
- Mutaru, Saibu, 2018, ‘Conducting anthropological fieldwork in northern Ghana: emerging ethical dilemmas’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 185–198. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2018.1465350). 20 June 2021.
- Nordling, Linda, 2020, ‘Who Gets to Study Whom?’ Sapiens, (https://www.sapiens.org/culture/anthropology-colonial-history/). 19 June 2021.
- Nyamnjoh, Francis, 2012, ‘Blinded by Sight: Diving the Future of Anthropology in Africa,’ Africa Spectrum, Vol. 47, Nos. 2–3, pp. 63–92.
- Nyamnjoh, Francis, 2016, #RhodesMustFall. Nibbling at Resilient Colonialism in South Africa, Bamenda: Langaa Press.
- Nyoka, Bongani, 2012, ‘Mafeje and “Authentic Interlocutors”: an appraisal of his epistemology’, African Sociological Review, Vol. 6, No. 1.
- Pauli, Julia & Francois Dawids, 2017, ‘The struggle for marriage: elite and non- elite weddings in rural Namibia’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 15–28. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2016.1237296). 20 June 2021.
- Petrus, T.S., Becker, H., Owen, J., Van der Waal, K., Bogopa, D.L., and Herselman, S., (Editor Anthropology Southern Africa), 2009, ‘Debates Section,’ Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 32, Nos 1&2, pp. 87–93.
- Pierre, Jemima, 2020, ‘Slavery, anthropological knowledge and the racialization of Africans’, Current Anthropology, Vol 61, supplement 22, pp. 220–231, (https:// doi.org/10.1086/709844). 21 June 2021.
- Radebe, Nompumelelo Zodwa, 2019, ‘Singabantu bendawo: understanding the concept of land from the perspective of ubuntu’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 247–258. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2019.1670086). 20 June 2021.
- Rapport, Nigel, 2020, ‘Britain and Brexit: imagining an essentialist sense of “British- ness” and navigating amongst “the British”’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 94–106. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2020.1740604). 20 June 2021.
- Setlhabi, Keletso Gaone, (2019, ‘Reliving secrecy and ethics in bojale ten years on’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 173–184. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2019.1604146). 20 June 2021.
- Sharp, John, 2000, ‘One nation, two anthropologies?’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 23, No. 1.
- Sharp, J., and Boonzaier, E., 1995, ‘“Sieners in die suburbs?”: exploring new directions for South African anthropology’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 18, No. 2.
- Shilubane, P.X., 1997, ‘Towards the indigenisation of anthropology’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 20, No. 4.
- South African Department of Education, 2001, National Plan for Higher Education, Pretoria: Government Gazette.
- Spiegel, A.D, and Becker, H., 2015, ‘South Africa: Anthropology or Anthropologies?’, American Anthropologist, Vol. 117, No. 4, pp. 754–760.
- Spiegel, A.D., 2005, ‘From exposé to care: Preliminary thoughts about shifting the ethical concerns of South African social anthropology’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 28, Nos. 3–4, pp. 133–141. (https://doi.org/10.1080/23323256.2005.11499923). 20 June 2021.
- Webster, Anjuli, 2018, ‘On Conquest and Anthropology in South Africa’, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 398–414. (https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2018.1543840). 20 June 2021.
- wa Thiong’o, N., 2005, ‘Europhone or African memory: the challenge of the Pan-Africanist intellectual in the era of globalization’, in Mkandawire, T., (ed), African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, CODESRIA and Zed Books: Dakar and London.
- Zeleza, P., 2002, ‘The Politics of Historical and Social Science Research in Africa’, Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 9–23. (https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070120116953). 20 June 2021.
References
Allen, J.S., and Jobson, C.J., 2016, ‘The Decolonizing Generation: (Race and) Theory in Anthropology since the Eighties’, Current Anthropology, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 129–148.
Anyidoho, Nana Akua, 2008, ‘Identity and Knowledge Production in the Fourth Generation’, Africa Development, Vol XXXIII, No. 1, pp. 25–39.
Asad, Talal, (ed.), 1973, Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter, London: Ithaca Press.
Briggs, Ryan C., and Weathers, Scott, 2016, ‘Gender and Location in African Politics scholarship: the other white man’s burden?’, African Affairs, Vol. 115, Issue 460, pp. 466–489.
Connell, Raewyn, 2007, Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
Connell, Raewyn, 2014, ‘Rethinking Gender from The South’, Feminist Studies, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 518–539.
Czerniewicz, Laura, 2016, ‘Knowledge Inequalities: A Marginal View of the Digital Landscape’, Keynote Address, Open Repositories Conference 2016, Dublin, Ireland. Garuba, Harry, 2008, ‘Race in Africa: four epigraphs and a commentary’, PMLA, Vol. 123, No. 5, pp. 1640–1648.
Gibson, Diana, and William Ellis, 2018, ‘Human and plant interfaces: relational- ity, knowledge and practices’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 75–79. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2018.1483735). 20 June 2021.
Gordon, Robert, and Spiegel, Andrew, 1993, ‘Southern Africa Revisited’, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 22, pp. 83–105.
Hassan, M., 2008, ‘Making One World of Science’, Editorial, Science, Vol. 322, Issue 5901, p. 505.
Hountondji, Paulin, 1997, Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, Dakar: CODESRIA Book Series.
