African Scholars Research Articles

1 - Towards Unpacking the Origin and Development of Eswatini (Swazi) Irredentism

This article sets out to examine the origin and development of Eswatini irredentism in southern Africa as a neglected theme in African scholarship. Eswatini irredentist disputes, albeit unresolved, have been a subject of mere peripheral allusion in southern African scholarship. The global importance of irredentism as a phenomenon in international relations since the end of the Cold War makes this study imperative. How the smallest and landlocked state on the Southern African mainland can audaciously and persistently make territorial claims against its giant South African neighbour is intriguing, paradoxical and worth investigating. The study methodology involved the use of archival documentation, newspaper articles, government gazettes, in- depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGD). This study revealed that Eswatini irredentism is ethnic nationalism par excellence and its roots were nurtured by the imperial order and South Africa before Eswatini’s independence. After independence in 1968, Eswatini irredentism blossomed on historical and ethnic foundations, and was tolerated and fanned by South Africa as a strategy of surreptitiously establishing an Eswatini Bantustan for the resettlement of ethnic Eswatini people and other blacks. The post-apartheid South African governments did a volte-face and rejected persistent Eswatini irredentist claims in toto nourished by the Sobhuza Testament.

Levirate Marriage & Theo-doctrinal Embargo a Kenyan Experience

African scholars have found themselves in a theo-doctrinal embargo, especially after the 19 th and 20 th century European missionary explosion, that ushered a vibrant protestant Christianity in East Africa that was largely dismissive of cultural dialogues with Christianity. One of the most contested subject, that went beyond the missionary era, and reverberates across the twenty-first century, is the levirate marriage (hereafter, levirate marriage). Outside the missionary armpits, African scholars have continued to debate its efficacy to the christian teachings. In view of this, the theo-doctrinal embargo that has evidently persisted across the mainstream churches and some African Instituted churches (AIC) in Kenya motivated the eventual research and publication of this article. Whereas the mainstream churches maintain that wife inheritance, especially where the male inheritor has another wife is sin, some AICs have tended to support the levirate marriage even where the male inheritor has another wife. They do this by quoting some Old Testament texts, as their reference point. The mainstream churches have insisted that wife inheritance narratives was permitted in the Old Testament in cases where the male inheritor was single and the deceased was childless. This article seeks to examine the biblical understanding of levirate marriage and its place in the Kenyan context. Overall, the article analyzed Scriptural texts dealing with the subject of Levirate marriages and reflected it from an African Christian perspective. The materials in this article were gathered through extensive reading of published works, interviews and via general observation of the practices therein.

Study-abroad decision-making – Combining marketing and behavioral economics perspectives

Student mobility has grown substantially in the past decades. Study abroad opportunities provide long-lasting advantages for students but, at the same time, represent complex decisions for applicants, usually involving a high degree of uncertainty. This paper aims to obtain a deeper understanding of study-abroad decision-making in higher education by combining marketing and behavioral economics perspectives. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with North African scholarship holders and adapted the customer journey framework to a study abroad decision context. Three stages of the customer journey were considered: the pre-application stage, the application stage, and the post-admittance stage. Loss aversion, group identification, social norms, endowment effects, and priming, as core concepts from behavioral economics, were identified and enriched the practical implications of the customer journey framework. Higher education institutions may benefit from our findings when designing their communication and recruiting strategies.

