The Next Step for a Journal of Method

Abstract

For over thirty years, History in Africa: A Journal of Method has been at the forefront of publishing scholarship on textual analysis and criticism of African historical sources, historiographical essays on the literature concerning Africa's past, bibliographical essays on relevant historical topics, reflections on the role of theory in historical investigation, and archive reports. The new editorial team will maintain this profile with an emphasis on theory and method, while aiming to enhance the journal by focusing on issues that will expand its appeal beyond its current audience. We seek to broaden the framing of methodological and historiographical topics to discuss new information technologies and pedagogical issues. The new editors work with an inclusive definition of “History” and invite scholars, no matter what discipline, to join the discussion and analysis of the past. In the multi-polar world of the twenty-first century, the new editors embrace the “in” in the title and are committed to publishing an increased number of articles from scholars on the continent. We also operate with a pluriform definition of “Africa” that includes the worlds of the diaspora and recognizes regional variations in the continent. The new editors wish to bring new perspectives associated with Africa's twenty-first century renaissance into the journal. Finally, the new editors will remain faithful to the focus of David Henige, the founding and long-serving editor of History in Africa, on the critical analysis of both the epistemological bases of historical inquiry and the construction of arguments about the past.