Inda, Jonathan, and Renata Rosaldo, 2002, The Anthropology of Globalisation: A Reader, Melose, MA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Kuper, Adam, 2005, ‘“Today we have naming of parts”: The work of anthropolo- gists in Southern Africa,’ in B. de L’Estoile, F. Neiburg and L. Sigaued, (eds), Empires, Nations and Natives: Anthropology and State Making, Durham: Duke University Press.
Lawuyi, O.B., 1995, ‘Identity and consciousness: who is the African South African?’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 18, No. 3.
Mafeje, Archie, 1970, ‘The Ideology of Tribalism’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2.
Mafeje, Archie, 1998, ‘Anthropology and Independent Africans: Suicide or the end of an era?’, African Sociological Review, Vol 2, No. 1, pp. 1–43
Mamdani, Mahmood, 2001, When Victims become Killers: Colonialism, nativism and the genocide in Rwanda, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Mkandawire, Thandika, 1989, ‘Problems and Prospects of the Social Sciences in Africa’, Eastern African Social Science Review, Vol. 5.
Mkandawire, Thandika, 2005, African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, CODESRIA and Zed Books: Dakar and London.
Morreira, Shannon, 2012, ‘Anthropological Futures? Thoughts on Social Research and the Ethics of Engagement’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 35, Nos 3&4, pp. 100–105.
Morreira, Shannon, 2016, ‘Working with our Grandparents’ Illusions: On Colonial Lineage and Inheritance in Southern African Anthropology’, HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 279–295.
Morreira, Shannon, 2017, ‘Steps towards decolonial higher education in Southern Africa? Epistemic disobedience in the humanities’, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 287–301.
Mutaru, Saibu, 2018, ‘Conducting anthropological fieldwork in northern Ghana: emerging ethical dilemmas’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 185–198. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2018.1465350). 20 June 2021.
Nordling, Linda, 2020, ‘Who Gets to Study Whom?’ Sapiens, (https://www.sapiens.org/culture/anthropology-colonial-history/). 19 June 2021.
Nyamnjoh, Francis, 2012, ‘Blinded by Sight: Diving the Future of Anthropology in Africa,’ Africa Spectrum, Vol. 47, Nos. 2–3, pp. 63–92.
Nyamnjoh, Francis, 2016, #RhodesMustFall. Nibbling at Resilient Colonialism in South Africa, Bamenda: Langaa Press.
Nyoka, Bongani, 2012, ‘Mafeje and “Authentic Interlocutors”: an appraisal of his epistemology’, African Sociological Review, Vol. 6, No. 1.
Pauli, Julia & Francois Dawids, 2017, ‘The struggle for marriage: elite and non- elite weddings in rural Namibia’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 15–28. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2016.1237296). 20 June 2021.
Petrus, T.S., Becker, H., Owen, J., Van der Waal, K., Bogopa, D.L., and Herselman, S., (Editor Anthropology Southern Africa), 2009, ‘Debates Section,’ Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 32, Nos 1&2, pp. 87–93.
Pierre, Jemima, 2020, ‘Slavery, anthropological knowledge and the racialization of Africans’, Current Anthropology, Vol 61, supplement 22, pp. 220–231, (https:// doi.org/10.1086/709844). 21 June 2021.
Radebe, Nompumelelo Zodwa, 2019, ‘Singabantu bendawo: understanding the concept of land from the perspective of ubuntu’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 247–258. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2019.1670086). 20 June 2021.
Rapport, Nigel, 2020, ‘Britain and Brexit: imagining an essentialist sense of “British- ness” and navigating amongst “the British”’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 94–106. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2020.1740604). 20 June 2021.
Setlhabi, Keletso Gaone, (2019, ‘Reliving secrecy and ethics in bojale ten years on’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 173–184. (DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2019.1604146). 20 June 2021.
Sharp, John, 2000, ‘One nation, two anthropologies?’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 23, No. 1.
Sharp, J., and Boonzaier, E., 1995, ‘“Sieners in die suburbs?”: exploring new directions for South African anthropology’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 18, No. 2.
Shilubane, P.X., 1997, ‘Towards the indigenisation of anthropology’, South African Journal of Ethnology, Vol. 20, No. 4.
South African Department of Education, 2001, National Plan for Higher Education, Pretoria: Government Gazette.
Spiegel, A.D, and Becker, H., 2015, ‘South Africa: Anthropology or Anthropologies?’, American Anthropologist, Vol. 117, No. 4, pp. 754–760.
Spiegel, A.D., 2005, ‘From exposé to care: Preliminary thoughts about shifting the ethical concerns of South African social anthropology’, Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 28, Nos. 3–4, pp. 133–141. (https://doi.org/10.1080/23323256.2005.11499923). 20 June 2021.
Webster, Anjuli, 2018, ‘On Conquest and Anthropology in South Africa’, South African Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 398–414. (https://doi.org/10.1080/02587203.2018.1543840). 20 June 2021.
wa Thiong’o, N., 2005, ‘Europhone or African memory: the challenge of the Pan-Africanist intellectual in the era of globalization’, in Mkandawire, T., (ed), African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development, CODESRIA and Zed Books: Dakar and London.
Zeleza, P., 2002, ‘The Politics of Historical and Social Science Research in Africa’, Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 9–23. (https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070120116953). 20 June 2021.