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Colonialism shaped modern universities in Africa – how they can become truly African

Colonialism shaped modern universities in Africa – how they can become truly African

COLONIALISM profoundly shaped modern universities in Africa. It implanted institutions on African soil that were largely replicas of European universities rather than organically African. For historian and political theorist Achille Mbembe, one problem of universities in Africa “is that they are ‘Westernised”. He describes them as “local institutions of a dominant academic model based on a Eurocentric epistemic canon that attributes truth only to the Western way of knowledge production”. This model, he says, “disregards other epistemic traditions”. SALEEM BADAT, Research Professor, UFS History Department, University of the Free State My research is mainly on universities, especially on issues of…
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Zulu vs Xhosa: how colonialism used language to divide South Africa’s two biggest ethnic groups

Zulu vs Xhosa: how colonialism used language to divide South Africa’s two biggest ethnic groups

SOUTH Africa has 12 official languages. The two most dominant are isiZulu and isiXhosa. While the Zulu and Xhosa people share a rich common history, they have also found themselves engaged in ethnic conflict and division, notably during urban wars between 1990 and 1994. A new book, Divided by the Word, examines this history – and how colonisers and African interpreters created the two distinct languages, entrenched by apartheid education. Historian Jochen S. Arndt answers some questions about his book. Author JOCHEN S. ARNDT, Associate Professor of History, Virginia Military Institute What is the key premise of the book? The…
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Children’s book revolution: how East African women took on colonialism after independence

Children’s book revolution: how East African women took on colonialism after independence

AS independence from British colonial rule swept across East Africa in the early 1960s and freedom was won in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, parents and teachers worried about what their children were reading. Most children’s books on the market were dominated by European writers like Enid Blyton. One of Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo’s most stringent criticisms of colonialism was the explosive effect of this “cultural bomb” in the classroom, as missionaries taught African students Western cultures and foreign histories. This, according to Kenyan publisher Henry Chakava, was producing a new breed of black Europeans, who began to despise their…
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Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation

Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation

PATRICE LUMUMBA is the hero of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s truncated bid for complete independence. He was assassinated by local counter-revolutionary forces with the help of the CIA and Belgian authorities in 1961. Since then, all over the developing world, Lumumba’s name has come to stand for defiance against colonialism and imperialism. Author SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town The manner of his death was particularly distressing. He was humiliated and tortured before he was murdered. His body was then doused with acid to facilitate decomposition. A Belgian official reportedly kept…
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Ghana’s secessionist conflict has its genesis in colonialism: it’s time to drop the threats

Ghana’s secessionist conflict has its genesis in colonialism: it’s time to drop the threats

GHANA'S secessionist conflict is rooted in a system that was meant to promote peace. JULIUS HEISE, Research Fellow, Center for Conflict Studies, University of Marburg WERNER DISTLER, Research Fellow, Center for Conflict Studies, University of Marburg Since the advent of decolonisation after World War II, secessionist conflicts have been the main cause of civil wars worldwide. A historical example is the Biafra War (1967-1970). A current one is Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis around the calls for the secession of “Ambazonia”. Over the past couple of years, Ghana has also been kept on tenterhooks by calls for secession. In November 2019, the…
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From slavery to colonialism and school rules: a history of myths about black hair

From slavery to colonialism and school rules: a history of myths about black hair

HLONIPHA MOKOENA, Associate Professor at the Wits Institute for Social & Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand “YOUR hair feels like pubic hair.” That was one of the first insults that someone hurled at my hair. She was a junior at my school. She would touch my hair and repeat this sentence to all present. I had to threaten her with violence to get her to stop touching my hair and comparing it to her pubes. This is one of the first dilemmas that black people face: do I let people touch my hair and under what circumstances? The question,…
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