Numéro

Vol. 23 No 1 (2025): Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique : Numéro spécial sur Décoloniser la production des savoirs dans les sciences humaines, les sciences sociales et les arts

Beyond Epistemology

Challenges and Pitfalls in Decolonising Knowledge Production
https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v23i1.6490
Henning Melber

Corresponding Author(s) : Henning Melber

Henning.Melber@nai.uu.se

Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique, Vol. 23 No 1 (2025): Revue de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique : Numéro spécial sur Décoloniser la production des savoirs dans les sciences humaines, les sciences sociales et les arts

Résumé

 


Une initiative ambitieuse visant à réformer l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique du Sud a recommandé un « plan transformateur vers une relation post-impériale et post-coloniale au monde du savoir ». Toutefois, bien que l’eurocentrisme soit mentionné comme un obstacle, ni l’épistémologie ni les structures institutionnelles de l’enseignement supérieur ne sont fondamentalement remises en question. Cela reflète les limites des approches internes au système. En revanche, les campagnes #RhodesMustFall et #FeesMustFall sur les campus ont montré que des efforts supplémentaires


étape dans la direction souhaitée, mais il est soutenu qu’ils restent insuffisants pour une véritable décolonisation si les contraintes structurelles d’une société reproduisent les anciens schémas de domination liés aux classes (et au genre). La mission demeure inachevée si une épistémologie « décoloniale » ou « post-coloniale » est développée au sein de structures héritées de domination, de privilège et de discrimination. Les positions sociales comptent. Cet article résume les schémas sous-jacents de la domination eurocentrique et ses pièges, dans le but d’attirer l’attention sur les défis au-delà de la décolonisation épistémologique.

Mots-clés

Décolonisation épistémologique production de connaissances asymétries globales positionnalité africaine eurocentrisme domination occidentale
Melber, H. (2026). Beyond Epistemology: Challenges and Pitfalls in Decolonising Knowledge Production. Revue De l’enseignement supérieur En Afrique, 23(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.57054/jhea.v23i1.6490
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Biographie de l'auteur

Henning Melber

Extraordinary Professor, Centre for Gender and Africa Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

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