Epistemic Freedom in Africa is about the struggle for African people to think, theorize, interpret the world and write from where they are located, unencumbered by Eurocentrism. The imperial denial of common humanity to some human beings meant that in turn their knowledges and experiences lost their value, their epistemic virtue. Now, in the twenty-first century, descendants of enslaved, displaced, colonized, and racialized peoples have entered academies across the world, proclaiming loudly that they are human beings, their lives matter and they were born into valid and legitimate knowledge systems that are capable of helping humanity to transcend the current epistemic and systemic crises. Together, they are engaging in diverse struggles for cognitive justice, fighting against the epistemic line which haunts the twenty-first century. The renowned historian and decolonial theorist Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni offers a penetrating and well-argued case for centering Africa as a legitimate historical unit of analysis and epistemic site from which to interpret the world, whilst simultaneously making an equally strong argument for globalizing knowledge from Africa so as to attain ecologies of knowledges. This is a dual process of both deprovincializing Africa, and in turn provincializing Europe. The book highlights how the mental universe of Africa was invaded and colonized, the long-standing struggles for 'an African university', and the trajectories of contemporary decolonial movements such as Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall in South Africa. This landmark work underscores the fact that only once the problem of epistemic freedom has been addressed can Africa achieve political, cultural, economic and other freedoms. This groundbreaking new book is accessible to students and scholars across Education, History, Philosophy, Ethics, African Studies, Development Studies, Politics, International Relations, Sociology, Postcolonial Studies and the emerging field of Decolonial Studies. The Open Access versions Chapter 1 and Chapter 9, available at https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429492204 have been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Epistemic Freedom in Africa is about the struggle for African people to think, theorise, interpret the world and write from where they are located, unencumbered by Eurocentrism. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni argues the need to globalise knowledge from Africa, and to centre Africa as a legitimate epistemic site from which to interpret the world.

Epistemic Freedom in Africa is about the struggle for African people to think, theorise, interpret the world and write from where they are located, unencumbered by Eurocentrism. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni argues the need to globalise knowledge from Africa, and to centre Africa as a legitimate epistemic site from which to interpret the world.

This provocative book is anchored on the insurgent and resurgent spirit of decolonization of the twenty-first century. The author calls upon Africa to turn over a new leaf in the domains of politics, economy, and knowledge as it frees itself from imperial global designs and global coloniality. With a focus on Africa and its Diaspora, the author calls for a radical turning over of a new leaf, predicated on decolonial turn and epistemic freedom. The key themes subjected to decolonial analysis include: (1) decolonization/decoloniality – articulating the meaning and contribution of the decolonial turn; (2) subjectivity/identity – examining the problem of Blackness (identity) as external and internal invention; (3) the Bandung spirit of decolonization as an embodiment of resistance and possibilities, development and self-improvement; (4) development and self-improvement – of African political economy, as entangled in the colonial matrix of power, and the African Renaissance, as weakened by undecolonized political and economic thought; and (5) knowledge – the role of African humanities in the struggle for epistemic freedom. This groundbreaking volume opens the intellectual canvas on the challenges and possibilities of African futures. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of Politics and International Relations, Development, Sociology, African Studies, Black Studies, Education, History Postcolonial Studies, and the emerging field of Decolonial Studies.

This book examines the epistemological, political, and socio-economic consequences of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for Africa. Presenting various case studies on epistemic freedom, theology, race and robotics, tertiary education, political and economic transformation, human capital, and governance, it debates whether the 4IR will be part of the solution to the African problem, namely that of coloniality in its various forms. Solving the African problem using the 4IR requires ethical, just and epistemologically independent leadership. However, the lack of ICT infrastructure militates against Africa’s endeavours to make the 4IR a problem-solving moment. To its credit, Africa possesses some of the major capital needed (human, mineral, and social), and it constitutes a huge market comprising a young population eager to participate in the 4IR as problem-solvers and not as a problem to be solved—as equal citizens and not as the marginalized other.

In this book the author examines the current state of postcolonial Africa with a focus on the "liberation predicament" and the crisis of epistemological, cultural, economic, and political dependence created by colonialism and coloniality.

This book critically explores how meanings of 'independence' are constructed and reconfigured by public service broadcasters in the global south, with a particular focus on the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Blessed Ngwenya questions the institutional, political economy and world systems paradigms born out of coloniality which continue to influence broadcasting and media in the global south, and instead presents a radical local understanding of freedom in the present day. The author draws on detailed empirical interviews with members of staff from across the SABC, including board members, senior management, and journalists, offering an intimate insight into how the participants themselves perceive, understand, and deal with the issues and problems they face in relation to independence. Framed by a rich analysis of the historical context, this book provides readers with the theoretical and empirical toolkit needed to place the everyday experiences and needs of their subjects first, and to ultimately arrive at an accurate understanding of independence in its several senses. Contributing to growing global debates on the decolonisation of knowledge, this book is critical reading for advanced scholars and researchers of African media, culture, communication and epistemic freedom.