Transcending the colonial worldview to establish a research paradigm through an African lens: Analysis of research modules in archives

Abstract

Since the emergence of postcolonialism, there has been a call for epistemic decolonisation in the African scientific community. Paradigmatic backgrounds are key to defining belief systems that guide research investigations – not only in choice of approach, but also in the contextualisation and execution of research designs. Researchers’ limited understanding of these philosophical backgrounds and the way in which they can transcend towards decolonised research, inhibits researchers’ exploration of the deeper meaning of and commitment to research in the postcolonial context. This paper aims at contextualising the decolonisation of Eurocentric paradigms towards the transcendence of a new worldview that is relevant and unique to the African context. This is done through the analysis of two research methodology modules in Archival Science at an open distance e-learning institution. The genesis of postcolonial research, which lies in replacing dominant “truths” with marginalised “truths”, aims at rearticulating power, change and knowledge through a multiplicity of epistemologies, ontologies, and axiologies. By applying a postcolonial research paradigm, research can be used as a way of expanding knowledge and creating new knowledge as a starting point of epistemic decolonisation. This article contributes to the dismantling of the old order of research paradigms by exploring the transcendence of existing research paradigms and suggesting a research paradigm that provides a lens through which the postcolonial African scholar can conduct the search for truth in the field of Archival Science. However, it should be noted that, even in critical emancipation, there will still be elitism.