African Studies

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African Studies

African studies focus on the culture and societies of Africa. It studies the various historical concepts of Africa through time. This paper on three major concepts of the history of the African continent; Decolonization of African studies, postcolonial theory, and postcolonial approaches in African studies.

DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICAN STUDIES

            Decolonizing African studies refers to the attempt to understand Africa as a whole (Clapham, 2020). The continent is made of complex societies that build its own culture and values. The decolonization of African studies began in the 1950s (Clapham, 2020) and to better understand it, factors to be studied include the following;

African Studies in the UK

            African studies aimed at aiding the dominant states better to understand the African continent (Barbara, 2018). This purposed at getting to control Africa effectively. It began in the 60s and 70s in the UK and was majorly confined in Europe (Barbara, 2018). However, these studies faced challenges due to migration, sources of funds, and even the source of knowledge for African studies. As a result, the African continent has been framed into classrooms and written articles such as books and journals. There also exists a limitation on the type of people who are eligible to access such fora equipped with the knowledge on Africa (Barbara, 2018).

African studies between the cold war and colonialism

            The African studies association’s foundation was a significant event amongst the Africanists (Martin, 2011). With the majority of African nations gaining their independence between the 1960s and 1950s, the African studies faced uncertainty about its future progress as African scholars faced frustrations (Martin, 2011). However, with the rise of the cold war, there was an increasing interest in African studies, and hence, the African studies association was founded (Wiley, 2012). Following the cold war, various nations intervened in African studies since stiff competition arose with various Africanists fighting for the development of African studies to understand the African continent better. Their intervention was majorly aimed at expansion and domination.

African as object and development

            Generally, Africa’s development as a continent has been stagnated for at least three decades (Ake, 2001). Factors contributing to Africa’s slow growth and development include lower incomes among Africans, weak health systems within the continent, food insecurity in various countries within the continent, and poor infrastructure (Ake, 2001). Since Africa tries to up its game in development, these factors continue to pull it back, resulting in slow economic development.

Also, widespread corruption among African leaders has been another challenge facing development (Ake, 2001). As much as Africa receives relief from other nations, with the corrupt leaders and poor management of this relief, Africans have not made a significant step in development. The African political system is structured to impede the economic development of Africa, and for development to occur, this system must be reframed. Development set as a goal for, in reality, development has never been a goal in the many objectives set by political leaders in Africa (Ake, 2001). All these factors must first be considered to allow the development of the African continent.

Research and Race

            The race always plays an essential role in research. The relationship between race and research goes back to 1700, and often it states that often, the responder’s response is always biased based on his or her attitudes towards the interviewer (Januszka, Wollard, & Rocco, 2013). This affects the intended expectation of the interview process. Often, Blacks always take care of whatever information they disclose to the whites due to racism (Januszka, Wollard, & Rocco, 2013). For this reason, the information obtained by the whites during the African studies from the blacks might have been biased.

The research was, however, necessary because, without western civilization, Africans would still be lagging in development. Without this type of civilization, Africans would still be stuck in informal education, and if the works of the Africanists had not been buried, the superpowers would have continued to use this knowledge to control Africa as they had intended initially (Barbara, 2018). Thus, the research on Africa was of necessity as it saw to Africa’s civilization.

WHAT IS POSTCOLONIAL THEORY?

            The postcolonial theory aims to discuss colonization’s effects on different cultures and societies and the response of those societies to colonization (Ashcroft, 2017). The term was initially used to indicate interactions between different cultures in colonial society. The theory led to the rise of globalization theory, which aimed to study the globalization of different cultures. The postcolonial theory has provided a system of study that has enabled the understanding of colonialism and culture throughout western civilization (Gilbert & J, 2015). The individuals associated with the postcolonial theory are Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said, and Homi Bhabha. The theory is linked to some instances of oppression and the decolonization of various cultures.

Edward Said

In the postcolonial theory, Edward Said holds on to his view of literature as a product of the relationship between social and economic variables (Mtairi, 2019). He refers to this concept as the postcolonial discourse. Said’s theory is based on a false image that the West has of the East (Hamadi, 2014). As such, the West considers the east to be somehow primitive.

This knowledge Said believes has been precious to the West as it has been used in instances such as the preparation for military activities or even the colonization of the orient. The knowledge has also been used to justify the injustice that followed colonization (Mtairi, 2019). Following colonization, Said believes that the horrors it came with are still present, and they manifest themselves in the form of chaos or even corruption. In the name of civilizing these so considered primitive people, the colonialists have made it their interest to ignore the native’s culture and impose on the natives the western culture and language (Mtairi, 2019). Through this postcolonial discourse, Edward Said attempts to criticize the colonization by the western people.