Designing a ‘vibrant, attractive and sustainable city’: feminist approaches to beautification in Kampala, Uganda

Beauty, as an aesthetic ideal and intrinsically power-laden paradigm, is central to urban development projects. Yet there remains limited critical work that interrogates the colonial underpinnings, violent outcomes, and negotiations of beauty politics in urban beautification programs. In our article, we approach urban beautification campaigns in downtown Kampala, Uganda via an explicitly African, and Black feminist analytic of beauty. Specifically, we center the experiences of women market vendors as they navigate city greening initiatives and development plans which promise to ‘transform’ Kampala and re-brand it once again as the ‘Garden City of Africa’. We argue that pairing urban beautification and Black and African scholarship around beauty offers generative insights as it understands such spatial programs as always embodied, contested, and inseparable from intersectional power hierarchies. In turn, we take seriously and carefully examine discourses around beautification: by tracing its colonial and gendered foundations and its visceral impacts as it is internalized and renegotiated by low-income women operating in downtown markets in Kampala. As such, our focus on beauty situates beautification as a disciplining and displacing practice and as mentally and physically violent. Finally, it reveals how women try to envision their own beautiful Kampala.

Innovation research in and on Africa: A literature analysis in 2015–2021

Innovation scholars disseminate their significant findings through international scientific journals. We conducted content analysis of 2,869 peer-reviewed articles on innovation in Africa, examining their origins, themes, collaborative networks, and scholarly influence. These articles, spanning the years 2015–2021, were curated from the Web of Science database across scientific, social science, and humanities journals. The findings reveal that 46.3% of these articles lacked contributions from African organizations or scholars, while 25.1% involved collaborations between African and non-African entities. A remaining 28.6% were exclusively authored by African scholars, with South African universities being the most frequent contributors. Notably, articles authored by scholars from non-African institutions garnered more citations and appeared in journals with higher impact factors. Key themes within these articles revolved around the knowledge economy, African business innovation, agricultural advancements, and the role of mobile phones in knowledge dissemination and marketing. Surprisingly, sustainability topics were notably absent. South Africa, Kenya, and Ghana featured prominently in the discussions. In conclusion, it is imperative to foster broader participation from African nations and scholars in innovation research and ensure a stronger African perspective in international publications. Additionally, as open-access publishing gains momentum, concerns about escalating publishing costs warrant attention.

Botho/Ubuntu paradigm as cognitive justice in psychology

The concept of Botho/ Ubuntu emerges as a balancing paradigm poised to drive cognitive justice in psychological discourses. A paradigm is a universally recognized scientific model that represents a worldview of the nature of the world. There are enduring concerns about the privileging of Western European paradigms, ontologies, epistemologies, and axiologies over their African counterparts. In this article, we present the Botho/ Ubuntu paradigm as a strong contender for the promotion, and humanization of epistemologies in psychology. The 59th annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) in Washington, DC in 2015, whose theme was “ Ubuntu! Imagining a Humanist Education Globally,” as well as the World Council of Comparative Education Societies’ (WCCES) recent book, Comparative Education for Global Citizenship, Peace and Shared Living through Ubuntu, are examples through which Ubuntu began to emerge as a paradigm poised to deliver cognitive and epistemic justice in the area such as psychology. We use Critical African Psychology as a lens through which we interrogate cognitive injustice. We conclude by demonstrating that Botho/Ubuntu paradigm might serve as a driver of cognitive justice in psychology and makes inroads into major discourses driven by African scholars.

When political liberalism meets a communalist worldview: John Rawls and African view of human rights

Since the publication of his A Theory of Justice (TJ), John Rawls has revolutionized political philosophy in many ways, including the understanding of human rights. His theory of rights in TJ is drawn from a comprehensive liberal doctrine and is limited to the domestic society. However, his account of human rights developed in his last major work, The Law of Peoples, claims to be politically free standing, following the model of his Political Liberalism. For Rawls, human rights are necessary conditions for social cooperation. They are meant to serve as one of the principles of foreign policy of the reasonable liberal peoples, in their relations with non-liberal societies. Rawls believes that his category of human rights cannot be rejected by non-liberal peoples as parochial or particular to the Western tradition, because they are not based on any comprehensive doctrine. On the other hand, however, many African scholars have dismissed the current international human rights regime on the account of being too liberal, and not corresponding to the African communalist worldview. It is in that regard that The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and subsequent African human rights instruments were adopted to dress a list of human rights that take into account African history, civilization, and values. Thus, in three main sections, this article examines whether the Rawlsian account and the African view of human rights can enrich each other, or whether they are completely opposed.

