A postcolonial theory of African Psychology: A reply to Kopano Ratele

Abstract

This article explores Kopano Ratele’s paper entitled “Four (African) Psychologies” published in Theory & Psychology, and written largely as a response to my recent article entitled “What is African Psychology the Psychology of?” A postcolonial theory of African Psychology is offered to serve as a background for this exploration. The paper concludes by suggesting that Ratele’s article, although a thoughtful contribution to the debate provoked by my article, is opposed to the current awareness by many African psychologists of the need to build African Psychology as a specialized postcolonial study within the discipline of Psychology in African universities. In opposition to this perspective, Ratele proposes implication that African Psychology should not aspire to the status of centralized academic discipline but should operate from “segregated parishes,” particularly as an African adaptation of Western Psychology. This article suggests why Ratele’s vision is against the spirit of the times and therefore unacceptable.