Homi Bhabha

            Homi Bhabha was one of the postcolonial theories pioneers and fought for human rights (Huddart, 2018). In his work, he explores ideas such as hybridity, ambivalence, and mimicry about postcolonial theory (Huddart, 2018). He attempts to describe how those who were colonized resisted the colonizers. In Bhabha’s work, hybridity refers to forming a new culture within the colonizer’s contact zone. Bhabha’s concepts are vital in defining what relationship evolved between the colonizer and the colonized.

In the colonization era, hybridity referred to a cross-exchange of cultural heritage. Bhabha also tries to explain in his work that colonialism never stops at any point but often re-emerges in the present (Huddart, 2018). This creates complexity since moving forward with this concept only means a repetition of the resistance, negation, and struggle that came with colonialism (Huddart, 2018). In simple terms, we are stuck in a system that continuously repeats itself.

Gayatri Spivak

            Gayatri Spivak states that colonization brought about inequality and a disruption of the socio-economic development of the developing countries (Andreotti, 2011). This followed the inclusion of third world countries into the international division of labor. As a result, globalization came about. The western colonies had a role in the creation of third world countries in that through their domination in the developing countries; they got to deprive these countries of resources useful for their development.

The only thing the developing countries obtained from the colonization process was the western culture to civilize them. Because there exists no balance of power between the third and first world countries, with the first world countries having the upper hand, the interest of first-world countries has been normalized in third-world countries. This is because the developing countries have no say in the matter due to an unbalanced power system (Andreotti, 2011). As a result, the development of third-world countries has been restrained by the first-world countries that continue to exploit the developing countries for wealth.

POSTCOLONIAL APPROACHES IN AFRICAN STUDIES

            As stated earlier, African studies were vital in thoroughly enabling Western countries to understand the African continent. This was to make it easier for them to control Africa for each of them had their reasons. With the wake of the cold war, the African Studies Association was formed to help study the continents effectively. Several postcolonial approaches were used to study aspects of Africa, such as African urbanism, African women, gender and feminist studies, and African identity and global belonging.

African Urbanism

The postcolonial approaches help to understand the concept of African Urbanism. The concept of urbanization entails several factors, such as spatial and social phenomena, all of which need a multidisciplinary approach. Such an approach may entail several factors related to urbanism, such as geography and demography (Coquery, 1991). The research conducted on African urbanism over time has been uneven. Also, the urban theory explaining African urbanization has faced much criticism, and hence more emphasis should be put to understand urbanism much better.

African women, gender and feminist studies

            The studies on African women, gender, and feminist have been vital, especially with the rise of inequality amongst the genders in terms of power or knowledge production (Admako, Betts, & Osirim, 2008). Theorizing of women has developed multiple questions, thereby complicating the factors that shape a woman’s life, such as cultural and economic forces (Admako, Betts, & Osirim, 2008). Over time, it has been observed that several factors, mainly transnational, have impacted feminist scholars’ trends.

These factors emphasize the elements that define a woman’s life, such as the woman’s race or culture (Admako, Betts, & Osirim, 2008). They also critique western feminism on such issues as racism. Transnational feminism came about as a result of globalization, while the black feminism theory focuses more on race as a defining factor for gender construction. These elements are essential in understanding discrimination against women as they help women, gender, and feminist studies.

African identity and global belonging

            The postcolonial approaches also help with the question of African identity and belonging. The issue of globalization has introduced Africa into the global scene, and as a result, there has been confusion in Africa’s identity (Ilodigwe, 2018). This follows the encounter with colonizers, which created an entirely different culture which, if not managed, will pose a challenge in the identity of Africa. Often, Africa is always able to define her priorities in her interrelations with other parties (Ilodigwe, 2018). This only creates a situation in which Africa entirely depends on the other participants on the global scene, enabling them to manipulate Africa as they wish, leading to the rise of the question of identity.

The growth in scientific technology has made the world a global place where every nation can easily relate to each other. As a result, no nation plays in solitary. The downfall to this is that the global world provided by the scientific technology only means that a problem for one nation is a problem for the other nations; hence every nation affects the affairs of the other nation, thereby controlling them. Until a nation ultimately defines its priorities globally, it will forever be controlled by the other nations (Ilodigwe, 2018). Thus, Africa should learn to correctly define its priorities before relating to the other nations in the global market so that it does not raise a question of identity and global belonging.

References

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