W.E.B. Du Bois' Autobiographical Legacy: Impact on African American Literature and Civil Rights

This research paper explores the autobiographical legacy of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, commonly known as W.E.B. Du Bois, and its profound influence on African American literature and the Civil Rights Movement. Du Bois, a prominent African American scholar, writer, and civil rights activist, penned a series of autobiographical works that not only documented his own life experiences but also played a pivotal role in shaping the narrative of the African American struggle for civil rights and equality. This paper examines Du Bois' autobiographical writings, including "The Souls of Black Folk," "Dusk of Dawn," and "The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois," and their impact on the broader African American literary tradition and the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. By analyzing Du Bois' life and his written accounts, this paper illustrates how his autobiographical legacy contributed to the intellectual and social fabric of African American history.

Afro-centric Ethics of Development in a Global Capitalist Order

As African scholars interested in Africa’s development, we have consistently attributed the problems and complexities of Africa’s development to the exogenous programmes and policies from the West. There is always the claim that the values that promote development in the African continent are foreign and strange to African cultures and that accounts for the slow pace of development in Africa in spite of the enormous efforts towards improving Africa’s situation. This work acknowledges such sentiments of foreign invasion on African cultural values in the quest for Africa’s development. But the problem that Africa faces in this situation and the subsequent goal to overturn the present development logic in which foreign parameters are exclusively applied on African situation is that Africa has no articulated development ethics as we find in the West as being advanced by Denis Goulet and Des Gasper. Theories, policies and programmes of development in Africa which originate from the Western-based multilateral and multinational organizations have conformed to the logics of development advanced by these scholars. Adopting the analytical approach, we argue that African cultures are rich in values and have capacity to drive Africa’s development with their own standard ethical framework that can answer the questions of development confronting Africa. This way, African agents of development would embrace policies and programmes with more commitments towards Africa’s development activities. Keywords: African situation, development logic, cultural values, Afro-centric ethics development, Africa, Indigenous values

Theories, concepts and classifications of African costumes, dress culture, make-up and body designs in the 21st century

Scholarly interrogations of African dress culture and body designs have mostly engaged non-African experiences and theories in interrogating indigenous practices. This has placed a limitation on cultural expressions of identity and inadvertently exposed the need to frame discourses around traditional African design engagements and indigenous conceptual models. The study employs the analytical, descriptive and interpretative approach of the qualitative research methodology to conceptualise, classify and describe the indigenous and contemporary practice of dressing, costuming and make-up and body designs in Africa. The emphasis is on attires/dresses/clothing, body designs, costumes and make-up practices utilised in everyday life; on special occasions; on stage; in films; carnivals; street performances and traditional communal performances. In this study, the researcher deconstructs the term ‘costume’ as currently used in describing African dressing. It attempts an understanding and classification of costumes from three levels of artistic and historical distinctions which are; indigenous traditional designs (indigenous trad.); modern traditional designs (modern trad.); and contemporary traditional designs (contemporary trad.). Given the identified gaps in existing scholarly presentations on traditional dress culture and body adornment, it maintains that African scholars should be encouraged to expand the scope of discourse through further constructions of identity for indigenous cultural products.

Decolonial Dilemmas: The Deception of a “Global Knowledge Commonwealth” and the Tragedian Entrapment of an African Scholar

There are multiple initiatives and efforts to grant African scholars “global visibility” – as part of the decolonisation agenda. These efforts have included aiding and enabling African scholars to publish in journals of international renown, speaking or curating courses at Ivy League universities, and being experts on issues about Africa in international media. Other efforts include collaborations and citations in discourses about Africa. While these efforts and opportunities are intellectually and practically irresistible to a scholar from the subaltern world – as are to those offering and facilitating them – they are actually counterproductive to a decolonisation project. The positive energy they generate obscures the histories and power dynamics that govern so-called global spaces and audiences of knowledge production. Problematically presented as benign and benevolent spaces for participation in the “global knowledge commonwealth,” from which mutual understanding grows, and racism and exploitation could be ended, global spaces/audiences, rather grow out, and are core parts of the revolving doors and constantly mutating infrastructures of colonialist hegemony and control.

