Countering Asymmetries in Knowledge Production on Africa

Asymmetries in knowledge production in African Studies are well-known, including the predominance of non-African writers on African issues in academic journals, the lack of direct access to research grant funding by African scholars, and their difficulties in even accessing academic work by African colleagues in non-open access publications. Such asymmetries have a negative impact on the nature of knowledge produced about Africa in the humanities and social sciences, with the need to enhance the contribution from African scholars as active, knowledge-producing subjects. In turn, such shortcomings are linked to a broader post-colonial critique of unequal power relations between the Global North and South and calls for the decolonisation of knowledge. This workshop addresses such asymmetries through combining theoretical discussion on issues of ‘decolonising knowledge’ with practical support to African early career scholars on research and publishing, simultaneously enhancing the relevance of African thinking to global academia and the policy-making world.