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Knowledge and Power: Perspectives on the Production and Decolonization of African/ist Knowledges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2020

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Abstract

African scholarship on epistemic decolonization and African self-determination has generated reflection and debate among African Studies scholars for several decades. The debate has gained new force in recent years and has resonated in African studies in new ways, prompted in part by political events and social activism around enduring racism. Grosz-Ngaté’s 2019 Presidential Lecture provides an opportunity to reflect further on these issues. It explores questions related to the production and decolonization of knowledge in conversations with colleagues in Mali and Senegal and draws out the implications of these discussions for African Studies Association members and for the Association at large.

Résumé

Résumé

Les études africaines sur la décolonisation épistémique et l'autodétermination africaine ont suscité une réflexion et un débat parmi les chercheurs en études africaines pendant plusieurs décennies. Le débat a gagné en force ces dernières années et a trouvé de nouvelles résonances dans les études africaines, en partie à la suite d’événements politiques et d'activisme social autour du racisme persistant. La conférence présidentielle de Grosz-Ngaté de 2019 offre l'occasion de réfléchir davantage sur ces questions. Cet article explore les questions liées à la production et à la décolonisation des savoirs à travers des conversations soutenues avec des collègues du Mali et du Sénégal et en tire les conclusions pour les membres de l'Association d'études africaines et pour l'Association dans son ensemble.

Resumo

Resumo

Em África, a produção académica em torno da descolonização epistémica e da autodeterminação africana gerou, entre os académicos dos departamentos de Estudos Africanos, uma reflexão e um debate que se estenderam ao longo de décadas. Nos últimos anos, esse debate ganhou novo fôlego, e assumiu novas configurações nos estudos africanos, em parte resultantes de acontecimentos políticos e do ativismo social de combate ao racismo sistémico. A lição proferida pela então presidente da ASA, Grosz-Ngaté, em 2019, abre a oportunidade de aprofundarmos a reflexão sobre estes temas. Nela, Grosz-Ngaté aborda as questões relacionadas com a produção e a descolonização do conhecimento que foram sendo levantadas em conversas com colegas do Mali e do Senegal, e retira algumas ilações sobre as consequências destas discussões para os membros da African Studies Association e para a Associação como um todo.

Keywords

knowledge productionpowerepistemic decolonizationintellectual partnershipMaliSenegalAfrican Studies Association
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 63 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 689 - 718
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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Footnotes

Editor’s note: This article is a revised version of the Presidential Address given at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, November 2019, Boston, MA.

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