EXAMINING THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF ISLAM AND HERITAGE IN WEST AFRICA

Heritage is broadly viewed as a cultural construction of the present that is deeply ingrained in the past. Since the 1990s, Africanist scholars, mostly historians, have engaged with the concept of heritage in Africa, focusing on how post-colonial African countries conceptualized heritage after many of them achieved independence in the 1960s. Presently, there are many works on how local and national as well as international movements, have complicated the concept of heritage in Africa. However, most of these works have concentrated on the national and cultural constructs of heritage with very few on religion, especially Islam. This paper explores how scholars have presented the subject of Islam and Heritage in West Africa. It is a historiographical essay that argues that Islam and Muslims in West Africa are not aliens to the conceptualization and the development of heritage in Africa. They have played several roles in safeguarding their intangible and tangible heritages and in some ways, assisted in conserving cultural heritage of their respective regions. Thus, this work does not only allow us to appreciate the contribution of religion (Islam) to the construct of heritage, but it also contributes to the literature on the history of Islam and Muslim societies especially in West Africa.

Decolonizing applied linguistics in Africa and its diasporas: disrupting the center

ABSTRACT The decolonization of applied linguistics is a critique of applied linguistics (see Phillipson, 1999; Phipps, 2018 and Pennycook & Makoni, 2020). We argue for a shift toward the Global South, in particular Africa, and for the importance of paying attention to ‘race’ as a significant category of analysis in applied linguistics in Africa. Three points require attention in a decolonized applied linguistics: 1) The identification of northern sociolinguistic theories masked as universal and a shift toward Southern frameworks, 2) The acknowledgment of ‘white privilege’ and ‘white fragility’ in language studies, more generally, and the inclusion of ‘race’ as a category of analysis among authors, and 3) The under-representation of female African scholars. The challenges transcend an agenda that redresses exclusions, and the colonial past of linguistics and location in neoliberal times. We question principles underlying applied linguistics in the Global North, often based on patriarchal and capitalist impositions, and epistemological racism in applied linguistics. We argue for a decolonized applied linguistics which draws from indigenous cosmovisions. These cosmovisions sidestep the dualism that is typical of Global North scholarship: individual/collective, body/mind. We show that Euro-American applied linguistics is evolving toward Africa in particular fields.

Foregrounding African Ontology/Epistemology: A Reading of Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22 Considering the Nature of God

Deuteronomy 23:3, says: “No … Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord”. This verse is motivated by a discriminatory tendency embedded in the ontology of the Deuteronomist. Interestingly, Deuteronomy 23:3 was used by Ezra-Nehemiah to discriminate against the “Moabites” during the Second Temple. Such ontology is countered by the author of Ruth in the narrative of Ruth during the Second Temple. This demonstrates an ontological “war” within the Bible itself. The primary contestation lies in whether God is exclusive or inclusive. This development necessitates a hermeneutics of suspicion. In the course of history, the “theology” of Deuteronomy has been used to grossly violate the human dignity of many God-fearing African people and many other people of the South for colonial purposes. To exacerbate the situation, there were persistent attempts from some quarters to universalise such a discriminatory biblical perspective. This would feed into the centre–periphery arrangement, with the centre feeding the periphery with such hermeneutics. For this reason, African scholars are implored to be very vigilant against ardent pressures put on the biblical texts by ontological, epistemological, and contextual biases of interpretations. Accordingly, Andrew Mbuvi identifies African Biblical Hermeneutics perfectly when he says it seeks to undo “the very construct of the ‘centre-periphery’ binary by allowing the possibility of multiple centres”). Kenneth Ngwa, thus, rightly asserts that African Biblical Hermeneutics considers African epistemologies and conditions “to be invaluable and legitimate contexts and resources in biblical interpretation”), drinking from our own wells). In consequence, this paper intends to set a dialogue between Deuteronomy 23:3 and Ruth 4:18–22. This paper aims to examine the understanding of God behind these verses. This paper will then compare the two theologies with the African philosophical concept of God. Harnessing the African concept of Ubuntu, this paper will de-ideologise the two texts and thus will provide a recommendation concerning the two texts.

