Interview with Prof. Kgothatso B. Shai, University of Limpopo, South Africa Afrocentric Epistemology for Social Sciences

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Kgothatso Shai is a Full Professor of Political Science and the immediate past Head of the Department of Cultural & Political Studies at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. He previously served as President of the South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS). He is also the incumbent President of the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM), where he is also serving as the founding Editor in Chief of the association’s flagship Book Series. He is a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher and the author of three academic books. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed and Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)-accredited journal articles and book chapters. His research interests interweave between African politics, international relations, and the politics of knowledge. In his interview, Professor Kgothatso Shai talks about Afrocentricity as a central theoretical framework and analytical lens that should be applied in African social sciences. He describes his personal way of implementing Afrocentric approaches and discusses the main scholars of Afrocentricity, representing both the continent and those living outside it. He also talks about his experience of presiding over the South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS) and the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM), the challenges and prospects of these organizations. The interview also touches on the problem of the knowledge hierarchies in Africa, structured by scientific journals, many of which are published in South Africa.