conference

Africa Knows! It is time to decolonise minds

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Panel D23 (1 video; 4 papers, 2 with)

Title of panel:

Convenors:

Marieke van Winden (conference organiser, African Studies Centre Leiden);

Natewinde Sawadogo (University of Ouaga II);

Rüdiger Seesemann (University of Bayreuth);

Yacouba Banhoro (University Joseph Ki-Zerbo of Ouagadougou).

Stream:	D: Cases of regional and disciplinary specifics
Start time:	26 January, 2021 at 14:00 (UTC+1)
Session slots:	1

Long abstract:
The African colonial context provides fertile ground for knowledge of the continent. Politically, anti-colonialists have played a major role in enhancing African identity through negritude. Historians has also worked on it while revealing the real motivations of the Western conquest of Africa. Unfortunately, it is rather the archives of pro-colonialist scholars that are the most widespread to the point of dominating those of anti-imperialists. However, they suggest new avenues of scientific research such as human health and pathology. One wonders how tormentors of Africa can become its benefactors? How did this cultural denial shape Africa? While regional historiographies are hardly enriched by those of colonial countries such as France, how can the question of growing capitalism fertilize regional research and problematize the epistemological status of colonialist archives? This panel offers critical reflections on the historical transmutations of African societies in relation to regional disciplines in health, culture, education, etc. [initiated by the Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, together with AMCE Bayreuth].

En Français: Le contexte colonial africain offre un terrain fertile pour la connaissance du continent. Au plan politique, les anticolonialistes ont fortement contribué à valoriser l'identité africaine à travers la négritude. L'histoire s'y est aussi attelée tout en révélant les motivations réelles de la conquête occidentale de l'Afrique. Malheureusement, ce sont plutôt les archives des éruditions pro-colonialistes qui sont les plus répandues au point de dominer celles anti-impérialistes. Or, celles-ci suggèrent de pistes nouvelles de recherche scientifique telles en santé et en pathologie humaine. C'est à se demander comment des bourreaux de l'Afrique peuvent devenir ses bienfaiteurs ? Comment ce négationnisme culturel a-t-il façonné l'Afrique ? Alors que les historiographies régionales s'enrichissent difficilement de celles des pays coloniaux comme la France, comment la question du capitalisme grandissant peut-il féconder les recherches régionales et problématiser le statut épistémologique des archives colonialistes ? Ce panel propose des réflexions critiques sur les transmutations historiques des sociétés africaines relativement aux disciplines régionales en santé, culture, éducation.

4 Accepted papers:
1	Private medical practice in Western Africa before 1900
2	The circulation of static concepts and the dynamic of cultural practices in Mali
3	Despair and optimism: reflections on my experience of researching and publishing sexuality in Ethiopia
4	On selfhood in mental health and education in a meta-colonized world

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