Afrocentricity and the Quest for Identity in the African Diaspora

Africa as a continent has experienced and still going through lot of negative, derogatory and dehumanizing experiences. This, in turn formed the basis of the identity crises that rock the continent. Some Western philosophers, historians, sociologist and so on are of the opinion that Africans do not have an identity nor history of their own; this is emboldened in the idea that Africa is not part of world history. This view may not necessarily be unconnected with the clash of culture occasioned by the colonization of the continent of Africa by the Western world. Against this backdrop, the discourse examines what constitute African identity before the advent of colonialism. This is done to unravel the content and context of Africa(n) identity before the subjugation of the continent’s identity by the colonial master. This search, which seems to have formed the basis of the contemporary contention of the Africans’ diaspora wanting to know ifs they are truly Africans or a hybrid of different cultures remain the fulcrum of this discourse. In driving home the argument of the paper, different philosophies such as afrocentricity, afropolitanism, negritude, transnationalism as articulated by African scholars are reviewed with the aim of reconstructing the misconception and misrepresentation of the images alluded to Africa. Hence, using the analytical method of philosophical investigation, the paper project afrocentricity as a philosophy that is basic to the quest of identity in the African diaspora than afropolitanism.

“Memory, the Guardian of all Things”: Ntongela Masilela and the Project of Re- membering

ABSTRACT This article is a contribution to the commemorative special issue of Critical Arts, which is dedicated to the memory of Ntongela Masilela, who passed away on 6 July 2020. Masilela was a world-renowned South African intellectual, archivist, historian and Marxist scholar. His fame is predicated on the magnificent archival work he undertook in the excavation of the “New Negro” scholarly class and the relationships forged between them and Black South African intellectuals from 1862 to around 1960. Through this sustained study of the black intellectual tributaries, he evolved a bigger river of the “New African Movement” in which he posited the centrality of South African black modernity and its twin aims, freedom and liberation from oppressive and racist rule. In this sense, he proved that the ideas of modernity, freedom and liberation are intertwined with the work done by the Pan-Africanist Movement and its historical mission of colonised African states, with a particular emphasis on South Africa. He has made seminal and lasting contribution to South African scholarship by showing that the ideas of liberation had a long gestation and refinement as the New-African Intellectuals struggled to domesticate them to local conditions.

AN ARTICLE BY MAKATIANI E. BURACHE THE BIDAKHO’S CONCEPT OF A PERSON

The historical development of European thought and some African scholars’ concept of a person has led to a philosophical dogmatic fallacy. The error consists in the misrepresentation and in non-exhaustive definition of a person and the lack of environment as a necessity. This lack of a proper exhaustive definition of a person has led to social discrimination, socio-cultural stratification and classification of people, indignity of human life and negative exploitation of natural resources. This expose unearths the bidakho’s process metaphysics and creativity based on a concept of a person from conception to natural death and the environment in whom a person must live. The article underscores a fact that a proper definition of a person can solve socio-cultural problems, promote and defend human life as well as minimize negative effects of environmental degradation. It is qualitative in approach that applies phenomenology, critical analytical, and rational approaches or methods. It establishes that a proper definition of a person and bwidakho requires the inclusivity of metaphysical, cosmological and ontological perspectives of reality to solve contemporary socio-cultural and environmental issues and promotion of human life. This will lead to respecting of human beings at various level of biological growth, promote sanctity of human life, reduction of global warming and minimize climate change. The work is a viable source of reference for students and scholars of philosophy; those in-charge of the common good in the society and enhances bidakho’s contribution to philosophy.

