Description
Book SynopsisThis overview of the history, application and teaching of anthropology in post-colonial Africa shows how the continent's anthropologists are redefining the historical legacy of European and American disciplinary hegemony, and developing distinctively African contributions to anthropological theory and practice. The contributors illustrate the diverse national traditions of anthropological practice that have developed in sub-Saharan Africa since decolonisation and exemplify the diversity of professional work carried out by the discipline's practitioners. Their commitment to a common disciplinary identity demonstrates the place that exists for a critical anthropology that is reflective about both its potentials and limitations.
Trade Review'This is a timely and extremely valuable contribution to the ongoing debate about the crisis of identity in anthropology, offering fresh and unique insights into the fundamental challenges facing African anthropology. The book focuses on the theoretical, epistemological and practical problems resulting from Africa's encounter with Euro-colonialism and addresses the difficulties, limitations, achievements and potential African anthropology - the "mother" of Africa studies - from the perspective of "insiders".' Maxwell Owusu, University of Michigan 'This is a fresh and important new overview of the place of anthropological research and practice in Africa, past and present'. Wendy James, University of Oxford 'This book uses the "expansive moment" of African anthropology under late colonialism to re-explore the relationship between government and the discipline, pulling together three strands to the arguments: the historical identification of what specific anthropological endeavours actually did under colonial conditions; the complex relationships between anthropology and nationalism in Africa; and the exploration of what "practice" within national contexts in the present'. Jane Guyer, John Hopkins University 'Here is a book teachers of African anthropology have been hoping for - an intervention that lays to rest the notion of anthropology as colonial science. Released from the "Africanist" confines, anthropology assumes its rightful place in the reflexive and engaged production of knowledge on and for Africa'. Harri Englund, University of Cambridge
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction: Histories of Training, Ethnographies of Practice - Mwenda Ntarangwi, Mustafa Babiker and David Mills
- Part 1: Regional Histories of Anthropological Practice
- 2. Research and Teaching in Ethiopian Anthropology: An Overview of traditions, Trends and Recent Developments - Alula Pankhurst
- 3. How Not to Be a 'Government House Pet': Audrey Richards and the East African Institute for Social Research - David Mills
- 4. The Teaching of Anthropology in Zimbabwe over the Past Forty Years: Continuities and Discontinuities - Victor Ngonidzashe Muzvidziwa
- 5. The Practice of Anthropology in Francophone Africa: The Case of Cameroon - Severin Cecile Abega
- Part 2: Acknowledging Critiques, Debunking the Myths
- 6. Forgetting Africa - Johannes Fabian
- 7. But We Know It All! African Perspectives on Anthropological Knowledge - Christine Obbo
- 8. African Pastoralism through Anthropological Eyes: Whose Crisis? - Mustafa Babiker
- 9. An Invisible Religion? Anthropology's Avoidance of Islam in Africa - Robert Launay
- Part 3: The Future of Anthropology in Africa: Application and Engagement
- 10. Anthropology in Post-colonial Africa: The Nigerian Case - P.-J. Ezeh
- 11. Reflections on the Challenges of Teaching Anthropology to American Students in Post-colonial Kenya
- 12. Challenges and Prospects for Applied Anthropology in Kenya - Mwenda Ntarangwi
- 13. Practising Anthropology at Home: Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas - W. Onyango - Ouma
