Transforming university through Africanised research

In Search of the Indigenous

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6030109
AutoresVuyisile Msila (0000-0002-8875-0644, University of South Africa, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Páginas1-14
Data de publicação2025-01-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAfrican Identities (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14725843.2024.2439440
OpenAlexW4406599833
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas30

The 21st century has been an opportune time for building African universities by engendering innovative scholarship, teaching, and research. The complexity found in these universities, though, is reflected in the several ways in which intellectuals are dappling with knowledge production. This article focuses on why universities in Africa should employ what Wa Thiong’o refers to as ‘globalectics’ or interconnectedness as they enhance globally significant research. The interconnectedness of knowledge should help bring Africa’s marginalised knowledges to the centre. Research is generally, dominated by Western philosophies which tend to exclude indigenous and African philosophies. This study focuses on how African researchers can utilise concepts usually captured in the Ubuntu maxim, ‘I am because you are.’ This concept is endemic to all African cultures having been a way of life from precolonial times. Using the theory adaptation research methodology, the discussion examines how Ubuntu philosophy enhances indigenous African knowledges. The findings demonstrate that transformation in research should not be accidental; instead, researchers should use existing theory to envision new approaches. Major conclusions reveal that progressive intellectuals in Africa should use relevant approaches to advance African knowledge production. Ecologies of knowledge would be able to minimise the dominant epistemologies from the Global North

Biology · Indigenous · Political science · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development