Seeing the human behind the research: Strengthening emerging African disability researchers.

A pre-conference workshop that investigated the experiences and needs of PhD candidates and early career researchers in disability studies in Africa was held as part of the proceedings of the African Network for Evidence to Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) 7th Conference in November 2023. To determine how the existing structures in AfriINEAD can be leveraged to support emerging African disability researchers. This article documents this event and summarises the key findings from the discussions that took place. The workshop included presentations from leading scholars in health professions education, panel discussions with PhD candidates and early career researchers, and small group discussions on what is needed to support emerging researchers. Disability studies was positioned by participants as not only an academic exercise but also a deeply personal pursuit, requiring introspection and conscientisation, with which they felt they needed support. There are also specific ethical concerns related to doing research work with persons with disabilities, which need to be prioritised in postgraduate education in disability studies. The needs identified by participants are summarised as: (1) mentorship, (2) networking, and (3) funding. We suggest that the development of African disability scholars and scholarship requires an African ethical approach, which prioritises humanity, community and reciprocity. African disability studies scholars are well-placed to disrupt ableism in academic, medical and social spheres, as well as hierarchies within academia, which limit development, mutual growth and respect.

In defence of African philosophy

The aim of this article is to defend African philosophy in its singularity, as opposed to African philosophies in its plurality. African philosophy argues that there are recognisable common traits among Africans, whereas African philosophies as a concept counters this notion, claiming that Africans hold different philosophies, hence generalising about them is impossible. The existence of African philosophy is a contested terrain sparked by colonialism. Failure to defend African philosophy is a recipe for perpetuating the thinking that African indigenes do not have a philosophy. There is also a risk that their worldview could be lost in globalisation and internationalisation. My reaction is mainly inspired by Davison (Davison, Z. 2022. African philosophy: A nebulous label for demeaning indigenous philosophies of people of Africa. Journal of Philosophy and Culture 10(1): 1–9), who refutes the notion of African philosophy but supports African philosophies. In this article, I draw from the existing literature on African philosophy mainly contributed by higher-education-based scholars, including those in the Diaspora. The concepts of philosophy and African are critical; I describe them to advance my argument. I then tackle critical issues surrounding African philosophy, such as the nebulousness of the concept, the historical-political and spatial-cultural connotations, and modernist and postmodernist lenses applied to Africans. Most importantly, I provide examples of common traits among Africans to support my defence of the concept. My conclusion is that African philosophy does exist and is defendable. The article contributes to the African philosophy versus African philosophies debate; this is also important for learning and conducting research about African philosophy in higher education. African scholars should not be blind to the commonalities identifiable in African worldviews that can be used to defend African philosophy.

Music and Dance Traditions of Africa: Search for Indigenous Theories and Methods in Research

This study investigates the theory and methodology of researching, understanding, and appreciating the music and dance traditions of Africa, emphasizing the need for indigenous perspectives. The discourse examined extensive scholarly works and theories related to African music and dance, focusing on contributions from both African and non-African researchers. It addresses misconceptions held by non-African researchers and highlights the contributions of African scholars in rectifying these views. The study underscores the distinction between “geo-Africa,” which focuses on the distribution and material culture of African ethnicities, and “eco-Africa,” which examines the relationship between human activities and the environment. African scholars argue for the importance of their voices in African cultural studies, as they are better positioned to understand and explain their traditions. The study concludes that African voices have significantly advanced the theory and method in this field, promoting a comprehensive and culturally relevant approach to researching, understanding, and appreciating African music and dance.